As of the end of October, more than 500,000 people have downloaded the tree icon, and 44 ¡§Green Thumb¡¨ schools have been supported by Chunghwa Telecom and other corporations.

It may not have occurred to you that the use of the Internet is an environment-friendly act. Bills in envelopes sent to your mailbox over the years imply a huge consumption of paper. Besides electronic billing, the Internet also offers other methods for a greener way of living. Chunghwa Telecom urges its customers to use electronic billing instead of mail billing to access billing information, to use webcams instead of driving to meet friends, to use text messaging instead of postal mail to deliver messages. The Electronic Tree Planting Project, backed up by the optical networks built by Chunghwa Telecom, is estimated to save one tree per year for each Taiwanese. Since the launch of this Project, more than 100,000 users of Chunghwa Telecom have applied for e-billing.

According to the telecom operator, this project is just the beginning of a larger campaign: ¡§Volunteers of Chunghwa Telecom will upload text, images and videos to the project¡¦s blog in addition to helping to take care of the plants, so that the tree-planting concept will take root while young school kids continue the building of ecological corridor.

Tree-planting is now in full swing in the participating schools. ¡§I¡¦ve been having a tight schedule lately, but I¡¦m enjoying it,¡¨ said project coordinator Liz Chou of Jane Goodall Institute Taiwan.

The Green Thumb project, however, is not an easy task as many might think. Before planting native plants, many details must be attended to: a detailed inspection of the surrounding of the school including soil type, water supply, and location (for example, whether the school is located in a mountainous area); a careful selection of the plants that are appropriate to the specific environment; making sure that the school has enough personnel to take care of the plants.

The Institute also invites lecturers to teach school staff and students about the benefits of native plants, the types and features of the native plants in the school, and how to take care of them. Some schools have even reserved sites for butterflies and earthworms.

Many people might have a misconception that native plants are not attractive enough to beautify the campus. ¡§Native plants in Taiwan are not ugly at all; in the contrary, some of them are very pleasing to the eye,¡¨ clarifies Chou. Most important, even though many exotic plants look beautiful, they might not be adaptive to Taiwan¡¦s ecology. In other words, only native plants can attract more animals to the campus, and biodiversity can also facilitate teaching at school.

The Green Thumb Project has advanced successfully. Jane Goodall Institute Taiwan and Chunghwa Telecom sincerely appreciate your enthusiastic involvement, and hope to have your participation again in our future environmental protection projects.