Rick Crouse for AMERICAN FORESTS,
Email:rcrouse@amfor.org, 386-447-9031, (c)410-299-2820.

Doug Fisher, Marketing Drive LLC for Scotties,
Email: doug.fischer@marketingdrive.com,
603/889-6101, (c)617-721-9575.

The dual successes of an innovative environmental education program and the planting of 1,500 trees by 350 volunteers in the inaugural year of the Scotties ReLeaf USA partnership has led to an expansion of the program in the Charlotte Mecklenburg area. Scotties ReLeaf USA is a partnership between Scotties facial tissues and AMERICAN FORESTS, the national conservation organization for trees and forests, who are partnering here with Creek ReLeaf, a watershed protection initiative, and area public schools.

The partnership will showcase its accomplishments and coming work at Charlotte Clean and Green 2010, the premier environmental and sustainability event in the Charlotte Mecklenburg region at the Central Campus of Central Piedmont Community College on Saturday, April 17th. Scotties has selected Food Lion as its retail partner in Charlotte and has created events in and out of store during the Earth Day time period. Scotties will also donate $1.00 to Scotties ReLeaf for every new Scotties Fan on Facebook in April, up to $10,000.

The next phase of the program on June 5th will take high school teachers and students to the site of the fall planting to map and measure the ecosystem services of the new trees using computer software CITYgreen which was introduced to them in the classroom last fall. Volunteers are encouraged to sign up at Charlotte Clean and Green 2010 for the second round of Creek ReLeaf tree planting sponsored by Scotties ReLeaf USA that will occur this November.

The Scotties ReLeaf USA partnership between AMERICAN FORESTS and Scotties facial tissue began in the fall of 2009 with environmental education and tree planting projects in the Charlotte/Mecklenburg County area of North Carolina.

AMERICAN FORESTS worked with Charlotte/Mecklenburg County schools to conduct a CITYgreen teacher training workshop attended by science teachers from ten county schools. The full-day workshop was held on Saturday, October 24th at the University of North Carolina Charlotte campus. Teachers received CITYgreen software and teaching material for use in their classrooms in a multi-disciplinary approach to improving science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) proficiency for their students. The teachers gained a hands-on, practical introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology, and the underlying urban forestry concepts.

The Charlotte area tree-planting project for Scotties ReLeaf USA took place November 21, 2009 along the Torrence Creek Greenway in Huntersville, NC. Three hundred and fifty volunteers planted 1,500 new trees to create a natural filter for the creek which flows directly to Mountain Island Lake, the primary source of drinking water for the city of Charlotte. The trees will improve water quality by creating a natural buffer to filter runoff before it enters the creek. The trees will also reduce erosion, help stabilize creek banks, improve area hydrology, and filter pollutants from the air.

The fall planting project was organized by Creek ReLeaf: a collaboration of several area groups including the Charlotte Public Tree Fund, Charlotte Mecklenburg Stormwater Services, the Center for Sustainability at Central Piedmont Community College, and the Sierra Club Central Piedmont Group.

Scotties ReLeaf USA is a program between Scotties Tissues and AMERICAN FORESTS. As an extension of the Scotties Tree Planting Promise (to plant three trees for every one they use in tissue production), it is a comprehensive commitment by Scotties to help improve the urban forests where their customers live and work.

Scotties strives to be a model for sustainability in forest management, growing and harvesting trees in an entirely sustainable way to make high quality tissue for American consumers. Scotties tissues use 100% new wood fiber, and all their products are certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). To learn more about Irving’s sustainable practices, http://www.rfptrees.com/english.htm.

The Scotties ReLeaf USA commitment is to be both a model of and catalyst for urban sustainability in America. Each year, Scotties will take the initiative to cities across America. Scotties and AMERICAN FORESTS will provide urban tree planting projects in select cities. These projects will be opportunities for students to get involved in tree planting in their communities.

Scotties and AMERICAN FORESTS will also provide state of the art environmental education tools. Schools and teachers in each city will receive CITYgreen software from AMERICAN FORESTS, along with comprehensive training, so that students can use the program to study the positive environmental effects of the trees they plant. CITYgreen can improve math and science skills as well as teach GIS (Geographic Information Systems) technology.

This year, Scotties ReLeaf USA is aiming its effort in four urban areas: Baltimore/Washington, Boston, Charlotte and Miami. In Maryland the program is partnering with Carroll County, MD public schools to teach high school students to use CITYgreen to analyze chestnut tree plantings that supported by the program. (For more, see the clippings article in the summer issue of American Forests magazine.)

For more on the partnership between Scotties and AMERICAN FORESTS, visit www.americanforests.org/scottiesreleaf or www.scottiesfacial.com/solution.aspx to learn about Scotties’ Tree Planting Promise and sustainability efforts.