Living in Harmony with Mother Earth

How-to live-in harmony with our planet called Earth. This is an introduction to the many ways to recycle.

Modern humans have used their magnificent brains to make our lives easier such as telephones, cell phones, cars, computers, airplanes, and other vehicles that can travel even greater distances. Today, we have become a little wasteful with our natural resources and we need to rethink how we use these natural resources efficiently.

People all over the world are beginning to read and see the signals that planet Earth has been sending and our working together to protect our home planet Earth and to restore the places that have been hurt, like Everglades National Park.

What is the source of our energy? The sun. Living things use chemical, heat, and forms of light energy to produce and consume food. Energy and food are nature’s way of recycling nutrients through the environment. I like to explain how energy flows through our ecosystem and how matter recycles.

What or who can use the sun’s light energy to begin the process of making food and recycling nutrients? Green plants. Yes, that is right the green plants, if animals and humans did not have green plants they would not be here today. Green plants start the recycling process. 

What do plants have that we do not have? Cell Wall, Chlorophyll, and a Central Vacuole, (larger in plants than animals).

Green plants are able to manufacture their own food because of Chlorophyll.  Plants use Chlorophyll to capture light energy from the sun to start the process known as Photosynthesis. Photo means light and Synthesis means put together. Combining the two words means: put together with light.

Light energy combines carbon dioxide from the air that is taken in through the leaves and H2O (water) that is absorbed through the roots of plants to manufacture a simple sugar known as glucose. The plant stores this sugar (glucose) as starch and uses it to grow. During photosynthesis oxygen is released into the environment. Animals and humans depend on oxygen to breathe. When animals and humans breathe the oxygen, it combines with the food they eat and releases chemical and heat energy that their body uses to grow. This process is called respiration and CO2 (Carbon Dioxide), is the waste product of respiration.

Let’s start with a history of plants from prehistoric plants to present day. Prehistoric plants include whiskfern, mosses, horsetails, and ferns from the Paleozoic era; and bald cypress, ginkgos, cycads, magnolias and palms from the Mesozoic era. Horsetails and ferns are considered the first land plants and the oldest. Scientists believe their spores created new plants and lead to the gymnosperms. Flowering plants or the angiosperms were the last to appear and now are the most prevalent species on the planet. They include: trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and lianas. Lianas are a type of climbing vine found on the tropical rainforests floor. They have thick, woody stems and depend on the rainforest trees for support. Lianas include Rattan palms and Philodendrons.

Psilotum – Whiskfern is a living fossil, dichotomously branched.

Sphagnum – Mosses absorbs liquids up to 20 times their weight.

Equisetum – Horsetail has underground rhizomes; the outer layer of cells is embedded with silica which gives an abrasive texture. Horsetail is often called scouring rushes because it was used to scrub pots and pans during the pioneer days.

Ferns include three species: Adiantum spp., Athyrium spp. and Dryopteris erythrosora. Adiantum is represented by the Maidenhair Ferns; Athyrium species is represented by the Lady Ferns; Dryopteris species is represented by the Autumn Ferns.

Gymnosperms became the dominant plant with the dinosaurs. The gymnosperms include Cycads, Ginkos and Conifers. The Conifers include: Pines, Firs, Spruce, Larches, Yews, Junipers, Cedars, Cypresses, and Redwoods. The dinosaurs ate Conifers, Cycads, and Ginkos.The flowering plants or angiosperms include a wide range of plants. I would like to show you examples of a few. 

Palm trees are considered the oldest of the angiosperms or flowering plants. The Windmill palm (pictured left) and the Pindo Palm (pictured right) are considered the oldest palms.

Royal Poinciana Tree (Delonix regia) and Hong Kong Orchid Tree (Bauhinia x blakeana) are in the Fabaceae family which has a symbiotic association with Mycorrhizae fungi. The Mycorrhizae takes a form of Nitrogen from the air, N₂ and fixes the Nitrogen to a form the plant can use immediately. The Royal Poinciana Tree (pictured left) and Hong Kong Orchid Tree (pictured right). 

Pitcher plant or Winged Nepenthes (Nepenthes alata) are Carnivorous Plants that make their own carbohydrates from photosynthesis but obtain some of their nitrogen and minerals by killing and digesting insects. The traps are usually equipped with glands that secrete digestive juices. Pitcher plants use a pitfall to capture insects. The insects slip into a long funnel containing the juices in the bottom. After the insect drowns, it is digested by enzymes secreted by the juices of the plant. Pitcher plant (pictured below left).

Sensitive Plant (Mimosa pudica) 

Sensitive Plant shows how a plant can move. The movement you see in the sensitive plant is caused by turgor pressure. Turgor pressure is the pressure exerted on a plant cell wall by water passing into the cell by osmosis. Osmosis is the movement of a solvent such as water through semipermeable membrane such as a living cell into a solution of higher solute concentration that tends to equalize the concentrations of solute on the two sides of the membrane. 

Red Maple Tree (Acer rubrum) is a United States native tree that has been studied for its ability to remove air pollution. The studied showed that Acer species removes more air pollution than most trees. Red Maple Tree (pictured below left). 

The benefits of trees are: Trees clean the air by removing pollutants and providing us with fresh air; Trees provide oxygen; Trees cool the streets and the cities; Trees encourage people to healthy lifestyles such as walking, jogging, biking, or going to parks; Trees raise property values; Trees provide food for humans, birds, and wildlife; Trees heal. Studies show people heal faster with green ambience outside their windows.

We discussed outdoor pollution and what we can do. Let’s talk about indoor pollution and what we can do.

Several studies have been done on the benefits of houseplants and how houseplants in your home or office remove indoor pollutants, and toxic chemicals from the air. These studies have shown which houseplant removes what indoor pollutant or toxic chemical from the air. There are many health benefits that people receive from plants in the home or work place.

As newly built homes and offices were being constructed to be more energy efficient, the homes and offices become airtight and sealed, and the quality of air inside these newly built homes and offices led to indoor pollution or what is called sick building syndrome. Newly built homes or offices are loaded with indoor pollutants such as: benzene, trichloroethylene, and formaldehyde. There are more indoor pollutants and toxic chemicals, but these are the big three, and are found in numerous household products and building materials. Formaldehyde is found in many building materials, and consumer products including paper towels, garbage bags, facial tissues, carpet-backing, plywood, and particleboard. Benzene is found in adhesives, caulking compounds, ceiling tiles, electro photographic printers, floor coverings, paints, particleboard, photocopiers, wall coverings, stains, and varnishes. Trichloroethylene is found in duplicating machines, electro photographic printers, and photocopiers.

A NASA study was a huge stepping-stone to raising public awareness of the benefits of houseplants. NASA’s 2-year study done in conjunction with the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) showed that certain houseplants remove a

specific indoor pollutant better than other houseplants studied. The study also showed that some houseplants would remove more than just one indoor pollutant. Another study involving houseplants showed that employees that work in office buildings that had interior plants in their lobbies and also in their offices had a lower rate of sickness, had better employee morale, and had a lower rate of employee sick days, when compared to employees that did not have interior plants at their work place. In a recent study published in February involving houseplants and patient recovery times, researchers monitored hospital patients that had undergone the same exact surgery. One group of patients had houseplant(s) in their room, and the other group did not. The group with plants required less pain medication, were in less pain, and had a faster recovery time than the patients that had the same surgical procedure done but did not have houseplant(s) in their hospital room. Corn Plant - Dracaena fragrans ‘Massangeana’ is pictured above on the left.

In the book “How To Grow Fresh Air” by Dr. B. C. Wolverton, mentions 50 interior plants that remove indoor pollutants from your home or office. The plants in his book were rated according to ease of plant care maintenance, pest resistance, efficiency of chemical removal, and transpiration rates.

Here are a few of my favorite houseplants that remove indoor pollutants and toxic chemicals from the air. I have chosen these plants for their excellence in improving the air quality in interiors, and also for their ease of care. 

Bamboo Palm – Chamaedorea seifrizii. The Bamboo Palm is easy to care for, is more resistant to bug infestations, will give you an overall height of 6-8 feet, and will take

any type of light conditions. Bamboo Palm has a high transpiration rate, which means during the dry winter months with dryer air coming from your heating system the air will feel less dry. Due to the Bamboo Palm’s upright growth it is an excellent plant to place in bare, empty corners or anywhere you need a little more height. This palm removes high rates of benzene, trichloroethylene, and formaldehyde. (Pictured right).

Janet Craig Dracaena – Dracaena deremensis `Janet Craig'. There are two cultivars of Janet Craig Dracaena. There is Janet Craig Compacta variety that can be used as a table plant and there is Janet Craig Dracaena that makes an excellent floor specimen. Both varieties can be placed in dimly lit areas and can tolerate neglect. (Pictured below left). 

Golden Pothos – Epipremnum aureum. Golden Pothos is a beautiful plant to use in hanging baskets or anywhere you would like a trailing plant. The plant can be placed in any type of light conditions and can tolerate neglect. (Pictured left). 

Heart Leaf Philodendron – Philodendron scandens oxycardium.

Heart Leaf Philodendron is one of my personal favorites because you can place this plant anywhere in your home. It can be used in hanging baskets or trailing down the sides of pots. (Pictured below left). 

Peace Lily – Spathiphyllum spp. The Peace Lily will enjoy any type of light conditions, except being in direct sunlight. Peace Lily will group nicely around other plants and reaches an overall height of 2 to 3 feet. This plant has been rated as one of the top performers of removing benzene, trichloroethylene, and formaldehyde from the air. (Pictured right).

The decomposers go to work and break down our waste products so that they can be recycled and used by green plants. Decomposers also, breakdown dead and decaying plants and animals to make nutrients available again to green plants.

Earthworms are one example of the many decomposers. They ingest organic matter and soil. They mix the soil by burrowing, and increase drainage and aeration of the soil, improve soil fertility by collecting dead organic material from the surface and transporting it into burrows and tunnels. Earthworms bring nutrients from the deep layers of the soil up into areas where roots of many plants are more concentrated.

We have the sunlight flowing through our system providing energy for the producers to make food for the consumers that provide waste for the decomposers that recycle matter into nutrients for the producers and thus the cycle starts all over again.

©Cheryl Ann Meola 2019. All rights reserved. Do not copy or paste this article without the permission from the author.