Can Planting Trees Really Help us Tackle Climate Change?

You may have heard how planting trees “has mind-blowing potential to tackle climate change“?

You’re here to do your homework? We like your style.

We’re proud to tell you we plant hundreds of trees every year!

Through our partners, Ecologi, Woodland Trust, National Forest and Trees for Cities, we’ve learnt so much.

Today, we’re here to share the FACTS.

And (hopefully) inspire YOU to get involved.

At Blooming Haus, we’re a sustainable florist, passionate about inspiring more eco-friendly decisions so, together, we can all strive towards a net zero future.

Enjoy!

Ps. We’d love to hear from you in the comments, so come say hello and join the conversation.

Despite what the naysayers may say, trees make a difference.

Why?

Trees function as carbon-storing machines.

Their special relationship with CO₂ makes them superheroes in the battle against climate change.

Not only do they have the ability to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and store it they simultaneously release oxygen into the atmosphere.

What greater natural gift do we have at our disposal when we need it most?

In one year, a mature tree absorbs around 22 kilograms of CO₂.

So that is a 100-year-old tree in your garden? It could be storing up upward of 2200 kg of carbon!

If you want to go out back to give her a hug to say thank you, we’re not judging! The trees deserve our thanks.

Without them, everything would be out of balance.

Currently, there are around 3 billion trees in the UK.

This is positive news, but there’s still a long way to go when you consider the average carbon footprint of a person in the United Kingdom (UK) is around 10 tonnes of CO₂ per year.

So, by planting more trees, we’re able to utilise each tree’s natural photosynthesis process that removes CO₂ from the atmosphere and releases oxygen.

The process is amazing and allows a tree to convert light and water into the energy it needs and help the world around it.

This Woodland Trust video explains photosynthesis in more detail and highlights how fascinating nature truly is.

Given the relationship between trees and CO₂, you can see how tree planting makes sense.

Doing so helps us battle climate change and has other environmental benefits.

Have you ever walked through the countryside or a local park and fallen in love with the nature and wildlife around you?

It’s a thing (we know we have)!

Spending time watching squirrels and birds interact is a pleasure.

Trees help these interactions happen by providing an ecosystem for wildlife.

Their branches provide shelter and reproduction sites; their leaves, seeds, berries, and fruits are excellent food and water sources.

If it weren’t for trees, we wouldn’t have our special friends like the red squirrel in our lives.

And that’s only part of the story regarding how trees help us.

Their roots take water from the soil, and as they grow, they create passages that rainwater flows into.

These passages reduce the amount of water that runs off the land.

The result of this is that flash flooding becomes less likely.

This beneficial effect of trees comes at a time when flood risks are rising in England and Wales, so it’s important.

Millions of people are now at risk of flooding due to climate change, population growth, and the reduction of green space.

The simple fact is that concrete and tarmac can’t absorb water, and the changing climate creates an increased risk of unpredictable flash flooding.

People are taking action to protect wildlife.

For example, the UK government introduced an animal welfare action plan that covers the protection of pets, livestock, and wild animals.

The Action Plan for Animal Welfare recognises animals as sentient beings and contains actions and plans to protect them.

There’s also advice and support to protect people from the damage caused by flooding.

The warnings and advice from the Met Office are a good example of this.

We recognise the value of this help and support, but we believe trees have a vital role to play.

Planting trees creates homes and food for wildlife.

It also reduces the amount of rainwater that runs off onto the land.

If we plant more trees and keep more of our wild spaces, we protect native species and reduce flood risks.

What’s not to love?

You can see how amazing trees are and how much they help fight against climate change.

So, it’s easy to understand why we need to create more woodlands and forests.

According to the Wildlife Trust, this need is great and urgent.

There’s currently 13% of woodland cover in the UK.

This figure compares unfavourably with the EU average woodland cover figure of 37%.

The Wildlife Trust suggests that the UK’s coverage needs to increase by 19% if the UK is to meet its carbon net zero targets by 2050.

The UK government is keen to meet these woodland increase targets.

It provides advice about creating woodland, including legal requirements, sustainable practices, and available funding.

Many councils are also involved with tree-planting initiatives.

For example:

– Wirral council plans to plant 210,000 trees by 2030.
– Leeds City Council plans to double tree cover by 2050.
– Surrey County Council plans to plant 1.2 million trees by 2030.

You can make a difference by speaking to your local council about its tree-planting plans.

Despite efforts to increase the number of trees in the country, there’s much room for improvement.

Look at this Friends of the Earth map that shows opportunities for creating woodland in England.

We feel passionate about making the most of these opportunities.

This passion is why we work with the Woodland Trust and The National Forest on tree-planting projects.

You can get involved with tree planting too.

The Woodland Trust and The National Forest help people get involved with planting trees.

You can get advice about how to plant a tree by watching this Woodland Trust Video.

You don’t have to be involved in a major project to take advantage of this advice.

You can plant a tree in your garden or on your business premises.

For businesses, this can be an integral part of their biophilic design.

Have a look at our journal entry for more information about this.

“Biophilic Design for Businesses in London: Why it Matters!“

If you’re part of a community group or work in a school, you can get free trees from the Woodland Trust to plant.

You can still get involved if you haven’t got the time or space to plant trees.

Donate to a related charity, or look for volunteering opportunities.

You can also dedicate a tree to be planted.

Cue (often) controversial debate.

Everyone’s arguing about the biggest contributor, whether it’s Fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas or the one a lot of companies (even the United Nations) fail to miss out on…agriculture.

Whatever your beliefs, we’re not here to argue; we’re here to inspire real change towards a brighter future for everyone.

In short, the United Nations states the world naturally goes through periods of climate change, but greenhouse gases exacerbate this change.

The main greenhouse gases are methane, nitrous oxide, and the most prolific, carbon dioxide (CO₂).

These greenhouse gases contribute to what is known as the “Greenhouse Effect.”

This term refers to the actions of the gases in allowing sunlight in but preventing the reflected heat from exiting the atmosphere.

These actions help keep the Earth warm, but they’re a problem if the levels of the gases rise too high, causing temperatures to rise excessively.

If you want to learn more about the “Greenhouse Effect,” take a look at this insightful explanation from National Geographic.

It’s a real eye-opener.

We can see the effects of this global warming and the way it’s changed the climate in the crazy weather events across the world.

And we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to address the problem.

Research suggests that this reduction needs to reach 80% by 2050 in developed countries to stay below an average temperature rise of 2ºC.

CO₂ is the most problematic and talked about greenhouse gas, and the rise in emissions is largely due to human activities such as:

– Generating power
– Manufacturing goods
– Using transportation

The effects of these activities and associated emissions include:

– Higher temperatures
– Severe weather events
– Rising oceans
– Threat to animal species

The good news?

Governments and individuals are taking action, including using clean energy sources, adapting manufacturing processes, using electric vehicles, and, the topic of this article, planting trees.

Change is afoot!

Trees play an essential role in fighting climate change due to their relationship with CO₂, which helps remove it from the atmosphere.

We hope this article inspired you to take action and get involved!

We love that you can dedicate trees.

This planting is something that we arrange when we finish working with clients.

Each time we complete a project with wedding couples or event planners, we dedicate a tree to be planted in The National Forest.

It’s our way of showing our gratitude for the gift that nature gives us while protecting and restoring biodiversity.

And every year that we work with a corporate client, we dedicate a tree to be planted as a way of thanking them and contributing to a more sustainable world.

As an added bonus, doing this encourages other businesses to engage with sustainable practices as part of their corporate social responsibility framework.

So, we get to influence the fight against climate change while doing something we love creating unique and beautiful floral displays.

Planting trees is a vital feature of our sustainable working practices.

Everything we do has sustainability at its heart.

As a result, we:

– Use green energy to power our studio.
– Compost all our organic waste
– Avoid using materials that aren’t compostable.
– Reuse buckets and delivery packaging.
– Source flowers locally where possible.
– Collaborate with suppliers that work with organisations like the Soil Association and the Rainforest Alliance, giving them a seal of approval for using ethical production and sourcing methods.
– Using probiotic cleaning products where possible.

These actions are integral to our work, as is our dedication to planting trees.

Our passion for protecting the environment and fighting climate change means we greatly admire organisations like Ecologi.

We love that Ecologi helps businesses take steps regarding climate action.

This help involves compensating for team emissions and planting trees in a company forest.

Given our belief that planting trees is essential to addressing climate change, we admire the work of organisations such as Ecologi, The National Forest, and the Wildlife Trust.

They understand the value of planting trees and share our passion for protecting the world for future generations to enjoy.

We combine this passion with our expertise and innovation in floral design to create breathtaking displays sustainably.

Are you looking for wedding or event floral designs that elevate your event and complement your venue and theme?

We’ll visit your venue and complete drawings in situ that we’ll work from to complete the design process.

We’ll pay careful attention to every detail to create breathtaking results.

And every aspect of our work is sustainability-focused, so you can be sure of protecting the planet.

Plus, we’ll dedicate a tree to be planted when we finish working with you.

Call us on 020 3389 9609 to set up a free no-obligation consultation.

Or, send an email to contact@bloominghaus.com

We look forward to working with you.

Do you have any questions about tree planting and its role in the fight against climate change?

Add your question to the comments, and we’ll take a look.

We also recommend looking up the Woodland Trust and Friends of the Earth.

They have some really useful content on their websites.

And if you found our post useful, we’d love for you to share it on social media.