Thoughtful Holiday Giving: Arbor Day Foundation
Disclosure: I am proud to collaborate with the Arbor Day Foundation on this sponsored post. And as ALWAYS, all opinions are mine.
Lots of friends and family call me Ms. Bah Humbug. When it comes to the holidays, I’m not a big fan. The reality is that I think people have lost sight of what the spirit of the season is about and I hate the over-commercialization. I don’t want to see Christmas stuff in the stores in August! We live in a society that is all about accumulating stuff for the sake of stuff and I want a return to giving, gratitude, and grace.
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<<Official end of rant.>>
What I am passionate about is the state of our natural world. Spending 18 months on the road visiting countless parks and forests really drove it home how important it is to focus a bit of attention on our trees. Our fragile trees. It’s not just the damage from man but also natural disasters that make re-planting trees essential. Every living thing that breathes oxygen needs trees to survive.
I was lucky enough to grow up in places like Kentucky, Virginia, Washington state where we lived by or were surrounded by trees. I have many fond memories of walking through and playing in the trees. But I didn’t grow up wanting to be a forest ranger, in fact, I wanted to be the first female president! My appreciation for trees is something that Mr. Misadventures imparted on me when we started dating.
We spent a lot of time in Monterey and Big Sur when we were first together and trees were always in the background. For our first year anniversary, I created a book of photos of trees that I had taken throughout the year with quotes. Wherever we travel we are attracted by trees, may it be the redwoods of California, the tree-lined Tuscan roads, or beautiful French allées.
That’s why this year I’m choosing to support the Arbor Day Foundation by giving holiday Give-A-Tree cards and Celebration Certificates.
The Arbor Day Foundation was founded in 1972, on the 100th anniversary of the first Arbor Day, celebrated every year on the last Friday in April. They are the largest nonprofit dedicated to planting trees and they provide opportunities all year round to donate via cards and certificates. However, there is no better time than the holiday season to remind people that our trees need our help. Who needs a 3rd pair of black boots when you can #LoveTrees instead.
The process is EASY.
For Holiday Give-A-Tree Cards:
- Select a Holiday card
- Select Custom Imprinting to customize the card and add your own message/image
- Choose Quantity
- Enter text in up to 4 lines
- Choose customized Image (optional)
- Choose whether to buy Return Address Envelopes
- Save and Preview
- Click “Preview Poof as pdf” to download a draft
- Check box to proof draft
- Add to Cart o Select Quantity
- Click “Check Out”
- Follow the Checkout Process
Your cards are shipped (for FREE in November and December) within 5 business days.
And when they arrive? It is a pleasure to address each card knowing that you have contributed to a healthier planet while making someone's holiday season brighter.
For Trees in Celebration Certificates:
- Choose the forest in which you’d like these trees to be planted.
Currently, there are 2 forests that really need your help: Chippewa National Forest and Klamath National Forest. I spent 5 weeks on the Oregon coast and 5 months in Portland. During both those trips Mr. Misadventures and I enjoyed beautiful hikes, sunrises, and sunsets in the national forest and I am devastated by the damage that it sustained in their latest wildfire. So for that reason, I am choosing the Klamath National Forest.
- Select the number of trees you want to have planted
- Enter “In Honor of”, “This gift is in celebration of”, “And was made possible by”
- Save and preview
- Click “Preview Proof as pdf” to download the preview
- Click the checkbox to approve
- Add to Shopping Cart
- Click “Check Out”
- Follow the Checkout Process
The certificate ships (for FREE in November and December) to your address within 5 days.
You can sign them and then hand them over to your friends or family. I'm holding onto the one I created for my grandmother and I will put it on her grave when I visit.
Since this is a physical good, a tangible representation of your donation, please don’t wait until the last minute. Get ahead of your holiday shopping and card giving by placing your order for the Holiday Give-A-Tree cards or the Trees in Celebration Certificates today. Giving to charity is so important and gratifying, consider this a new holiday habit that you can maintain throughout the year starting now!
Get outside. Plant trees. Hug trees. Love trees. Save trees.
How about you? Have you transitioned from gift giving to charitable giving? Do share! I'd love to hear about causes that are important to you!
But wait! There is a giveaway! Follow these instructions for a chance to win a Give-A-Tree Card Holiday 10-Pack worth $39.95.
(1) Head over to my Instagram feed and check out THIS post.
(2) Follow the giveaway information in my Instagram post. All the giveaway rules are listed there as well.
(3) Come back and mark the Rafflecopter below complete!
The giveaway takes place between Nov. 12 – Dec.3, 2018. Open to US residents ONLY.
The winner will be chosen within 48-hours after December 3 and will be contacted via email by Fourstarzz Media.
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I love this! We already do a lot of charitable gift giving in my family, but I would be especially happy to use this because it includes planting trees, something I feel passionate about.
I agree, and christmas is not originally celebrated by those who follow the Christ…but I love your idea of charitable giving, I believe this can also be done any time of the year? I was an advocate of tree planting back in the days (highschool years) and this is a cause I always find worthy. 🙂
I love the idea of giving back to the planet this way! I grew up by the Amazon Rain Forest and the amount of trees they are taking down and not replacing breaks my heart. If only more foundations had the wonderful goal of the Arbor Day Foundation, we would be in a better situation right now.
This is something I would love to participate in. The wildfire in California is heartbreaking. I will encourage my friends and family to participate and do our share of taking care of our planet.
Very awesome! I love planting trees & helping our environment! !
This is actually a wonderful idea. I was thinking the other how much wrapping materials contribute to garbage every Holiday season.
I will definitely check these out and start giving a tree card. It is about time we consciously make an effort to be festive but responsible.
Oh, I love this post. We do a lot of nonprofit giving for the holidays, too, and I love that the Arbor Day Foundation allows you so much control, even where your trees will be planted!
I would love to receive a gift like this. Such a positive way to make an impact on the world.
I’ve never considered giving this as a gift before. I love this idea!
This is such a good idea for a gift and also a great way to give back to the planet!
Such an awesome idea! I love that you have a giveaway too!
Such a beautiful initiative! I think too that people have lost sight of true holiday spirit and I’m so against holiday stuff before at least the 20th of november, before that, I’m the Grinch!
This is awesome, helping the environment is important, especially during the holidays when so many trees are cut
I saw such a cute sweatshirt that you would have LOVED on Instagram–it was all about the environment and was rhyming and had little succulents on it. I realize that’s not helpful at all in terms of finding it, but you would have loved it! I LOVE your cactus tshirt in the first photo, too!
Every year for my birthday my Dad always gets me a tree for my birthday from the Arbor Foundation. It truly is a gift that keeps on giving.
What a great idea–especially for Giving Tuesday! Also, love the “meh” ornament lol.
I saw this on your Instagram and think it’s a great way to celebrate the season. I don’t think that wanting to reclaim the true/giving Christmas spirit makes you a Bah Humbug 🙂 In fact I think it makes you much better aligned with what Christmas is all about. I too get frustrated with the commercialization of the season.
I absolutely adore trees! As a child, growing up in Washington, I would wander for hours in the forest. The smells, the history, the wisdom…it is like they speak to me and I could listen to their stories for days.
Wonderful ideas here and your grandmother must be smiling. I too am knocked out by trees that I’ve seen around the world and love the idea of supporting special forests. Although I’m not onboard with the materialism of the holidays, I do love seeing the decorations and creativity around this time of year. I’m just not big on the consumerism. Happy holidays and happy trees!
I love how easy it is to give an Arbor Day card. You design it just like an e-card and hit send. Only there’s more. The recipient gets a real card to hold in their hand (kind of a lost art these days) and they have no guilt about wasting paper because you actually had a tree planted for them. It’s a win win and very easy.
I get it. Holidays have become so stressful and commercial. I’m glad my girls are grown and we can share more meaningful christmases. I love the idea of something like this for someone like my mom, who at 84 doesn’t want or need one more “thing”! Several years ago we gifted all the grandparents hens from Heifer International. One year it was handmade crafts from third world countries. This is pinned on my
“Christmas Ideas” pinterest board!
This is such a wonderful idea!! I usually do things like this around Earth Day, but sending Christmas cards through the Arbor Day Foundation is an awesome idea! LOVE IT!
I love everything about this! What is a better gift than a more beautiful world?
Andi, I love trees, and this is such a wonderful way to recognize Christmas. In my family, we don’t give gifts anymore — it’s about getting together, cooking, and sharing time. But planting a tree — or having a tree planted — is such a special thing.