What is the best tree to do a high five with? A palm tree!
This was one of the many “tree jokes” shared on the 7th of November at Firgrove Primary School as the sound of children’s laughter followed.
Diverso has joined the ongoing, decade-long partnership between Konica Minolta SA and NPO Food & Trees for Africa. This partnership seeks to mitigate carbon emissions to achieve environmental sustainability. Diverso contributed 1000 trees to be planted in the Somerset West area. These trees will offset an estimated 369 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). On this day, twenty (20) of those trees were planted at Firgrove Primary School. The official tree-planting ceremony and demonstration was facilitated by Food & Trees for Africa who are also educating students on the importance of protecting the environment and the benefits of minimising our carbon footprint.
The day started off with principal Wyngaard welcoming everyone, followed by well–prepared “tree poems” performed by the learners. Hennie from Diverso then said a few words about the importance of trees, adding random tree jokes. The children, of course, loved the jokes and even came up with a few punch lines of their own. “This tree donation will also help prevent water overflow and erosion, while the fruit trees planted will support food security in the area,” said Hennie du Toit. Jeminah Mkhize, from Food and Trees for Africa, then took the lead with her amazing knowledge of trees and ability to get children to interact at the same time. She explained all the steps to everyone, from how deep to plant the trees to how much love the children should give to them. The children were then split up into teams to plant their own trees. Everyone enjoyed the experience – even the principal and Hennie jumped in and started digging. There were definitely a few green fingers in the making! After planting, everyone met up in the school hall where the children’s knowledge was tested about everything they learnt that day and prizes were won by all.
The smiles on their faces were priceless and heart-warming to see. They could not contain their excitement, shouting: “Best day ever!” and “I will never forget this day!”
Needless to say the day was a huge success contributing to the environment and putting smiles on a few children’s faces by planting trees and learning how to take care of them. Since the start of this initiative in 2008, Konica Minolta has planted a total of 48 501 trees. Konica Minolta has been carbon-neutral since 2013.
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