July 30, 2024 – New trees are coming to Columbus City Schools’ campuses across the District, and they’re going to do more than just beautify the landscape.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, trees are nature’s air conditioners. Through shade, trees reduce surface temperatures and help keep people comfortable outside when the weather is warm.
Columbus’ population is increasing, and that rapid growth can come with higher temperatures. As cities grow, infrastructure such as buildings and roads are often built to support this expansion. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, these structures absorb and reemit heat more than natural structures like trees or lakes and can lead to hotter climates. This is known as an urban heat island effect, a phenomenon where urban zones experience higher temperatures than their surrounding counterparts.
One key way to reduce the urban heat island effect is through trees. Communities with ample tree cover often experience cooler and more comfortable temperatures on hot days. Creating spaces with large tree canopy cover is a key part of what Green Columbus, a sustainability-focused nonprofit in Central Ohio, is working to bring to the city. As part of this mission, they’re focusing on local schools.
Shelly Douglas, the Executive Director of Green Columbus, said their organization wants to have an impact on school grounds so students and teachers can enjoy their time outside on hot days.
“Columbus has the fastest growing heat island in the country,” Douglas said. “[Some of our communities] can have as little as 10% tree canopy in their neighborhood.”
Douglas wants to see that percentage go up. Through grant funding, she and her colleagues secured capital to purchase and plant nearly 250 trees in neighborhoods that have low numbers of trees. A high number of these trees will go to south and west side schools in the city, two neighborhoods that Douglas said have low levels of shade from tree canopies. She’s excited to see the benefits the school communities experience as these trees are planted and begin to grow.
“Our low canopy communities have really high rates of asthma and heart disease,” Douglas said. “Heat can cause things like kidney failure and heat stroke. [Planting these trees] is about our families being healthy.”
One area Douglas is especially excited to have additional shade for the students is the playground. She said that on warm summer days, the playgrounds can become hot and unusable. With trees providing shade, students can enjoy their time outdoors, and staff can be comfortable while supervising. This is just one of the strategic locations where Green Columbus plans to plant trees.
“We’re not just going to put all of the trees right in the middle of an open field,” Douglas said. “We placed them around bus stops, sidewalks, benches, playgrounds, and parking lots. We want to put them where they are usable for the schools.”
Douglas and her team want school communities to see the benefits of new trees immediately. The trees they are planting are not seeds; they’re trees that are visible from a distance and change the landscape around them.
“We plant large trees,” Douglas said. “They are two inches around and 10 feet tall. I think that when we talk about this, people picture little tiny trees, and then within three hours, the whole front of the school is completely different.”
So far, Green Columbus has planted trees at Columbus Africentric Early College and several schools on the south side. In the fall, they will plant trees at schools across the west side of Columbus.
Photos courtesy of Green Columbus.
