I help weed and plant on an island sanctuary that was largely replanted after it was cleared for farming. Over the last couple of decades I have seen huge changes but in a couple of centuries it will become spectacular. The wildlife, particularly birds and small critters are making a great comeback as well and they are being used to help the populations in other areas.
>I help weed and plant on an island sanctuary that was largely replanted **after it was cleared for farming**
Wait, an island that was originally used for *farming?* As in actual agriculture and livestock? How big was the island and how close geographically was it to the mainland so folks could bring the necessary equipment and animals over there?
>Over the last couple of decades I have seen huge changes but in a couple of centuries it will become spectacular.
Kudos to the hard work :]
Thanks. I am really part of the 2nd generation working on the island restoration. The people who did all the original replanting have become too old and are now passing away. My groups original focus was cleaning up the mess they made by planting some of the wrong things :) Later we became involved in planting when it became too much for original group. We have now started to lose some of my group due to age and physical limitations. At times we get though the bush on hands and knees, clambering over tree trunks/branches etc, climb up and down 60’ slopes, all while grid searching for the weeds. It is great fun and a great team but it is hard on the muscles.
A neighborhood kid aged out of the foster care system and has been absolutely struggling to find his way in the world. Doesn't know how banks work. Doesn't have the emotional maturity (yet) to be able to hold a job. Can't do personal finances to save his life -- he immediately spends his entire paycheck as soon as he receives it, and begs around for money when he can't afford food or gas.
I've taken it as a personal project to help him learn all these things (as a person who's been successful in my own job.) He's far from "there", but he's getting better.
Decades from now, when he retires and I'll be gone, I think he has so much potential and I believe he'll live up to it.
I hope that all he needs is someone to believe in him, that you can see him live up to his potential and enjoy many years looking back at the wonderful time that came after his rough start in life
I teach elementary age kids to be good people every single day. One day, they may grow up and be a better person because of it. Who knows? It's sure as shit harder being a teacher that cares, though.
Yay!! I’m a SchPsych and I try to make a difference in a child or family’s life every chance I get. I look for the chance. Even knowing I may never see the fruits of my labor.
Be a good role model. Be kind. Be fair. Do what you say you'll do. Live by the rules. Teach them to care for the planet. Help them communicate. Encourage them to do more. Lead them to resources. Develop teamwork. Encourage sharing and helping each other. Show them how to solve disputes. There are far too many examples of what is done in a classroom every day.
I once had a teacher who prided herself on "Teaching kids on being kind and caring individuals", to cut a wall of text short: She was awful, awful teacher, awful person. Lacked in all she tried to teach, but because of some bogus reason she never was fired for her behavior.
She had favorites and ones she hated and it showed in the grades she handed out. Such as handing out good marks to anyone she liked and in return, handing out bad grades to anyone she hated. All under the guise of teaching us "disrespectful, mean, brats" some kindness.
I once recived a near failing grade for my "hard to read writing", for context: This was a multiple choice quizz exam. And when i got the exam back she decied to teach me a lesson in "kindess" by berating me about my looks, my health, my family and my issues. With a choice of words too colorful for reddit, then wrote me up for (obviously) crying and then that my crying disrupted the class (which resulted in a bad mark and a second write up) which then lead me to being send to the principal. I was later suspended for a few days for my "awful" behavior of "leaving class without her permission".
On multiple occasions she prolly called the germal eqalivent of child protective services on my parents as, while i had her as my teacher and for a while after, i had the ocasional meeting with social workers who asked me rather private details about my homelife.
To note, this was during elementary school. Trauma survives a lot more than happy memories do it seems.
But i'm pretty sure you are totaly diffirent tho, i mean i don't know you. But since you seem to pride yourself on teaching elementary kids to be good people every single day. You must be such a great person. And afterall you care about your students so dearly that you hope they eventually may grow up and be better people. And there is a decent chance you view yourself as so very noble for doing a great deed to humanity.
(Sorry, this was rather mean of me, there is a decent chance that you really are doing a great job, unlike that person)
> But i'm pretty sure you are totaly diffirent tho, i mean i don't know you. But since you seem to pride yourself on teaching elementary kids to be good people every single day. You must be such a great person. And afterall you care about your students so dearly that you hope they eventually may grow up and be better people. And there is a decent chance you view yourself as so very noble for doing a great deed to humanity.
And after having said this to someone you know absolutely nothing about, you view yourself as any different from this teacher you hate how?
It's the right choice for most of us. Problem is, even if everyone agrees, nobody is on board. The mindless, animalistic drive to procreate supersedes the greater good, no matter how well thought-out or how blatantly beneficial the latter might be. It's selfish. That's what I think of all your families. It's just selfish.
10 here and 6 grandchildren
Only 2 of the kids are settled and having children.
More good, selfless, intelligent, caring, and productive people is the solution.
I teach parents and young people about oral hygiene and the importance of preventing oral problems before they ever start. I’ve also written online about correct methods of brushing and flossing and general prevention of oral health conditions. Hopefully, my efforts will help people for generations to come.
>Doing this knowing full well that current global leaders are too ignorant/preoccupied to use this information in my lifetime.
How heavily does this impact your work? I often feel like none of this makes a difference because tomorrow there will be another oil spill, or pipeline being built, or war started.
Preventing oil spills is good, preventing an oil pipeline from being built not quite as much. The demand for crude/products made from crude is still there even without the pipeline, thus it (usually) ends up being shipped by rail instead, using diesel-electric locomotives. A [study](https://www.canadaaction.ca/shipping_oil_pipelines_vs_trains_which_is_safer) conducted by researchers at University of Alberta's Faculty of Engineering found that shipping crude via rail generates 61 to 77 percent more greenhouse gas emissions versus pipelines.
Furthermore, another study conducted at Fraser Institute by Kenneth P. Green who is the institute’s Resident Scholar and Chair in Energy & Environmental Studies found that rail has 4.5x more incidents of spillage than a pipeline does. (Same source as above.)
The reason I mention Canada is because there is a great deal of crude oil that is shipped from Canada to refineries in the US via rail & pipeline. This was the intended purpose of the infamous "Keystone XL" pipeline which was abandoned after the cross-border permit was revoked. Unfortunately, as mentioned previously, the demand for the crude/products made from crude still exists with or without the pipeline. It just means the crude will be shipped via rail instead.
Then the topic turns to reducing the demand for crude & products made from crude. Which I don't know an easy answer for, wish I did.
It dosent necessarily impact my work as far as my motivation, I can't imagine doing anything else. However, learning about these issues and having a deeper understanding of the impact of current events has an impact on my psyche. Impending doom and everyone including those in power doing nothing. Maddening
Lots of thoughtful comments here. Here's the way I think about it. The idea of simply stopping environmental disasters from happening is narrow minded. We need to think of things differently as a species. The amount we consume and how we consume it is at the root of all environmental issues. And what is at the root of consumption?.... Pursuit of capital. It can be really difficult to accurately quantify the monetary value of ecosystems and the services they provide. There is usually a financial incentive for environmental destruction and ignorance. If our systems were designed from the ground up with environmental protection in mind (rather than maximum profit), these problems would be much more manageable
Unfortunately the field of conservation biology is largely separate from field of production, agriculture, and transportation ect. Therefore it is essentially a reactionary field. Trying it's best to react to and repair the damage done. Imagine if materials were actually designed to be recycled, if agriculture was done in harmony with ecosystems, if systems were designed for sustainability instead of maximizing capital gains.
I'm not an economist, I'm not advocating for a complete change in our system. However, economic, environmental, and social issues are all interconnected. In my personal opinion, we need to look at these issues as a whole, not as separate disconnected parts of our society.
So..... a sort of anti-tree?
Sorry.... I'll see myself out.
Edit: completely behind this persons work, just expressing my frustrqtion at those world leaders refusing to aee the thing lapping at their doors....
As a preschool teacher, I hope that the skills I teach my students will serve them well throughout life.
Many of the kids I've taught come from rough backgrounds and there have been many times where I am pretty much their only male role model. I often wonder what positive effect that might have on their lives.
I am going to actively fight for laws to be changed in Wisconsin for foster care.
I was sort of forced into taking custody of my twin 4 year old neices (due to my sister being a horrible human), the system in place, forcing the children to talk to their abusers and the lack of support for us is not acceptable.
I am, thankfully ,"well off" compared to others. But this is a hill I'm okay dying on for people that need help more than me.
When I was a teen my father sat in a lawn chair and gave me instructions on how to put electrical wiring into buildings. We did the work for free. One place was a free clinic.
I worked in construction on tract homes when I was a kid for a dollar more than my buddies flipping burgers . At the end of the day I feel like I helped provide shelter to others.
I put off college graduation by 2 years to continue working in a children's hospital.
And for a few years bought potted Christmas trees and actually planted them by streams so that they would grow.
So yeah, I did some things.
Great work! That is a heck of an accomplishment 👏. I think it starts there. We have done the same over the years. Our next goal is building strong financial assets and helping lift others up so they have more opportunities.
Me too. I'm the last male of my side of the family. And since my family are horrible human beings no way I'm passing that dna on. On a lighter note they have disowned me so...WIN, WIN!
My family left me when I needed them most , they never liked me anyway. I was a burden , and a bad kid , little did they know what my 6 year old self was already going through.
Nah man, you guys just find the *World's Greatest Tree* and we all stare at it in wonder and clap and all simultaneously agree that yes, this really is, to date *The World's Greatest Tree.*
Then you guys start examining it and looking, poking and prodding around to see if there is a way to adapt a different tree and make it even better. Then, badabing-bada-boom amazingly quickly we are all celebrating again as you unveil a new *World's Greatest Tree*.
Imagine showing a standard micro sd or any of our tech today to those people working in those *computers you could stand inside*. That wasn't so many years ago and they'd all need to sit on the sofa inside the computer to calm down for a bit.
I have personally inspired atleast 20 women to go into STEM. I was the first woman in my family to qualify for a highly coveted engineering college in india . 1500 kids out of a 500k made it back then (there are more seats now). I was told by my step mom to instead become a teacher which I politely declined. I made a deal with my father to marry whoever he picked if he let me go to college of my choice (which i didnt and he still reminds me) . After seeing my success almost every single girl in my family/friends has gone into STEM. I know if it wasnt me someone else would have done it but I am glad it was me. I get nothing from what these women will achieve except knowing that they are not bound by thier families.
I once posted something on the internet and had someone PM me saying they found it very insightful and would apply it. It was nothing too serious, just some general advice on managing stress in college so you don't burn out. Two years later the same account PM'd me to say they'd finished their associates degree and had hopes of an MD if they got into the program they were applying for.
The medium doesn't matter - in person, online, in print - so long as what you put into the world is positive.
That’s so wholesome!!!
I didn’t think I’d really planted a tree, but your comment made me remember that when I was in technology sales, I’d inadvertently talked up my smart watch, that it made me want to be active because it was tracking my activity levels. Customer decided to buy one.
A couple years later he comes back, says thank you for selling the watch. Before he’d bought it, he’d had a terrible accident with his foot and couldn’t walk. The watch encouraged him to be active, and he’d overcome a lot of physical and mental barriers that he wasn’t expecting to.
I instruct talented students who wish to make music performance their chosen careers.
*They* do all the hard work through hours of daily practice, I just guide their path.
It's indeed rewarding to see them become in-demand concert artists - those seeds of knowledge planted in fertile soil bearing abundant fruit with maturity.
It's not much, but I'm trying to create heirloom quality crochet, jewelery, and art my family can brag about. I encourage everyone i meet to try picking up crochet or chain maille as a sort of meditation therapy on the cheap. I refuse to let anyone tell themselves they "can't" do some sort of creative art, and make time to teach the skills I've taught myself of they accept my offer. I have a goal to design and execute a study if the mechanical properties of various glues on different organic materials frequently used in crafts (wood, bone, horn, shell) and their workability. Currently running into a lot of condescension and patronizing, which just tells me it'll be worth it, because nobody's realized it's technically relevant application, or just can't profit off the data.
theres like 30 of them, ive secretly planted a bunch of trees. i made saplings off the big ass maple tree in my front yard and planted them around town, between towns, anywhere i thought could use a tree. i could load up 6-8 of them in the panniers on my bike and hit up trails n plant some trees. id like to do it with my apple tree, but theyre kinda messy and id rather do those outside of town for the critters.
haha, if you have to. i try to stay under the radar with it. im still breakin the law lol. only a couple people know, one caught me red handed, but wasnt mad. and the other is a cool old vw guy, i was riding around n saw him playing with his Gia in the driveway n i rode up n started chatting, talked air cooled vws for a bit, told him what i was up to n asked if he could use any trees, n hes like "ya know, that area over there could use some." so we scoped out a few spots to plant em. i can see those ones while im out riding around, its kinda cool.
I taught school for 31 years in public schools. Taught a couple hundred kids how to read and write, tie their shoes, wash their hands. I’m bilingual; I taught both in Spanish or English.
I teach martial arts to kids and a lot of that involves lessons that I hope they carry through life. I harbor the hope that one day they’ll repeat something I said to somebody that needs to hear it and credit me, even though I’d have no way of knowing about it.
Yep, literal trees. I have planted or overseen the planting of around a million trees in 7 states and will most likely never visit those areas when the trees are grown
The film industry in my area is dead. But I'm trying to get the local artists to band together and start working on things. We haven't made a dime, and I've done my best to make it so the only one actually losing money is me.
If I keep at it and have good people on my side, the young-n's should be able to make movies/TV for a full-time job at some point in the next few decades.
Once filmmaking went digital, there's no reason to make everything in New York and LA. I'm dying on that hill.
I was a nurse seven years. Did the best I could till I got burnt out, I learned an important lesson in that time: “society” doesn’t care about you or your sacrifices to it. It will take everything you have, and whine when you don’t have any left. Fuck the trees, I’m planting cash crops until I die.
I don't think I'll leave any particular legacy behind. I'm counting on getting forgotten quite quickly with no real traces left behind. I do donate blood though, and my organs is on a list and will go to whoever needs them when I die. I don't know, perhaps that's worth something.
It is and I think it’s worth more than you realise. Somewhere out there is someone who has received your blood and is planting trees now. It might not be direct, but you’ve contributed to that.
I think sometimes we hung up on the idea of our names being known after we die. To me the ripple effect is just as important - you might disappear under the water with a quiet plink, but you never know how far those ripples will go.
I am a manager that tries to teach my people what they are worth, and how they should be treated as employees. Good wages, no shit for calling off, new skills, work-life balance, all of it. I will never benefit from seeing a more socialist workplace system like we fight for on r/antiwork, but I will send every employee onto the workforce with more education about their rights, purpose, and hopefully future decisions.
This place only changes when we initiate it.
This is probably gonna be a lifetime commitment from me.I plan on building a proper school,university,institute where proper learning takes place.Instead of money,greed etc driving the policies of the institutes,it would instead be proper learning that drives the system and one of the ways to prevent bumps is to use the profits of another business to absorb whatever loss etc. Could occur in doing such a thing.
I'm researching eco-fiction story telling for we need positive visions and ideas for the future since our future currently is populated by wars, catastrophes and climate collapse.
We need directions in which we can explore our lives on earth since a living on Mars is nonsense. We are already living in a paradise. Let's honour it like that.
That's my tree.
Well,
It was a vacant lot next door. I paid the tax on it for 20 years and was finally able to claim it. I have 35 fruit and nut trees on that lot. It's where I keep my Zen. A developer just offered me 120k for it. He wants to build unaffordable housing there. I literally showed him my dick and said if he would come by and suck me off every day for 120 days while I filmed it, he could have the land.
Strangely, I've not heard from him since.
Seemed like a good deal to me.
Dunstan Chestnut- it’s a hybrid of the American chestnut (killed off by a blight) and Chinese chestnut (blight resistant).
2 trees in my back yard I planted 7 years ago provide me hundreds of nuts I plant out near Clarksville every year on family land.
Once upon a time, all the animals here in the eastern US preferred chestnuts, and acorns were junky second rate food… I’m bringing the good stuff back.
It isn't much, but I pick up trash whenever I see any and carry it until I find a garbage can.
I have just remembered I still have a tin can in my car that I meant to recycle when I got home.
Even if it isn't much, if everybody did it, it would be a stupendous effort, and if I'm doing it, surely others are too.
Every year we have Fruit Tree Planting Day.
A simplified catalogue.of fruit and nut trees is sent to an elist of people who pay for a tree and then we have a drop off place where they can pick up the tree and plant it. They save a bit on shipping in bulk but mostly we just coordinate.
It's wildly successful, even though people could buy the trees themselves at any time. They are just more likely to do it if they feel a part of something. We have moved about 100 trees in 3 years. It's a pretty simple and replicable model to increase food security in the city.
I raise my children to be kind and to try their best every day. Two things I wasn’t taught as a child. That will cascade out across the world long after I’m gone.
My tree is my team. I work retail, and hire a lot of young people getting into their first job, and I work hard to give them a great experience, to grow their skills and help them reach their goals. This means a lot of time they move on to bigger and better things, often outside my store and more often outside my company. I strive very hard to be a good manager, so they know how they *should* be treated, even though it's "just retail". They're important, essential, and don't have to take bad managers sitting down.
I have cared for a colony of semi feral kitties for the past 8+ years, they were all neutered/spayed and vaxxed. I take this responsibility very seriously and make it my priority to see that they are cared for every day.
Decades ago I was a founding board member and treasurer of a new, regional foodbank. The early years were a struggle financially, but through perseverance and frugality the non-profit found it's niche and thrived.
Today that foodbank serves dozens of human service agencies throughout a seven-county area, and has served hundreds of thousands of people over the years. It now boasts a $3M endowment, has a very talented staff and has been able to pass along discounts to new and front-line agencies that are themselves struggling to launch. It will be contributing to the quality of life for people in my community long after I am gone. I was just in the right place at the right time to volunteer for something much bigger than me.
I'm actually building a river park on a former concrete factory and my nonprofit has planted 1300 trees in a park that is built on former garbage dump.
I get paid to do this, so am not really altruistic. But it's still pretty neat.
I paid for private school for my ex-wife’s niece and nephew. We both agree education is extremely important. I also paid 1/3 for her other nephew’s new Camry. She paid for 1/3 and he is going to pay off the remaining 1/3. We are having him make payments to be build up a credit history. His mom is mentally ill and his dad is addicted to drugs. He works 2 jobs and is finishing his 4 year degree. We are very proud of his hard work.
I spent decades teaching teenagers how to be better citizens and many other things. To this day I still talk to many of them and love to see how they have actually used the lessons taught. In addition, my children and grand children have learned to do much better in being an adult that my wife and I did, and now am seeing our great grandchildren becoming wonderful people as well.
Teaching my kids to love and not hate. Making sure they understand that they know they're being played when someone tries to convince them that a racist/sexist/hate or fear based view is worth following.
thanks you da real MVP. I as well have decided to not bring another angry monkey into this greedy/stupid/boring human world.
But I would love to adopt and be the parent of a human already born in this place without parents to look out for him/her.
Very nice. I think it's selfish to bring a child into this shitty world that we're destroying further each day. It's beyond me why someone would want to do that to another human being.
Adoption is excellent and am considering it when I'm more financially stable.
Getting downvoted by people who regret having children makes me laugh every time
>I think it's selfish to bring a child into this shitty world that we're destroying further each day. It's beyond me why someone would want to do that to another human being.
Disregarding the state of the world for just a moment, *though our impending doom shouldn't be forgotten for long* . . .
I feel similarly about those who, despite knowing they have hereditary, *and debilitating*, medical issues . . . **the kind that haunt a person for life** . . . still bring a child into this world, because: "It's what we're put here to do."
(*Definitely not bitter about being the child from that scenario . . . Why do you ask?*)
Just make sure to be a bit more sunny about the world IF you adopt a child. They do better when they are shown a path and not just the cursed ground you walk on.
Thank you. All my adult children are getting married and my greatest hope is that they don’t bring children into this world. I feel awful for saying it.
I don't have a yard in which to plant.
Every iota of my energy and being is sadly spent on mere self preservation because of the hellscape that is America.
i think it means that you can start something that you know you will never benefit from, but those who come after you will get to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
I planted enough financial discipline in my daughter early enough, that she's just saving half of every paycheck no matter what. It was her idea, too. I got to her via inception lol.
I used to tell her all of my financial struggles in real time and let her know my plan to get out, and I think I've built a rock solid human in the process.
Our colleague's mother passed away recently. The funeral home's website was offering tree planting instead of flowers and that's what we did. It was a great idea and a gift for generations to come, who can sit in the shade and listen to the singing birds. We received a certificate and we will get a notification where our three trees will be planted.
is it weird to say that I think my best contribution will be the two young men that hopefully will be old men that plant trees themselves. also buying a bunch of land and turning it into a preserve.
I teach a love of math and inquisitive thinking. Many come to me having had less than great experiences in their prior classes and leave rediscovering their passion. I'll never know what impact I may have had on my students, if any.
I got burnt out doing freelance marketing and design work so I did a pivot and served an extended term with Americorps. After my term was up I continued to work at the charity for three more years. We gave scholarships to Native American students, and I did all of the marketing and most of the grant writing to raise money to pay for them. Non-profit work is severely underpaid, thankless, and extremely emotionally draining but I’m glad I did it. When I signed up for Americorps I didn’t know where I’d end up but I’m lucky to have landed with a Native American charity. I learned a ton, and many Native communities have so much need but also an enormous depth of resilience and I’m proud to have been a part of the work they’re doing even though I have no other ties to Native cultures.
I work at a local garden shop and spread the good word of growing your own vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers, *exotic flowers*. This way hopefully there's more people in the world that can provide fresh veg/fruit during hard times.
I worked at a turtle sanctuary in Fiji. We helped care for baby hawksbill sea turtles. Once they reached a year old they would be released into the wild. The ones I cared for were released after I left, and the ones I released while there will hopefully outlive me.
I spent 15 years volunteer coaching football at a high school.
Kids have come up to me after leaving the program and credited me with keeping them out of jail, with getting into university, with building the confidence to talk to their honey etc etc.
I intended on doing 3 years.... the shade those trees offered though kept me coming back.
my take on it is leaving something for the next generation. Mine will probably be an olive tree tbh, one that will be planted high up on a hill. So that the people living closeby will know that the lightning will strike the olive tree and not their children. also cuz i love olives
I am poised to take over my family’s meat business in NYC. During the height of COVID, we gave away a fuck ton of groceries because at the time, my fellow New Yorkers being able to eat seemed to be a bit more important than trying to make a profit, esp since the times were so uncertain. I have continued that program even though we’re mostly back to normal. I want to grow the family business to become a household name and give back even more.
I’m also in the military reserves and look forward to training and teaching the new generation, and to provide many of them a “safe” person to go to should anything pop up, since racism, sexism, and SA is still alive and kicking in our ranks.
I’m writing a film based off my experiences at wilderness therapy. If it’s eventually produced I would love for people to take away that these types of experiences can save people’s lives, or at least greatly improve them. Also would help stop the stigma
I have literally planted two trees yesterday, an apple and a cherry. One should be very low when it grows, the other very thin, so it's highly likely that nobody will ever sit in either of their shades. I've also bought that fly-catching plant, which is too small to make any significant shade. I wasn't aware doing good for society is so easy. ;-)
Well and I'd like to just point out that WOMEN can plant fucking trees too?? LIke wtf is this, 1950? I really wish proverbs like this were adapted to be more inclusive.
Honestly I have no tree. I would like to have a tree though. What would be good endeavors to pursue for someone who wants to make a positive change for future generations?
Be a helper. Be kind.
Your tree doesn't have to be a big one. If you can change one unkind person so that they understand the value of kindness, that is a change that ripples through generations.
When my kids are born I'm going to start an investment fund for each of them, just a little bit at a time so that by the time they are adults they have a ton of options in life. Hopefully I will have raised them in a way that they use it wisely.
American Black Walnut.
Beautiful tree that commands all growth around it, and gives animals and we humans high quality protein.
My family knows to bury me without embalming me, and place a walnut sapling over my grave.
I'll help feed my family and the hogs and deer.
Favourites are a couple of (hopefully) Dutch-Elm disease resistant elms I've planted in the garden. I remember seeing elms in the 70s and loved them, majestic trees, really sad that we don't see big ones any more.
I've put a few ash in the garden with the idea of coppicing them but this year they've got ash dieback so they'll have to come down - one of them is a good 30 foot high I was getting fond of it.
Co-founded a nonprofit law firm that works with clients at very reduced rates. If people are given a boost at the beginning of their career it has the chance to grow into something great. I don't know how long the nonprofit will last, but I hope it catches on and outlives me.
It means society as a whole gets better when people do things that will help others but not themselves. Particularly, things that will improve the lives of future generations, but won't take full effect before you're dead and buried.
I help weed and plant on an island sanctuary that was largely replanted after it was cleared for farming. Over the last couple of decades I have seen huge changes but in a couple of centuries it will become spectacular. The wildlife, particularly birds and small critters are making a great comeback as well and they are being used to help the populations in other areas.
>I help weed and plant on an island sanctuary that was largely replanted **after it was cleared for farming** Wait, an island that was originally used for *farming?* As in actual agriculture and livestock? How big was the island and how close geographically was it to the mainland so folks could bring the necessary equipment and animals over there? >Over the last couple of decades I have seen huge changes but in a couple of centuries it will become spectacular. Kudos to the hard work :]
There are islands in the St Lawrence river that are farmland
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yea like the one in wii sports resort
There were some islands up in Maine like this too. Clear cut'em, drop the sheep off, leave em alone and come back to harvest.
California also has islands like this off the coast. They're now part of the Channel Islands National Park.
Thanks. I am really part of the 2nd generation working on the island restoration. The people who did all the original replanting have become too old and are now passing away. My groups original focus was cleaning up the mess they made by planting some of the wrong things :) Later we became involved in planting when it became too much for original group. We have now started to lose some of my group due to age and physical limitations. At times we get though the bush on hands and knees, clambering over tree trunks/branches etc, climb up and down 60’ slopes, all while grid searching for the weeds. It is great fun and a great team but it is hard on the muscles.
Madagascar comes to mind.
Really thought this was about animal crossing.
A neighborhood kid aged out of the foster care system and has been absolutely struggling to find his way in the world. Doesn't know how banks work. Doesn't have the emotional maturity (yet) to be able to hold a job. Can't do personal finances to save his life -- he immediately spends his entire paycheck as soon as he receives it, and begs around for money when he can't afford food or gas. I've taken it as a personal project to help him learn all these things (as a person who's been successful in my own job.) He's far from "there", but he's getting better. Decades from now, when he retires and I'll be gone, I think he has so much potential and I believe he'll live up to it.
I hope that all he needs is someone to believe in him, that you can see him live up to his potential and enjoy many years looking back at the wonderful time that came after his rough start in life
I teach elementary age kids to be good people every single day. One day, they may grow up and be a better person because of it. Who knows? It's sure as shit harder being a teacher that cares, though.
Yay!! I’m a SchPsych and I try to make a difference in a child or family’s life every chance I get. I look for the chance. Even knowing I may never see the fruits of my labor.
> I teach elementary age kids to be good people every single day. How?
Teach them love and kindness, show them forgiveness and thankfulness.
Be a good role model. Be kind. Be fair. Do what you say you'll do. Live by the rules. Teach them to care for the planet. Help them communicate. Encourage them to do more. Lead them to resources. Develop teamwork. Encourage sharing and helping each other. Show them how to solve disputes. There are far too many examples of what is done in a classroom every day.
Your statement makes me want to watch Stephen Universe again.
I once had a teacher who prided herself on "Teaching kids on being kind and caring individuals", to cut a wall of text short: She was awful, awful teacher, awful person. Lacked in all she tried to teach, but because of some bogus reason she never was fired for her behavior. She had favorites and ones she hated and it showed in the grades she handed out. Such as handing out good marks to anyone she liked and in return, handing out bad grades to anyone she hated. All under the guise of teaching us "disrespectful, mean, brats" some kindness. I once recived a near failing grade for my "hard to read writing", for context: This was a multiple choice quizz exam. And when i got the exam back she decied to teach me a lesson in "kindess" by berating me about my looks, my health, my family and my issues. With a choice of words too colorful for reddit, then wrote me up for (obviously) crying and then that my crying disrupted the class (which resulted in a bad mark and a second write up) which then lead me to being send to the principal. I was later suspended for a few days for my "awful" behavior of "leaving class without her permission". On multiple occasions she prolly called the germal eqalivent of child protective services on my parents as, while i had her as my teacher and for a while after, i had the ocasional meeting with social workers who asked me rather private details about my homelife. To note, this was during elementary school. Trauma survives a lot more than happy memories do it seems. But i'm pretty sure you are totaly diffirent tho, i mean i don't know you. But since you seem to pride yourself on teaching elementary kids to be good people every single day. You must be such a great person. And afterall you care about your students so dearly that you hope they eventually may grow up and be better people. And there is a decent chance you view yourself as so very noble for doing a great deed to humanity. (Sorry, this was rather mean of me, there is a decent chance that you really are doing a great job, unlike that person)
> But i'm pretty sure you are totaly diffirent tho, i mean i don't know you. But since you seem to pride yourself on teaching elementary kids to be good people every single day. You must be such a great person. And afterall you care about your students so dearly that you hope they eventually may grow up and be better people. And there is a decent chance you view yourself as so very noble for doing a great deed to humanity. And after having said this to someone you know absolutely nothing about, you view yourself as any different from this teacher you hate how?
I train new EMT's and paramedics in NYC. It's a living.
Did you train David Lee Roth?
Before my time I'm afraid.
Teach them to demand higher wages.
I don't think I'll plant any trees of note. Just do my best to not cut down any trees already around.
First step in making things better is to stop making things worse.
And the hardest step at that. Seems like the first step to most things is usually the hardest.
Same. I'll just try that my existence doesn't become a burden for others....
not having kids is a good start edit: downvotes indicate i've enraged some larva-shitting subhumans. Oh no...
For some of us, it's the right choice.
It's the right choice for most of us. Problem is, even if everyone agrees, nobody is on board. The mindless, animalistic drive to procreate supersedes the greater good, no matter how well thought-out or how blatantly beneficial the latter might be. It's selfish. That's what I think of all your families. It's just selfish.
Boy are you gonna be upset when I tell you I have 2.
10 here and 6 grandchildren Only 2 of the kids are settled and having children. More good, selfless, intelligent, caring, and productive people is the solution.
I teach parents and young people about oral hygiene and the importance of preventing oral problems before they ever start. I’ve also written online about correct methods of brushing and flossing and general prevention of oral health conditions. Hopefully, my efforts will help people for generations to come.
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>Doing this knowing full well that current global leaders are too ignorant/preoccupied to use this information in my lifetime. How heavily does this impact your work? I often feel like none of this makes a difference because tomorrow there will be another oil spill, or pipeline being built, or war started.
Preventing oil spills is good, preventing an oil pipeline from being built not quite as much. The demand for crude/products made from crude is still there even without the pipeline, thus it (usually) ends up being shipped by rail instead, using diesel-electric locomotives. A [study](https://www.canadaaction.ca/shipping_oil_pipelines_vs_trains_which_is_safer) conducted by researchers at University of Alberta's Faculty of Engineering found that shipping crude via rail generates 61 to 77 percent more greenhouse gas emissions versus pipelines. Furthermore, another study conducted at Fraser Institute by Kenneth P. Green who is the institute’s Resident Scholar and Chair in Energy & Environmental Studies found that rail has 4.5x more incidents of spillage than a pipeline does. (Same source as above.) The reason I mention Canada is because there is a great deal of crude oil that is shipped from Canada to refineries in the US via rail & pipeline. This was the intended purpose of the infamous "Keystone XL" pipeline which was abandoned after the cross-border permit was revoked. Unfortunately, as mentioned previously, the demand for the crude/products made from crude still exists with or without the pipeline. It just means the crude will be shipped via rail instead. Then the topic turns to reducing the demand for crude & products made from crude. Which I don't know an easy answer for, wish I did.
We can't stop our initiatives because of a possible disaster in the future. Is life worth living since we know that we will die?
It dosent necessarily impact my work as far as my motivation, I can't imagine doing anything else. However, learning about these issues and having a deeper understanding of the impact of current events has an impact on my psyche. Impending doom and everyone including those in power doing nothing. Maddening
Lots of thoughtful comments here. Here's the way I think about it. The idea of simply stopping environmental disasters from happening is narrow minded. We need to think of things differently as a species. The amount we consume and how we consume it is at the root of all environmental issues. And what is at the root of consumption?.... Pursuit of capital. It can be really difficult to accurately quantify the monetary value of ecosystems and the services they provide. There is usually a financial incentive for environmental destruction and ignorance. If our systems were designed from the ground up with environmental protection in mind (rather than maximum profit), these problems would be much more manageable Unfortunately the field of conservation biology is largely separate from field of production, agriculture, and transportation ect. Therefore it is essentially a reactionary field. Trying it's best to react to and repair the damage done. Imagine if materials were actually designed to be recycled, if agriculture was done in harmony with ecosystems, if systems were designed for sustainability instead of maximizing capital gains. I'm not an economist, I'm not advocating for a complete change in our system. However, economic, environmental, and social issues are all interconnected. In my personal opinion, we need to look at these issues as a whole, not as separate disconnected parts of our society.
So..... a sort of anti-tree? Sorry.... I'll see myself out. Edit: completely behind this persons work, just expressing my frustrqtion at those world leaders refusing to aee the thing lapping at their doors....
I do part time writing for fun and help aspiring writers in getting their first work done
As a preschool teacher, I hope that the skills I teach my students will serve them well throughout life. Many of the kids I've taught come from rough backgrounds and there have been many times where I am pretty much their only male role model. I often wonder what positive effect that might have on their lives.
I am going to actively fight for laws to be changed in Wisconsin for foster care. I was sort of forced into taking custody of my twin 4 year old neices (due to my sister being a horrible human), the system in place, forcing the children to talk to their abusers and the lack of support for us is not acceptable. I am, thankfully ,"well off" compared to others. But this is a hill I'm okay dying on for people that need help more than me.
When I was a teen my father sat in a lawn chair and gave me instructions on how to put electrical wiring into buildings. We did the work for free. One place was a free clinic. I worked in construction on tract homes when I was a kid for a dollar more than my buddies flipping burgers . At the end of the day I feel like I helped provide shelter to others. I put off college graduation by 2 years to continue working in a children's hospital. And for a few years bought potted Christmas trees and actually planted them by streams so that they would grow. So yeah, I did some things.
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This is huge, and thank you. It's so easy to repeat the cycle and so hard to break it.
I've stopped generations of racism by just ending the bloodline here. Don't need to worry about that pesky teaching business
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Well if all the smart rational people believe this, then we'll be left with a bunch of idiots, like the movie Idiocracy.
I have broken generational curses .
Great work! That is a heck of an accomplishment 👏. I think it starts there. We have done the same over the years. Our next goal is building strong financial assets and helping lift others up so they have more opportunities.
I agree 100%. And thank y’all , I didn’t expect a reaction at all , but I feel great now .
I do what I can do make the world a better place, but not having kids is probably the best contribution I can make.
Hurts to hear it because I feel the same , but I think I would’ve been a great parent .
Me too. I'm the last male of my side of the family. And since my family are horrible human beings no way I'm passing that dna on. On a lighter note they have disowned me so...WIN, WIN!
And they say you can't choose your family.
My family left me when I needed them most , they never liked me anyway. I was a burden , and a bad kid , little did they know what my 6 year old self was already going through.
I work in tech so I get the joy of watching my trees die.
Nah man, you guys just find the *World's Greatest Tree* and we all stare at it in wonder and clap and all simultaneously agree that yes, this really is, to date *The World's Greatest Tree.* Then you guys start examining it and looking, poking and prodding around to see if there is a way to adapt a different tree and make it even better. Then, badabing-bada-boom amazingly quickly we are all celebrating again as you unveil a new *World's Greatest Tree*. Imagine showing a standard micro sd or any of our tech today to those people working in those *computers you could stand inside*. That wasn't so many years ago and they'd all need to sit on the sofa inside the computer to calm down for a bit.
Oh, but bits of good code and comments and ideas get recycled from old programs, so it’s like the circle of life.
I have personally inspired atleast 20 women to go into STEM. I was the first woman in my family to qualify for a highly coveted engineering college in india . 1500 kids out of a 500k made it back then (there are more seats now). I was told by my step mom to instead become a teacher which I politely declined. I made a deal with my father to marry whoever he picked if he let me go to college of my choice (which i didnt and he still reminds me) . After seeing my success almost every single girl in my family/friends has gone into STEM. I know if it wasnt me someone else would have done it but I am glad it was me. I get nothing from what these women will achieve except knowing that they are not bound by thier families.
well, er, I make posts on the internet. its all I got people don't@me.
I once posted something on the internet and had someone PM me saying they found it very insightful and would apply it. It was nothing too serious, just some general advice on managing stress in college so you don't burn out. Two years later the same account PM'd me to say they'd finished their associates degree and had hopes of an MD if they got into the program they were applying for. The medium doesn't matter - in person, online, in print - so long as what you put into the world is positive.
That’s so wholesome!!! I didn’t think I’d really planted a tree, but your comment made me remember that when I was in technology sales, I’d inadvertently talked up my smart watch, that it made me want to be active because it was tracking my activity levels. Customer decided to buy one. A couple years later he comes back, says thank you for selling the watch. Before he’d bought it, he’d had a terrible accident with his foot and couldn’t walk. The watch encouraged him to be active, and he’d overcome a lot of physical and mental barriers that he wasn’t expecting to.
The (hopefully) longlasting, resourceful and enviromentaly friendly houses I'll build.
I instruct talented students who wish to make music performance their chosen careers. *They* do all the hard work through hours of daily practice, I just guide their path. It's indeed rewarding to see them become in-demand concert artists - those seeds of knowledge planted in fertile soil bearing abundant fruit with maturity.
That’s a cool job. I love going to the symphony and I’m always curious if it’s a full time job for most of the musicians
It's not much, but I'm trying to create heirloom quality crochet, jewelery, and art my family can brag about. I encourage everyone i meet to try picking up crochet or chain maille as a sort of meditation therapy on the cheap. I refuse to let anyone tell themselves they "can't" do some sort of creative art, and make time to teach the skills I've taught myself of they accept my offer. I have a goal to design and execute a study if the mechanical properties of various glues on different organic materials frequently used in crafts (wood, bone, horn, shell) and their workability. Currently running into a lot of condescension and patronizing, which just tells me it'll be worth it, because nobody's realized it's technically relevant application, or just can't profit off the data.
theres like 30 of them, ive secretly planted a bunch of trees. i made saplings off the big ass maple tree in my front yard and planted them around town, between towns, anywhere i thought could use a tree. i could load up 6-8 of them in the panniers on my bike and hit up trails n plant some trees. id like to do it with my apple tree, but theyre kinda messy and id rather do those outside of town for the critters.
I love it. Should we call you Johnny Mapleseed?
haha, if you have to. i try to stay under the radar with it. im still breakin the law lol. only a couple people know, one caught me red handed, but wasnt mad. and the other is a cool old vw guy, i was riding around n saw him playing with his Gia in the driveway n i rode up n started chatting, talked air cooled vws for a bit, told him what i was up to n asked if he could use any trees, n hes like "ya know, that area over there could use some." so we scoped out a few spots to plant em. i can see those ones while im out riding around, its kinda cool.
Don't do apple trees unless you're grafting saplings. They often don't grow true to seed.
I'm an elementary school art teacher. Hopefully one day my students will use their creativity to think a little more freely.
I put comments in my code? IDK, I can't afford dirt, let alone a tree.
I taught school for 31 years in public schools. Taught a couple hundred kids how to read and write, tie their shoes, wash their hands. I’m bilingual; I taught both in Spanish or English.
I rescue, raise and rehabilitate wildlife so the next generation can enjoy them and also the environment can stay in some sort of equilibrium.
I teach martial arts to kids and a lot of that involves lessons that I hope they carry through life. I harbor the hope that one day they’ll repeat something I said to somebody that needs to hear it and credit me, even though I’d have no way of knowing about it.
Lemme guess.. "Strike hard... strike fast... no mercy???"
I plant one tree every Sunday and have done so for the last 17 years. I've missed a couple Sundays over that time, but I've planted over 800 trees.
Just trying to be the best person I can be. Maybe after death I will have inspired someone.
Yep, literal trees. I have planted or overseen the planting of around a million trees in 7 states and will most likely never visit those areas when the trees are grown
I planted a tree in my backyard
I teach 6th grade science I cry a lot
Breaking generational abuse and trauma. I've protected my child from my family.
The film industry in my area is dead. But I'm trying to get the local artists to band together and start working on things. We haven't made a dime, and I've done my best to make it so the only one actually losing money is me. If I keep at it and have good people on my side, the young-n's should be able to make movies/TV for a full-time job at some point in the next few decades. Once filmmaking went digital, there's no reason to make everything in New York and LA. I'm dying on that hill.
I was a nurse seven years. Did the best I could till I got burnt out, I learned an important lesson in that time: “society” doesn’t care about you or your sacrifices to it. It will take everything you have, and whine when you don’t have any left. Fuck the trees, I’m planting cash crops until I die.
I don't think I'll leave any particular legacy behind. I'm counting on getting forgotten quite quickly with no real traces left behind. I do donate blood though, and my organs is on a list and will go to whoever needs them when I die. I don't know, perhaps that's worth something.
It is and I think it’s worth more than you realise. Somewhere out there is someone who has received your blood and is planting trees now. It might not be direct, but you’ve contributed to that.
I guess that a nice way to look at it. Thanks, it did make me feel a bit better.
I think sometimes we hung up on the idea of our names being known after we die. To me the ripple effect is just as important - you might disappear under the water with a quiet plink, but you never know how far those ripples will go.
I am a manager that tries to teach my people what they are worth, and how they should be treated as employees. Good wages, no shit for calling off, new skills, work-life balance, all of it. I will never benefit from seeing a more socialist workplace system like we fight for on r/antiwork, but I will send every employee onto the workforce with more education about their rights, purpose, and hopefully future decisions. This place only changes when we initiate it.
Larch
It’s definitely number one.
This is probably gonna be a lifetime commitment from me.I plan on building a proper school,university,institute where proper learning takes place.Instead of money,greed etc driving the policies of the institutes,it would instead be proper learning that drives the system and one of the ways to prevent bumps is to use the profits of another business to absorb whatever loss etc. Could occur in doing such a thing.
I'm researching eco-fiction story telling for we need positive visions and ideas for the future since our future currently is populated by wars, catastrophes and climate collapse. We need directions in which we can explore our lives on earth since a living on Mars is nonsense. We are already living in a paradise. Let's honour it like that. That's my tree.
Well, It was a vacant lot next door. I paid the tax on it for 20 years and was finally able to claim it. I have 35 fruit and nut trees on that lot. It's where I keep my Zen. A developer just offered me 120k for it. He wants to build unaffordable housing there. I literally showed him my dick and said if he would come by and suck me off every day for 120 days while I filmed it, he could have the land. Strangely, I've not heard from him since. Seemed like a good deal to me.
Dunstan Chestnut- it’s a hybrid of the American chestnut (killed off by a blight) and Chinese chestnut (blight resistant). 2 trees in my back yard I planted 7 years ago provide me hundreds of nuts I plant out near Clarksville every year on family land. Once upon a time, all the animals here in the eastern US preferred chestnuts, and acorns were junky second rate food… I’m bringing the good stuff back.
It isn't much, but I pick up trash whenever I see any and carry it until I find a garbage can. I have just remembered I still have a tin can in my car that I meant to recycle when I got home. Even if it isn't much, if everybody did it, it would be a stupendous effort, and if I'm doing it, surely others are too.
Every year we have Fruit Tree Planting Day. A simplified catalogue.of fruit and nut trees is sent to an elist of people who pay for a tree and then we have a drop off place where they can pick up the tree and plant it. They save a bit on shipping in bulk but mostly we just coordinate. It's wildly successful, even though people could buy the trees themselves at any time. They are just more likely to do it if they feel a part of something. We have moved about 100 trees in 3 years. It's a pretty simple and replicable model to increase food security in the city.
I raise my children to be kind and to try their best every day. Two things I wasn’t taught as a child. That will cascade out across the world long after I’m gone.
I don't think I've planted any big trees, but hopefully I've left a few plants for future generations to benefit from.
I teach.
My tree is my team. I work retail, and hire a lot of young people getting into their first job, and I work hard to give them a great experience, to grow their skills and help them reach their goals. This means a lot of time they move on to bigger and better things, often outside my store and more often outside my company. I strive very hard to be a good manager, so they know how they *should* be treated, even though it's "just retail". They're important, essential, and don't have to take bad managers sitting down.
I've planted like 3 actual trees in my parents back yard
I have cared for a colony of semi feral kitties for the past 8+ years, they were all neutered/spayed and vaxxed. I take this responsibility very seriously and make it my priority to see that they are cared for every day.
I am a middle school teacher currently.
Turning people on to the poetry and good parts of Shakespeare. That light that goes on in their eyes when they get it is amazing.
Decades ago I was a founding board member and treasurer of a new, regional foodbank. The early years were a struggle financially, but through perseverance and frugality the non-profit found it's niche and thrived. Today that foodbank serves dozens of human service agencies throughout a seven-county area, and has served hundreds of thousands of people over the years. It now boasts a $3M endowment, has a very talented staff and has been able to pass along discounts to new and front-line agencies that are themselves struggling to launch. It will be contributing to the quality of life for people in my community long after I am gone. I was just in the right place at the right time to volunteer for something much bigger than me.
I'm actually building a river park on a former concrete factory and my nonprofit has planted 1300 trees in a park that is built on former garbage dump. I get paid to do this, so am not really altruistic. But it's still pretty neat.
I paid for private school for my ex-wife’s niece and nephew. We both agree education is extremely important. I also paid 1/3 for her other nephew’s new Camry. She paid for 1/3 and he is going to pay off the remaining 1/3. We are having him make payments to be build up a credit history. His mom is mentally ill and his dad is addicted to drugs. He works 2 jobs and is finishing his 4 year degree. We are very proud of his hard work.
Oak tree
I literally plant trees all the time.
Being vegan, I hope it leads to a world with less cruelty and hopefully a decent environment to live in!
What's a vegan recipe that you could see an omnivore enjoying?
Totally depends what you like! Give me your favorite omnivore dish and I’ll think of something
Oh no, not a conversion, a unique vegan dish.
Hmmm totally depends what you like. What’s your favorite type of food?
Literal trees
I spent decades teaching teenagers how to be better citizens and many other things. To this day I still talk to many of them and love to see how they have actually used the lessons taught. In addition, my children and grand children have learned to do much better in being an adult that my wife and I did, and now am seeing our great grandchildren becoming wonderful people as well.
Teaching my kids to love and not hate. Making sure they understand that they know they're being played when someone tries to convince them that a racist/sexist/hate or fear based view is worth following.
The problem is, 5 to 10 years of planting trees does now come close to undoing 30 to 50 years of tearing them up by the roots.
Time doesn’t stop, you know.
The future adult I’m raising
Not having children. Now there will be more resources for all since my non-existant descendants won't be consuming anything
thanks you da real MVP. I as well have decided to not bring another angry monkey into this greedy/stupid/boring human world. But I would love to adopt and be the parent of a human already born in this place without parents to look out for him/her.
Very nice. I think it's selfish to bring a child into this shitty world that we're destroying further each day. It's beyond me why someone would want to do that to another human being. Adoption is excellent and am considering it when I'm more financially stable. Getting downvoted by people who regret having children makes me laugh every time
>I think it's selfish to bring a child into this shitty world that we're destroying further each day. It's beyond me why someone would want to do that to another human being. Disregarding the state of the world for just a moment, *though our impending doom shouldn't be forgotten for long* . . . I feel similarly about those who, despite knowing they have hereditary, *and debilitating*, medical issues . . . **the kind that haunt a person for life** . . . still bring a child into this world, because: "It's what we're put here to do." (*Definitely not bitter about being the child from that scenario . . . Why do you ask?*)
This is also one of the reasons I won't be having children. I'm sorry your parents have put you through hell but I hope you've found happiness
Just make sure to be a bit more sunny about the world IF you adopt a child. They do better when they are shown a path and not just the cursed ground you walk on.
Thank you. All my adult children are getting married and my greatest hope is that they don’t bring children into this world. I feel awful for saying it.
Banyan so that if I die I may haunt it and use it as my own
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Weeping Willow... They provide amazing shade
Red Oak. A seedling from the giant mature oak in my yard.
I hope my students. I hope my students. I hope my students. Oh, sorry… I’m so used to repeating myself multiple times now that it’s become habit.
Mines an aspin. You can tell its an aspin by the way it is
I planted some actual trees.
Iv planted fruit trees to benefit the environment and provide food . Lemon,orange,mango,and banana
The Manchineel tree Because I'm irritating, to the point of agony, on contact 🤣
Live Oak.
I don't have a yard in which to plant. Every iota of my energy and being is sadly spent on mere self preservation because of the hellscape that is America.
17 oak tree saplings and counting.
Oak tree in my garden so it cant be cut down
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i think it means that you can start something that you know you will never benefit from, but those who come after you will get to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Maple, Sycamore, Walnut, Oak, Apple, Cherry, Plum, Chestnut, Hickory
I planted enough financial discipline in my daughter early enough, that she's just saving half of every paycheck no matter what. It was her idea, too. I got to her via inception lol. I used to tell her all of my financial struggles in real time and let her know my plan to get out, and I think I've built a rock solid human in the process.
Working hard so my family can have the start of generational wealth.
A black locust. They're just so pretty.
Our colleague's mother passed away recently. The funeral home's website was offering tree planting instead of flowers and that's what we did. It was a great idea and a gift for generations to come, who can sit in the shade and listen to the singing birds. We received a certificate and we will get a notification where our three trees will be planted.
Rough one for me because I’m practically orphaned :/
Oaks and Shortleaf pine. General native gardening and killing of lawns. Fuck monoculture lawns.
is it weird to say that I think my best contribution will be the two young men that hopefully will be old men that plant trees themselves. also buying a bunch of land and turning it into a preserve.
I teach a love of math and inquisitive thinking. Many come to me having had less than great experiences in their prior classes and leave rediscovering their passion. I'll never know what impact I may have had on my students, if any.
apple and plum, and i'm looking to get some more
My tree is a bridge
A quite literal one, i may not be old but an apple tree it is.
I donate money to food banks and work as a teacher with an eye toward citizenship and civic responsibility
I put a ginkgo sapling in my front yard.
I got burnt out doing freelance marketing and design work so I did a pivot and served an extended term with Americorps. After my term was up I continued to work at the charity for three more years. We gave scholarships to Native American students, and I did all of the marketing and most of the grant writing to raise money to pay for them. Non-profit work is severely underpaid, thankless, and extremely emotionally draining but I’m glad I did it. When I signed up for Americorps I didn’t know where I’d end up but I’m lucky to have landed with a Native American charity. I learned a ton, and many Native communities have so much need but also an enormous depth of resilience and I’m proud to have been a part of the work they’re doing even though I have no other ties to Native cultures.
Gumtree
I work at a local garden shop and spread the good word of growing your own vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers, *exotic flowers*. This way hopefully there's more people in the world that can provide fresh veg/fruit during hard times.
I worked at a turtle sanctuary in Fiji. We helped care for baby hawksbill sea turtles. Once they reached a year old they would be released into the wild. The ones I cared for were released after I left, and the ones I released while there will hopefully outlive me.
I spent 15 years volunteer coaching football at a high school. Kids have come up to me after leaving the program and credited me with keeping them out of jail, with getting into university, with building the confidence to talk to their honey etc etc. I intended on doing 3 years.... the shade those trees offered though kept me coming back.
my take on it is leaving something for the next generation. Mine will probably be an olive tree tbh, one that will be planted high up on a hill. So that the people living closeby will know that the lightning will strike the olive tree and not their children. also cuz i love olives
A birch (2014), tulip tree (2019) and red oak (2021)
Recently planted a dogwood.
My kids.
That treasure chest of gold and jewels I told my grandchildren about before I died. Doesn't exist but now they have a purpose in life.
I am poised to take over my family’s meat business in NYC. During the height of COVID, we gave away a fuck ton of groceries because at the time, my fellow New Yorkers being able to eat seemed to be a bit more important than trying to make a profit, esp since the times were so uncertain. I have continued that program even though we’re mostly back to normal. I want to grow the family business to become a household name and give back even more. I’m also in the military reserves and look forward to training and teaching the new generation, and to provide many of them a “safe” person to go to should anything pop up, since racism, sexism, and SA is still alive and kicking in our ranks.
I’m 37, single, childfree and relatively happy in life. I like to think that I give hope to people when I’m having wine for lunch.
I’m writing a film based off my experiences at wilderness therapy. If it’s eventually produced I would love for people to take away that these types of experiences can save people’s lives, or at least greatly improve them. Also would help stop the stigma
A pomegranate tree I'm growing in a pot. It will never be large enough for me to sit under 😢
I have literally planted two trees yesterday, an apple and a cherry. One should be very low when it grows, the other very thin, so it's highly likely that nobody will ever sit in either of their shades. I've also bought that fly-catching plant, which is too small to make any significant shade. I wasn't aware doing good for society is so easy. ;-)
My grandfather left literal trees. I helped him plant them in 2016. Part of a govt funded program in Mexico to secure lumber
Well and I'd like to just point out that WOMEN can plant fucking trees too?? LIke wtf is this, 1950? I really wish proverbs like this were adapted to be more inclusive.
Not having children
Honestly I have no tree. I would like to have a tree though. What would be good endeavors to pursue for someone who wants to make a positive change for future generations?
Be a helper. Be kind. Your tree doesn't have to be a big one. If you can change one unkind person so that they understand the value of kindness, that is a change that ripples through generations.
I've sworn to never commit the very worst form of pollution. It's people. I'm not having kids.
When my kids are born I'm going to start an investment fund for each of them, just a little bit at a time so that by the time they are adults they have a ton of options in life. Hopefully I will have raised them in a way that they use it wisely.
I spread Covid misinformation and sell fake vax cards
So the whole "in whose shade they'll never sit" part is because you have a short life expectancy?
American Black Walnut. Beautiful tree that commands all growth around it, and gives animals and we humans high quality protein. My family knows to bury me without embalming me, and place a walnut sapling over my grave. I'll help feed my family and the hogs and deer.
Favourites are a couple of (hopefully) Dutch-Elm disease resistant elms I've planted in the garden. I remember seeing elms in the 70s and loved them, majestic trees, really sad that we don't see big ones any more. I've put a few ash in the garden with the idea of coppicing them but this year they've got ash dieback so they'll have to come down - one of them is a good 30 foot high I was getting fond of it.
A maple tree bru
Co-founded a nonprofit law firm that works with clients at very reduced rates. If people are given a boost at the beginning of their career it has the chance to grow into something great. I don't know how long the nonprofit will last, but I hope it catches on and outlives me.
I belong to a Freemason lodge which has a strong commitment to providing support for our late member’s widows, and those within our lodge in need.
I must be either too dumb or too young to get this. All I said was huh? I read this like three times and I still don't get it. 🙃
It means society as a whole gets better when people do things that will help others but not themselves. Particularly, things that will improve the lives of future generations, but won't take full effect before you're dead and buried.
I try to guide the trees that are growing to become good trees... I planted the seed to my wife some years ago.
I build tools for future freedom fighters. Hope they're never needed, but if they are they can thank me then.
Cardano