I hope our summer weather goes on right through September for our annual Used Book Sale.

It’s a lot more fun to wander through the 15,000 books when it’s not cold and drizzly. But rain or shine, it’s one of our biggest and most fun fundraisers of the year at Stillwaters Environmental Education Center. It starts the first weekend in September and goes through Columbus Day weekend, open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

We recently evaluated some of our fundraisers, and I commented that the book sale certainly fits well with our mission of promoting sustainability of Earth’s resources. One committee member’s first reaction was bewilderment, so I went on to explain: 1. Encouraging people to “recycle” their books rather than throwing them in the landfill is good. 2. Buying used items of anything cuts down on the natural resources consumed.3. Encouraging people to buy books locally is also a sustainable practice, as it supports the local economy.

We’d certainly rather sell used books to raise money than sell more shirts or chatchkes.

Another sustainability-oriented fundraiser here is our Native Plant Nursery. It’s open year-round, including during the book sale, for anyone willing to plant natives! Our sales are very slow in the hot months, as they should be, but the cooler planting season will soon be upon us. This is the time to start looking around your space to see where you can add some greenery, trees or shrubs, and contribute to growing the community forest.

You may not think it’s helpful to plant more trees if you live in an urban or suburban setting. But it is! It’s not just an Earth restoration job for those with acreage. Our spaces are becoming more filled with people, roads, parking lots, buildings, driveways, lawns, and more hard surfaces that cannot absorb water. (Yes, lawns are considered almost as impervious as driveways!) So, water runoff and aquifer recharge are big concerns. The loss of green plants and spaces greatly affects communities, both ecologically and economically.Planting trees and shrubs, especially native ones, is obviously going to improve air quality, help catch and absorb falling rainwater, provide habitat, cool our homes, and enhance the biodiversity of our ecosystems.

Planting native plants means less watering, so we have less water consumption too. These environmental reasons are plenty reason for us to always be on the lookout for more places for plants and trees.

But there’s more: The economic benefits are important too. Trees placed around your home can cool your home in the summer. Trees will make your life more comfortable and cut down on your use of fans or air conditioners. The cooling effects of trees can save millions of energy dollars. Property values of homes with trees around them are generally 2-5 percent higher than without trees.

Trees drink water! One city calculated that the loss of 44 percent of its tree cover for new construction resulted in stormwater runoff problems that cost more than $100 million. And Atlanta had to spend $240 million to counter the effects of losing significant tree canopy.

Some studies show that trees enhance community economic stability because the business area is more attractive. People linger longer in business areas with trees around them. Apartments in wooded areas rent more quickly and have higher occupancy rates. Businesses in areas with trees find workers are more productive and absentee rates are reduced.

Trees reduce our air pollution by taking carbon dioxide out of the air and producing oxygen. In one year, one acre of trees can absorb the carbon dioxide equivalent of a car driving 26,000 miles, and can produce enough oxygen to sustain 18 people for a year.

In 50 years, one tree provides to a community:

• $31,000 worth of oxygen.
• $62,000 in air pollution control.
• $37,500 in storm water drainage.

The community forest is not necessarily a big park with many acres set aside for growing our carbon dioxide-sucking, oxygen- producing trees. A true community forest is a community set in a forest — trees and shrubs growing everywhere we can put them. We can all do our part to make our community as green, literally, as possible!

Stillwaters is hosting a new Sustainability Discussion Group in the fall. If you are interested in getting on the list, call us at (360) 297-1226.

—naomi@stillwatersenvironmentalcenter.org