Self Storage Companies Plant Trees for Customers

Two self storage companies are planting trees in an attempt to cause reforestation of areas of the world that are suffering from deforestation, such as Haiti, the Amazon basin, and tropical rain forests around the world. Watson & Taylor Self Storage, of Addison, Texas, announced this week that it will work with Trees for the Future to plant ten trees for every new self storage customer to rent a unit at their facility in the month of August. Likewise, iStoreGreen of Brooklyn, New York, plants a tree for every tenant through the Nature Conservancy.

Watson & Taylor manages 40 self storage facilities in seven states, including Texas. The tree-planting effort is part of a partnership Watson & Taylor had made with Trees for the Future. The trees will be planted in areas that are experiencing high rates of deforestation and that are in need of reforestation. Trees for the Future plants trees around the world, but currently has projects in Burundi, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, India, the Philippines, Brazil, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the United States.

The Nature Conservancy also plants trees worldwide, and currently has projects around the world. But it is emphasizing its Brazil project at the moment. Its self storage donor, iStoreGreen, is located in Brooklyn, New York, and makes green living a company theme. In addition to planting a tree for every tenant, iStoreGreen uses green power, is housed in a recycled building, and offers sustainable packing materials to tenants, including biodegradable peanuts and clean reused cardboard boxes. iStoreGreen was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency last spring for its efforts.

The presidents of both companies have affirmed the importance of taking action to protect the environment. “It’s like dropping a pebble into a pond,” commented iStoreGreen’s owner, Jeffrey Sitt, in a press release issued last May, after the company was recognized by the EPA. “One little ripple will always reverberate into wider circles.”

“As the world becomes more aware of our need to be more environmentally responsible, we felt strongly that our involvement in this program is the right thing to do,” commented Watson & Taylor president George Watson in Monday’s edition of Inside Self-Storage. “Countries like Haiti are suffering enormous consequences due to deforestation and we’re certain we can help.”

Deforestation in Haiti has made the island country, which is still suffering the consequences of its devastating January earthquake, especially vulnerable to hurricanes, or even heavy rainstorms. Rains pounding Haiti’s treeless mountainsides cause mudslides that destroy homes and crops. A single storm can cause thousands of Haitians to die in mudslides. Planting trees on mountainsides helps to alleviate the problem because tree roots hold soil in place, preventing it from sliding down a mountain. According to Ethan Budiansky, the Trees for the Future Caribbean programs officer, deforestation is the source of many of Haiti’s problems.

“Almost all of the country’s problems -- natural disasters, food shortages, poverty -- can be traced back to rampant deforestation,” Budiansky told Newsweek in July.

It might be more accurate to say that poverty causes deforestation. Haitians trying to support their families have cleared much of Haiti’s land in order to grow subsistence crops, or to burn wood as fuel. With so many families left homeless and jobless after the earthquake, Haiti’s deforestation problem is likely to get even worse. Budiansky hopes, however, that by planting fruit trees, Trees for the Future can provide a few Haitians with a source of income that doesn’t require clear-cutting. Haitian mangoes, for example, can be shipped to the U.S. and sold in grocery stores. Mango and other fruit trees are just as good as any other trees at providing roots to help keep soil in place and prevent mudslides.  

Sources used:

iStoreGreen. “Comprehensive green initiative.”

iStoreGreen. “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognizes iStoreGreen as one of the nation’s leading producers of renewable energy.” May 1, 2009.

The Nature Conservancy.

Pereira, Peter. “A tree grows in Haiti.” Newsweek. July 16, 2010.

Trees for the Future.


Watson & Taylor Self Storage.

“Watson & Taylor to plant 10 trees for every new customer in August.” Inside Self-Storage. August 2, 2010.