2020 is the International Year of Plant Health according to the United Nations General Assembly. Our health and well-being as humans depends upon plants for nutrition, spices, medications, beauty in our gardens, oxygen to breathe, and coffee. Plants are integral to the world’s ecosystems and have an important part to play in reducing humanity’s carbon dioxide emissions. According to Project Drawdown, strategically planting new forests can act as a “carbon sink” (afforestation), carbon can be retained in soil via conservation agriculture, and biodegradable plastics can be made from plant polymers (bioplastics). Additionally, a plant-rich diet is not only good for human health, but helpful to the planet!
To learn more about supporting plant health, check out these books, organizations, and online resources:
- Books
- In search of the canary tree: the story of a scientist, a cypress, and a changing world, Sciences Library Stacks, QH31.O25 O25 2018
- Plants & Society, Sciences Library Stacks QK47 .L478 2012
- Gardening with native plants in the Upper Midwest: bringing the tallgrass prairie home, Sciences Library Stacks, SB439 .N48 2016
- Organizations
- Online Resources