On Saturday, April 21st Members of the York Rotary Club's Preserve Planet Earth Committee (PPE), members of the York Rotary Club and their families along with members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at York College, and York County Probationary Group planted 30 trees, primarily along Jackson St. in south York, to bring the total to about 250 trees planted in the city since the inception of the Restore the Canopy to York program in 2009.

Tree planting is not all the committee does.

• assisted with the introduction of community recycling as mandated by the state of Pennsylvania
• installed markers on every storm drain in the city of York that say NO DUMPING DRAINS TO RIVER
• maintains a section of the York County Rail-Trail which was overgrown, attracting litter and waste
• cleaned up three illegal dumpsites
• present educational projects with York City schools
• present speakers to the York Rotary Club

Recognizing the need to address the growing environmental crisis, Rotary International launched its Preserve Planet Earth focus in 1990.  The mission of PPE is:  Encourage Rotarians to live environmentally conscious lifestyles, increase the number and diversity of environmental service projects carried out by the clubs, and promote awareness of the critical environmental issues affecting our communities and the planet.

You may view some photos of various PPE projects in the photo gallery and on the slide show just above this article.