Retree the Planet
If you had to plant 1,000 trees in a matter of minutes, how would you do it? Due to global warming and deforestation our planet Earth can use as many new trees as it can get – here’s a way we could plant millions of trees quickly.
Think lawn darts. A sharp tip, a somewhat mature sapling in something test-tube shaped – packed with a lunch of nutrients and water – add to that a few feather quivers and you’ll have a short arrow, that is meant to be dropped from heights, and penetrate “plant” the sapling and give it a chance at life as a tree.
Now, pour these out of planes or helicopters, especially at hard to reach elevations. Drop 1,000 – not all will live, and I haven’t figured out exactly how to disperse them in the most efficient manner, but the delivery device – tree-filled lawn dart.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing from folks who like my idea and would like to help me implement it
Happy Earth Day 2010!
Albert Kaufman
https://albertideation.com
Your feedback welcome!
Interesting idea. However, you probably can’t get ground-penetrating momentum without introducing metal and/or electronics. One alternative would be to grow each sapling in a wide, flat disc. The tap root would be forced to grow horizontally. Then, fasten the sapling into a firm, biodegradable nutrient-rich shallow disc-shaped planter, soak it with water, and drop it from your airplane. The disc should land upright, and the tap root will then begin to grow downward. No metal involved, minimal collateral damage to anything below, the plant will take root even in rocky soil, and it arrives with nutrients and water.
Sad to say, but nothing’s new under the sun.
This idea was tried in the 1970s by the Canadian Forest Service. One researcher even spent decades on refining his so called “planting bullets” (see Walters, J. & Silversides, C.R. 1979. Injection planting of containerized tree seedlings. Forest Management Institute. Canadian Forestry Service. Ottawa. Information Report FMR-X-120). How did it go? Guess, there’s a reason why it was abandond.
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Good morning and Happy 2012 Albert,
yes, lawn darts have been tried extensively too. I’ve attached two articles from a journal in Canada that gives you a complete background on the topic (read especially the introductions and references). You can also try searching “aerial planting” on google Scholar. Lastly, you can also download my introductory essay via
https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/4540/
I touch briefly on the lawn dart subject, and the related background review of planting machines might be interesting for you. Start reading from section 3.0 and onwards.
Hej då!
Back Tomas Ersson