meet the world's first mobile tea seller/ tree planter!

"He owns two sets of traditional clothes, a worn out shoe and a sanfa (a type of turban made from a long piece of cloth by wrapping around the head). But what makes this zealous personality even more interesting is his ghumti chai ki dukan (a movable tea stall). Wherever Chhotu sets up his tea shop, he treats that place as his home, which means he sweeps the area to keep it clean, plants trees all around his shop, and nurtures them till they show significant growth. He also maintains 10-12 chinkas (lower half of earthen pots or small plastic tubs hung on trees for providing water to the birds) around his stall."...read more about this incredible son of Mother Earth here.

pongamia seeds-the seeds of hope!

Janet hands them out as ViSeeding Cards

A little kids book comes with four of them to empower the future generations to heal their future.

Farmers are reviving their livelihoods by extracting biodiesel from them.

Scientists claim that they have the potential to meet all of India's fuel demands.

What, pray, is it?

The pongamia seeds, of course! We've chosen this as a tree of choice for our planting. it grows in almost all climatic zones, with almost no care; it is not grazed by cattle and sheep; it is used for making biopesticide, bio fuel and biofertilizer; why, it is also used for making medicines. This incredible tree has an incredible seed. The seed in encased in a hard shell that disintegrates upon contact with wet soil. But until then, it remains intact and snug, waiting for the right conditions to sprout.

And what a rate of germination they have!

The pics you see above are proof.
We planted about 300 trees in the rainforest last june. As is the case with nature, some of the trees never made it.
A year later, our volunteers dropped some pongamia seeds in the sites where the tree saplings had perished.
A few months later, with no human care or attention, these little green pongamia leaves greeted our volunteers.
All the sites where the seeds were dropped had pongamia saplings thriving and looking promising!
This little experiment has revived and bolstered our faith in the pongamia seeds!

Of Forests and Men

We and the forests are one. We've always needed them. And today, they need us. Take action, save the forests.

download our new poster. spread the green word. spread the tree cover!

let's plant trees

The coolest, greenest, fun-n-est children's book on tree planting is out - let's plant trees! Check out what makes this book so special and share it will all the kids you know, including yourself!

Spiders Fleeing Floods Build Mosquito Buffet in Trees

Malaria should have skyrocketed in Pakistan after the floods because of the huge amounts of standing water for mosquitoes to breed in. Instead, the flooding drove spiders into the trees. The trees are slowly dying because of the excessive webbing, but the spider webbing in the trees became mosquito traps that lowered the number of bites to human!

Story: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/03/spiders-fleeing-floods-build-mosquito-buffet-in-trees.php

Free Distribution of Bird Feed on March 6th 2011

You are all invited for the free distribution of bird feed at Burhani Masjid Complex, Gottigere, Bannergatta Road on 6th March between 10 am and 2 pm.

Kindly collect the bird feed and help bring sparrows back to Bangalore.

Thanks to Mohamed Saifee, Burhani Foundation and all you bird lovers.

treesforfree.org wins "ENVIRONMENT EARTH AWARD 2011" at the TIMESFOUNDATION NGO AWARDS 2011!!!

a big thank you to all tree loving volunteers, members, corporates, supporters and friends of treesforfree.org!!!

Free Farm

Located at the heart of San Francisco, California, a third of an acre was once the home of a church that was destroyed by fire in 1995. For close to 15 years the empty lot accumulated glass, plastic and syringes but today, in less than a year, it has been converted into an urban farm that has given away thousands of pounds of fresh local organic produce to the community. Moreover, the uniqueness of Free Farm lies in the intention to cultivate the spirit of volunteers and society by creating a microcosm of mutuality, simplicity, respect, generosity, and love.
"Doing things for free encourages people to share, it encourages people to be community, to be family. It provides people the chance to be generous with each other." --Tree, co-founder of the Free Farm.

janet in femina!

it is heartening to see the country's leading woman's magazine turning the spotlight on a woman and showcasing her real beauty-her inner beauty!

cutting trees is suicide!

when we cut a tree, we are cutting away our own lifeline.
while this simple truth is hard to explain to the "go greed" breed,
this poster appeals to those who wish to compensate for the loss.

Nov 1st. karnataka is born. treesforfree.org is born. Co-incidence?

We think not.

As a charitable body whose 'soul' mission is to green the state capital and its surrounding villages, we think this date co-incides for a very good reason.

To mark our 5th anniversary, we set off with 600 fruit saplings to kyvara, a village 75 kms from Bangalore. Enthusiastic farmers had dug pits on unused farmland which they wanted to convert to fruit groves. Their enthusiasm met its match in the form of two old women and a young mother and her little boy who'd come there with the saplings in tow, to plant trees on behalf of treesforfree.org.

The planting was blessed with rain before and after, but not during the planting.

Co-incidence?

Again, we'd like to think not.

It's almost as if the rain gods approved of the act. And reinforced the saying that "trees bring rain". The planting ended with a hot and simple rustic meal with the sound of falling rain in the backdrop.

The planting continues in 3 locations across Bangalore on November 1st. All tree lovers are invited. Call 9845449703 .

Happy anniversary Karnataka! Happy anniversary treesforfree!

treesforfree in gruhashobha.

gruhashobha is a leading kannada magazine for women (see the ad below the article:)

treesforfree coverage in the dainik jagran.

trust a treesforfree trustee to...

trees planted in a rainforest by treesforfree.

Blind tree love.

Late one night, after dinner, a treesforfree volunteer was walking his dog.

Along the way, he casually inspects the newly planted tree saplings, as he does on every walk.
All is well. On his way back, his gaze once again scans the saplings and suddenly stops.

A shady figure is uprooting a bamboo tree guard!

Very soon the unprotected tree will fall prey to a grazing animal or a restless kid and the tree will be history.

Dog and master rush to the rescue of the tree. As the pace rises, so does the temper.
The volunteer asks the man why he's uprooting the tree guard. The man is drunk and spews gibberish. This infuriates the volunteer to no end. Seeing no logic in talking to a drunk thief, the volunteer whips out his mobile and dials the police station. He lodges a complaint while the dog keeps the thief at bay. The cops assure that a jeep will the reaching the spot in a few minutes.

With nothing to do but wait, the volunteer and the red handed thief began an awkward conversation.

"The cops are reaching here anytime. "

"Let the cops come. Let anyone come. I don't care. I haven't done anything wrong."

"Where are you taking the tree guard?"

"I've planted a tree outside my house and i want this guard to protect the tree"

"So the tree outside your home is more important than the tree on the road?"

"No sir, i planted a peepul tree outside my home"

"What tree?"

"Peepul tree."

"You mean the tree that grows outside every temple?"

"Yes, sir the peepul tree."

The volunteer looks at the tree that has been deprived of its cover.

It's an exotic tree, a tree from another part of the world that wouldn't really benefit the local ecology, simply put-a useless tree. And certainly no match for the giant peepul tree, a divine tree, a blessing for mankind. Anger makes way for a sublime joy known only to a peepul tree lover. Hatred makes way for compassion. The thief suddenly seems to a be a knowledgeable fellow tree planter intoxicated by tree love.

"Are you sure it's the peepul tree?"

"Come with me and see for yourself sir. Come now..."

A smile breaks in the volunteers mind.

He looks around to see if the police jeep is anywhere in sight. He wishes it isn't and so it is. He asks his fellow tree planter to make haste before the jeep arrives.

Dog and master walk home happily.

Late at night the phone rings. It's the police. The volunteer explains that it's was just minor, not worth the cops attention and that he'd warned the 'thief' sufficiently.

The cops are satisfied.

The volunteer is even more satisfied.

Janet in Banaglore Beats!

dated17th July 2010.

Just another 'planting sunday'!

It's true that when you help nature, the forces of nature help you.
This planting proved to be a classic case in point.

For if it hadn't rained heavily the previous evening and if the soil wasn't softened, the volunteers would have had bleeding blisters and sore arms from digging 60 pits on hard compacted urban soil.

11 volunteers who were in town as part of an INspire-a program that helps NRIs reconnect with their roots- dug 60 pits and planted as many trees with overwhelming enthusiasm.

They toiled in the soil, braving red ants and broken glass pieces that unexpectedly nicked them, to get in touch with their roots (well, the tree roots) and their mother land(literally).

Amplifying the enthusiasm levels was a toddler, less than 2 years old, who planted a tree with his parents.

The toddler didn't just plant a tree in the soil. The toddler planted a valuable lesson in his fertile mind.