FAQ’s

A Living Tribute offers a meaningful alternative to traditional sympathy cards or flowers by allowing people to give the gift of reforestation. Each tree becomes part of a larger story—a legacy that keeps growing.

Yes! We are both Green Business Benchmark Certified and Green America Certified. Green Business Benchmark (formerly the Green Business Bureau) is an organization that specializes in sustainability management and is becoming the standard for green business certification and accountability. Green America certifies businesses that are:  

• Actively using their company or organization as a tool for positive change on the environment; 
• Operating a values driven enterprise according to principles of sustainability;  
• Environmentally responsible in the way they source, manufacture, and market their products and run their operations and facilities; 
• Committed to practices that benefit workers, customers, communities, and the environment; and
• Accountable for their work by continually improving and tracking their progress, and operating with transparency in every facet of their business. 

All companies with Green America's Green Business Certification must meet Green America's standards for all businesses, and also meet or exceed all required standards in their industry.

A Living Tribute is a proud Major Partner of American Forests, the nation’s oldest conservation organization, and a Tree Planting Partner of the National Forest Foundation since 2014.

Our commemorative plant-a-tree cards are crafted from high-quality, acid-free, sustainably sourced cardstock, ensuring your keepsake tribute cards remain vibrant and free from yellowing over time. The paper we use is Green-e Certified and sourced from FSC-Certified forests, reflecting our commitment to sustainability. Just as you honor your friends, colleagues, and loved ones with thoughtfulness, we honor the planet with the same care.

We primarily plant our trees in U.S. National Forests that need restoration. Additionally, your living tribute can hep us to regreen communities and state forests impacted by natural disasters, select wildlife and nature preserves, or even in Canada. By supporting over 20 forestry and conservation non-profits across North America, we offer one of the most extensive selections of tree planting locations and options among tribute tree organizations.

Your tree will be planted in a National Forest in need of reforestation. Our tree planting partners are actively restoring forests in regions such as the Lower Rio Grande Valley, the Northern Rockies and Cascades, the Sierra Nevada and Southern California ranges, as well as the Ozarks and Appalachians.

We sponsor the planting of young seedlings, typically 6-14 inches tall, offering a cost-effective approach to large-scale reforestation.

Trees will be planted at the optimal time for each forest, typically during the spring and/or fall months. Many of our local and state-level tree planting partners host their largest planting events on Earth Day each year. If a tree planting contribution is made after the planting season has concluded, the seedlings will generally be planted in the following planting season.

In most cases, your trees are planted by contracted professional tree planters under the supervision of the Forest Service, and/or our non-profit tree planting partners. For certain state and community-level projects we sponsor, volunteers and members of the public may also assist in the planting efforts.

Your tree gift will play a vital role in restoring cherished National Forests and preserving our environment for future generations. Currently, over 1 million acres of National Forest land require replanting. Your contribution will help reforest areas damaged by wildfires, pests, disease, deforestation, natural disasters, and more. For just a few dollars more than a traditional greeting card, you can send a sustainably sourced, FSC-Certified card that plants a new tree in someone’s honor. https://www.globalforestwatch.org/map/

No, your tribute trees will be planted in a natural setting within the forest, without any signs, plaques or markers. Tree seedlings planted with our donations are not marked on the ground as a memorial, they become part of the forest ecosystem. While there is no plaque marking the tree, there is a growing forest—an ecosystem that provides habitat for wildlife to thrive and reproduce. It’s a grove of trees that will purify the air, filter water for local watersheds, and offer a beautiful vista for visitors to enjoy.

Most trees are planted by hand; however, some projects we sponsor in Florida and Canada utilize some machine planting. Machine planting involves using a mechanical planter, which can be a faster and more efficient method for planting trees at the stand level on open terrain than hand planting.

We plant our trees as part of large-scale reforestation projects supported by numerous sponsors and contributors. Given the scope of these initiatives and the resources required, the specific locations of individual tree plantings are not tracked by our planting partners.

Our efforts prioritize reforestation and environmental restoration, with trees planted in large stands of hundreds or thousands. As a result, these plantings are not individually marked or accessible for visitation as personal memorials.

If you are seeking a memorial tree with a plaque or marker in a publicly accessible location, we recommend exploring programs typically offered by parks departments. These programs often involve higher fees to account for tree maturity and the designated placement.

Yes, typically, a newly planted forest is surveyed, maintained (including watering and mulching as needed), and protected for 3-5 years after planting.

Unfortunately, we cannot plant a tree just anywhere. Our trees are planted through ongoing reforestation projects and programs, so the planting locations are determined by our tree planting partners. While we cannot plant a tree just anywhere, every tree we plant contributes to meaningful reforestation efforts.

No, it is considered a memorial gift purchase (no "goods or services" can be provided for 501(c)(3) or tax exempt status).

Yes, we now offer custom e-certificates for purchase through our online store, allowing you to plant trees for friends and family without needing a mailing address. This option is ideal for customers who require expedited delivery or wish to plant trees as gifts for large groups. Since the e-certificates are personalized, the turnaround time for email delivery is typically 24 hours or 1 business day.

https://shop.alivingtribute.org/products/plant-a-tree-ecertificate

Yes, our tree planting partners and/or the forest service provide us with receipts and documentation (either digital or hard copy) for all of our reforestation donations. We also maintain our own digital tree registry, should you need to look up a tribute or replace your card in the distant future.

Our tribute cards are printed and mailed from printing facilities in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Tampa, Florida, Phoenix, Arizona, and British Columbia, Canada.

Please send an email to info@alivingtribute.org with the tribute number that is printed on your tribute card.

Yes, we do! We are currently participating in the Planet program to offset emissions we can't fully avoid, such as the mailing of commemorative cards. Our carbon offset contributions are helping fund reforestation projects like Mast Reforestation: https://www.mastreforest.com/

Here's how it works: For every order we receive, a formula is used to calculate the estimated shipping emissions. Based on those estimates, a portion of our revenue goes to carbon removal companies that have been vetted by scientists from Carbon Direct. Those companies use that money to remove however much carbon our shipments created. Any extra funds go toward the further development of carbon removal technologies.

The need for reforestation extends beyond our public woodlands. When natural disasters like windstorms, wildfires, and flash floods occur, community and state-level tree planting organizations step in to help. These efforts include planting trees on public land, as well as distributing seedlings and offering planting services to private landowners.

Please allow up to 7 days for card delivery. Orders are processed within 1-2 business days and shipped via USPS First Class Mail. For an additional $3.50, your tribute card can be mailed in a tracked mailer with USPS Ground Advantage tracking and delivery confirmation. Expedited FedEx Ground/Home Delivery shipping is also available.

Not at all! Please send an email to info@alivingtribute.org with your corrections or edits/additions. All orders are reviewed by a human card designer, so if we notice any missing information, we will reach out to you. If your card has already been mailed out, we will send a corrected copy free of charge.

While we use automated address verification when processing your orders, please ensure that the mailing address for your card is correct and complete. Unfortunately, this technology may not catch all street number/name errors or missing unit numbers.

If your card is lost in transit by the USPS, accidentally discarded, or not delivered within 7 days for any reason, please contact customer service, and we will send out a new card with tracking immediately. If your card is returned to us as undeliverable, we will reach out to you to make an address correction or arrange an alternative solution.

A Living Tribute® is our organization's registered trademark (USPTO 97246486), used to represent our mission of planting trees to honor or remember someone special. While the phrase is commonly associated with tree dedications, our cards will always include our website and logo to distinguish our organization. This ensures that each tribute is recognized as part of our trusted service and dedication to preserving the memory of your loved ones through meaningful environmental contributions.

Yes we do! Starting in January of 2025, our custom shop will be available Monday-Thursday to help you with custom orders such as:

• Company gifts and recognition
• Ordering non-personalized plant-a-tree cards in bulk
• Ordering plant-a-tree cards in bulk for special events
• Adding a company logo or your own photograph to the cards
• Sending plant-a-tree holiday cards to multiple addresses

Please email us at magic@alivingtribute.org to get started on your order.

Please send an email to sales@alivingtribute.org and we will reach out to you as soon as possible.

Sugar pine, ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and incense cedar in California, whitebark pine and Engelmann Spruce in the Rocky Mountains, and longleaf and shortleaf pine in Florida and the southeast are vital to the ecosystems they call home. These trees play a critical role in supporting biodiversity, stabilizing soils, and regulating water cycles. Sugar pines, the tallest of all pines, are essential for wildlife in California, providing seeds for animals and helping forests recover after wildfires. In the Rockies, whitebark pines are a keystone species, offering a crucial food source for animals like grizzly bears, while ponderosa pines create habitats that sustain diverse plant and animal life. Meanwhile, in Florida, longleaf pines are foundational to one of the most biologically rich ecosystems in the U.S., supporting endangered species like the red-cockaded woodpecker and gopher tortoise. Protecting and restoring these trees is not just about preserving landscapes—it’s about ensuring the resilience and health of entire ecosystems for generations to come.

You can design a custom plant-a-tree card for your company or business, and order the cards in lots of 10 or more. Instead of having to place multiple orders through our online store, you can email us a single order form and be digitally invoiced for payment.

Please send an email to bp@alivingtribute.org with your contact information and as many details as possible about your upcoming tree planting initiatives. Please note, we are currently only working with organizations and programs that are planting native bare root seedlings in the U.S. and Canada. We love partners that share purpose-impact reports and pictures from plantation sites!

Yes we do. While our preference is to plant our trees through established reforestation donation programs, we can also set up a custom partnership with your forest or park (or your forest's conservancy).

No, however we'd be happy to refer you to some of our non-profit tree planting partners that offer these programs at scale.

Yes, A Living Tribute is certified Level 1 PCI DSS compliant. Our checkout includes an SSL certificate that uses industry standard 256-bit encryption technology. This is the same level of encryption used by large banks to keep your information secure. We are well known to comply with the highest level of PCI (Payment Card Industry) standards. For additional information on PCI Compliance, visit the PCI Compliance Guide website.

No. We use secure payment gateways to process all of your orders.

We update our list of partners and tree planting locations approximately twice a year, typically in the summer and winter. Tree planting locations are subject to availability and may change. If a selected location is unavailable during donation or coordination with our conservation partners, orders will be redirected to the nearest available planting location. We appreciate your understanding and your continued support in our shared commitment to conservation. The best way to stay informed about new tree planting gifts and available planting locations is to follow us on social media.