Agantuk's Desk – Explore, Implore, Reverberate

“Nature is NOT a place to visit. It is HOME.”

– Gary Snyder, American Poet, Environmental Activist

Every year on July 28, the UN celebrates World Nature Conservation Day to stress the necessity of conserving nature and preventing the exploitation of natural resources on air, soil, and water. 

This year’s World Nature Conservation Day theme is “Forests & Livelihood – Sustaining People & Planet” which has a direct link with UN Sustainable Development Goals 11 and 12 that calls for building sustainable cities & communities, and responsible consumption & production by 2030. 

In its true sense, conservation is a dedicated way of preserving species and habitats from being destroyed by human activities like greenhouse gas emission, deforestation, and land fragmentation for different developmental projects.

To this effect, different conservation efforts are launched for the public like the World Wildlife Fund’s tree adoption program, Reef Watch coral reef, turtle and other marine species adoption program, etc. 

However, beyond this, there is a vast scope of nature conservation efforts in our day-to-day life simply by opting for local eco-friendly plant-based products that allow for habitat conservation.

How To Achieve A Sustainable Lifestyle?

Plantable products form a key element in this. So, let’s take a look at how plantables help in nature conservation

What are Plantables?

Before we delve deeper let’s first get to know these plantable phenomena. In recent years, various eco startups and businesses have come up with plantable solutions which make day-to-day products like masks, stationeries, wristbands, or rakhis, etc simply by embedding seeds in them. 

These eco-friendly products are made up of biodegradable natural materials which come embedded with seeds. So, when their use has been fulfilled they can be planted to give rise to plants and trees. 

5 Ways Plantables Help in Nature Conservation

Now that we know about them, let’s check out how they help. 

1.Reduces Tree Cutting

Nearly 4 billion trees are cut down every year to make paper, pencils, and other things. Plantable products aren’t made from trees rather they are processed from bamboo pulp. Now, bamboo is the fastest growing plant in the world so it can cater to the huge demand for the products. Then these products are embedded with seeds to make plantable solutions. So, Plantables reduce tree cutting and deforestation, making a direct contribution to conservation.

2. Promotes Planting Trees

The primary reason for using Plantables is their ability to promote planting habits amongst people. Unlike other stationery products and masks, plantable seed paper masks and stationeries don’t end up in the landfill. They aren’t wasted once you are done with them. Rather they help you in inculcating a habit of planting trees. If you substitute conventional products with these eco-friendly alternatives you are bound to have more plants around you and most of them are vegetables, fruits, or flowers that are used by us. 

3. Reduces Plastic Pollution 

Our regular daily items contain microplastics having harmful chemicals like phthalates and Bisphenol A (BPA) which causes hormonal imbalance in invertebrates and other animals. It further affects marine species and causes coral reefs to degenerate 

With plantable products like stationeries, paper bags, and masks the problem of plastic waste is solved. This plastic waste won’t end up in the forest and ocean, thus helping in conservation efforts. 

4. Fewer Forest Fires

With less plastic and less toxic chemicals released into the environment, the probability of man-made forest fires decreases. Plantable products play an indirect role in this. With plantable stationeries and masks, you are no longer polluting forest land. 

So, when we adopt plantable products in everyday life, the plastics and chemicals reduce, and hence you will see less harmful forest fires. 

5. Saves Forest Land

Nearly 20% of forest land vanishes every year due to the necessity of paper. The total amount of forest land engulfed for human consumption and production is even more. Between 2015-2020, 10 million hectares of forest land were lost due to this. 

Plantables can indirectly help in saving this. With plantables becoming the norm, the need for trees for paper will reduce. Also as they are made with fast-growing plants like bamboo and sugarcane we don’t need much land to have the necessary plant raw materials for the production of these products. 

So, there you go some concrete insights on how plantables can be used for nature conservation efforts. Your small step isn’t that small after all. You can be a changemaker from the comfort of your home. UN’s AWorld App will help you in this regard. Download this app and measure how your activities are faring and also find out new exciting ways of doing it from tons of other users. 

Remember this when you opt for conservation efforts. Conservation can only happen when daily lifestyle decisions are coupled with on-the-field conservation efforts. So, ditch those high utility products and go for Plantables. With such mass pressure, this might be the only way to make big corporations understand the issue, forcing them to take a stance. This will in turn help local communities who are the backbone of conservation efforts. 

Empower the locals and conserve nature for a better world with your life’s choices.