Publix donation provides trees to improve Florida watersheds

April 16, 2020

For the fourth year in a row, we’ve donated proceeds from the sale of our green Publix-branded reusable bags to the Arbor Day Foundation to plant trees in Florida watersheds damaged by natural disasters or pollution. This year’s $125,000 donation brings our four-year total to $480,000. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, our donations have made it possible to plant 480,000 trees across 710 acres. These trees are estimated to intercept more than 52 billion gallons of rainfall and absorb more than 140,000 net tons of carbon dioxide over the next 50 years.

“When you start learning about watersheds and what they do, you discover how foundational they are to our quality of life because almost every area of land is a watershed,” said Director of Environmental and Sustainability Programs Michael Hewett. “Part of our mission at Publix is to be responsible citizens in our communities. By working with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant trees in key watersheds, we’re doing good together by restoring areas that work as natural filters for the water we all drink and use every day.”

The $125,000 donation, made in late 2019, was used in early 2020 to plant 125,000 trees in the Little Orange Creek Preserve and Withlacoochee River watersheds. Previous years’ donations were used to plant trees in Florida’s Upper Ocklawaha River basin, Little Orange Creek Preserve and Withlacoochee River watersheds. Read more about sustainability efforts at Publix.