(energetic music)
- The importance of Penn having a green campus
is several-fold, one is we're in the
fifth largest city in the United States
and this really provides an urban oasis
in the midst of a large urban area.
- Trees have been shown time and time again
to have a lot of benefits to people,
it reduces stress, it reduces crime,
it reduces heat stress so since we're in
such an urban setting, I think it's great that
we really focus on making sure we have a
diverse and healthy tree canopy,
so we get all the benefits.
- It's a team effort keeping our campus green.
We have now probably around 100 acres
of open space on campus, we have almost 7,000 trees.
So there's lots of arbors, there's lots of
maintenance personnel in the landscape crews,
urban park designers like myself, landscape architects,
that have over the years made sure that
the mission of our campus, to have a green campus
has always been on point and focused.
- If it's only one person standing over in the corner
trying to fight for the trees, it's
not going to go very far.
So having this kind of culture throughout
the entire university, that we promote and support
trees here is one of the biggest things that we can do.
- Great, well happy Earth Day.
- So this event on Earth Day was to celebrate
Penn's designation as a Tree Campus USA
for the seventh consecutive year.
We planted a young tree that we propagated
at the Morris arboretum, that we've been growing
for several years here.
And this is the second year in a row
that we've donated trees to campus
to really increase and enhance the diversity of trees
that are grown on campus.
- Essentially, what Tree Campus USA does
is recognize our tree care, so it means
we have a certain number of trees,
we have a certain species of trees,
we take care of them a certain way,
we're committed to the trees, and have
a long term plan for trees.
And so therefor when you meet all these
specific goals, you are awarded Tree Campus USA.
- I think it's over there.
- Oh there, yeah. Okay, great.
- The Penn Plant Explorer website is a
interface that is really geared towards
education, demonstrations and learning
about history and tours of the campus itself.
- The heart of this garden, located in a
shaded enclave of the Van Pelt-Dietrich library center
is the iconic silver peace symbol sculpture.
- It's an interactive tool for alumni and students,
and really anybody to go in, look at
what we have on campus, have a tour of the
major significant trees on campus,
some of the history and background of the trees.
A few of the really unique items
within this college green are the
Penn Treaty Elm and the Shakespeare Garden.
The Penn Treaty Elm is an elm that was planted
just after College Hall was built in the 1870s,
and the tree now is 130 some years old.
And it's the most important tree on our campus.
So the Shakespeare Garden is over by the
Fischer Fine Arts Library and there's plants
that are planted in there that have occurred in
some of Shakespeare's plays.
On the stone pavers there are quotes
from Shakespeare's plays.
And it's a great little secluded spot off the main green.
- How I hope that our green campus inspires students,
is that I hope they take the moment to appreciate
what they're walking through,
especially coming down Locust Walk and all those
old mature trees shading it, that doesn't happen overnight.
And so having that image in your mind
as you go forward and start planting trees
on your own property, or wherever you work,
that it's not going to be instant gratification
but it's totally worth it in the long run.
And I hope that they appreciate
what they're getting to walk through every day.
(upbeat music)