Planting saplings in tree-starved Mumbai 'is the least I can do.'

The seed of the idea, Satish Vijaykumar recalls, started as something tiny and simple. But quite unexpectedly it has sprouted branches that touch hundreds of people in cities across south India and as far away as Zimbabwe.

"One day I was just sitting and thinking how the average Indian is always worrying about something, but we don't do anything," he says. As a young adult living in Mumbai (Bombay), he found that one thing that seemed doable was to pool rupees together with friends, buy a few tree saplings, and plant them. "It's the least I can do," Mr. Vijaykumar thought.

He told his buddy, Ranjeetsinh Walunjpatil, who suggested they put the idea on a website and give it a voice on Facebook and Twitter. Friends, then friends of friends, became fans and promoted it. Journalists noticed the buzz and wrote stories. Money arrived. Before they knew it, Vijaykumar and Mr. Walunjpatil were taking a van one weekend across Mumbai, dropping off hundreds of trees to strangers.

The Sapling Project, as it's now called, is neither flashy, nor grandiose, nor particularly original. But it provides yet more evidence for a basic law in the physics of making a difference: People at rest tend to stay at rest until one person starts things rolling.

"The world is full of nice people – the only thing is to get them motivated," says Vijaykumar, who reckons that everyone has the potential to nudge along at least 10 people in their life. "If your cause is good, people will go out of the way to help you."

So far The Sapling Project has delivered 1,200 trees, with two large deliveries in Mumbai and one each in Bangalore and Chennai with the help of friends in those cities. Some 600 to 700 people have become involved. The goal is to plant 10,000 trees, preferably before the monsoon, then expand into other Indian cities such as Pune, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad.

The cofounders are also working to establish the project as a nonprofit group. For every 44 cents donated, a neem or other tree sapling can be planted (33 cents for the tree, 11 cents for fuel and logistics).

People who want a tree can take one free of charge from a van as it passes through the city. There are only two conditions: Plant the sapling in your area and tend it for two years until it takes root. "Our cities are losing trees. It's becoming difficult for people to breathe," Vijaykumar says.

In Mumbai, a megalopolis of 14 million people elbowing for space, trees are losing out to development, according to forest advocates.

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