"We breathe air. Trees make air. Homework kills…

“We breathe air. Trees make air. Homework kills trees. Homework is killing us” is a jocular homework saying that has been printed on many images. A “Homework kills trees!!! So stop the madness!” T-shirt design has been sold since at least September 2006. “Laughing at my 8 year old wearing shirt saying ‘homework kills trees, stop the insanity’” was posted on Twitter on April 26, 2008.

“We. breathe. air.~Trees. make. air.~Homework. kills. trees.~homework is killing us” was posted on Twitter on March 27, 2010.

Cafe Press
HOMEWORK KILLS TREES LONG SLEEVE T-SHIRT
Design Name: homework kills trees .png
Created on September 29, 2006 at 9:41 AM

9 May 2007, The Evening Sun (Hanover, PA), “Students test laws of physics with toothpicks” by Steve Marroni, pg. ?:
Twelve-year-old Kyle Messinger, decked out in a T-shirt reading “Homework kills trees,” glued together the road bed for his bridge.

Stampin’ Spots & Other Crafty Thoughts
August 10, 2007
Gregory’s 13th Birthday
(...)
Such logic: Trees make air. Homework kills trees. Homework causes global warming.
(...)
COMMENTS
Becky August 10, 2007 at 9:44 AM
Such logic: Trees make air. Homework kills trees. Homework causes global warming. - Where was that logic when I was in school??? Cute Kids Laurie Ann!

whatever…
August 17, 2007
school is IN
scott and sean left first on thursday morning with craig.
brand new shirts and shoes
the lego shirt could not be more perfect for sean!
scott’s says “Homework kills trees..Stop the Madness!!”
he picked it himself.

Google Books
Going the Distance:
To the Kings: the Story of the National Chess League:
A Novel
By Mike Carey
Santa Ana, CA: Seven Locks
2008
Pg. 40:
One read, “MAOB RULE: Mothers Against Overweight Backpacks”; the other, “HOMEWORK KILLS TREES: Stop the Madness.”

Google Groups: rec.sport.football.college
Because the Hileman Family loves to poke sticks at the caged animals
Bill Hileman
2/6/08
(...)
They show a picture of a tree holding a sign that says “No more homework” and the caption on the bottom says “Homework kills trees - STOP THE MADNESS!”

Twitter
francie‏
@akafrancie
laughing at my 8 year old wearing shirt saying “homework kills trees, stop the insanity”
7:55 AM - 26 Apr 2008

Twitter
Fun Size Bytes‏
@FunSizeBytes
First grader just came out of the school wearing tshirt which reads: “Homework Kills Trees!”
2:25 PM - 22 Sep 2008

Twitter
@CoachDeb Cole‏
@CoachDeb
Cuzzin Wallid’s shirt: “Trees make air. Homework kills trees. Homework causes global warming”
6:42 PM - 31 Dec 2008

Twitter
Alana Hughes‏
@AlanaTrinity8
~~We. breathe. air.~Trees. make. air.~Homework. kills. trees.~homework is killing us~~
8:09 PM - 27 Mar 2010

Twitter
alejandra‏
@aly1289
~~We. breathe. air.~Trees. make. air.~Homework. kills. trees.~homework is killing us~~
9:26 PM - 30 Mar 2010

Google Books
The Achilles Effect:
What Pop Culture is Teaching Young Boys about Masculinity
By Crystal Smith
Bloomington, IN: iUniverse
2011
Pg. ?:
In some stores, T-shirts stating that “before homework kills trees, it must be stopped” hang alongside the skulls and graffiti I mentioned earlier.

Google Books
Moms’ Night Out
By Tricia Goyer
Smyrna, TN: WTA Services, LLC
2014
Pg. ?:
Allyson picked up one of Brandon’s shirts that read, Homework Kills Trees, So Stop the Madness, and then turned to Sean, daring to open her heart.

Momma Said No
September 1, 2015
15 REASONS HOMEWORK SUCKS
(...)
15. Homework kills trees. It kills all the trees. Save the planet. Stop the madness.