Free trees

Power provider Entergy Corporation is providing 10,000 free trees to residential customers to help save energy and provide communities with environmental benefits. The trees are available to Entergy’s residential customers in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Since the start of the program residents from around the region have been reserving trees. Nearly 9,000 trees are still available from Entergy and are currently offered on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The plan is part of the Arbor Day Foundation's Energy-Saving Trees program aimed at conserving energy through strategic tree planting, which provides shade and lowers utility bills. The trees can be reserved using an online tool that estimates the amount of energy each tree will save in different locations. In Little Rock, Arkansas, for example, the Energy-Saving Trees tool estimates that a customer can save $263.42 in 20 years by planting a single red maple tree 20 feet west of their house.

In return for the free tree, customers must agree to care and plant it in a location that will reduce their energy consumption. The trees, which will be 2 to 4 feet tall, will be delivered directly to each customer in the fall.

There are 10 types of trees to choose from and customers can reserve their free tree at www.entergy.com/arborday. Some of the trees available include sourwood, baldcypress, American sweetgum, red maple, and crapemyrtle.

An example of the impact that 10,000 the free trees could have in one community would be to look at Little Rock, Arkansas. If a mixture of baldcypress, sweetgum, and red maple trees were planted on the west side of residents' homes the entire community would receive an estimated $6,601,465.17 in benefits over 20 years.

20-Year Estimated Impact of mixture of 10,000 Sweetgum, Red Maple, Baldcypress Trees Planted on the West Side of Homes in Little Rock, Arkansas
$2,766,330.90 savings in energy bills
$2,805,509.28 savings in stormwater control
$480,206.27 savings in carbon dioxide reduction
$549,418.72 savings in pollution control

Total community benefits = $6,601,465.17

The Arbor Day Foundation is a million-member nonprofit conservation and education organization with a mission of inspiring people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. More information about the Foundation and its conservation programs can be found at www.arborday.org