MESA, AZ — After the fourth-hottest summer on record, Arizonans are getting proactive about cooling their neighborhoods, one sapling at a time. On Saturday, more than a hundred volunteers planted 100 trees at Reed Park in Mesa, part of a broader push to make Valley communities cooler, greener, and healthier.
“This is an area with low tree canopy cover. We want to be around 15% canopy covered; this area is just at 8%,” said Amy Scoville-Weaver with the Nature Conservancy of Arizona.
Shade isn’t just about comfort. Shaded surfaces can be 20 to 40 degrees cooler than those in direct sun, and trees help clean the air, especially valuable near busy streets and bus stops.
“We have a bus stop over there; these trees will be able to provide a walkable corridor for people to walk through the park and use that bus stop,” Scoville-Weaver added.
Neighbors say the change can’t come soon enough.
“I am happy so many people came to volunteer and get these trees planted quickly,” said Cirenia, who lives next to Reed Park.
Alongside the new canopy, Mesa is reshaping parts of the park to harvest stormwater better, so rain flows into the ground instead of flooding parking lots.
“Once these plants are established after 18 months, we don’t need to water them. That’s the beauty of it, we’re not having to use water to green our cities,” said Joaquin Murrieta with Watershed Management Group.
It’s part of a bigger mindset shift as the region adapts to hotter temperatures.
“The way that we grow Phoenix, if we do it mindfully, is to work with the environment, not against it,” Scoville-Weaver said.
Volunteer Eddie Connerly hopes the effort spreads.
“Hopefully, when people see this, they will want to go out in their communities and make a difference.”
For resources to get free trees, you can click here.
