Airline charts carbon neutral course

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Tree-planting program balances out emissions

Salt Spring Air is following through with a pledge to remain a carbon-neutral airline by handing out 150 yellow cedar saplings to customers beginning last week.

“We hope to do this every year,” said Phillip Reece, the Salt Spring Air employee who oversees the program. “Hopefully we can hand out even more next year because we’ll have more customers.”

The airline’s staff have also arranged for the planting of 250 larger trees at Seven Ravens Tree Nursery on the island’s south end.

That’s how many trees Salt Spring Air must plant in order to balance the company’s annual greenhouse gas emissions.

The company chose to hand out yellow cedar seedlings because they are deer resistant, fast growing and native to the region. The trees are expected to capture and store carbon dioxide for up to 200 years.

After that, Reece said, it’s hoped that the world will have developed a permanent solution to mitigating the effects of greenhouse gases on climate change.

According to Reece, a mature tree will absorb approximately 22 kilograms (48 pounds) of carbon dioxide per year.

As of Monday, the airline had given out roughly 90 trees to frequent flyers and other customers who promised to plant and care for their sapling. Reece said he hopes the remaining trees, lining the walls and windowsills of the airline’s head office in Ganges, will be handed out by Christmas.

“We want to make sure [the recipients] are committed to this,” he said. “It’s like a puppy, it’s for life.”

Unlike a puppy, however, all people have to do with their young cedar is find a nice moist spot in the yard, plant it and let nature do most of the work.

The tree-planting initiative coincides with the airline’s attempts to foster renewable energy projects and promote alternatives to fossil-fuel-based transportation on the island.

By Sean McIntyre - Gulf Islands Driftwood