TreePeople and Edison International are giving southland students the social tools to become champions for the environment via TreeByTree, a five-week social media campaign that kicked off January 9 on Facebook (www.facebook.com/SCE/TreeByTree) and Twitter (@SCE).

Through the TreeByTree campaign, which calls for students to submit weekly photos of their school’s environmental activities, youth from 17 schools will vie for an all-expenses-paid trip to the Angeles National Forest. There, the winning schools will join in TreePeople’s multi-year effort to restore the fire-damaged ecosystem by planting native seedlings. The participating high schools include Mary Star of the Sea in San Pedro.

TreeByTree aims to inspire and engage middle and high school students while simultaneously encouraging families in Southern California Edison’s (SCE) service territory to support the cause by switching to paperless billing. SCE bills are printed on 750,000 sheets of paper daily.

“The Station Fire in the Angeles National Forest was one of the largest fires in L.A. history,” said Julie Prejean, TreePeople’s forestry director. “Thanks to Edison International, hundreds of students will participate in replanting areas that were burned too severely to come back without human assistance. They will make a big impact in restoring this precious natural resource.”

Thirty-five percent of Los Angeles County’s drinking water derives from the Angeles National Forest. The forest encompasses 72 percent of the county’s open space and accommodates four million visitors annually. During the 2009 Station Fire, more than 160,000 acres of the forest were burned.

Edison International (edison.com), the parent company of Southern California Edison (sce.com), is the latest business to collaborate with TreePeople to drive environmental initiatives in Los Angeles-area schools and communities. Edison International supports TreePeople’s Urban Forestry Initiative and will donate more than 20,000 trees in 2013.

Tammy Tumbling, Director of Philanthropy and Community Investment for SCE, said she hopes the campaign will empower young people to bring about meaningful changes in their communities.

“This campaign is about giving students the tools necessary to become environmental change agents,” Tumbling said. “Environmental stewardship is important to us. For that reason, Edison International supports innovative partnerships—such as that with TreePeople—that help improve the environment while also engaging local youth.”

“Southern California Edison has helped TreePeople grow and serve the community in countless ways, beginning with hands-on support of our forestry efforts almost 40 years ago,” says Craig Prizant, Senior Director of Development and Marketing at TreePeople. “In recent years this support has matured as TreePeople has matured, and today Edison is helping TreePeople take major steps toward facilitating a more sustainable Los Angeles.”

For more information, visit Facebook (www.facebook.com/SCE/TreeByTree) and Twitter (@SCE).

About Southern California Edison

Since 2009, Edison International has given nearly $8.7 million to programs that promote environmental responsibility. If every SCE customer signed up for paperless billing, 47,000 trees could be saved each year.

About TreePeople

Founded nearly 40 years ago by teenagers, TreePeople is an environmental nonprofit that unites the power of trees, people, and nature-based solutions to grow a greener city. TreePeople involves people of all ages in environmental education, forestry programs, demonstration projects, and policy outreach, with the goal of making Greater Los Angeles a healthier and more sustainable city. To learn more, visit www.treepeople.org.

Media inquiries: cbosson@treepeople.org