The film Avatar encouraged manufacturers and movie studios to put 3D back into theaters as well as homes. However, it also did something way cooler. It encouraged people to plant over a million trees all over the world.
The Earth Day Network just announced that it has exceeded its one-million-tree goal for The Avatar Home Tree Initiative. At the end of 2010, the project had planted a total of 1,006,639 trees on six different continents. The project was made possible thanks to Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, the launch of the Avatar Blu-ray and DVD, and 17 partner organizations. In the end, over 31,000 people contributed to the planting project.
"At the core of Avatar lies an inspiring message of empowerment and self-discovery," said Mike Dunn, President Worldwide, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. "Our program to plant one million trees resulted in fans around the world fervently getting involved to promote a healthy, sustainable planet. That alone has made this initiative a huge success."
The Earth Day Network says that the trees were planted in some of the world's most bio-diverse and threatened forests, as well as to replenish areas destroyed by fire, flood, wind, and other disasters. The project is also designed to educate and create career opportunities.
Approximately 500,000 of the trees were planted in Haiti alone. Other countries include Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
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