BY BRENDEN ZERIHUN
If you were walking by Sheridan’s Hazel McCallion Campus last weekend you may be wondering why the trees were coloured blue.
A temporary public art installation called The Blue Trees was created to raise awareness about the world’s diminishing forests and ecosystems through urban development and deforestation.
With the help of Sheridan students, artist Konstantin Dimopoulos coloured trees blue at Scholars Green Park outside HMC Friday morning.
In every city the project has visited, Dimopoulos uses an environmentally safe, water-based natural pigment to paint the trees and draw attention to greenery.
“We are highlighting how quickly change can happen to cities, and how important trees are, without the trees we cannot breathe,” said Dimopoulos.
“By colouring the trees they become visible like we saw today, a number of people stopped by and said ‘what are you doing?’ These trees have been here for a very long time but nobody looks at them. So now maybe you become familiar, it’s almost like your mother you feel like the trees are always going to be there.”
Deforestation is the cutting down and removal of all trees in a forested area. According to a study by Winrock International and Wood Hole Research Center tropical deforestation causes 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year. It is estimated that 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions are the result of deforestation. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen. When there are no trees to absorb the carbon dioxide the carbon gets released into the air.
“We are highlighting how quickly change can happen to cities, and how important trees are, without the trees we cannot breathe. – Konstantin Dimopoulos”
Another one of the direct negative impacts caused by deforestation is the effect it has on the ecosystem. Forests are the habitat for many different animals, and when trees are removed, there is nowhere for these animals to live.
“It’s not just the trees that are critical, the trees support so much life including our own. When you decide to remove a tree you also remove all the insects, wildlife, and animals. All the animals in the forest that need those trees also disappear. So once you remove a tree you remove the whole ecosystem,” said Dimopoulos.
“In places like Singapore they claim they will just buy more trees but that isn’t going to solve the ecology. The endangered animals, the gorillas and orangutans of the world will be gone. You can’t bring them back.”
One-way Dimopoulos suggests the community at Sheridan can make a difference and help raise awareness about protecting the trees that we do have is by using their voice.
“Colleges and students have to say we’re not going to buy books that are made from growth forests, if these books are not recycled, if papers are not recycled we won’t buy them. You have a lot of power in your wallet and if companies know that people will not buy books unless they use recycled paper then their product won’t sell.”
Learn more about The Blue Trees projects here.