As far as problems go, they don't come much larger than the threats posed by global climate change. And yet, instead of engaging in a meaningful debate about the best solution to the problem, we seem to be stuck in a cycle where many remain resistant to the mere idea of tackling the issues we face. Why is it that? Sociologists have an answer to this conundrum that makes perfect sense. Because the problem is so monumental, and the potential devastation too frightening, it almost seems inevitable, as something impossible to fix. But, what if the solution is much simpler than we're expecting? Not only simple but completely doable? And, icing on the cake, what if the fix was something that pretty much everyone views as positive?

In mid-February, a Swiss researcher named Thomas Crowther presented his research findings at the Science Transcending Boundaries Conference, this year's Annual Meeting of the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science). Until very recently, the prevailing wisdom was that a widescale adoption of wind turbines and a mass conversion of diets from meat-eating to vegetarian would have the greatest impacts on the planet's environment. But after Dr. Crowther presented the results of his amazing research project, we now know that a worldwide tree-planting "spree" would have the greatest impact on our planet's environment. That's right, simply by increasing the number of trees worldwide from three trillion to four trillion, we could cancel out more than a decade of greenhouse emissions right away! According to Crowther, trees should now be viewed as “our most powerful weapon in the fight against climate change."

Could restoring the health of our planet be as simple as planting one trillion trees? The longer answer is that a combination of ending destructive farming practices and replenishing our planet's biodiversity through forestation really could be the turning point in our ecological crisis. In a very real sense, planting seedling trees is the first step in a proactive solution to most of our climate problems. On the micro-level, we can help lift people out of poverty, while on the macro-level, we could make great strides towards reversing the proliferation of carbon in the atmosphere.

As part of our Evergreen commitment (Life’s Abundance has been certified as an Evergreen company by the Tugboat Institute), we make decisions based not just on profit, but on long-term sustainability and on being a good steward of the environment. When we launched our line of premium skin-care products, we wanted to do something above and beyond our typical commitment to creating a better world. A reflection of our natural philosophy, we entered into a partnership with Trees for the Future. Every time a customer purchases one of our skin-care products, we make a corresponding commitment to further fund this green initiative by planting a tree.

Trees for the Future (TREES) is an international development non-profit that meets a triple bottom line through their tree-planting mission: poverty alleviation, hunger eradication and healing the environment. In addition to planting trees, they train farmers to manage "forest gardens" in order to sustainably feed their families and raise their incomes by as much as four times! And because they utilize sophisticated algorithms and tracking software, our trees are planted are used in areas where they can have the greatest impact. At present, they have trained at-risk peoples in six countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Cameroon, Guinea, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda. Since they were founded in 1989, TREES has planted over 150 million trees!

According to John Leary, executive director of TREES, "Our planet loses 50 soccer fields worth of trees every minute, and much of this deforestation is occurring in the developing tropics where hundreds of millions of families depend on trees for their survival. Once the trees are cleared, most subsistence farmers in the developing world use destructive farming techniques – including both slash-and-burn and modern agriculture – that inhibit the growth of anything but one or a few temporary crops." Leary's belief is that restoring agricultural lands with a diverse combination of trees and crops is the answer to a whole host of pressing global problems, including: desertification; diminishing access to potable water; hunger and poverty; forced migrations; and, of course, climate change itself.

As a corporate sponsor, you can visit our very own TREES web page to view our current count of tree seedlings planted to date. So far, we've planted an amazing 46,000 trees! To put our participation in perspective, if every registered business in the US were to plant the same number of trees, the trillion number goal would be met with an extra 288 billion on top of it!

The thing that stands out for most people is the idea of planting trees is appealing. Pretty much everyone who has ever planted a tree thinks of it as a positive experience. Anyone can do it. They improve urban environments. They absorb carbon dioxide and generate oxygen. As far as ecosystems go, planting more trees is always a good thing.

Best of all, it would appear people are enthusiastic about Crowther's bold proposal. The UN has already changed the name of their tree-planting initiative to the Trillion Tree Campaign!

So, if you've ever felt like you can't make a difference, now you know you can! We encourage all our readers to visit trees.org and trilliontreecampaign.org and find out more about these initiatives. And, if you're looking for something a little more local, make planting tree seedlings into a regular fun family outing.

For more on the science and the solution, check out these informative links!

^{https://aaas.confex.com/aaas/2019/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/23744}

^{https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/forests-climate-change-co2-greenhouse-gases-trillion-trees-global-warming-a8782071.html}

^{https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-02/ez-pcc021119.php}

^{https://www.wearesalt.org/stopping-the-sixth-extinction-habitat-creation/}

^{https://futurism.com/planting-trillions-trees-cancel-co2-emissions/}

^{http://trees.org/app/uploads/2018/03/One-Shot-Meltwater-Email-PR.pdf}

Meet Michele Dobos and Max. While attending an enormous pet adoption event co-sponsored by Life’s Abundance in West Palm Beach, Florida last month, Michele took a chance and entered our Free Pet Food for a Year Giveaway. And we’re so glad she did!

Michele is smiling because she is the winner of our drawing! Max is smiling because he’s just a happy guy, plus he was given a basket full of tasty goodies.

When asked what motivated her to attend the Countdown 2 Zero Adoption Event, Michele said, “I went to support the rescues. A friend and I filled our pockets with bills and dropped donations into each rescue group’s jar at the event. As a former rescue volunteer, I know how important this event was for all 32 of these groups.”

Life’s Abundance CEO Lester Thornhill took our winners on a red carpet tour of the headquarters. Within minutes Max and his broad Shih Tzu grin dominated the day and won the hearts of everyone who met him. He’s a seven year old with spunk and now that he’s eating Life’s Abundance All Life Stage Dog Food we’re certain to see an extra spring in his step.

Congratulations to Michele and Max, and welcome to the Life’s Abundance family!

Life’s Abundance is very proud to report our recent involvement as Official Sponsors in Palm Beach County’s third annual Countdown 2 Zero adoption event. Held on September 10th at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, hundreds of adoptable cats, dogs, rabbits and guinea pigs from dozens of rescue groups overtook the arena. The goal was to find forever homes for hundreds of these hopeful pet kids.

Countdown 2 Zero is a county-wide initiative harnessing the expertise and resources of both local county government and private animal rescue agencies, with the stated mission of completely eliminating the euthanasia of adoptable pets by 2024.

Throughout the day, a dozen Life’s Abundance staff members worked from our booth and mingled with the crowds. Altogether, we personally greeted several hundred event attendees. Our company was one of many co-sponsors in attendance, along with a whopping 32 animal rescue groups. Thanks to corporate sponsorships like ours, all of the non-profit rescues were able to participate at no charge, allowing them to focus on what really matters … finding the perfect homes for their companion animals.

Life's Abundance sponsors Countdown 2 Zero adoption event.

The visiting crowd consisted of nearly 3,000 wonderful people, all united by their desire to adopt a homeless animal (maybe even two!). Making sure that everything went off without a hitch were 220 event volunteers, plus all of the animal rescue workers. Truly a remarkable group of people! But the real stars of the event were the 900+ adoptable pet kids, ranging in age from four months to twelve years.

Ready to meet their new family!

This was the third time this annual extravaganza has been held, and thanks to a great deal of planning and boatloads of caring, an amazing number of pet kids were adopted into their forever homes. The final tally was 334 adoptions, which broke their previous record!

All hands on deck at the Life's Abundance booth with CEO Lester Thornhill, Customer Care Manager, Delphia Brown and Project Manager, Dawn Tate.

Life’s Abundance CEO, Lester Thornhill said, “We really wanted to focus on our neighbors and do something beneficial for our community. Being a co-sponsor afforded us the perfect opportunity to demonstrate our willingness to invest in the lives of both people and companion animals. The life-saving changes being made here on the local level are nothing short of heroic. We could not be more pleased to play a role in this incredible event.”

Volunteers and adopters couldn't resist a little cuddle time.

Everywhere we looked, inspirational acts of spontaneous kindness were happening in every corner of the 50,000 square-foot space. There were tears of joy and loads of laughter. The mood in the room was simply over the moon, everywhere people beaming big smiles … even the dogs! In just a few short hours, we witnessed hundreds of heartwarming unions.

To everyone who participated in Countdown 2 Zero, we can’t thank you enough for your interest in adoption and for giving all of us the chance to meet you in person.

We congratulate the event hosts, all of our fellow corporate and non-profit sponsors, but most of all, we applaud all of the thousands of participants and every single adopter. By opening your homes, and your hearts, you have all made the world a better place for your new pet kid.

In the short term, your participation will have a very real impact on our community, as far fewer adoptable animals will be euthanized in Palm Beach County. Not only that, but each of you helped to further our county's long-term goal of eliminating euthanasia altogether. That’s a big deal!

For all of us at Life's Abundance, helping to improve the quality of life for animals in need isn't just a one-off event ... it's part of our DNA. In fact, supporting animal rescues is part of our business model. If you're new to Life's Abundance, you should know that every order results in a small donation to our company non-profit, The Dr. Jane Foundation. All of those little donations add up to big change. Since 2007, we've awarded nearly $200,000 to more than 100 animal rescue groups across America.

Collective action on behalf of a good cause is the only real way to affect positive change in the world. We hope you'll join us, either as a new customer or even as a distributor of our products. Together, we truly can make the world a better place.

Palm City, Florida – When the Humane Society of Vero Beach and Indian River County issued a public plea for assistance, after their dog population doubled in a single day, a company headquarted in Palm City stepped up to the plate … literally.

Seventy-five Chihuahuas and one Pug were dropped off at the shelter on October 19th, when a local breeder hit hard by the economy determined she could no longer operate her business.

Life's Abundance heeded the Society’s call for donations, providing more than 300 pounds of Life’s Abundance Premium Health Food for Puppies & Adult Dogs and Life’s Abundance Weight-Loss Formula for Adult Dogs and 46 pounds of Gourmet Dental Treats – Honey Peanut Butter Recipe. More...