Kaitlin and Lauren Grierson

Co-Founders, TreesCO2

Kaitlin and Lauren Grierson
Co-Founders, TreesCO2
TreesCO2

Kaitlin and Lauren, twin co-founders of TreesCO2 , are grade 12 students in Toronto, Ontario. They grew up surrounded by nature in British Columbia and when they moved to Toronto they were surprised by the lack of trees.  Lauren and Kaitlin saw an opportunity to contribute to climate action, offset their own carbon footprints and improve their community. They started by attending community tree planting events and set a launch goal to plant 1,000 trees with the help of family and friends. After surpassing their goal to plant 1,000 trees, Kaitlin and Lauren doubled down and set a new goal for 1,000 trees each. In doing so, they also started to think on a global scale. What about 1,000 trees for every youth in the world? This inspired TreesCO2’s call to action of 1,000 trees for every global youth, totaling over 1 trillion trees.

Lauren and Kaitlin are shining a light on nature-based solutions to address climate change and support biodiversity. They have participated in a number of advocacy initiatives including the 2020 Trees and Ravines Round Table, hosted by The Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada and the 2019 United Nations, Climate Action Summit Weekend Meetings in New York. As grant recipients of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust,  as Canadian Young Champions for Nature at the Montreal 2019 Nature Summit, as David Suzuki Future Ground Prize Ontario Youth Finalists and as recipients of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority Environmental Certificate, Kaitlin and Lauren have sparked climate action at the international, national, provincial and municipal levels.  TreesCO2’s  call to action of 1,000 trees for every global youth has taken root with The TreesCO2 Student Ambassador Program,  The TreesCO2 Step-Up Challenge, sponsored by Mackenzie Investments and The Swan River First Nations Reserve Ecological Reconciliation Planting Project.

TreesCO2 wishes to thank Elevate Think2030 and the Government of Canada’s 2 Billion Tree Program, for their support to plant 2030 trees with The Swan River First Nations Reserve Ecological Reconciliation Planting Project in Alberta.