One to one with a Tree - a personal relationship

One to one with a Tree – a personal relationship

What’s your relationship with a tree?

We are not talking about tree hugging, though hugging trees is good for your health as it increases your levels of oxytocin hormones which helps you feel calm, happy and promote emotional bonding.

We are talking about a relationship which most of us take for granted and yet is so crucial to our very existence. With each breath we take in oxygen and expel CO² and the tree we might not have the time to hug does the exact opposite!  Each of us needs one mature tree for our metabolic equilibrium. The average UK lifestyle requires 100 trees!

On the global scale, planting billions of trees across the world is by far the biggest and cheapest way to tackle the climate crisis according to scientists who have made the first calculation of how many more trees could be planted without encroaching on crop land or urban areas. Worldwide planting programme could remove two-thirds of all the emissions.¹

Planting trees can help us reach our 2015 Paris Agreement goal of limiting a rise in the global temperature to ‘well below’ 2C above industrial times, according to an international study. Natural solutions such as tree planting, protecting peatlands and better land management could account for 37% of all cuts needed by 2030, says the PNAS study^{. 2}     

All the CO² from our expelling it, the cows’ expulsion of gas and the burning of fossil fuels can be trapped by billions of trees working as huge carbon sinks, thus preventing excess CO² from escaping into the atmosphere. Excess atmospheric CO² absorbs heat and prevent it from leaving the planet thus heating it up, can cause a rise in global temperatures. 

So we have this huge carbon storage facility. But how do we ensure carbon remains locked in the vegetation?

We need to stop any indiscriminate burning of vegetation, no bonfires please and fossil fuels should remain locked underground. There are well known processes such as biomass and bio fuel technology that can substitute fossil fuels with vegetation.  Timber should remain locked up in building and furniture. Any vegetative waste should be composted into soil.  

Element's proactive steps to help the environment don't stop at providing eco solutions in the food, fashion, tattoo and medical sector but also plants trees.

Element is changing lives while helping to save the planet through its commitment to the ‘Trees for the Future’ project. The trees planted are fast-growing, soil rebuilding fruit trees that promote the long-term health of the land. Since July 2017, part of Element's sales proceeds goes towards planting trees. Element offers a full range of products - home compostable, compostable and biodegradable.

1. Planting billions of trees ‘best way to save planet’, 5 July

2. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/10/11/1710465114