News from: Keep Indianapolis Beautiful Inc.

Tomorrow, nearly 100 college students, staff, and faculty representing Butler University, IUPUI, Ivy Tech Community College, Marian College and Martin University will spend Friday afternoon planting 100 trees just east of downtown Indianapolis.

By helping to plant 100 trees in one afternoon, students from across the city will be among the thousands of volunteers working each year to make Indianapolis a safer and greener city.

According to The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis ranks eighth worst in the country for fine particulate matter pollution. Research conducted by IUPUI shows that Indianapolis has a 24 percent tree cover despite the fact that American Forests recommends an average of 45 percent tree coverage in urban residential areas. Through the NeighborWoods program, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful Inc. will help replenish the Indianapolis tree canopy by planting 100,000 trees over the 10-year period of 2007-2017.

Co-sponsoring of the event with KIB, Indiana Campus Compact is dedicated to fostering an ethic of service and community engagement among Indiana college and university students. ICC hopes that this convening of campuses for a collaborative tree planting will both educate students about the value of green space in our city and serve as a model for campuses around the state to collaborate for similar environmental efforts.

Vicki Rubio, a junior at Butler University, discussed the two desired outcomes of this project.

“The first is to improve the community through the use of these trees," Rubio said. "Trees add beauty and value to Indianapolis. The other desired outcome is to inspire future environmental leaders.”

A positive service experience relating to the environment can encourage students to become more involved in the community and with environmental issues.

Other organizations providing support include Indianapolis Power & Light Company and Veolia Water, both founding sponsors of KIB’s NeighborWoods program. ICC supplied a $1,000 Community Service Mini Grant to purchase 10 percent of the trees needed. KIB supplied the remainder of the trees and project supplies through support generated for the NeighborWoods program.

ICC and KIB will team up again in May for a service project in conjunction with an Environmental Leadership Retreat open to all ICC member students. For more information about the tree planting, retreat or how to can support these efforts, contact Katy Kaesebier at (317) 274-6500 or katykaes@iupui.edu.