Fortunately for us, there are many companies out there who actively work towards reducing the impact that we have on our environment. From sustainability strategies and threatened species management, to biodiversity offset management and re-vegetation, sustainability consultant companies provide us with the means to take care of the natural world around us, not just for the sake of our environment, but for our well-being as well.
And that’s what many people tend to forget; exactly how vital our natural environment is in terms of our own survival. Let’s look at plants for example: They are vital for our survival and yet there is much that we do as a global society which negatively impacts plants. In this post, we are going to explore 7 reasons why plants are so valuable to us and should be treated with more respect!
1 – Food in Our Bellies
Can you imagine a world without food? Because without plants there will be nothing! No chips, no burgers, no strawberries, no cereals, no crisps; nothing! Without plants there will be no food to feed our cattle, there will be no fruit to pluck from trees and there will be no vegetables to put hairs on your children’s chest! Let’s take a moment so say thank you to all the plants of the world!
2 – The Air That We Breathe
Do you like breathing? Something we take for granted until you’ve got a blocked nose, at which point you’d murder to be able to breathe even through the one nostril! Without plants there would be little to no oxygen in our atmosphere at all and you know what that means!
3 – The Water Which Quenches and Cleanse
Ever tried having a wash without water? Or quenching your thirst with dust? Because that’s all that would be left without plant-life. Plants are an essential part of the water-cycle, distributing and purifying the water that we so heavily rely on.
4 – The Medicine Which Alleviates Our Suffering
How far do you think you’d have made it in life without any medicine whatsoever? All those stomach bugs, allergies, flu’s, coughs, cuts, headaches and so on – all made somewhat bearable through the power of medicine. Plants are responsible for 74% of the most commonly used medicines, with 18% from fungi, 5% from bacteria and 3% from species such as frogs and snakes.
5 – Our Mental Well-Being
It’s no secret how soothing nature’s embrace is, particularly when you’ve managed to escape the mundanity and stress of everyday life in the city for even a little while. The physical and psychological benefits of plants is quite simply irrefutable and without any green we’d all invariably end up feeling terribly blue!
6 – Clothing, Furniture, Habitat etc
Unless you stop to think about it, we rarely consider just how much plants help us in our every day lives. The clothes that we wear, the furniture that we sit on and the natural habitat which sustains many of the world’s most beautiful creatures…in other words, without plants we’d all be sat on the floor, cold and very much naked!
7 – The Climate to Which We’ve Adjusted
The climate varies drastically from country to country as those living in Alaska and Australia well know! However, few of us realise that we owe much of the balance to plant life. If not for the huge green landscapes that blanket our beautiful planet, we’d feel a little uncomfortable to say the least…
It’s Not All Doom and Gloom!
No, we’re not too far gone, and no the end of the world certainly isn’t ‘nigh’, however we owe that to the companies and charities that work tirelessly in order to raise awareness and innovate new strategies and techniques and can reduce the negative impact that we have on our environment. If you’d like to get involved, there is much that we can do as individuals to reduce the impact that we have on the world. The most important thing however, is that you talk about it, spread awareness and perhaps buy a few beautiful plants to go in your home and garden! Take care of them and they’ll take care of you.
