La Cañada Flintridge Country Club’s Green Pathways and Plant for the Planet Vision
Propelled by a sense of urgency driven by the climate crisis, we, as owners of a small business, started to explore how we could reduce our businesses’ carbon contribution to climate change. Wouldn’t it be great to contribute to the solutions, instead of being a part of the problem? The answer was a big, happy, “yes!” We’ve hired Ecomotion consultants, located in nearby Glendale, to oversee our sustainability assessments and to help guide our net-zero carbon project, LCFCC Green Pathways, which we expect to be ongoing over the next two years.
HOW WE’LL DO OUR PART – YET IT ISN’T ENOUGH
Working with Ecomotion, the club is investing in strategies and technologies, such as solar panels to replace the use of extracted carbon fuels; use of reclaimed water to irrigate the course (already in place), and various other waste reduction pathways, which will reduce our club’s footprint by more than 50% just with the solar array – our goal? Net-zero.
But scientists agree that this personal approach, even on a large scale is not nearly enough to counter the effects of climate change.
SCIENTISTS, BUSINESSES, GOVERNMENTS, LEGISLATORS, ACTIVISTS ALL PLAY A ROLE – YET IT ISN’T ENOUGH
Climate scientists are working against the clock developing carbon capture large-scale models, and governments are working on land-use policies, legislation, and accords. First Nation activists are jeopardizing their lives by blocking oil pipelines. All to stop future carbon emissions. Yet to stop the terrible feedback loop of climate change, we must remove carbon that is already here. Meantime, the clock ticks.
What to do? What can be done? What can be done now to capture carbon?
ONE IDEA: NATURE’S BRILLIANT SOLUTION
In the forest of solutions, there stands a beautifully simple, tall, hopeful, green idea: Trees. Those lovely, swaying, shading, fragrant, life-enhancing trees are also nature’s carbon capture specialists, sequestering carbon for many years. With data from the Crowther Lab* and the Journal Science recommending massive tree planting and reforestation worldwide as a carbon sink solution, the idea has taken off. Or, rather, the idea has been firmly planted!
Planting trees, here, there, and everywhere is an initiative backed by the United Nations World Economic Forum and the United Nations Environment Program’s (UNEP) Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign – and we invite you to participate!
OUR IDEA GROWS
Eight-year oak tree. Isolated on white.
We’ve decided to use “out of play” areas of the club’s golf course to Plant for the Planet, and we’ve joined the United Nation’s Plant for the Planet Trillion Trees Campaign to register our progress and be counted in the effort. As stewards of approximately 113 acres of mostly wide-open land, otherwise known as LCFCC’s golf course, we’d like to be a small part of this beautiful solution. By joining this global initiative, our goal is to plant up to 200 new trees and join reforestations projects all over the globe – but we need friends and neighbors to help power the effort.
OUR CAPITAL INVESTMENT IN A BRIGHT FUTURE
The costs of de-carbonization are challenging for a small business. Solar panel installations can run close to two million dollars. LED tennis court light replacements are another $50,000. And that’s just the beginning.
HOW YOU CAN BE A PARTNER FOR THE PLANET AND HONOR A FAMILY MEMBER OR SPECIAL EVENT
We hope you’ll be inspired to help us grow our ambitious project to plant up to 300 trees for the planet by donating towards their planting and care. Each tree costs us a minimum of $250 dollars and requires irrigation, pruning, and care over its lifetime. The cost to sponsor a single tree is only $100. See our Tree Planting FAQ
WE INVITE YOU TO HELP TO PLANT A TREE IN CELEBRATION A BIRTH, TO HONOR A LOVED ONE, OR MARK AN ANNIVERSARY OR BIRTHDAY – SEE OUR PLANTING TOGETHER FACT SHEET
We invite you, our friends, family, members, guests, and community, to sponsor a tree or trees. Celebrate life and those you love, for nothing, is as beautiful as a tree and so vividly demonstrates a belief in the future. Each tree you sponsor helps us move one tree closer to Plant for the Planet’s trillion tree goal.
Please watch local arborist, Gary Knowles, talk about trees and our planet.
Together, we can imagine and build a healthy future for our mother earth and all her peoples.
Resources and Source Information
The Trillion Trees Campaign is Born
PLACES TO PLANT TREES RESOURCES
A personal Favorite, the Green Belt Movement in Kenya: The Green Belt Movement
City of LA Free Tree Program and Initiative
ORGANIZATIONS WORKING AGAINST DEFORESTATION
LEARN WHY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ARE THE BEST STEWARDS OF FORESTS AND AND HOW TO SUPPORT INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
Click here to read about Indigenous peoples as Forest Protectors
Get Informed: Read about November 2021’s Glasgow Climate Accord and Indigenous Peoples
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