In an ideal setting, Philadelphia’s air would be cleaner. There would be more trees and more green space, like up to 42K acres—almost half of the city’s area—more. This, according to a December 2010 Parks and Recreation study on the city’s urban tree canopy. Urban canopy is “a vital asset that reduces storm-water runoff, improves air quality, reduces the City’s carbon footprint, enhances quality of life, contributes to savings on energy bills, and serves as habitat for wildlife,” the authors write. Made possible by an America Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant through the USDA Forest Service’s Northern Research Station, the report found one-fifth of the City of Brotherly Love, less than 20K acres, was covered by green space. Chinatown, North and South Philadelphia have the least amount of greenery, with only 3 percent. The Wissahickon and Pennypack Park neighborhoods boast the highest existing…

Photo courtesy of Northeast Tree Tenders

The East Falls Community and Philadelphia University dedicate an entire day for their students and community members to team up with the Tree Tenders charity in an effort revitalize the community. The goal for Philadelphia is to have a tree canopy of 30 percent by 2025; Tree Tenders has a lot of work to do. The charity gets requests from local neighbors and business about where to plant trees and students (with the guidance of a Tree Tender team leader) walk from location to location with shovels in hand to help spread the love, dropping off bulbs in each new location. Using the existing soil, volunteers dig up and re-plant each new tree. The East Falls neighborhood will no doubt benefit from this beautification and its community members are so thankful that they even brought hot chocolate and tomato pies…