Info Post #4: Plant a Plant

 Where you are now, at your computer, you are breathing. You breathe in air, and you breathe out… air, right? Nope. You are breathing out CO_{2, otherwise known as carbon dioxide: a chemical that when copious can be potentially deadly. It's carbon dioxide which is the leading cause for global warming, excreted when exhaling, as well as through unnatural means such as factory fumes.} 

   Can you breathe carbon dioxide for your whole life? Nope. You can't. If you've ever been swimming, and even if you haven't, you know that you can drown in water because you can't breathe. Fish can survive there because they have gills and can filter oxygen from the carbon dioxide. Humans cannot in water. But of course if there's too much carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen, the fish will die. Same with humans on land.

   Think about the human reproduction rate. It's much higher than you think. Thousands upon thousands are born each day, and millions of tons of carbon dioxide are pushed into the air, deteriorating the ozone layer. In just one day, and maybe even one hour.

  Now think about plants. Think about flowers, think about trees, think about any plant you know. They take in sunlight and water, and photosynthesize. How do they do this? Well, they are planted as seeds in dirt, and with enough light and water they grow leaves and stems and tower high. With those leaves and stems, they take in carbon dioxide and excrete breathable fresh air. In this amazing process they make sugars for themselves, and breathable air for animals. They are friends to the environment.

  "But wait, wouldn't that mean that we SHOULD pollute the air for the plants?" No. Not at all. The problem is not that the plants don't have enough carbon dioxide to survive. The problem is that carbon dioxide in the air keeps increasing to dangerous levels, and humans keep chopping down trees and burning rain forests. There are not enough plants to suck up that carbon dioxide and convert it to clean air.

April 22^nd is Earth Day. Not a very popular holiday, but it probably has the most important message: We should cherish and celebrate the planet that gave us life. This Earth Day, and whenever you can, I want you to plant a plant. If you’re eating a fruit, gather the seeds or take the pit instead of throwing them out. Plant them in the ground or your yard, if you have one. You can also put them in a pot with dirt, water, and sunshine to help them grow. You’ll make the air around the plant cleaner and less polluted.

So far I’ve planted basil, avocado, and apple seeds. They’re growing rapidly just in pots by a window. What will you grow?