IDOT giving Illinois schools 5,000 trees for Earth Day

Illinois schools will receive 5,000 seedlings to grow into trees in recognition of Earth Day on April 22.

The plants come from the Illinois Department of Transportation as part of an annual tradition.

IDOT works with Living Lands & Waters organization to help schools with the “Trees to Schools” initiative, allowing schools to offset the loss of trees removed or affected by construction and maintenance activities.

Each of the nine IDOT highway districts will receive 550 trees to distribute to local schools. Participating schools can use the trees on their grounds or distribute them to students as a learning opportunity.

The tree varieties included red oak, swamp white oak, bur oak and redbud. IDOT has distributed approximately 50,000 seedlings through Living Lands & Waters since 2009.