1.5-minute read

“Once upon a midnight dreary,
while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume
of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping,
suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping,
rapping at my chamber door—
“‘Tis some visitor,” I muttered,
“tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”

Edgar Allen Poe—The Raven

Of all the things that go bump in the night, what is the most hair-raising horror you can imagine tapping at your door this Halloween? A horde of zombies? A pack of werewolves? A coven of vampires? A gaggle of hobgoblins? Or—gulp—all of the above.

There’s no doubt that a spooky-season visit from creatures of the underworld would be pretty darn scary (especially those zombies). Do you know what’s even scarier? The year-round global impacts of climate change. And one of the greatest contributors to climate change is deforestation. Approximately 18% of global heating is caused by the loss of trees. That exceeds the CO2 emissions created by the entire transport sector.

We have two solutions to cool a rapidly warming planet—reduce emissions, or capture the CO2 already released into the atmosphere. But lowering emissions is not happening fast enough. In fact, atmospheric CO2 reached record-high levels in 2021. While other carbon capture systems are being developed, right now reforestation is by far the most efficient and affordable solution. It is considered essential to keeping the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

In addition to helping to combat climate change, planting trees addresses other major planetary perils, including pollution, species extinction, desertification, floods, poverty, and malnutrition. Trees remove toxins from our air, purify our rivers and water sources, serve as habitats for millions of species, bring revenue to local populations, and help us get food, fodder, and medicine.

Trees offer so many benefits for people and the environment that planting them is a no-brainer. Sorry, zombies. That’s why we’ve partnered with Tree-Nation to plant one tree for every print or e-book that we sell. Tree-Nation is committed to planting 1 trillion trees by 2050, and we’re glad to have the opportunity to pitch in and help with the transition to a sustainable future.

You can learn more about forests and the benefits of planting trees right here.

As always, thank you for reading with us, thank you for planting with us.

Happy Halloween!

FWP – No tricks—just trees.