Within the next 30 days, he sold his ad agency and used the funds to start 8 Billion Trees. An organization dedicated to protecting and planting trees.

The first thing he did was fly to Brazil and work on setting up a team there. By the Amazon, many companies had been illegally clear-cutting land they did not own. The problem was even though it was illegal they had bribed the government not to stop them.

They would start fires to burn down the first to make work easier. Not caring about the animals literally being burnt alive in the fires they start.

Jon got to work with the team he had assembled. Local farmers that refused to work for large Palm Oil companies and others in the area he could hire to help out.

First, they started making sure to take care of any wounded animals they could find. Animals lose their entire homes to deforestation and have nowhere else to go.

This sloth Molly lost her entire home and family. They cared for her though and today she is doing better than ever.

Jon and his team would stop any illegal operations they could. Often times they cannot do anything because the team is too large and even armed with weapons but sometimes they come across a team small enough they can “overwhelm” and stop them from clearing down trees.

After they manage to stop them is when the real work begins. Replanting native species in the right mix to allow the rain forest to thrive. Because these sites are deep in the forest it can be difficult sometimes but they get the job done.

Planting work is hard in the Amazon. The sites are often remote and the ideal planting season is rainy, hot and humid. 8 Billion Trees team works hard to do the planting. Many other organizations stay at home in western countries behind desks just writing petitions while Jon and his team take action. We need both if we are going to move forward.

Jon is now expanding operations worldwide. 8 Billion Trees raises money by selling beautiful rainbow bracelets that are truly amazing. This isn’t like the typical junk bracelet you’d never want to wear, I get questions on mine all the time.

Or you can sign up for an 8 Billion Trees membership. These memberships cost $20/month each and help plant 10 trees per month. The best part about the membership is they plant enough trees for about 1 person to go “carbon neutral” – by buying your membership you will be canceling out your carbon footprint.

The thing I love about 8 Billion Trees is how efficient and effective they are. Many organizations waste quite a bit of money on things like getting petitions signed that don’t really do anything but its easy work. 8 Billion Trees does the hard work.

They also make smart decisions with money. For example, in Brazil, all the tree planting organizations would rent equipment each year at significant expense. 8 Billion Trees invested in buying equipment and rents it while they don’t use it, completely covering the costs they paid.

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