More Coffee PleasePhoto/Text by Donna Malloy
Sandwiched between Perkins and the former Roadhouse Grille on Gulf-to-Bay Blvd., this camphor tree still stands tall and proud. The National Arborist Association, in 1975, recognized "this tree and commends those who had the vision and foresight to preserve it." Like the commercial says, "drastic times require drastic measures." And Starbucks Coffee Company is no exception. Starbucks' plan to close approximately 600 locations nationwide causes one to pause. Am I drinking coffee to accelerate my multi-tasking, and if so, at what price? With the Internet connecting us to a world of products, it's refreshing to know that we have multiple choices pertaining to our brand of coffee. The Arbor Day Foundation is such a choice. If you had the opportunity to purchase and drink a "delicious, rich taste from the shade of the rain forest" coffee and "with each cup you drink, you're helping to preserve our earth's precious rain forests," would you switch brands? The Arbor Day Foundation "inspires people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees." Last year, 28,575 Florida members of the Foundation planted more than 148,739 trees statewide. Besides supplying oxygen into the air, trees also keep our air fresh by absorbing carbon dioxide. In our lifetime, each one of us will be responsible for producing up to "4,600 pounds of carbon dioxide" in the form of burned fossil fuel emitting from our "cars, airplanes, factories and electric generators," according to the International Society of Arboriculture. The Society also states that "when a tree dies, it releases the carbon dioxide back into the air. The death of one 70-year-old tree would return over three tons of carbon to the atmosphere." To encourage the planting of trees in America, President Richard Nixon, in 1970, proclaimed the last Friday in April "National Arbor Day." In Florida, because of our planting season, our National Arbor Day is the third Friday in January. Our state tree is the cabbage palmetto, but you probably already knew that. "Tree Cities of Florida," per the Foundation, include the cities of Belleair and Dunedin. Belleair has been a participating member since 1990; Dunedin since 1988. If your city does not participate in the Foundation, you can individually join the Arbor Day Foundation for a small fee and receive either ten flowering trees or ten oak trees; free. Go to www.arborday.org for further information. Or, take the initiative and start planting your own trees. The International Society of Arboriculture recommends that by the age of forty, you should have planted 210 seedlings and 70, ten-year-old trees. For the coffee lover, you can become a member of the Arbor Day Foundation Coffee Club and receive their shade grown, organic coffees. "Delicious rich taste from the shade of the rain forest. This coffee is part of the 'Rain Forest Rescue Program.' With each cup you drink, you're helping to preserve our earth's precious rain forests." It's your choice. You can decide to multi-task by helping to save the Maya (rain) Forest, its medicinal plants, exotic birds, butterflies and moths, while sipping a cup of organic, rain forest coffee or you could just drink a regular cup of coffee, and at what price? In closing, let's pay tribute to Joyce Kilmer, who early on recognized the beauty and importance of trees in our everyday lives. Below is "the correct version of this poem," according to Miriam A. Kilmer, Joyce Kilmer's granddaughter, which was recently published in Nebraska City Magazine.
Trees
I think that I shall never see
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