Planting trees in Khao Yai

I spent the weekend in Khao Yai National Park with the Plant-A-Tree-Today foundation (www.plant-a-tree-today.org). I had done a one-day volunteer outing with PATT a few months ago, and was excited to get a spot on this weekend trip. So about 30 volunteers and PATT staff spent the weekend camping on the grounds of a fancy resort just outside of the park. On Saturday, we went "whitewater" rafting (I doubt these qualify as whitewater rapids, but okay...), followed by an awesome BBQ with plenty of drinking and socializing.

Then on Sunday the 30 of us volunteers planted 800 TREES! It was hard work and we baked under the midday Thai sun, but it was really fun. Also, stunning views of the surrounding mountains and forrests more than made up for the uncomfortable heat.

There are a million reasons that I love activities like this (it's environmental, outdoorsy, volunteer-sy, and I get to play in the dirt!). But one of the best reasons is because I always enjoy meeting awesome, inspiring people with similar interests. One guy, for example, used to work for some industrial company, but decided there was too much waste and now he sets up projects all over Asia in which he teaches companies to be waaaaay more energy efficient, reduce and off-set carbon use, etc. A really amazing guy. He was this big business dude, but then turned all tree-hugger and now is doing really amazing things to show other people that our businesses do not have to be run at the expense of the environment. I love meeting people like that.

About the 800 trees, though. Let's do the math. As Andy put it: It took 30 people about 3 hours to plant 800 trees, which will each take many years to grow and mature. Meanwhile, every minute of the day the earth loses about a football field of trees. Something is not right about this.