Planting Trees Saves Cash, Research Confirms
By Emily Sohn, Discovery News
Sacramento, CA (January 22, 2009)- Plant a tree: Save 25 bucks. Researchers in California have found that planting trees in strategic locations around your house can lower your summertime electricity bill by that much or more. The concept is common sense: Extra shade reduces the need for air conditioning. But this is the first study to use actual utility bills to nail down the details of where trees should be placed to help people chip away at their environmental footprints- and their budgets.
§
- According to the Center for Urban Forest Research, one tree returns an average of $70 in energy savings, cleaner air, better managed stormwater, extended street life, and increased property values.
- Well-placed trees around a home can lower air conditioning bills up to 56 percent.
- Windbreak trees can save up to 25 percent on winter heating costs.
- A study in Bismarck, ND showed that for every dollar spent on a tree it would give back $3.09 in benefits.
-SD Division of Resource Conservation and Forestry
"The Materials of wealth are in the earth, in the seas, and in their natural and unaided productions."
- Daniel Webster
