“Nut trees are a long-term, low-maintenance supply of protein,” notes a press release from the new group. “Transition Salt Spring believes that every house on Salt Spring should plant a couple as a simple way of becoming just a little more resilient.”
Trees being planted include almonds, butternut, heartnut, hazelnut, pine nut, English walnut, Carpathian walnut, black walnut and sweet chestnut.
Most of these trees have been paid for by carbon offsets from Salt Spring Air through Salt Spring-based Green Island Environmental.
In return for participating in the project, each person is asked to donate $10 per tree to Transition Salt Spring. This money will be used to fund other projects aimed at making Salt Spring more resilient.
People can contact Green Island (at www.greenisland.ca) to have their own or their company’s carbon offsets calculated.
“The more offsets, the more trees. The more trees, the more carbon that can be offset while also insuring more food will be available on Salt Spring in the future.”
The project has been so successful this year that Transition Salt Spring is already running out of nut trees.
However, they expect to mount the project next year on a much larger scale.
Anyone who would like to acquire any still-available trees or would like to put their name on a waiting list for future plantings, should contact Andrew Haigh at ahaigh@uniserve.com.
Transition Salt Spring is a local community group, operating under Salt Spring’s non-profit Earth Festival Society, with the aim of making Salt Spring more resilient to any future upsets caused by climate change, peak oil or financial instability.
The Transition movement is a world-wide grassroots movement with over 300 towns and cities participating so far.
