Miami, Fla. (Nov. 19, 2010) – The Honors College at Florida International University today helped the Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota celebrate the positive impact Tree Campus USA is having on college campuses across the United States. As a way to commemorate the program’s success, the Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota teamed up with students and volunteers to plant trees in the school’s hometown of Sweetwater.

 

In the second year of the program, Tree Campus USA has more than doubled as 74 colleges and universities across the United States earned recognition, including Florida International. The Arbor Day Foundation began Tree Campus USA with support from Toyota to recognize colleges and universities that practice sound campus forestry.

 

The aim of the program is to honor college campuses for promoting healthy urban forest management and engaging the campus community in environmental stewardship. Since its inception, Tree Campus USA has been supported by $1.3 million in grants from Toyota.

 

To celebrate the program’s success and reach in just two short years, the Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota are holding tree-planting events on six college campuses this fall. In addition to FIU, Tree Campus USA tree-planting events will also be held at Bowling Green State University; Creighton University; The Georgia Institute of Technology; the University of California, Irvine; and Furman University.

 

During the event, students and volunteers at Florida International planted 50 trees adjacent to the school’s main campus. The trees were planted in Linear Park along the 8th Street Canal at a major access point for the campus. The trees will provide shade for students who use the access route as they commute to campus or study along the canal, and will help beautify the main campus entrance.

 

“In our view, there’s no better way to celebrate the achievements of Tree Campus USA than to plant trees with students on beautiful college campuses like Florida International University,” said John Rosenow, chief executive and founder of the Arbor Day Foundation. “By encouraging students to get involved with conservation efforts on campus, FIU is helping the next generation of tree planters see firsthand that a landscape can be transformed and a community improved by the simple act of giving back to the earth.”

 

In order to become a Tree Campus USA community, schools are required to meet five core standards of tree care and community engagement. Those standards are: establishing a campus tree advisory committee; evidence of a campus tree-care plan; verification of dedicated annual expenditures on the campus tree plan; involvement in an Arbor Day observance; and the institution of a service-learning project aimed at engaging the student body.

Florida International University has been named a Tree Campus USA university for two years.

 

More information about the Tree Campus USA program is available at www.arborday.org/TreeCampusUSA.

 

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About the Arbor Day Foundation: The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit conservation organization of more than 1 million members, with a mission to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. More information on the Foundation and its programs can be found at arborday.org.

 

About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE: TM) established operations in the United States in 1957 and currently operates 10 manufacturing plants, including one under construction. Toyota directly employs nearly 30,000 in the U.S. and its investment here is currently valued at more than $18 billion, including sales and manufacturing operations, research and development, financial services and design.

 

Toyota is committed to being a good corporate citizen in the communities where it does business and believes in supporting programs with long-term sustainable results. Toyota supports numerous organizations across the country, focusing on education, the environment and safety. Since 1991,

 

Toyota has contributed more than $500 million to philanthropic programs in the U.S.

 

For more information on Toyota’s commitment to improving communities nationwide, visit http://www.toyota.com/community.

 

Mark Derowitsch
Arbor Day Foundation
888-448-7337
[email protected]

 

Javier Moreno
Corporate Communications
Toyota
212-715-7469
[email protected]