Nationwide Insurance Foundation and American Forests to plant trees to protect Chesapeake Bay from farm runoff

Nationwide planting trees around chicken farms with donations on behalf of customers who have chosen to go paperless

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2010

Contacts:
Charley Gillespie (614) 249-5701
gillesc1@nationwide.com

Columbus, Ohio - Using donations on behalf of customers who have chosen to go paperless, Nationwide Insurance Foundation is providing American Forests – the nation’s oldest nonprofit citizens’ conservation organization – with tree planting funds to protect the Chesapeake Bay.

To celebrate Arbor Day, Nationwide and American Forests kicked off this green initiative today by planting buffer trees around chicken farms on the Delmarva Peninsula in Maryland and Delaware.

“Nationwide customers elect to go paperless to save trees and plant new ones and this partnership allows us to plant these trees where they can prevent pollution from entering the Chesapeake Bay – which provides drinking water to 14 million people,” said Scot Zajic, Nationwide’s Chief Policy Officer. “These trees also beautify the area and help preserve the farms and jobs of families raising poultry.”

American Forests selected the Delmarva Poultry Industry (DPI) program to plant tree buffers to capture emissions to reduce ammonia and carbon dioxide from the chicken farms, and utilize the tree roots to absorb some runoff nutrients. Nationwide is funding the planting of 16,000 trees.

Nationwide has partnered with American Forests since 2008 to plant thousands of trees in strategic locations across America. The Chesapeake Bay clean up efforts including reduction of chicken farm run-off has been high priority for environmental and business groups and new federal demands have accelerated the bay’s clean up. “This project is a great example of ‘planting where it matters most’ because forested buffers create a huge benefit for the Bay and have long been identified as one of the most cost effective ways to improve water quality,” said Dan Smith, vice president of communications for American Forests.

About American Forests
American Forests, an influential voice for conservation and the environment since its founding in 1875, is a world leader in planting trees to heal the earth. Its Global ReLeaf program will plant 5 million trees in 2010 toward its goal to plant 100 million trees by 2020. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the organization is online at www.americanforests.org and publishes the quarterly magazine, American Forests and the monthly e-newsletter, Forestbytes.

About Nationwide
Nationwide, based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the U.S. and is rated A+ by A.M. Best. The company provides a full range of personalized insurance and financial services, including auto insurance, motorcycle, boat, homeowners, life insurance, farm, commercial insurance, administrative services, annuities, mortgages, mutual funds, pensions, long-term savings plans and health and productivity services. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.

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