Carbon in forests is called biogenic carbon; it gets a special name because it continuously cycles through living organisms; it doesn't just lurk around in the air like city carbon.
The cycle begins with trees that draw carbon dioxide in from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.
Trees and other plants use photosynthesis to produce various carbon-based sugars necessary for tree functioning and to make wood for growth.
Every part of a tree stores carbon from the trunks, branches, leaves, and roots. By weight, dried tree material is about 50 percent carbon. Trees also release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as a function of their physiology.
When some or all tree parts decompose after death or burning during a fire, the carbon is released back into the atmosphere. The amount of carbon remains stable in forests as it mirrors the natural cycle of tree growth and death.
Things are pretty different in the city, however. There are not enough trees to draw in all the carbon dioxide produced, so it does not go back into the cycle; it stays in the air we breathe.
So what is Carbon Dioxide, and how can you help reduce it at home?
How Do Trees Clean the Air?
What is Carbon Dioxide?
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a heat-trapping (greenhouse) gas released through human activities like deforestation, burning fossil fuels, and natural processes like animal respiration and volcanic eruptions.
Carbon dioxide has always existed in the atmosphere, but since the beginning of the industrial era in 1850, human activities have raised atmospheric concentrations of CO2 by nearly 49%.
That is more than it increased between the Last Glacial Maximum and 1850, a span of 20,000 years.
However, the extreme increase of CO2 in the atmosphere did not stop after 1850.
Global Warming from 1880 to 2021
Check out this NASA video showing the increase in global warming from 1880 to 2021
Trees are Carbon Sequestering Giants
Scientists have been working on finding technology to sequester carbon, but at the end of the day, trees are already doing it better, and for free. Although anything helps during this climate crisis, planting trees is something we can do ourselves at home.
Planting Trees in Urban Areas
Planting trees in urban areas can have many ecological benefits, but they are also pretty good at shaking their money-makers. Trees reduce pollution by both absorbing carbon dioxide and filtering agricultural runoff. They also increase property values by looking cute and protecting your home from the elements.
Pollution Reduction
Trees reduce pollution by absorbing 48 pounds of carbon dioxide every year. To put that into perspective, an acre of forest can absorb twice the CO2 produced by the average car's annual mileage in that same year.
Studies also show that up to 88 percent of nitrate and 76 percent of phosphorus are removed from the water supply after agricultural runoff passes through a forested streamside buffer.
Think about this in a heavily urban area! Filling our yards with trees and native plants will help clean our toxic city water runoff before it hits the Willamette river!
Urban $$$ Benefits
If you have money on your mind and your mind on money, trees will still bring it home for you.
A single street tree returns over $90,000 of direct homeowner benefits. This is in addition to the aesthetic, social, and natural benefits enjoyed over the tree's lifetime. Consider a planting cost of only $250-600 or zero dollars if you get with Friends of Trees; the cost-benefit is unmatched.
Trees also contribute to longer pavement life due to reduced heating/cooling, which causes the expansion and contraction of asphalt.
We Can Help You Get Started!
Urban Rewilding can help with landscape designs, builds, and gardening services.
So, no matter what point you are at in your rewilding process, we can give you a hand. We don't use any chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. All our plants are native to the Pacific Northwest and do not need to be watered after the first summer.
Landscape Design:
We're happy to give you advice, resources, and native plant landscape designs.
You can book a one-hour consultation with us at a time that is convenient for you. We will look at sun exposure, soil quality, and existing plantings to create a detailed, personalized plan to follow as you continue your rewilding process.
Landscape professionals can advise on what plants work best in which part of your yard, how to make your soil healthier, and where to source plants, seeds, and soil.
Landscape Installation
Urban Rewilding is licensed, bonded, insured, and super excited to plant native trees, bushes, shrubs, ferns, mushrooms, and moss in your urban garden!
Adding biodiversity to an urban garden creates a resilient ecosystem that supports native birds, bees, bugs, and other wildlife. It also creates the potential for healthy, sustainable, organic food production that requires no water or chemicals.
We can solve invasive species, erosion, water damage, and pollution issues with native plants.
Book a one-hour consult with a professional native plant landscaper to find out how we can fix your problems with native plants.
Gardening Services
Urban Rewilding aims to create beneficial native plant ecosystems in urban areas to protect vulnerable wildlife and humans from the issues that arise from dense urban areas.
Hiring us to maintain your urban yard will mean that we will add native plants from other yards wherever we never use chemicals and create lush, healthy soil, remove any overgrown or unwanted native plants, and use them in other yards! We will cultivate a healthy yard that will become part of rewilding more and more and more!!!!
Book a consultation with a gardener, or send us an email with photos, and we can get you on our regular maintenance schedule today!
We protect native plants at all costs!!!
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