Students in the Carmel Middle School Green Team student club educated themselves, their school, and the Carmel community by giving away 1000 free native Indiana tree seedlings. They also presented a workshop on how to plant trees, demonstrating how to do so while planting three large trees on school grounds. Download their tree planting handout by clicking here: Carmel Green Trees Brochure
One thousand tree seedlings were purchased at an Indiana Department of Natural Resources tree seedling nursery for a reduced cost. Being green doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.
Tree seedlings included Red Oaks, Flowering Dogwoods, and Norway Spruce trees, all are native to Indiana and hardy enough to survive our fluctuating climate.
Students learned the proper depth to dig the holes for the larger trees.
Youth from the Carmel Middle School Green Team plant the larger trees while teaching the community in a workshop on how and where to plant trees to assure best survival rates.
It was important to keep the roots moist until people could pick up the seedlings. The Green Team students wrapped the roots of each seedling in newspaper, wet it, and then placed each in a plastic bag.
Students learned all about proper tree care from the Indiana State DNR website. Lesson plans and educational information are also available at Project Learning Tree.
The trees were planted between the Carmel Middle School tennis courts and the CCS Plots to Plates community garden, and include two Tulip Poplars and one Red Oak.
Using the EPA Calculator, the students determined that the 1000 seedlings will capture over 39 metric tons of CO2 in ten years. Thank you Green Team!