An appreciation of trees, which provide us with so much. 

A mature elm tree in Blackness, Falkirk.

A mature elm tree in Blackness, Scotland.

Following on from my post about public forests being saved from a sell-off by the government, I thought I would write a little tree-appreciation blog.

Environmentally-friendly/aware people are often labelled ‘tree huggers’, but really, we should all give a tree a hug every so often, as they are extremely important.

First of all and most importantly, trees give us life. Everyone knows that they provide us with oxygen, and in return, we provide them with carbon dioxide.

An acre of trees can absorb around 2.6 tonnes of CO2 in a year, hence the more we plant, the more it helps the planet. The carbon dioxide is part of the trees photosynthesis process, which helps it to grow.

They provide us with everything from paper, to furniture, and even our houses. By recycling these things, we can avoid cutting down as many trees.

Every bit of a tree is used and can go towards creating even more things that we use. The tiny fibres that make up the wood are called cellulose, and is found in melamine products such as toilet seats, toothbrushes, helmets, nail polish and even rocket fuel!

As well as giving us life, they save our lives too. The willow tree provides us with medicine similar to aspirin, a variety of trees provide L-dopa to treat Parkinson’s disease, and the Pacific Yew even provide Taxol which is used to treat a variety of cancers.

And here’s not forgetting, it directly provides a home for millions of wildlife.

I could go on! Instead, check out Idaho Forests and their word tree, which illustrates how much trees provide for us!