More on trees

[Guest guest]

I had to post this because of our earlier posts about trees

 

ATHENS, Ga., Feb. 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- With the costs of health care

soaring and no solution in sight, we need to look hard at lower-cost

alternatives, like trees. Yes, trees. Whole trees. Green, growing trees.

Trees are strong medicine, says Kim Coder, a forestry professor with the

University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forest Resources. They provide

a psychological value not many people realize. " There have been some

studies dealing with hospital patients, " Coder said. " Some of the

patients had views of trees outside their windows, and others didn't.

Some had photos of trees by their beds. Those who had that natural

environment to look at needed less pain medication and recovered faster.

They got out of the hospital quicker. "

 

In urban settings where steel and glass and plastic and concrete are the

rule, other studies have measured the heart rates of people with and

without trees. " It's amazing, the physiological response people have to

trees, " Coder said. " With trees around them, people's heart rates

dropped. They felt comfortable and calm. " Coder said many retail

businesses take advantage of this psychological value of trees.

 

" Where there are trees, people feel more comfortable and safer, and

they're more inclined to linger, " he said. " That translates into more

money for the businesses. " That almost medicinal value of trees isn't

easy to measure. :We can come up with a dollar value for a tree for

insurance, tax and real estate purposes, " Coder said. " But it may be

worth a lot more than that. " Psychological benefits aren't easily

quantifiable, but they still have tremendous value for people who live

with trees. "

 

How do trees make people feel better?

 

A tangible, measurable part of trees' effect on people is their sound.

It's 'white noise,' or soft sounds that hide other, more stressful,

noises. " A car ripping past or a jackhammer is noise, " Coder said.

" Hearing the wind rustling the leaves covers up some of that bad noise. "

The green of the leaves seems to calm us, too. In urban settings with

hard lines and glaring sun, the shade and green and soft form of trees

is soothing, Coder said. But part of trees' value, Coder believes, is

less tangible. It's deeply ingrained in humans from our distant past.

" When people see trees around them they just feel that's where they

ought to be, " he said. " When I go home and walk through my yard, for

instance, I lose all of the aggressiveness and tension of the drive home. "

 

You can measure the noise a tree filters out, the cooling effect of its

shade, its real estate value -- even the volume of pollutants it removes

and the oxygen it adds to the air, he said. " But when you lose a tree,

you lose more than that, " he said. " Trees have psychological,

sentimental, historic and social value -- those things get tied up with

what it is to be human. " Coder wishes more people understood trees'

value. " From the 1890s to the 1920s, " he said, " people in Georgia

planted a heck of a lot of trees. Look around: many of those big, old,

beautiful, soothing trees around us are there because somebody had the

foresight to get them started. "

 

People now need to follow their ancestors' example, he said, and plant

more trees. " Georgia has a tradition of tree-planting that we need to

follow, for the sake of our children, " Coder said. " We need to invest in

the future. And planting one Arbor Day tree a year isn't enough.

Somebody needs to be planting a lot of trees. "

[Guest guest]

Hi Peggy,

Now I see my mistake. I thought I was replying to the pendulum forum

 

Love,

Elizabeth

 

 

rosequartz <rosequartz wrote:

 

I had to post this because of our earlier posts about trees

 

ATHENS, Ga., Feb. 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- With the costs of health care

soaring and no solution in sight, we need to look hard at lower-cost

alternatives, like trees. Yes, trees. Whole trees. Green, growing trees.

Trees are strong medicine, says Kim Coder, a forestry professor with the

University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forest Resources. They provide

a psychological value not many people realize. " There have been some

studies dealing with hospital patients, " Coder said. " Some of the

patients had views of trees outside their windows, and others didn't.

Some had photos of trees by their beds. Those who had that natural

environment to look at needed less pain medication and recovered faster.

They got out of the hospital quicker. "

 

In urban settings where steel and glass and plastic and concrete are the

rule, other studies have measured the heart rates of people with and

without trees. " It's amazing, the physiological response people have to

trees, " Coder said. " With trees around them, people's heart rates

dropped. They felt comfortable and calm. " Coder said many retail

businesses take advantage of this psychological value of trees.

 

" Where there are trees, people feel more comfortable and safer, and

they're more inclined to linger, " he said. " That translates into more

money for the businesses. " That almost medicinal value of trees isn't

easy to measure. :We can come up with a dollar value for a tree for

insurance, tax and real estate purposes, " Coder said. " But it may be

worth a lot more than that. " Psychological benefits aren't easily

quantifiable, but they still have tremendous value for people who live

with trees. "

 

How do trees make people feel better?

 

A tangible, measurable part of trees' effect on people is their sound.

It's 'white noise,' or soft sounds that hide other, more stressful,

noises. " A car ripping past or a jackhammer is noise, " Coder said.

" Hearing the wind rustling the leaves covers up some of that bad noise. "

The green of the leaves seems to calm us, too. In urban settings with

hard lines and glaring sun, the shade and green and soft form of trees

is soothing, Coder said. But part of trees' value, Coder believes, is

less tangible. It's deeply ingrained in humans from our distant past.

" When people see trees around them they just feel that's where they

ought to be, " he said. " When I go home and walk through my yard, for

instance, I lose all of the aggressiveness and tension of the drive home. "

 

You can measure the noise a tree filters out, the cooling effect of its

shade, its real estate value -- even the volume of pollutants it removes

and the oxygen it adds to the air, he said. " But when you lose a tree,

you lose more than that, " he said. " Trees have psychological,

sentimental, historic and social value -- those things get tied up with

what it is to be human. " Coder wishes more people understood trees'

value. " From the 1890s to the 1920s, " he said, " people in Georgia

planted a heck of a lot of trees. Look around: many of those big, old,

beautiful, soothing trees around us are there because somebody had the

foresight to get them started. "

 

People now need to follow their ancestors' example, he said, and plant

more trees. " Georgia has a tradition of tree-planting that we need to

follow, for the sake of our children, " Coder said. " We need to invest in

the future. And planting one Arbor Day tree a year isn't enough.

Somebody needs to be planting a lot of trees. "

 

 

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[Guest guest]

In a message dated 2/16/2005 11:16:18 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

rosequartz writes:

 

And planting one Arbor Day tree a year isn't enough.

Somebody needs to be planting a lot of trees. "

 

 

 

 

I don't know what it's like where all of you live but around here they are

pulling down trees to make room for more shopping centers, apartments, houses

and you name it. They seem to level ground waiting for buyers and it may sit

that way for years until someone decides to purchase it. It just makes me

sick!! I hate seeing this happen. Not only for the beauty of the trees but

the woods are homes for varieties of animals. I think here in New Jersey

there must be a new law that doesn't want one tree left standing in this state.

Remember that song " Put Up A Parking Lot " ? The only place we will see trees

is in a museum! Very sad.

Sharon