Apple iPhone is using Technology to Plant Trees

God is the experience of looking at a tree and saying, "Ah!"
- Joseph Campbell

Apple has a lot of fans for its many products, including me.
My first job out of college was for an environmental nonprofit. My second was working for a small firm that had Macs (the original Apple Macintosh). These were the early Apple computers with teeny tiny screens and the entire machine could be picked up with one hand by a little handle in the back. My boss told me that if I wanted to stick around, I would have to learn how to use it by myself, with my own common sense as my teacher.

This is when I become a fan. The computer lived up to the hype of being "user friendly". It was so empowering to learn how to use a machine like this from scratch. It was the first time there was an "undo" function! Can you imagine how that felt? Oops, I deleted paragraphs of work that is due in ten minutes. Shit! Oh, hey, look, I can "undo" that accidental deletion and "poof" here it is back in my document. Cue sigh of relief.

The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.
- John Muir

Apple today
Today we are an "Apple" household therefore you can guess that I have an iPhone. It is a great way to include all of my favorite things: GPS, phone, address book, music and camera. Granted you don't have to stop there but can buy lots of fun applications knowns as "apps" for it. I know lots of people who play all sorts of games or have a pretend Zippo lighter or even a Light Sabre!

Seeing the phorest through the trees
Given my long term environmental leaning, I was very excited to learn recently that a company called iPhactory is launching an app called iPhorest that allows users to plant trees from their phone. By downloading the app, the user activates a seedling both virtually and physically. As the seedling on their phone grows, users can also send seeds to other phones, starting a new forest.

For each virtual tree planted, The Conservation Fund will plant a native tree in real life - starting with restoration of vulnerable wildlife habitats along the Gulf Coast. They will work with the nation's leading public natural resource agencies to ensure the long-term protection of each iPhorest.

Click here to learn more and to sign up to be notified of the iPhorest release.

Photo credit to Pargon

I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow
to keep an appointment with a beech-tree,
or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines.
- Henry David Thoreau, 1817 - 1862