This Sunday, March 4, from 1:00-4:00 p.m. PT, Sounders FC continues its commitment to sustainability and carbon neutrality with a tree planting event along the banks of the Green-Duwamish River in Tukwila.
Former Sounders captain and current team Brand Ambassador Brad Evans joins fan volunteers, Sounders FC staff and volunteers from local nonprofits Forterra and DIRT Corps in an effort to plant over 600 trees along a riverside site labeled as high priority for threatened Chinook and Steelhead salmon recovery and stream health.Â
Members of the media wishing to cover this event should RSVP with Kelly Schutz of Sounders FC Communications [KellyS@SoundersFC.com].
As a club, Sounders FC is committed to leadership in environmental sustainability, with the call to Protect our Planet serving as one of the four arenas for change within the Rave Green’s official Social Justice Framework. In 2019, Sounders FC became the first professional soccer team in North America and the first professional sports team from the five major American men’s leagues – MLS, NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL – to commit to full carbon neutrality. As part of this effort, the club focuses first on working toward reducing its carbon footprint and then measuring and offsetting what remains.
Working in collaboration with Seattle-based Sustainable Business Consulting, the team calculates its greenhouse gas emissions and identifies opportunities to reduce impacts wherever possible, then partners with Forterra as part of the nonprofit’s Evergreen Carbon Capture program to plant native trees that sequester carbon and offset emissions. Tree planting is part of a comprehensive habitat restoration effort; these actions not only mitigate carbon impacts, but also help develop healthy, resilient forested parks and natural areas for future generations. Selected tree planting sites for Sounders FC are located in communities where RAVE Foundation focuses efforts, ensuring the club is addressing environmental justice and improving air and water quality in the places where those it serves live, work and play.
Since 2019, Sounders FC and its sustainability partners have come together to plant over 1,400 trees in the local community. Sunday’s plantings will take place along an area of the river important for Chinook and Steelhead salmon recovery. Planting conifers creates long-term shade along the river, leading to the cooler water temperatures that are vital to the health of the salmon population. The trees are also monitored by Forterra through maturity to ensure impact.Â
Additional benefits of this community-based tree planting include increased ecological diversity; increased climate resiliency; reduced stormwater and pollution runoff; improved public health in urbanized areas and ethnically diverse communities; and improved equity and social justice outcomes through community engagement, workforce development and youth leadership, including participants from: Dirt Corps, Unleash the Brilliance, the Duwamish Valley Youth Corps and Green River College Environmental Interns.
ABOUT FORTERRA
Forterra is an unconventional land trust that works across Washington’s communities and landscapes, from the ranches and shrub-steppe of the Yakima basin to the estuaries, farms and forests of Washington’s coast, reaching more than 100 counties, cities, towns and rural communities. Working cooperatively with people and nature, Forterra drives land stewardship, management and planning; innovative programs and policies; farming and forestry approaches; community ownership opportunities; and development solutions.
