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City gets 8,000 new trees

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By Andrew McGinn, Staff Writer 11:57 PM Friday, April 29, 2011

SPRINGFIELD — A donation made Friday to the Springfield Conservancy District by HSG/CodeBlue wasn’t just a breath of fresh air.

It will make life on Earth sustainable for a few extra years.

The local company’s decision to donate 8,000 new trees — presented on Arbor Day, that semi-obscure national holiday celebrating the oxygen-making woody plants among us — came as a surprise to the conservancy district.

“We were struck by the numbers,” confessed Pete Noonan, district president.

But 8,000 was the number of Esurance policyholders who opted to have a broken windshield repaired rather than replaced.

HSG/CodeBlue manages auto glass claims for Esurance, which has planted more than 100,000 trees through its Save a Windshield, Plant a Tree program.

“That glass gets thrown away and it doesn’t decompose,” said Paul Gross, CEO of HSG/CodeBlue. “It will be there for the next million years.”

A few of the seedlings were planted Friday during a brief ceremony near the Buck Creek Scenic Trail on Pumphouse Road.

The trees — red oaks, sugar maples and dogwoods — will be planted in locations that include Mabra and New Reid parks.

With the emerald ash borer still poised to ravage the area’s ash trees, the conservancy district now has a stock of trees to place in critical areas if needed, according to Noonan.

Contact this reporter at amcginn@coxohio.com.

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