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Rick Steves Plants Trees to Make Travelers Carbon-Neutral
80,000 trees will be planted in Global ReLeaf Forests projects |
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Contact: Michelle Robbins, 202.737.1944 x203
Rick Steves Plants Trees to Make Travelers Carbon-Neutral
80,000 trees will be planted in Global ReLeaf Forests projects
Travel tour company founder Rick Steves announced this week that it will offset the CO2 generated by its projected 13,000 travelers in 2008 by planting trees with American Forests’ Global ReLeaf Forests program.
In a letter to tour members, Steves praised the wide-ranging benefits of travel, but pointed out that jet fuel releases climate-changing CO2 into the atmosphere. The company—Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door—he says, wanted travelers’ trips to be as carbon-neutral as possible.
“This week (after considering a wide array of options) we’ve donated $80,000 to American Forests to plant 80,000 trees for us,” Steves says. “In its lifetime, each tree, on average will absorb 1/6 of the CO2 generated by one person flying round-trip from the USA to Europe. Six trees multiplied by about 13,000 tour members in a year requires 80,000 new trees.”
American Forests’ Global ReLeaf Forests program plants native trees for $1 each in ecosystem restoration projects. The trees are planted in areas deforested due to fires, storms, disease, or human causes.
“We are delighted to be working with a company of Rick Steves’ stature,” American Forests’ executive director Deborah Gangloff says. “Summer is the time when many people travel, and we applaud Europe Through the Back Door’s commitment to making its tour members carbon-neutral—and its efforts to inform them about these critical issues.”
AMERICAN FORESTS’ mission is to grow a healthier world with trees. Our community-based initiatives help people plan and implement local actions that restore and maintain healthy ecosystems and communities. Our work encompasses tree planting, urban forestry, environmental education, and community-based forestry. AMERICAN FORESTS is on the World Wide Web at www.americanforests.org.
Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door travel company takes 13,000 travelers to Europe each year on organized tours. In addition, Steves produces the public television series Rick Steves’ Europe, which appears on more than 300 stations in 95 percent of U.S. markets. He is the best-selling author of Europe Through the Back Door as well as 13 country guidebooks, nine city and regional guides, and six phrase books. Steves also hosts the weekly public radio show Travel with Rick Steves, and pens a weekly newspaper column. For more on the planting program, visit www.ricksteves.com/greentrip
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