DUBAI: The importance of trees cannot be understated — not only do they help to clean the air we breathe, but they also filter the water we drink, provide a habitat for hundreds of different species and help combat climate change. This is why many celebrities have made it a habit to donate trees in recent years. Among those is part-Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid.
This week, the 24-year-old took to Instagram to share a screenshot of an email from One Tree Planted, a non-profit tree-planting organization. The screenshot shows that she had donated 200,000 trees to be planted in Peru.
According to the email, Hadid’s generous donation helped to restore 403 hectares of land that was degraded by unsustainable agricultural practices and will also provide resources for pollinators as well as a habitat for wildlife populations.
“I love You Mother Nature and all that you provide. Thank you (sic),” she captioned the post.
In 2019, the part-Palestinian model announced on Instagram that she would donate 600 trees in a bid to offset the carbon emissions from the many flights she takes while traveling for work, and it appears that Hadid is still concentrating her environmental efforts on planting trees today.
“(I am) donating 600 trees to be planted, 20 for each flight I took these past three months, and probably will continue for the rest of the year,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.
She planted 280 trees in her native California and another 320 trees in the Amazon.
“It makes me sad how much my job affects my carbon footprint and of how brutally climate change is obviously affecting the world,” she continued, “Mother Nature needs some love.”
Hadid isn’t the only major celebrity to take part in the environmental initiative. Other A-listers who have donated to One Tree Planted include Charli XCX and the band Coldplay.
Meanwhile, Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin generously vowed to plant 3,000 trees in the Amazon every time Arsenal won last season, resulting in over 50,000 trees being planted.
Brands are also getting in on the action. Dubai-based unisex label One and Four Studio has pledged to plant a tree for every purchase of its sustainable cotton top.
