OP Note: It used to be €3 when I wrote this article but is now €10 when revisiting in Jan 2023. You now also get a little certificate with your purchase. They now have the facility to buy up to 100 Native Trees in a single order. New note for 2024. The cost of planting a single tree is now €15 and 5 native trees is now €55; both options with posted Certificate. They have a variety of options these days including one-off donations of any amount. Give what you can if you have the means, it's for a good cause!
Original Article
Did you know that you can plant a Hardwood tree in the West of Ireland from as little as €3? More would be better though. If you live in and love the West of Ireland or are concerned about the environment please read on....
I have worked with wood for more than half of my life and to be honest for years it never bothered me about where it came from or if someone was cutting the wood sustainably or not. Like most people I was oblivious and did not appreciate the real value of trees and wood.
Steep Learning Curve
Since starting my Woodturning business I was suddenly thrust into a world I did not really know about and as a result, a new found respect for trees started to emerge. I was looking around me on a daily basis for hardwood trees for my business and found very few, which bothered me immensely. Ireland used to be covered in hardwood trees once upon a time, over 90% coverage in fact. Granted, this was 10,000 years ago. Our current tree coverage is estimated at around 10% and we are supposed to have a government organization in charge of replanting 4 trees planted for every 1 cut down. What you see out there is mostly forests of planted softwoods which are cut when the trees mature (5 to 10 years) leaving an ugly landscape full of stumps. These are cash crops, used for firewood, fencing, non structural wood etc.
In comes hometree.ie .....
Hometree
Hometree is a volunteer organization that grows a variety of trees from seeds and once old enough are transplanted wherever a permanent position can be found. To date they have expanded from their original site and even bought small areas of land for the express purpose of growing new trees. Donations are used to buy new seeds and land suitable for tree planting. My explanation of what they do would not be as effective as theirs so go visit their website today and check out their message. Links at the bottom of this post.
Donation
For my part, I now donate a portion of each sale in support of this great endeavor and as of today I have 18 trees planted on my behalf and many more to come. Matt Smith from Hometree has kindly given me access to some pictures below.
Takeaway
The moral of the story here is that trees mean life for more than just our species and what we do now determines the state of our country and the world for the future. Don't leave it to the Irish government to take the initiative here, donate and become part of the solution!!!
If you would like to see what I make out of hardwood, please visit my shop
Update in 2024
I thought people might appreciate a look at a Tree Planting Certificate from Hometree. I believe I have donated somewhere in the region of 30 to 40 trees at this stage but I can't remember exactly. This is bigger than the one I got last year and again I think it is a very nice touch. I share not for ego but hopefully to lead as an example to others.
Ads are Going Soon
I used to run ads on my website but they were slowing things down and generally annoying everyone. I have since removed them in favour of the 'Buy me a Coffee?' button.
If you didn't use the links in this post but found it interesting or helpful at all, you could maybe use the 'Buy me a Coffee' link below and make a gesture that way. There's no pressure though it all counts and is always appreciated! My business isn't a huge moneymaker so I have to bring in supplementary income where I can. Thank You!
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