Angel’s Envy, the Louisville-based distiller that produces finished whiskeys, announced the expansion of its 10th annual Toast the Trees initiative to include urban tree canopy restoration in U.S. cities. Launched in 2014 and celebrated annually each September in honor of U.S. National Bourbon Heritage Month, Toast the Trees is Angel’s Envy’s initiative to demonstrate the importance of sustainability within the bourbon industry as well as raise awareness of the importance of forests and the increased need for a healthy and secure White Oak tree population. Since the program’s founding, Angel’s Envy, in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation, has planted nearly 300,000 trees.

In addition to continued reforestation efforts across the U.S., Angel’s Envy and the Arbor Day Foundation will plant trees in public spaces and under-served residential areas in 10 cities this fall to support urban tree canopy restoration efforts. The cities include Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, Louisville, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Nashville. Each project location meets socioeconomic and environmental criteria to be classified as an area of need and was identified by the Arbor Day Foundation as a high priority. These communities will be the project sites of planting events facilitated by the Arbor Day Foundation and its network of local tree-planting organizations.

“Our distillery is based in the heart of downtown Louisville, and we embrace our urban roots,” said Gigi DaDan, General Manager of Angel’s Envy. “In year 10 of our Toast the Trees initiative, we wanted to expand our reach to help plant trees directly in our, and our consumers’, communities where each tree we plant has a significant and lasting impact for years to come.”

To raise awareness for the initiative, Angel’s Envy invites consumers to plant “virtual trees” through a new digital AR experience to support the growing need for trees in urban centers. The top five participating cities with the most virtually planted trees at the end of September (9/30/2023) will receive real trees planted by Angel’s Envy and the Arbor Day Foundation in 2024.

“Trees are essential to the health and well-being of our communities here in the U.S. and around the world,” said Dan Lambe, Chief Executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Our partnership with Angel’s Envy has been helping restore critical forest ecosystems for the last 10 years, and expanding that success into communities of need allows us to continue bringing the unmatched power of trees to the people and places who need them most.” 

According to the Arbor Day Foundation, urban tree canopy restoration is imperative now more than ever with the growing impacts of climate change and rising temperatures across the country; sufficient tree canopy can reduce temperatures by up to 10 degrees. In addition to lowering surface and air temperatures, trees planted in urban environments help to create a significant impact as they reduce pollution, improve water quality, and strengthen neighborhood pride and social connections among residents. Investing in urban canopy restoration is critical as socioeconomic disparities become increasingly prominent, with over 70 percent of low-income and non-white Americans living in nature-deprived areas.