Donate to Plant Trees
I’d love to plant a tree with my own, bare hands. But I live in an apartment in the city. So, for now, that will have to remain a pipe dream.
Luckily, there are dedicated people all around the world planting trees.
What follows is my short list of charities that will spend your money on reforestation, not on overhead. They will plant native trees where they are needed most, working with the locals, and they have a solid track record.
Donate
| Link | Location |
|---|---|
| Arbor Day Foundation | USA |
| Eden Reforestation Projects | Haiti, Kenya, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal |
| Mount Keyna Environmental Conservation | Kenya |
| National Forest Foundation | USA |
| One Tree Planted | Global |
| Reforest Now | Australia |
| Woodland Trust | UK |
How to Validate a Charity
Try not to give to a charity that spends more than 25% of donations on overhead.
The first question you might have is “How do I know these charities are legit?” And that is a good question. Don’t take my word for it. Do your own research. To help you, here are four great resources for researching charities:
Also, some charities (like Arbor Day) post their tax returns directly on their web page for all to see. That’s always a good sign.
Donate Passively
Plant trees by searching online.
Do you Google things a lot? Every time you search the internet, you generate revenue for a search engine. Why not pipe all that revenue into planting trees? If you use the Ecosia search engine, about 50% of the revenue you passively generate by searching online goes to planting trees around the world.
As a bonus, Ecosia cares a LOT more about your privacy than Google does.