Arbor Day: Celebrate the Tree

(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) - Helping the environment can sometimes seem like a daunting task, with worrisome issues such as global warming, air pollution and polluted water.

Fortunately, Arbor Day provides a simple and proven way to improve the environment for just about anyone.

Arbor Day was started in Nebraska on April 10, 1872, by a journalist and politician named Julius Sterling Morton, according to arbor-day.net . His efforts to improve agriculture techniques led to a position as President Grover Cleveland's secretary of agriculture, reports the site.

"Morton felt that Nebraska 's landscape and economy would benefit from the wide-scale planting of trees. He set an example himself planting orchards, shade trees and wind breaks on his own farm and he urged his neighbors to follow suit," according to the site .

His proposal for a special day set aside for planting trees and increasing awareness of their importance became known as Arbor Day in Nebraska . Nebraskans planted more than a million trees that first Arbor Day in 1872. It became an annual legal holiday in 1885, held on Morton's birthday, April 22. More of the history of the day from the Arbor Day Foundation .

The idea spread, and in 1970 President Richard Nixon proclaimed the last Friday in April as National Arbor Day, which falls on April 30 this year.

It's now celebrated in various forms across the world in countries including Australia, Japan, Israel, Iceland and India, reports the site.

Along with planting trees, people can honor Arbor Day by inspecting their trees for broken branches or evidence of disease or insect infestation. It's also a great time to consider how trees can improve shade, thus reducing the use of air conditioners, according to arbor-day.net.

Arbor Day can also serve as an opportunity to teach school children about the importance of trees through class projects, according to the Arbor Day Foundation .

The foundation says other ways to mark Arbor Day can include:

• Organizing a beautification project in a public area.
• Promoting recycling through a paper drive.
• Holding a tree trivia contest and giving a way trees as prizes.
• Holding a walk that showcases trees in the neighborhood.