“I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues…” The Lorax
The Lorax said “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
He would be proud of all the people who care, who’ve joined me in speaking for the trees, who’ve become Loraxes too. Are you one?
My name is Alana, and some people call me “a real world Lorax“. Like the Lorax in the storybook, I speak for the trees. I was actually awakened in my sleep one night with the words “Be the Voice for the Rainforest,” and started an organic reforestation project in the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil, where I was born, as a result.
Like many of you, I’ve worried about the future of the planet for our children, while having to figure out how to create something out of nothing. Stone Soup. But it’s finally turning into a beautiful soup, more yummy than I’d imagined! It’s been really good to focus on priorities, team up with organizations and spend the money I have on things that matter, that make a difference…
Trees. More and more trees. Thousands of them. Millions of them. Buying trees, and giving trees to people who can plant them in places where they will make the greatest impact, helping to support global cooling. We plant them in places where they make even more of a difference to the planet as a whole, than in my backyard.
Here’s why~
When you plant a tree in your back yard, hopefully, you will have picked a tree that is the perfect fit for your location. It won’t bust up the sidewalk, or your septic tank, or fall on your neighbor’s roof in a windstorm. It has enough room and nutrients to grow to full size. That’s our ideal – and I’m going to post a page here soon to give some guidelines about how to do just that – to plant trees in a way that’s good for everyone.
But did you know that planting trees in the tropics, where they grow fast and have unlimited space to stretch out, makes a bigger impact toward reversing global warming? They grow to full size faster and sink more carbon there. And, we can plant billions of trees on millions of acres of deforested land for small amounts of money that support small communities to become stewards of the planet, for just a few dollars.
And, I discovered that planting trees in the rainforest where I was born, was the easiest way I could find to back my beliefs with my money. So I started doing just that: planting trees in the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil, with the help of the people whose faces you’ll see in the banner below: Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith, Rickie Byars Beckwith, Marie Diamond, Katherine Woodward Thomas, Martin Dunkerton, and the Kids For Environmental and Social Action. Together, we were able to give 4,194 trees back to the rainforest last year, while supporting simple people who felt utterly invisible to the world.
Join us in giving trees to a rural community, while supporting affiliated organizations in the US at the same time. All this for just $5 a tree! Your gift will support the grassroots efforts of social entrepreneurs in the US and Brazil, as well as the NGOs and communities they serve. Our common goal is to reverse global warming, while supporting the people who have taken the initiative to sustainably harvest seeds, organically grow trees and supply organizations who teach subsistence farm families how to replant a rainforest.
When you sponsor $5 trees through Rainforest ECO, we buy native tree saplings at a fair trade price from our field partners, pay local labor to transport truckloads of trees to an NGO that oversees the planting and maintenance of these trees by farm families who are renewing their rainforest for the benefit of the entire planet. These “crowd funding” donations make the purchase and distribution of these trees possible, at no cost to the recipients. Rainforest ECObank representatives work directly with our NGO partners in the community who are focused on teaching organic, permaculture agroforestry in targeted areas of need.
Beyond that, we’ve even made this an affiliate marketing site, so that organizations can raise funds for their own work by sharing this call to action with their supporters. In fact, you may have landed here today, because someone shared their link with you. We’re happy to circulate resources this way, and help the small growers to stay in business, organically! We don’t need corporate partnerships like the big non-profits do, to make an impact. We can do this organically, with people like you making small acts of caring with us.
GIVE A TREE – GET A GIFT
Be part of the new earth-centered, gifting economy!
Give a tree to the rainforest with us, and receive a gift of thanks you can use. iGiveTrees gives you beautiful card images twice a year (December and April), and a whole year’s worth of uplifting and inspiring gifts to those who give trees every month.
FEBRUARY’S GIFT COMES FROM MARIE DIAMOND
Marie Diamond is a globally renowned transformational leader—featured in the worldwide phenomenon “The Secret” and seven other motivational documentaries—who uses her extraordinary knowledge of quantum physics and the Law of Attraction to help people transform their lives. Marie gives us 2 audio seminars: “Radiating your Light,” the first step before the Law of Attraction begins to work, and “Gratitude,” how to stay grateful even when things look bleak. www.MarieDiamond.com
If you decide to become a MONTHLY TREE GIVER, WE’LL GIVE YOU MONTHLY GIFTS!
12 months of giving trees to renew a rainforest = 12 months of receiving gifts to renew your spirit
You grow as we grow! Meet a few of the people who will be giving their gifts to our monthly tree subscribers -
JANUARY’S GIFT COMES FROM AGAPE MEDIA INTERNATIONAL
Michael Bernard Beckwith is the founder of the Agape International Spiritual Center in Los Angeles, known to millions for his appearances in the movie “The Secret.” He’s giving you the sound track “Adventure in Paradise” from his newest CD to welcome in 2012. “TranscenDance” is a totally unique, genre-bending collection of songs with his POWERFUL teachings set to undulating dance music composed by Madonna composer/producer Stephen Bray. www.AgapeMe.com
Rickie Byars Beckwith is the founder of the Agape International Choir. As a musical artist and co-writer with Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith, she is considered one of the most important voices in the Sacred Music field, performing at the United Nations, Lincoln Center, The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and many other top venues. She offers you a the song to open your heart – “Let It Be” performed live at the Michael Bernard Beckwith PBS Special: “The Answer Is You.” www.AgapeMe.com
MARCH’S GIFT COMES FROM BRAD YATES
Brad Yates is an internationally loved EFT Master teacher and hypnotist. A featured expert in the film “The Tapping Solution” (along with Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, Dr. Norman Shealy and Dr. Bruce Lipton), Brad offers an audio recording of a “Tapping into Abundance” teleseminar in which you will be guided through exercises – using both meridian tapping and guided imagery – to help you experience even greater freedom in your life. “Feeling Grateful” guided imagery (hypnosis) is an added gift to welcome the Spring. www.BradYates.net
APRIL’S GIFT COMES TO YOU FROM DEBORAH KOFF-CHAPIN
Deborah Koff-Chapin has been developing Touch Drawing since 1974 and has introduced it at conferences and graduate programs internationally. She is Adjunct Associate Professor at California Institute of Integral Studies. Deborah is creator of SoulCards 1&2 and author of Drawing Out Your Soul. Her artwork has appeared in numerous magazines and books. Deborah’s website, is a treasure trove of images, stories, e-cards and educational media to learn Touch Drawing. www.TouchDrawing.com
This beautiful EARTH DAY CARD SET is available as a download to print for personal use.
“A tree was planted in the Brazilian rainforest – Mata Atlantica – by the person who gave you this card.”
is printed on the back of the card.
KATHERINE WOODWARD THOMAS
Katherine Woodward Thomas is the national bestselling author of Calling in “The One”, a licensed psychotherapist and the co-creator and co-leader of the Feminine Power transformative courses for women. She is the co-creator and co-host of the highly acclaimed Women on the Edge of Evolution teleseries, which gathers thousands of women weekly to engage the world’s most preeminent female luminaries, thinkers, scientists, artists and agents of change. www.FemininePower.com
MARCIA WIEDER
Marcia Wieder has been featured several times on: Oprah as “The Passion Expert,” The Today Show, ABC-TV’s “Hot Authors” and on PBS-TV in her own national show, “Making Your Dreams Come True”, the namesake of her popular selling book, which has also been translated into numerous languages. You’ll receive her recording and white paper “12 ways to be a 21st Centuary Visionary.” www.DreamUniversity.com
KAREN RUSSO
Karen Russo teaches from her wisdom gained as an MBA from Columbia University, an accomplished corporate trainer, top-selling salesperson, and an ordained interfaith minister. She is the award-winning author of The Money Keys. Too many smart, spiritually connected, talented professionals are blocked by financial anxieties, resentments, and mess. You’ll receive Book Chapter, Audio & 3 Guided lessons show you exactly how to stop worrying, fighting and struggling with money for good. www.TheMoneyKeys.com
More gifts will be coming to you during the year from these familiar faces of transformation, acknowledging your generosity to give more trees…
With a full heart, I welcome you to this global community of renewal.
Warm Hugs,
Alana Lea
P.S Check out these videos done about the work this last year!
This video is from the 2011 Agape International Choir, blessing our fundraising efforts for trees with a song!
This video is from the 2011 benefit concert created by the Los Angeles Kids For Environmental & Social Action, that resulted in great impact… You must see to believe!
This video was taken by Brazilian Globo TV for the program Planeta Vanguarda, documenting our Thanksgiving 2010 Give-A-Way of 1,000 trees.
Visit Changents to learn more of the story behind the project.
