The only tree in the Cleveland city hall rotunda on Friday was actually a presenter in a costume. As he tickled the crowd with his branches, he brought home the aim of Cleveland's 2017 sustainability effort: getting residents involved to revitalize the city's environment.
The "tree" belonged to the exhibitors at a fair marking the seventh year of Sustainable Cleveland 2019, a decade-long environmental initiative.
This year鈥檚 theme is the 鈥淵ear of Vibrant Green Space.鈥� Efforts range from sprucing up parks and promoting community gardening, to engaging residents in restoring the city' dying tree canopy.
The city will accomplish the latter by rolling out "The Cleveland Tree Plan,鈥� created two years ago with the Holden Arboretum, The Western Reserve Land Conservancy, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and LAND Studio. Efforts include teaching residents how to plant and care for trees, said Cleveland Chief of Sustainability, Matthew Gray.
鈥淭here are different events where you can actually get free seedlings. There鈥檚 also a tree steward training that鈥檚 run by Holden Arboretum as well as the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, so you can actually get trained in how to maintain a tree," he said.
In the past Sustainable Cleveland 2019 has focused on energy efficiency, local foods and clean water. The initiative ends on the 50 th anniversary year of the infamous fire on the Cuyahoga River - considered the birth of the modern environmental movement.