Five reasons to plant more this Earth day

If you're reading this, the chances are you care deeply about the natural world and are uncomfortable about the impact we humans have on the environment. The team at Lazy Flora share these concerns and this passion for nature with you. So this Earth Day, we wanted to do something special to help the planet we call home!

Plants help clean the air

This is probably a pretty obvious one, but let’s start at the beginning. Plants help clean the air around us - and in fact, they provide the oxygen we humans need to survive.

The process, many of us learnt about in school, is called photosynthesis. Very simply, plants take in carbon dioxide to help them grow, which is brilliant, because right now the earth has a big carbon dioxide problem.

And during the process of photosynthesis, they create oxygen. Which means every single plant in a garden or in your home is a little oxygen factory - and that’s great for us.

More plants, more oxygen, less carbon dioxide. Brilliant!

Growing your own food reduces carbon emissions

Did you know that fresh foods like fruit, veg and living herbs can travel on average around 1,500 miles to reach your plate?! It’s true. That takes a lot of fossil fuel and that also means a lot of carbon emissions.

Growing your own cuts those miles down to metres because home grown has to travel zero miles to your mouth. Unless you are lucky enough to own a mile long garden…

It’s also just really handy to have things like fresh basil, parsley, thyme or even mint on hand. Fancy a cheeky mojito? All you have to do is snip, snip… Vegetables are also a great thing to grow, and potatoes are a really easy place to start but there’s almost no limits to what you can grow at home.

Check out our edibles selection if you fancy giving home grown a go!

Plants protect the birds, bees, and butterflies

Have you ever seen The Bee Movie?! If you have then you’ll know your plants are as important to the bees as the bees are to your plants. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. And the same goes for the birds and butterflies too.

They collect the pollen that flowering plants use to reproduce to create nectar to feed their hives, but as they collect the pollen, they also carry it from plant to plant, which helps more flowers grow.

TL;DR: No plants, no bees. More plants, more bees!

To help the bees, in May, we will be gifting all our subscribers, a seedbox! The seedbox contains 6 Butterfly mix seed balls that will grow for you to enjoy all summer long whilst attracting butterflies to your doorstep! Sign up to a subscription today to ensure you get yours!

We need plants to help support the water cycle

About 10% of the moisture in the atmosphere is released by plants through a process called transpiration - basically, plants sweat.

The water they uptake through their roots is used for photosynthesis and then released as water vapor through small pores on the underside of their leaves. Through this process of transpiration plants also help circulate water from the soil back into the atmosphere.

This water in the atmosphere helps stabilise bodies of water like rivers, lakes and streams. Plant roots also improve soil stability, prevent landslides and keep these ecosystems intact!

Plants help lower the temperature in big towns and cities

You’re probably thinking we’ve lost it - but this is a real thing, honest! And it’s actually really fascinating.

As cities grow, they replace vegetation and green belts with tarmac and concrete. These building materials are impermeable and dry, which causes the whole city to slowly warm up. The US Environment Protection Agency has duped the phenomenon a ‘heat island’.

Plants, particularly those on balconies and rooftop’s can help offset the ‘heat island’ effect. It all comes back to photosynthesis. The reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has an indirect cooling effect on the overall temperature. Plants also lose water when they get warm, which cools the air around them.