House & Home ran a promotion during Arbor Week (1st – 7th September) last year donating a tree to a disadvantaged suburb or school through Food & Trees for Africa, for every base set sold during this period. With a realisation of the impact our society is having on the environment, House & Home partnered with social enterprise Food & Trees for Africa to address this through their base set promotion. A total of 307 base sets were sold and 247 trees have already been planted in by residents of Cosmo City north of Johannesburg and 30 at Bergville Primary School, Valhalla Park, Cape Town. The remaining 30 trees were planted at Esselen Heights Primary School in Phoenix, Durban on the 23rd April 2010 to coincide with Earth Day. Esselen Heights, in the township of Phoenix, is surrounded by the formal and informal residential areas of Brookdale, Kwa-Mashu, Amawoti and Lenham. The school is extremely environmentally conscious. “The environment we live in has a direct effect on our well-being and anything that is bad for the environment is bad for us,” said Mr V Naidoo, principal of Esselen Heights Primary School.
Earth Day 2010 is a pivotal opportunity for individuals, corporations and governments to join together and create a global green economy. House & Home, Food & Trees for Africa and the Esselen Heights School community joined more than one billion people in 190 countries that took action for Earth Day to reach the goal of “A billion acts of green”.
40 years ago an American Senator started Earth Day bringing environmental issues to the attention of congress and the public. Today observations and celebrations include all social sectors, nationalities and cultural groups around the world and Earth Day is a successful catalyst for ongoing environmental education, action and change. Earth Day activities offer important points of entry to address worldwide environmental concerns as well as the opportunities for individuals and communities to focus on their local environmental problems. Local activities include clean-ups, restoration projects, tree planting initiatives, water harvesting methods, parades, fairs, conferences, and concerts. Because Earth Day observances broaden the base of support for environmental programs, rekindle public commitment, and enroll participation from every social and business sector, they can be used to implement wide-scale programs that bring people together to act for the common good.
