Amy Fleming’s article “The Importance of Urban Forests: Why Money Really Does Grow on Trees” (2016) addresses the benefits and impact of trees on our society and ecosystem. Fleming mentions an agreement that “references to green spaces being essential for mental and physical health, community building and performing urgent ecological tasks.” (qtd. In Fleming 2) Her point is that planting trees will not only improve our air quality and help fight climate change, it will encourage and improve human wellness. Moreover, research shows that humans are less hostile around trees and they can help calm us down. Trees also provide many ecological services in our urban environments. For example, “trees can cool cities by between 2C and 8C. When planted near buildings, trees can cut air conditioning use by 30%, and, according to the UN Urban Forestry office, reduce heating energy use by a further 20-50%.” (qtd. In Fleming 2) These numbers tell us that green spaces are greatly beneficial in urban cities. The economic impacts of trees could also become a reason for city officials to consider using trees as monetization, as Jill Jones states. Through her writing, Fleming raises awareness about the deficiency of trees in our environment and provides facts and examples to support her ideas.

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Megan Lo is a first-year student at Capilano University’s IDEA School of Design program. She and her family moved to Canada six years ago from Taiwan and they lived in Burnaby for a year. Currently, she resides in Coquitlam where she recently graduated from Gleneagle Secondary School. She plans to pursue graphic design and branding as her chosen career path. Nevertheless, She is still looking forward to learning more about other creative subjects in the next four years at Capilano University. Aside from making art, she enjoys listening to music, watching anime, travelling and fashion during leisure time. She also loves hanging out with friends even though that isn’t an option right now due to the pandemic.