PATT and Andrew Steel by Greg Jorgensen (July 15, 2006)

In the few lazy, meandering years between High School and University, I had some friends who would pack a bag during the summer months and head up to Northern Canada to plant trees.  They would usually come back 30 lbs lighter, telling stories about angry bears, swarming bees, homesickness, bad food, drunken brawls – and with $20,000 in their pocket.  Before leaving again the next year, the last thing they'd usually say is 'Why am I doing this again?'  The answer of course, was money. 

But for Brit Andrew Steel, Founder/Director of the Plant a Tree Foundation (PATT), money is the last thing on his mind, which is a really refreshing change.  Unlike logging companies who are legally required to re-forest huge swaths of land (at least in Canada), Steel is on a mission to re-forest the world simply because he wants to make a difference. 

"I really started PATT because of my kids," he says, showing me their pictures like all proud Dads are legally required to do.  "Having children really changes your outlook on life.  I'm an engineer by trade, and spent time in the navy travelling all over the world working on power stations, and things like that."  After living in Sri Lanka for five years, he needed a change and saw the developing opportunities in Thailand.  "The more I travelled and saw, the more I realized there was a serious problem with global warming, which got me thinking – what if one day there's no more beaches to take my kids to?  What's the use of having lots of money if you can't do anything with it?  So I got the idea of planting trees."

The timing couldn't be better, as Thailand is suffering from the same pressures that many countries rushing to keep up with the rest of the world are.  Rapid expansion, a growing population, heavier industry, illegal logging and a sharp rise in the amount of natural resources being consumed sure aren't fixing the problem.  Consider the numbers: in 1961, more than 50% of Thailand was covered in trees.  The rapidly expanding Thai economy back then soon took care of that, and by the late 80's, that number had dropped to 28%.  The alarmed authorities in charge implemented some quick and controversial anti-logging measures, which halted the decline, but it hasn't really recovered that much since; current reforestation efforts simply can't keep up.  But PATT's plan to plant one million trees annually around the globe is starting in Thailand, and will hopefully help in driving that number back up.

Any kid over five can tell you the benefits of having trees around – basically, they breathe in the crap we make (carbon dioxide) and crap out the stuff we breathe (oxygen).  And before you start to say "But I don't own a car or start forest fires," let me remind you that we're all guilty of polluting.  That air-conditioned air you're breathing?  That Starbucks Frap-Zapaccino you just drank?  Those dusty shoes you're wearing?  They've all contributed to the production of carbon dioxide somewhere along their production timeline.

The positive reception that Steel has received has surprised even him.  "We only registered ourselves in November, 2005," he explains.  "The last few months have seen some phenomenal growth."  He starts to tell me how PATT has changed and adapted itself as it has grown.  "In addition to planting trees, we've realized that there's a whole lot more we could do in terms of sustainable development.  One of these avenues we're working on is the idea that by planting a group of trees, we could significantly improve the economy of an entire village."  I wonder if he's talking about turning an entire village into luberjacks, but immediately realize that doesn't make much sense.

"If you plant the right type of trees, you can make a kind of cottage industry out of them.  What we'd like to do is set up a fund in the village bank that collects the proceeds from the industries the trees provide," like harvesting the fruit or even the bark and leaves to make OTOP-style products.  "This money would then be put towards setting up SME's (Small and Medium Enterprises) for the people in the village such as shops, salons, that type of thing.  Hopefully it would stem the tide of people being pressured to move to Bangkok to make ends meet."

Support from other groups has bolstered their cause as well.  The growing list includes former Miss Thailand Janjira Janchome as the face of PATT in Thailand, XL Group Chairman Roger Hamilton, The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Senator Meechai Viravaidhya of Cabbages and Condoms fame, and the WWF (not the wrestlers, the World Wildlife Fund).  "We simply wouldn't have been able to do what we've done without the support of our friends," he adds.

But Steel, who reminded me of a Bullitt-era Steve McQueen, wants to make planting trees a much more personal experience for everyone who gets involved.  "When you look at what Bob Geldof did with Live-Aid – which was amazing, don't get me wrong – you start to see that it was kind of a temporary fix.  Someone says, "Hang on, I gave my dollar to Bob Geldof and those kids are still starving."  But if you plant a tree, you have a personal investment in something that's going to be there for years," something that benefits the entire globe with its atmosphere scrubbing abilities.

"It takes approximately 500 trees to process the 9.75 tons of carbon that each person emits per year, on average," he continues. "At PATT, we call those trees a Carbon Life Credit (CLC).  So by planting 500 trees, you're effectively doing something to counteract the CO2 you put into the air each year.  By buying more than one CLC, you're now actually doing more than your fair share."  Steel starts to get a bit more excited as he tells me the next part, which takes it one step further.  Eventually, the PATT website (www.plant-a-tree-today.org ) after being officially licensed as a charity in the UK), will allow people to cut through all the bureaucratic nonsense that plagues many other charities, enabling them to quickly and easily donate to the cause online and giving them the ability to track 'their' trees via the internet. 

"Eventually, every tree that we plant will have a unique ID number.  What you can then do is log into the PATT website, and check the status of any tree that you've bought, allowing you see how it's doing, what it's contributing to (and taking out of) the environment, and where in the world it is."  Taking it one step further, you could decide to donate your CLC's to one of the sustainable-village projects he talked about earlier, checking to see how your donation is helping a particular village prosper.  There's no other way to describe it – that's pretty damn cool.

You'd think that all that would be enough for one guy to involved in, but Steel isn't finished yet.  Through PATT, he is also helping to create an educational portion to the charity that will enable teachers to create lesson plans around environmentally themed activities.  This will help educate young minds on the importance of the environment and their place in it, something that Steel is acutely supportive of.  After all – if a person isn't familiar with an issue, how can they help to improve it?

His other company, Equitech, is working to develop crops of something called jatropha curcas, a plant that can yield a bio-fuel for low-speed diesel engines, as well as offering all kinds of other environmental services and solutions.  His company also recently signed a number  of exclusive distribution deals for various environmental technologies in SE Asia.

His earlier claim that he's doing this all for his kids got a shot in the arm when he sent me a quick email that said simply "Have a look at the attached, which gives a picture of why I do what I do." It was a commercial that saw a guy standing on some train tracks with a locomotive rumbling toward him in the background.  "Global warming?" he says, "That's thirty years away.  It won't affect me."  He then steps off of the tracks to reveal a young girl standing behind him as the train barrels down on her, which then cuts to the message "There's still time." Yikes.

It's easy to see a future where Steel and his family are relaxing on that beach he talked about earlier, where he can finally take a break from being proud of his kids, letting them instead be proud of him.

 Five Silly Questions:

1. Favorite movie?  I'm ex-military, so Full Metal Jacket
   
2. If you could eat only one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?  Green curry.
   
3. Most embarrassing moment?  After thirteen years in the navy, I have too many to mention.
   
4. How did you meet your wife?  She was the girl next door.
   
5. What's your favorite tree?  The Oak tree, as it represents the very essence of England.  We also hope that PATT will be as strong as long-lasting as an oak.