Carl never had much to say but, he knew why trees have been placed on this earth.

Until that terrible October day, he had often cited 13 facts from The Alliance for Community Trees about why trees are so important to our environment. They were:

• Trees give us oxygen, clean the air, and filter airborne pollutants.
  
• Trees conserve energy. Just three strategically placed trees can decrease utility bills by 50%.
  
• Urban trees in the U.S. remove 711,000 tons of air pollution annually, at a value of $3.8 billion.
  
• Trees and vegetation can raise property values up to 37%.
  
• Trees can reduce annual storm water runoff by 2% to 7%.
  
• The net cooling effect of a healthy tree is equiv­a­lent to 10 room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day.
  
• Trees clean the air by absorbing carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides and other pollutants.
  
• Trees shade cars and parking lots, reducing ozone emissions from vehicles.
  
• Trees filter airborne pollutants and reduce the conditions that cause asthma and other respiratory problems.
  
• Get trees. Get healthy. Children and youth living in greener neighborhoods have lower body mass index.
  
• Trees reduce noise pollution by absorbing sounds.
  
• Urban trees in the U.S. store 700 million tons of carbon valued at $14 billion with an annual carbon sequestration rate of 22.8 million tons per year valued at $460 million annually.
  
• Trees provide habitat for hundreds of species.