Forest near West Branch, Mich. Photo: hz536n/George Thomas via Flickr.
Michigan leads the country by a landslide in juice company Odwalla’s Plant a Tree campaign.
This is the third year of the program that asks people to vote for a state. With each vote, Odwalla donates $1 to plant a tree in one of that state’s parks.
For the past two years, Michigan has come out first.
While Michigan only represents 14 percent of the land in the Great Lakes region, it has a whopping 60 percent of votes, with 13,036 as of Wednesday. Coming in second in the eight-state region is Pennsylvania with 7,079; in third is Indiana with 825. All three of these states have links on the site to videos to persuade voters to pick them.
If Michigan’s video from the state’s Department of Natural Resources has anything to do with its enormous lead, then invasive species seem to really be tugging on people’s heartstrings: the video shows the beauty of the state’s forests, trails and beaches pitted against the devastation caused by pests such as the emerald ash borer. These species result in the loss of countless trees, possibly contributing to voters’ sympathy.
This year’s Plant a Tree program launched May 30 and already has donated more 53,000 trees. Voting continues until September 1 or until 80,000 trees are donated.
Why does Michigan consistently knock out the other states? Who will you be voting for in Odwalla’s contest?
(Thanks to “Mr. Great Lakes” for the heads up about this contest.)