How to Save Trees

I’m not exactly a tree hugger but cutting trees when it is not necessary always makes me mad, especially trees that are much older than me.  We just came back from our vacation and one of the interesting things we discovered on this trip is how Thai people save the trees.  A few years ago, the trees in the picture below were to be cut down for the expansion of the road.  Cutting down small trees may create a small uproar, but these trees are a few hundred years old and have been growing here since the town was a village ‘in the middle of nowhere’.  There were many efforts made to save these tree from becoming someone’s floor or furniture.  In the end, as 90% of  Thailand’s population is Buddhist, the people decided to ‘ordain’ the trees by wrapping saffron robes around every tree that lined this road.  It seems to work since no one dares to cut the ordained trees.