Hot take: those tree-planting apps are doing more harm than good

I signed up for one of those apps that plants a tree per purchase three years ago, but the survival rate on those saplings is something like 15% in drier regions they pick. Anyone else looked into the actual follow-up care on these things or is it just me?

3 comments

3 Comments

grant_palmer1mo ago

Good intentions and bad math, that's what those apps are selling. Plant a tree, feel good, move on, but nobody's checking if that tree is still alive six months later when the local kids use it for a goalpost. I read a report that said some of those saplings get planted in soil so bad they'd struggle to grow a weed, let alone a tree that'll survive a drought. It's like throwing a drowning man a cement life preserver and calling it a rescue.

river1821mo ago

80% of those saplings in Kenya survived last year, so @grant_palmer might be citing bad data lol

taylorcarr1mo ago

Call around to local nurseries first, @river182, they'll tell you straight if the soil's junk.