Grounded in the Soil of Sustainability

ATLANTA, January 26, 2023 /3BL Media/ - Trees Atlanta, a nonprofit organization, will soon have a new central hub as it continues its environmental commitment to the community.

Located on a former industrial lot, the new 20,000-square-foot headquarters includes two large wood-framed buildings on nearly three acres. Georgia-Pacific donated lumber and plywood for the buildings, which was used for framing, flooring and under roofing. Leaders at Trees Atlanta say the donation came at just the right time.

“The construction of the new headquarters was greatly impacted by escalating costs and supply chain issues of the pandemic,” says Judy Yi, Director of Marketing & Outreach. “Having Georgia-Pacific's donation of lumber helped us offset other rising construction costs and better manage a fluctuating budget. The lumber is in the actual internal structure of our building and will always be part of its history.”

Trees Atlanta takes sustainability seriously through its many programs, including “NeighborWoods,” where volunteers plant new trees in public spaces. The non-profit even provides the trees, tools, planting expertise and care of the trees for two years.

“Our mission is centered on increasing the sustainability and resiliency of our city by improving the urban tree canopy,” says Greg Levine, Co-Executive Director of Trees Atlanta. “We want to be an example of how a new headquarters can bring more ecological improvements and how we can improve our cities’ sustainability by planting and conserving more trees where we live."

To date, the non-profit has planted and cared for over 140,000 trees thanks to its dedicated volunteers and it’s not stopping anytime soon. As part of its ‘One Million Trees Initiative,’ a collaboration of metro Atlanta cities and regional nonprofit organizations, its goal is to plant and conserve one million trees by 2030.

“Georgia-Pacific deeply understands the societal benefits that healthy forests provide and we’ve partnered with Trees Atlanta for decades to help keep Atlanta’s urban forest thriving,” said John Mulcahy, vice president-stewardship for Georgia-Pacific. “Helping them achieve their mission by donating our building products for their new headquarters is one example of how we work to be preferred partners within our communities.”

The headquarters is surrounded by open and forested outdoor learning spaces with nearly 200 new trees planted on the property. There are thermal bird-safe windows that reduce bird collisions and deaths, a comprehensive stormwater runoff management system to protect Atlanta’s creeks and sewer system and a granite outcrop circle at the front entrance reclaimed from the Atlanta History Center.

The new headquarters is expected to open in 2023. For more information on the programs at Trees Atlanta and volunteer opportunities visit www.treesatlanta.org.

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