plant with purpose
Discover real-world stories of communities overcoming poverty and deforestation! Plant With Purpose, a Christian non-profit, shares examples of environmental sustainability and stewardship from all around the world. These stories show us how faith, resilience, and sustainable practices transform people’s lives as well as their environment. As rural families overcome poverty and heal the planet, embrace empowerment, renewal, and hope.
Living Sustainably
Poverty, Trees, and the Joy of Getting Your Hands Dirty
Kathy Kellogg-Johnson is a longtime supporter of Plant With Purpose and an expert in healthy soil. Her family-owned company, Kellogg Garden Organics, is celebrating its 100-year anniversary this year! For an entire century, they have been providing organic soil and products for farmers all across the country. Kathy generously spoke to us about the relationship between people, trees, and healthy soil. Check out her interview below.
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About Our Work
Why Do We Plant Trees?
Farmers who partner with Plant With Purpose have planted 76.6 million trees to date, and are projected to plant another 11 million in fiscal year 2026! But tree planting hasn’t always been our goal. When our CEO Scott Sabin first joined Plant With Purpose as an intern in 1993, he wasn’t particularly interested in planting trees. In fact, tree planting seemed like a distraction from the “real” mission of reducing rural poverty. Today, people new to Plant With Purpose may also wonder: what is the connection between helping people thrive and planting trees? The answer lies in the unique geographies of the watersheds we work in, where trees and livelihoods are inextricably intertwined.
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Ethiopia
Ethiopian Church Forests: An Ancient Key to Biodiversity
In the past 20 years, Ethiopia has been devastated by deforestation. Extensive agriculture, cattle herding, and increased population pressure, reduced forest cover to just 4.2% by 2000. Since then, the species richness of Ethiopia’s forests has been declining, and the remaining forests are fragmented, impoverished, and have only a fraction of the diversity they once had.
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Why
Why Should Churches Care About Trees?
Several years ago, my home church nearly cut down a 60-foot sycamore tree to build a new parking lot. Removing the tree seemed like the obvious choice—more room for families, more space for ministry. But some hesitated. Wasn’t this tree part of our story? Could we build around it instead of removing it? In the end, the church chose to save it, making it a prominent feature of the new campus.
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Photo Essays
How Cacao Trees are Transforming Lives in the Dominican Republic
At the end of March, Plant With Purpose hosted a Vision Trip to the Dominican Republic (DR). I, along with several donors and Plant With Purpose U.S. staff, had the privilege of visiting our partners in the DR and seeing the incredible work they’re doing to transform their communities. Just a few hours into our […]
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Meditations, Sustainability
We're Resurrection People, After All!
The following is a letter from our Creative Director, Philippe Lazaro, on what happens when a global pandemic runs into Easter- a day where we celebrate resurrection. What a month it’s been. To echo a Tweet by Andy Crouch I read, “Honestly, I hadn’t planned on giving up this much for Lent.” There’s something oddly […]
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Meditations, Sustainability
Restoring civility is a necessary step towards sustainability
A divisive social climate contributes to an unsustainable global climate It’s a presidential election year in the United States, and unsurprisingly political tensions and anxieties run high. There has been no shortage of words about the way our world is extremely polarized and divided. Spend more than a small amount of time online, and you’ll […]
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Meditations, Sustainability
I’m concerned about climate. Why should I support a Christian environmental organization?
“The faithful have a long tradition of ministering to and seeking justice for the most vulnerable and providing the action we need to achieve a just and healthy world. As such, the faithful are leading on climate solutions today.” –Kara Ball, Blessed Tomorrow Plant With Purpose is a Christian environmental organization. It’s a key part […]
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Sustainability
What is regenerative agriculture and why is it so exciting?
“Do you want to know the most exciting thing about regenerative agriculture? It’s the word “regenerative.” It means we actually have the ability to bring seemingly dead, practically infertile soil back to life!” –Sheryl Karas, Center for Regenerative Agriculture Systems at CSU Chico Excitement around regenerative agriculture, sometimes called regenerative farming, is booming. Perhaps it’s […]
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Meditations, Sustainability
Eco-Discipleship: How God calls us to learn from nature
We often overlook the way nature teaches us about God It’s not uncommon to hear people explain how a little time in nature helps people feel closer to God. But the idea of spending time in nature as a spiritual discipline can still be startling for many people. “I used to laugh at people who […]
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Meditations, Sustainability
Who gets left out of environmental storytelling?
Environmental storytelling has often failed to focus on the communities that are most impacted The people most vulnerable to climate change are those living in the poorest areas. This has been a consistent area of focus for Plant With Purpose. It is the reason why we work in the places where we work. The 800 […]
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Meditations, Sustainability
Loving your neighbor means protecting their ecosystem
The most important command about how we treat each other is clear: Love “This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two.” –Matthew 22:36-40 Christians widely recognize that Love is central to our purpose on Earth. […]
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All, Meditations, Sustainability
Faith, culture, and identity shape environmental efforts around the planet
What moves people to actually care for the environment at a local level? Duang Dee lives in Thailand, though he himself is Karen. The Karen are an ethinic group in Southeast Asia that do not have their own formal country. Instead, they live between Thailand and Myanmar. Historically, the areas of northern Myanmar have been […]
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All, Sustainability
Want to help provide clean water? Protect the watershed!
Dirty water is one of the biggest hazards to humans around the world Every year, about 3.5 million people around the world will die from unclean water. About two thirds of them will be children. This is the equivalent of a large commercial airplane crashing every single hour. For those of us who have easy […]
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All, Sustainability
Family values and environmental values aren’t exclusive. They actually overlap a lot.
So why does it often feel like family values are a different set of interests than environmental values? More likely than not, this is based only on outward appearances. The thought of family values might make one think of a warm home, and the thought of environmental values might make somebody imagine a dense forest. […]
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