We're Walter Payton High School students planting trees in and around the Chicagoland area to fight climate change, block by block, root by root. No permission slips required. Everyone wins.
We're changing that, one block at a time. Concrete is winning. Trees are losing. And the planet is paying for it.
Source: UN Environment Programme. Cities cover 3% of land but produce most of the heat, smog, and carbon.
Tree canopy cuts surface temperatures by up to 10°C on hot days.
Leaves absorb ozone and trap fine particulate matter from traffic.
A mature tree's roots absorb thousands of gallons of stormwater a year.
Trees lock away CO₂ and shade buildings, slashing energy demand.
Jonathan Behrens and his friends started Payton Planters as students at Walter Payton High School in Chicago, tired of watching politicians punt the climate crisis to "the next generation."
We are the next generation. And we're not waiting anymore.
"Stop waiting for adults to solve it. Plant now. Together."
Every $25 plants one tree in Chicago: sourced, dug, watered, and watched over by us.
