“OK Boomer Challenge”: Donate $, Plant Trees

Ward Luthi, who runs the terrific tour agency Walking The World — geared to active travelers aged 50 and over — has developed a new initiative called the “OK Boomer Challenge.”  

The OK Boomer Challenge is a call to Boomers (and anyone else interested) to raise $15 million by the end of 2020 with the goal of planting 15 million trees in different parts of the world.

For each U.S. dollar donated, the organization One Tree Planted will plant one tree. (All funds raised will be donated to One Tree Planted, so $15 million will equal 15 million trees.)

“This is a challenging time for many but particularly, I believe, for older adults,” Luthi explains.  “We’re growing older. We have children, family and friends, and a planet that’s on fire that we’re concerned about. Yet too often the challenges are so daunting that it seems nothing we do will truly make a difference.

“Planting trees can — and will — make a difference,” he contends. Trees, of course, absorb carbon dioxide among other ecological benefits, helping to combat climate change.

OK Boomer

The name “OK Boomer Challenge” stems from the song and social media meme in which younger folks disparage the legacy to the planet that Boomers have left future generations.

“After listening to the song ‘OK Boomer’ I was dismayed that so many younger folks view us with such disdain,” Luthi says. 

“We can feel bad or reach down into that well of long years of work and life experience, knowledge and wisdom, to lead the way to a better world.  Plus, there are too many millions of older adults sitting alone, voices unheard, with few good options on how to play an active role in making a difference.”

On a positive note, Ward was inspired in part by last year’s successful tree planting challenge initiated by Mr. Beast of YouTube fame.  Mr. Beast, with other YouTube creators and subscribers, raised more than $20 million in less than two months at the end of 2019.  All funds were donated to the National Arbor Foundation for planting trees around the world., at $1.00 per tree.

Three Choices

“My belief,” Luthi says, “is that we Boomers represent a significant, and largely untapped, resource. We really have three main choices. 

“The first is to do nothing,  The second is to write an occasional letter, make small donations to causes we believe in, or volunteer our help when time and life permit.  But the third is to grab the social reins and lead the charge to make significant and positive change in areas like climate change.

 “I believe the OK Boomer Challenge offers a positive, easy, in-the-moment path to making a significant positive difference in the world while regaining some of our sense of purpose in life.”

So, what do you say, Boomers? I’m donating to the Challenge and I hope you will, too!

You can watch Ward Luthi’s video on this effort on YouTube
or at his Walking The World website.

To donate, go to this site.

Thanks!

Read more about Walking The World.