Creation is a finger pointing to God.

I have an endless fascination over trees. They are my endless art inspirations, give backdrops and foregrounds to my pictures, become the main object of hundreds of them, their dead leaves could dwell in a nice frame on my walls.

Tree always give. They hold water supply, take our carbon waste and provide us with clean air, provide shade for other beings, supply the earth with food, and even their waste nurture soil.

There is no single tree that has the same stem shape, number of leaves, direction of branches. They are durable, could endure weather and seasons.

Trees in cities provides not only a "lung" but also gave wealth to the citizens. The latest research from the University of California of Davis and United States Forest Service, the New York City's street trees provides annual benefit about $122 million. New York receives $5.6 in benefit for every dollar spent on trees. The dollar amount was counted from how much carbon it absorbs that would have to be eliminated from the air through some other means and how much less carbon is emitted by power-generating plants because of a reduced demand for energy resulting from a tree's shade (source: NYTimes Sunday, April 13, 2007)

And get this: Homes with a tree in front sell for almost one percent more than similar homes without trees. Trees in lower-density areas, are more valuable than those in high-density areas, because they provide the greatest environmental benefits. They provide greater shade. Trees with large leaves are more valuable because they consume more carbon dioxide.

One of the theory of "green building" as far as I know, is also based on how tree operates. A regular building will only absorbs energy and produce pollutant instead of generating oxygen as trees. For a building to be "green", it has to use less energy or even, produce its own energy to support its inhabitants. So, a building would have green roof, using solar energy or generate energy from underground, cycle its own water supply instead of just throw the waste on the city system, recycle as much as possible waste that was produced from the building. The building also need to adapt to its environment, climate, and season. So, a "green" building in Cincinnati would be different from one in Texas, for example.

To transfer into a green building requires, if not an entire renovation of a building or may be even possible for a new building only. The homes my company built are all "green"; because they are subsidized, we can provide the highest quality with a reduced cost..On paper, we are making money less than a for-profit developer would. We used 95% efficiency windows, high insulation walls, high efficiency furnish/ac system, and every other aspect that could help the homeowner to reduce their utility bills. We keep trees in renovated houses, salvage the house if it's in a good condition instead of demolishing it. But, transformation into a "green" lifestyle only requires changed state of mind. We can still live in a regular house but live responsibly to reduce energy consumption. How can we reuse, recycle, and conserve as much as energy as we go along with our "normal"life. Such example would be, using cold water to wash clothes, hanging clothes instead of using dryer (that take way more energy than letting the clothes sun-dried or just air-dried), wash dishes by hands, using less papers, installing water filter on tap rather than buying plastic bottled water, using reusable bottle for water, coffee, etc., using less plastic-ware at parties,

and just..simply live with less.

We might not be a tree but we can do something with our excessive lives.

Happy Earth Day!