BATON ROUGE — East Baton Rouge Parish officials and Waste Management came together Tuesday morning to plant trees at the North Landfill Facility.

WM officials say that the planting initiative highlights their commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship in the parish. To reflect their commitment to the state's natural beauty, the trees planted were bald cypresses, Louisiana's state tree.

A spokesperson for Mayor-President Sid Edwards says this is also an effort to make the parish more visually appealing.

"One of the mayor's top priorities is to help remove blight across Baton Rouge and to be better stewards of what we've been given. Whenever you're planting trees, I think that's the big thing people think about, we're taking care of today and tomorrow and that's what stewardship is all about," Chief Administrative Officer Charlie Davis said.

This is also an effort to reduce blight across the parish.

"It's all about building a better tomorrow. It's about planting a tree. It's about picking up your trash. It's about keeping a clean environment and doing what's best for our city parish," Donald Hains with WM said.