Permaculture, green warriors, eco-friendly, trees, plants, bushes, photosynthesis, oxygen and so forth, are only some of the words that spring to my mind when I think about nature, the basis of all life and something which we never stop to think about in our day to day lives as we run around worrying about our love lives, our studies, our jobs and our material possessions.
It is not easy to tend to a garden when you have all these other priorities….. or is it?
I am sometimes saddened by the number of balconies and terraces in Valencia that are plantless. Some of the excuses I hear are that…»I had a plant once….but it died» or «I am too busy to even water a plant» the latter one, is the cheapest excuse of them all.
First of all, it does not take any longer than 3 minutes to water a few plants each day, providing you only have 4 or 5 that need watering. Furthermore, for those of you who insist that you do not have 3 minutes to spare (hard to believe) or that you are forgetful, there are automatic watering devices that can be bought for as little as 7 to 25 euros depending on the complexity of the device. Moreover you can make one yourself at home using an empty upside down plastic bottle.
Valencia, Murcia and Spain on the whole, has a long tradition of agriculture and personal orchards, it is your duty to continue with such a positive legacy 😉 by allocating 3 minutes of your online, social networking time to simply water a few plants.
It is unfortunate that the modern generation is ignoring that very thing which allowed all the previous generations in Spain to make ends meet by putting food on the table; in some cases literally as some people eat what they grow.
If not for personal consumption, then there is one great contribution you would all be making by simply having a few household plants and that is improving our air quality in the city. Yes, for all those hours of cars constantly pumping toxic gases into the air, surely you could make one little contribution back by planting a tree or looking after a few plants.
It is said that both at home and in your office, you can improve your air quality considerably by having around 4 or 5 plants per person. Moreover, the increased oxygen supply helps your brain to concentrate; it does however require a little space of course. So when you get up to make yourself a cup of tea or coffee, think about providing your plants with something to drink as well; Come on! don’t be selfish 😉
At the end of the day, you need nature to survive as it provides you with oxygen and food, much more than nature needs you; as you already know, the planet would continue perfectly without human pollution or existence, in fact it would thrive!
If this isn’t reason enough, remember that one day you too will become plant food, thus returning a little bit of the energy you have consumed throughout your existence, and therefore continuing with the circle of life.
