Garden Design
Which small, common or garden plants eat the most CO2?
Should mention that I live in UK and have very little garden space so trees aren't appropriate. Am trying to offset my own carbon footprint and wondered which plants are the most carbon hungry. Thanks for the answers so far guys, some interesting stuff for me to mull over. What prompted me to ask was an article I read regarding a form of algae that apparently became so widespread several thousands of years ago that it contributed to the start of the last ice-age, such was it's co2 guzzling ability. Got me wondering if it, or any of it's "ancestors" still exist.
Public Comments
- ok, plants alone are not going to reduce your CO2 footprint, though your intentions are good. trees remove carbon dioxide from the air by turning the carbondioxide they absorb into complex carbon molecules, when the tree eventually dies the and the tree is buried the carbon is trapped. it is only the trapped carbon that has any net effect on the levels of carbondioxide in the atmosphere. with plants the amount of trapped co2 is almost negligible, if you want to reduce your carbon dioxide footprint make efforts to reduce and recycle your waste, minimise energy use through insulating, and just thinking about the energy that you use around the house, remember switch that damn light off! so i congratulate you on your good intentions but i dont think that plants are up the task, have a go at the other suggestions above , and perhaps more importantly campaign for renewable energy / non carbon dioxide producing energy sources e.g nuclear,, but thats a different story.
- Ivy absorbs pollutants in the air. So do peace lilies. Really, any plant you like will help. PS - According to NASA, "houseplants remove formaldehyde and other health-threatening pollutants from indoor air... We spend 90% of our time in energy-efficient houses where air is two to five times more polluted than outside.... NASA studies on using houseplants to reduce indoor pollution found that the following species reduce the levels of 3 common household pollutants - formaldehyde, benzene and trichloride: Aloe bamboo palm spider plant chrysanthemum English Ivy Peace Lily" (and others)
- most creep plants like ivy does.
- I think the first bloke gave a good answer. I live in the country and can plant trees, but for you conserving energy is the best way to go.
- I have yet to find a list either, though I'm curious about this too. What I've found so far suggests that woody plants lock up the most carbon- of course, the larger, the better. The wood doesn't decompose each year to re-release the carbon. If large trees aren't appropriate, you might be able to do large shrubs, like the large rhododendrons or camellias. If you have a nice wall, an espaliered fruit tree could be fun... Depending on where you are in the UK, tree ferns might be an option, too.
