1 Million Trees Planted Thanks To U-Haul Customers

PHOENIX — U-Haul®, the largest do-it-yourself moving company in North America, and The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing conservation solutions that deliver both economic and environmental benefits, are celebrating a meaningful milestone: 1 million trees planted across the U.S. thanks to donations from U-Haul and its customers.

Beginning in 2007, U-Haul partnered with The Conservation Fund to offer its truck-sharing patrons the opportunity to plant trees and offset their moving-related emissions. This collaboration has grown to include urban conservation and green economy opportunities — which are creating green jobs, reducing neighborhood flooding and providing safe places to play in underserved communities.

Millions of U-Haul customers have chosen to give back during the last 14-plus years, resulting in the planting of 1 million trees and the restoration of over 2,500 acres of wildlife habitat — an area more than twice the size of Chicago’s Lincoln Park — across 11 national wildlife refuges and four national forests in the U.S.

“Planting one million trees is a wonderful accomplishment and representative of the strong, continued collaboration between U-Haul, our customers, The Conservation Fund and their team,” stated John “JT” Taylor, President of U-Haul International. “We are committed to furthering these types of environmental initiatives to solve and support progress on climate solutions. Investment in America’s forests is one way to positively impact on our environmental ecosystems.”

In addition to planting trees, ensuring the permanent conservation and sustainable management of forests is one of the most effective strategies available now to combat climate change. U-Haul customer support has also helped in part to protect more than 60,000 acres of working forests across the country that provide timber products and jobs in rural communities, support water quality, maintain critical wildlife habitat, combat climate change and offer recreational access.

“U-Haul’s ongoing commitment to advancing positive outcomes for conservation and communities is a model for corporate social responsibility programs,” said Larry Selzer, president and CEO of The Conservation Fund. “By engaging customers and inspiring employees, U-Haul continues to create lasing benefits for people and the environment. Forests are one of the most important climate change solutions we have available right now because of the trees’ ability to absorb carbon dioxide. We are honored to partner with U-Haul and celebrate this significant milestone together.”

U-Haul customers have the opportunity to support tree-planting efforts during checkout at more than 23,000 truck-sharing locations. Every dollar that U-Haul customers donate to The Conservation Fund goes directly to important conservation efforts.

The partnership has helped build “Parks with Purpose” in Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, California, Missouri, and North Carolina. U-Haul and its customers are also supporting sustainable economic development in West Virginia that is adding more green jobs, revitalizing downtowns and supporting locally-owned enterprises, including local food and tourism.

About The Conservation Fund
At The Conservation Fund, we combine a passion for conservation with an entrepreneurial spirit to protect your favorite places before they become just a memory. A hallmark of our work is our deep, unwavering understanding that for conservation solutions to last, they need to make economic sense. Top-ranked, we have protected more than 8.5 million acres across America.

About U-Haul
U-Haul was founded by a Navy veteran who grew up during the Great Depression. Tires and gas were still rationed or in short supply during the late 1940s when U-Haul began serving U.S. customers. Today, that background is central to the U-Haul Sustainability Program: “Serving the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Our commitment to reduce, reuse and recycle includes fuel-efficient moving vans, neighborhood proximity, moving box reuse, moving pads made from discarded material and packing peanuts that are 100% biodegradable. Learn more about these facts and others at uhaul.com/about/sustainability.

Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers, with a network of more than 23,000 locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 offers secure access to U-Haul trucks every hour of every day through the customer dispatch option on their smartphones and our proprietary Live Verify technology. Our customers’ patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to approximately 176,000 trucks, 126,000 trailers and 46,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers nearly 825,000 rentable storage units and 71.6 million square feet of self-storage space at owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the largest retailer of propane in the U.S., and continues to be the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry. U-Haul has been recognized repeatedly as a leading “Best for Vets” employer and was recently named one of the 15 Healthiest Workplaces in America.

Contacts:
Ann Simonelli | The Conservation Fund | 703-908-5809 | asimonelli@conservationfund.org
Jeff Lockridge | U-Haul | 602-760-4941 | publicrelations@uhaul.com

General Media Contact: media@conservationfund.org