Earth Day is the perfect time to learn how you can make the Earth a better place! Our world is full of nature and Girlstart wants you to channel your inner botanist today. A botanist is a special type of scientist who studies plants and how they grow. Let’s explore how we can be more like a botanist. As you might have guessed, it all starts with plants.

Plants help the environment in a bunch of different ways. Sure, they can be pretty and smell nice, but did you know that they are some of the hardest workers in the environment? Let’s look at a few of the ways that planting leafy friends can help our Earth!

Munching on Carbon Dioxide

When you breathe in, you take in oxygen from the air. That oxygen is used to help power your body. But you don’t breathe out that same oxygen. Instead, you breathe out carbon dioxide. In small quantities, carbon dioxide isn’t all bad. But it’s not just us sending carbon dioxide out into the air. When humans burn fossil fuels for energy, much more of that same carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Large amounts of carbon dioxide like this harm the environment.

Lucky for us, carbon dioxide is exactly what plants like to snack on. Plants are considered “carbon sinks” – that means they take in carbon dioxide and use it to make food for themselves. By planting new green friends, you can help remove carbon dioxide from our atmosphere and reduce air pollution.

Pollution Destroyer

Plants protect water from pollution, too! When there is pollution in rain, plants use their roots as a filter to remove harmful pollutants from ponds, rivers, and lakes.

Stay on Solid Ground

If you live in a place with landslides, trees could be a great help to you! The roots of trees grow into the ground and help to keep it from moving. Without plant roots in the soil, it’s a lot easier for landslides to happen since nothing is left to hold the soil in place.

A Place to Live

Treehouses aren’t the only way that plants can be a home! Throughout nature, plants act as shelter for many animals. They are a great place for small creatures to hide from predators and birds to make their nests. Big plants, like trees, provide shade for all types of animals and plants and protect them from overheating in the sun.

Plants are amazing environmental helpers! They provide so much more to our daily lives than just being something nice to look at. Join Girlstart as we wrap up celebrating Earth Day by working in your garden or maybe even planting some seeds!