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A tree planting initiative
The roots of Driving Green

Heather Faulkner Special to Sun Media

June 11, 2008

Reading through The London Free Press one day, I came across an article about trees and their environmental contribution to offset carbon dioxide in automobile emissions.

Heather Faulkner

As someone who enjoys a clean environment and the luxury of my own car, I thought what a simple task... plant some trees to help clean up the environment.

Not long after, around the time our vibrant city was gearing up to be host to Al Gore and his 'Inconvenient Truth' messaging, there was another article about our wooden friends. This time the story revealed a concern over the number of trees (or lack thereof) that beautify our city and give it its nickname.

It's encouraging to see the annual growth of our metropolis, but is our economic strength now threatening our very identity as The Forest City?

Thus the idea of holding a large tree planting event took shape.

Putting the project into motion took some research, but in doing so, uncovered the perfect partner: GM Canada. This company has been working diligently to ensure we are all driving towards a greener future. From researching and manufacturing fuel-efficient cars and trucks, to perfecting hybrid models, to building the largest fleet of hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles and a unique design for an electric car, GM's dedication to the 'green' movement and mindset fit perfectly with this initiative.

With this in mind, I turned to Gregg Cullen of Ray Cullen Chevrolet, who immediately expressed his support for such a local event and was eager to get his GM associates on board, including Dale Downie, Ryan Finch, and Ken MacMaster. It was obvious that they all believed in the local community and wanted to convey the Green by Design vehicle choices available to Londoners.

In April, GM Canada was the first automaker and the largest company yet to be honoured by Ontario's Environmental Leaders (OEL) Program, which recognizes companies that surpass environmental regulations and make environmentally friendly activities a part of their operations.

Hearing about this honour undoubtedly validated my attitude towards GM Canada, and supported my optimistic opinion that we will indeed have a greener future ahead of us.

With the assistance of ReForest London, the Driving Green tree- planting project took roots. We are now ready for your help. So join us London, as we get just a little dirty to clean up the environment.

Please come out this Saturday, June 14 and help us reforest this fabulous city we all call home.

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June 14th, 2008 event schedule

NW corner of Veterans Memorial Parkway and Page Street

Saturday from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm

10:00 am Event begins

10:15 am Opening remarks and Green by Design vehicle walk through

10:30 am ReForest London demonstration and tree planting

12 noon BBQs begins at sponsoring GM dealerships

1:00 pm Tree planting complete

3:00 pm BBQs end

Visit our website at: www.DrivingGreenLondon.ca (see link) for a map of tree planting location

Heather Faulkner is Account Executive, Vivid Creative Communications

WEB: www.DrivingGreenLondon.ca

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