Fort Myers native plant sale offers positive ways to reduce carbon dioxide levels

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They do it every year, those Coccoloba folks: gather somewhere (lately, Manatee Park) and throw a huge Florida native plant sale, with plenty of the Florida-friendliest species at the wallet-friendliest prices.

Where else can you find myrsine (see Sunday’s Tropicalia for details), gumbo limbo or a pot of beach sunflower in the same place? Thanks to the local Coccoloba chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society, they’ll all be there, along with a host of knowledgeable volunteers to help you keep them growing strong.

But, while planting native always offers the ineffable benefit of knowing you’re helping the planet, this year, there’s even more reason to go.

As part of a global effort to raise awareness about the significance of heightened carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, the chapter is offering salegoers an unheard-of bargain: It will sell 350 live oak trees for $3.50 to the first 350 buyers.

Why is this important? Because carbon dioxide is what’s called a greenhouse gas, able to trap the sun’s energy in the Earth’s atmosphere and raise the planet’s temperature, according to the EPA.

Native plants can help reduce the carbon dioxide levels, says one of the event’s organizers, Nancy Kilmartin of the Lee County Parks & Recreation department.

Not only do plants store carbon in their tissues, Kilmartin says, they release oxygen into the atmosphere.

Number 350 refers to the effort to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere to the target level of 350 parts per million.

Three hundred fifty is the most important number in the world – it’s what scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to the Web site 350.org.

Having the Lee County event at Manatee Park makes the group “one of the few organizations addressing this issue across from a regional power plant (Florida Power & Light), but our focus is on positive measures individuals can take to get us closer to maintaining natural systems that will continue to sustain human life on this planet,” says Buckingham biologist Dick Workman, one of the founders of the state group.

Why live oaks?

It’s a species that’s “extremely valuable to our native communities,” says the chapter’s Rachel Singletary. Plus, they’re long-lived and require no fossil fuel-based chemical care once established, she says. Live oaks are salt-tolerant and will grow in all Southwest Florida upland habitat areas from the barrier islands to the Alva scrub.

“The 1 gallon-sized trees will only take in about 6 pounds of carbon per year but that carbon intake and storage (capacity) increases more every year,” Workman says. “By the time these oak trees are 30 inches in diameter, they will store about 20,000 pounds of carbon taken from the air.”

How’s that for a bargain?

Posted on October 21, 2009 · in USA

Tagged as: America carbon • Carbon Dioxide • GHG Emissions