Tree Equity: Growing Greener, Fairer Cities—One Order at a Time

In Canada and the United States, around 80% of the population lives in urban areas. That means most people experience nature not in national parks or forests, but through their urban forests: street trees, parks, boulevards, community gardens, and even small pockets of greenery tucked between buildings.

At ShipAid, we believe that sustainable commerce isn’t just about planting trees, it’s about planting the right trees in the right places to support equity, climate action, and community resilience.

What Is Tree Equity—And Why Should You Care?

Tree equity is the principle that everyone, regardless of income, race, or neighborhood, deserves access to the benefits of trees. Yet tree cover in urban areas is often deeply unequal, mirroring historic patterns of disinvestment. Wealthier areas tend to have more trees, while lower-income neighborhoods have less, despite the fact that these communities often face higher temperatures, worse air quality, and greater climate vulnerability.

Why Trees Matter in Cities

Urban trees are more than aesthetic. They:

• Cool neighborhoods by up to 2.5°C, reducing heat stress
• Improve air quality, lowering respiratory illness and pollution
• Enhance mental health, reducing rates of anxiety and depression
• Protect biodiversity, giving wildlife refuge in fragmented urban habitats
• Encourage active lifestyles and community well-being

But these benefits aren’t distributed equally. That’s where businesses like yours, and tools like ShipAid, can help.

Measuring and Mapping Tree Equity

Tree equity isn’t just a feel-good concept, it’s data-backed.

• In Canada, organizations like Nature Canada are mapping tree cover alongside income and racial data to identify gaps in urban greening.
• In the United States, American Forests developed the Tree Equity Score, which uses data like tree cover, population density, income, and race to give neighborhoods a 0–100 score. A low score? It means more trees are urgently needed.

These tools help guide reforestation efforts, and give businesses a way to support targeted, high-impact urban greening.

What Does Good Urban Forest Quality Look Like?

True tree equity isn’t just about planting more trees, it’s about planting smarter:

• Culturally relevant species that reflect local Indigenous and community needs
• High biodiversity, not monocultures
• Green space access for all, ideally aiming for 30% canopy cover in every neighborhood
• Connectivity between green areas to support wildlife and ecological restoration

Urban reforestation done right restores ecosystems, respects cultural heritage, and strengthens cities from the roots up.

How ShipAid Helps Businesses Champion Tree Equity

Every time you ship with ShipAid, you’re doing more than streamlining your customer experience, you’re empowering impact.

Through our partnership with veritree, we help merchants fund verified, high-integrity reforestation projects, including ones that directly support urban tree equity in under-resourced areas.

What makes veritree different? Their platform offers:

• Data-driven transparency (so you know exactly where and what is being planted)
• Impact reporting to share with your customers
• Verified, community-led projects that prioritize equity, biodiversity, and climate outcomes

With ShipAid, your brand can go beyond offsets and actually restore ecosystems where they’re needed most, starting with the sidewalks and streets where your customers live.

Turning Packages into Urban Forests

Tree equity is about justice. It’s about restoring balance to our built environments, protecting health, and giving every community the chance to breathe, grow, and thrive.

Whether you're a Shopify brand or an eComm giant, your logistics strategy can become a climate action plan. With ShipAid, every delivery is a chance to make a difference, not just globally, but right in your customer’s own backyard.

Want your shipments to support tree equity?

Let’s connect you with high-impact projects that match your mission.

👉 Talk to our team about climate-aligned shipping

Updated on: 07/08/2025