COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Columbus City Council is stepping up to ensure Earth Month remains a success in the city. This comes after the usual federal grants to support Earth Month had been delayed.
Columbus City Council is providing $40,000 to Green Columbus. Trees are vitally important to our community, so Councilmember Christopher Wyche said he knew he needed to do something to help out.
According to Wyche, Columbus is the fastest-growing heat island in the county and trees help cool the city and keep the air clean.
“We have one planet,” he said. “We all live on it and it’s important for us to invest in things that are going to improve the lives of everyday residents.”
According to the executive director for Green Columbus, Shelly Douglas, the funding being paused was quite a surprise. Douglas said that the funding that was paused actually came from a grant that was signed back in 2022, so it was money they were expecting to come just like it did in years past.
For the organization, Earth Month is the biggest month of the year. Last year on Earth Day, 5,000 volunteers across central Ohio came out to plant over 70,000 tree seedlings.
“We couldn’t do it without the volunteers. And we expect still thousands of volunteers this year, even though it might be a little smaller in terms of overall numbers just because of the struggle, but at least we’re able to make it happen,” said Douglas.
Douglas says that getting this funding from city council has taken a lot of weight off her shoulders.
“We’ve been having Earth Day for 18 years here in Columbus, and so it was a big relief and we’re just glad to see that the community is willing to step up in times like this when, you know, other parties let us down, that our city kind of has our back and is willing to make these projects happen,” she said.
Douglas says that trees are super important, not just for the environment but for our human health.
“They help lower rates of asthma, they can help lower crime rates, they can lower utility costs, they can increase property values. So we’re trying to have conversations that it’s not just for the planet, it’s not just for climate change. It’s for our health and resilient communities and for our families to be able to live and thrive here,” she said.
We see them every day. They’re often overlooked, but it’s important for us as a city to understand our role in our leadership necessary to combat climate change. And so I’m excited to support the work of Green Columbus, and I’m excited for everything that they have done to support our community,” Wyche said.
This funding will go towards things like native trees, soil and mulch for community gardens and operations for the Linden Tree Nursery.
To learn more about Green Columbus and their Earth Month efforts, click here.
Earth Day this year is April 22nd.