Leduc County landowner plans to address climate change, one tree at a time
William Munsey wants to do his part to tackle climate change.
The Leduc County resident wants to plant more than 600 trees on his 38-acre property in New Sarepta, Alta. this May.
Munsey, who has a berry farm and a greenhouse on his property, hopes the seedlings will eventually become trees that will absorb CO2 and emit oxygen.
I got so tired of talk and talk and nothing seems to happen - William Munsey, New Sarepta resident
He decided to take on the large planting project after years of hearing climate change discussions. The locomotive engineer for CN Rail says he wanted to do more.
"I got so tired of talk and talk and nothing seems to happen," he told CBC's Radio Active on Tuesday.
He posted his plan on Facebook and within a few hours he had several donations totaling $450.
His plan also attracted the attention of online retailer Treetime.ca, which donated 450 white spruce trees to Munsey's cause.
"Certainly wasn't expecting this," he said.
'Tired of living in despair'
Munsey doesn't believe the future trees on his property will solve the world's climate change issues, but he thinks it's a good start.
"I'm tired of living in despair. So I'm going down swinging," he said on Tuesday.
"I'm going to do what I can do."
The former Green Party of Canada candidate knows he can't plant all of the 600 trees on his acreage himself so he is inviting anyone to come out to his New Sarepta property on the weekend of May 24 to help plant the trees.
Munsey hopes to make it an annual tradition.
New Sarepta is located approximately 50 kilometres southeast of Edmonton.
