How much do we humans depend on plants? Living in a big city, for a long time I had lost this contact with nature. I had lost touch with the plants, with what we call “green”. I think the same is true for many of our fellow human beings. The only contact with plants was the trees in the streets and the flowers in pots on the balconies.
Today I have the privilege of going out into my garden and grow vegetables. To be able to look at the greenery in the fields. To know that there is a forest near me and from time to time to enjoy it.
But even now that I can have my own garden and grow my own vegetables, get closer to nature and have closer contact with plants, do I really understand the importance of plants?
Plants are all around us.
Do we treat them as we should or as just another de facto? Do we think that where there is soil and the right conditions, there are plants covering the landscape? Just like that and that’s about it.
Let’s take a closer look at what we owe to plants. How much we humans depend on plants
- Our houses are made using wooden molds for cement, or just wood that come from trees.
- The window frames in our homes are made from wood that comes from trees.
- Our furniture is made from wood that comes from trees.
- We wear clothes made from cotton.
- We eat vegetables and fruits that come from plants.
- Medicines that save lives and relieve pain come from plants.
- The meat we eat comes from animals that feed on plants.
- Milk and cheese would not exist if animals were not fed on plants.
- We produce fuel from plants.
- We burn wood to heat our homes.
- Oil comes largely from ancient plants.
- We write on paper made from plants.
- The books, magazines, newspapers we read are printed on paper made from plants.
- We read information and knowledge imprinted on paper made from plants.
- Our cars run on wheels made of rubber from plants.
- Certain vegetables, such as potatoes and tomatoes, have changed the course of history.
- Huge economic activities and an incredible number of jobs are based on the cultivation and processing of plants and their products.
- We enjoy our coffee made from plants.
- We enjoy our tea that also comes from plants.
- We enjoy our cocoa and chocolate that again, comes from plants.
- Our wine, ouzo, tsipouro, raki, tequila, whiskey and dozens of other spirits are made from plants.
- Plants and seaweed in the sea absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere. Thanks to plants we can breathe and exist.
- And many more I haven’t thought of…
Respect and take care of plants! How much we humans depend on plants…
