Celebrate Arbor Day

Today is National Arbor Day. If that's news to you, don't feel too bad. Even though Arbor Day has been around for 139 years, many people don't know much about it.

According to the 2011 Arbor Day Survey commissioned by Timberland, 76 percent of Americans don't know when Arbor Day is, 30 percent couldn't identify tree planting as the purpose of Arbor Day, and only 12 percent actually celebrate Arbor Day in any significant way.

Timberland, on the other hand, has taken Arbor Day to heart. The company has already planted more than a million trees around the world, and has pledged to plant 5 million more over the next five years--and you can get in on the action. Timberland is relaunching its Virtual Forest app on Facebook. Log on to plant a virtual tree, and Timberland will plant a real one in Haiti (up to a million trees).

If you're wondering whether planting trees is really worth the effort, the Enterprise Rent-a-Car Foundation, which is underwriting the planting of 50 million trees over 50 years in national forests around the United States and in countries worldwide, gathered a few facts about the benefits of trees in time for Arbor Day this year:

• One million trees can generate $162 billion worth of environmental benefits over 50 years. SOURCE: USDA Forest Service
• One million trees can absorb 1 million tons of CO2 during their lifetime. SOURCE: Carbon Day
• One million trees helps restore habitats of hundreds of species of animals, many of which are threatened or endangered. SOURCE: Arbor Day Foundation
• One million trees can provide oxygen for up to 4 million people in one day. SOURCE: Tree Canada Foundation

And like Timberland, Enterprise is making it easy for Earth-loving people to take part in Arbor Day by pledging to plant a tree (up to 50,000 trees) for Enterprise Facebook fans who commit to plant a tree of their own.

Even better, you can get directly involved in Arbor Day by grabbing a shovel and planting a well-chosen tree in your own community.

_{Graphic by Getty Images}

Also Read:

• When is Arbor Day?
• Today is Arbor Day; Go Plant a Tree
• Which Trees Offset Global Warming Best?
• Plant a Billion Trees: People Worldwide Pledge to Fight Global Warming
• Plant a Tree to Fight Global Warming