Your phone buzzes multiple times every day, alerting you to new emails just by using a tiny blip of electricity. Any important communication can be found instantly in your pocket. But, do Americans realize that more than 18 million trees are cut down each year so that they can receive paper bills?

As one of the largest pay-TV providers in the nation, DISH Network has millions of customers who receive monthly bills. Their customers “…were still thinking of monthly bills as a paper document,” says Shannon Picchione, DISH Vice President of Billing and Credit.“We wanted to change that thinking.”

DISH kept in mind that it wasn’t just about reducing the impact of their daily operations on the planet — they believe that reducing your footprint is one thing, but that also giving back is even better. Putting a priority on sustainability, DISH came up with an innovative way to incentivize healthier billing practices. They decided that American Forests would be the ideal partner to pursue these ends, and together we pledged to plant a tree for every one of their customers that switched from paper bills to e-billing during Earth Month 2016.

The drive was considered a win-win-win for DISH — they reduced paper needs, cut shipping costs and helped protect our planet’s future by planting thousands of trees. Picchione says that they were “very pleased with the response” from their customers, adding that “their enthusiasm made the program a success.” We at American Forests know that our partners certainly inspire that enthusiasm about saving the environment: On top of planting trees, DISH heavily promotes recycling and uses alternative fuel vehicles for their technicians, among many other eco-friendly pursuits.

With the support of DISH Network, American Forests planted more than 78,000 trees this year in Colorado, Texas and Virginia. These projects are helping protect some of the most biologically diverse wildlife areas in the United States. But, this was no one-off effort, says Caity Curtis, the DISH Cares Program Manager: “Planting trees and improving the environment around us will continue to be a priority for DISH.”