• TORFdot0@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    18 minutes ago

    I think it’s probably cheaper in the long run to self host a tree instead, unless you live in an apartment with absolutely no green space. But I’d rather get a VPF and host a tree there if I had too

  • Günther Unlustig 🍄@slrpnk.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    13 minutes ago

    Does this count too?

    I already posted this on !balconygardening@slrpnk.net. .

    I’m purposefully growing duckweed on my balcony.
    I’m doing !hydroponics@slrpnk.net, and by doing that, I have lots of waste water with still good fertilizer in it.

    Duckweed is one of the fastest growing, nutrient densest and least demanding plant out there, and you can just scoop it out with a strainer.

    It’s exponentially growing and if you don’t wanna eat it, it makes great organic fertiliser or animal feed with lots of protein and micronutients!

  • Capricorn_Geriatric@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    25
    ·
    5 hours ago

    Short answer: the bank won’t give your shiny new tree-planting business a loan as easily as it will to a “liquid tank tree replacement” one.

    Long answer:

    • Trees take time to grow
    • Trees need to be planted
    • Trees make shade
    • Animals like birds and insects like bees and mosquitos like to live next to them
    • Trees don’t need electricity
    • Trees take in heat radiated from the pavement
    • Trees don’t look cool

    While algae are more efficient at turning CO2 into oxygen in theory, in practice algae don’t have a good climate in such a tank (no oxygen without ventilation, i.e. constant electricity and they get cooked through the glass).

    All in all, more of a gimmick than anything.

    • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      2 hours ago
      • Trees take time to grow

      Sure, of course not removing literally all of them in the first place is preferable but hindsight is 20/20 I guess. And good things come to those who wait.

      • Trees need to be planted

      True, planting a tree seems a bit easier than installing a weird tank though, despite time to grow.

      • Trees make shade

      Good.

      • Animals like birds and insects like bees and mosquitos like to live next to them

      Good.

      • Trees don’t need electricity

      Good.

      • Trees take in heat radiated from the pavement

      Good.

      • Trees don’t look cool

      Bullshit.

    • CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      4 hours ago

      Aren’t like half of those bullet points positives? Also in addition to what you said once you got a tree you got a tree, those tanks need constant maintenence and cycling which I doubt anyone is going to bother with for more than a year after installing them.

      • Rakonat@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        4 hours ago

        The comment you replying to was trying to not so subtly point out this is a business plot and little else. Nobody is going to pay a subscription fee to have a tree in front of their business, but they might cough up money for a third party to maintain a tank of algae out front if it was sold right

  • Daniel Quinn@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    56
    ·
    6 hours ago

    I had the same reaction until I read this.

    TL;DR: it’s 10-50x more efficient at cleaning the air and actually generates both electricity and fertiliser.

    Yes, it would be better to just get rid of all the cars generating the pollution in the first place and putting in some more trees, but there are clear advantages to this.

    • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      5 hours ago

      I appreciate Rebecca Watson’s opinion. Watched the 6min video, now convinced 👍

      Also learned a new term: kneejerk cynicism

    • FarceOfWill@infosec.pub
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      4 hours ago

      It provides fertilizer but needs “some food”.

      How much food and what is it?

      Typically for aquariums you have to feed these things fertilizer so it seems odd

  • Allero@lemmy.today
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    34
    ·
    6 hours ago
    1. Wrong community, maybe? Lol

    2. iirc, algae are better oxygen producers per units of mass and volume, so a tank full of algae might actually be better than a tree. One issue though is that trees can grow on open ground, while algae require a tank to be built, most likely negating the economic benefits. Also, trees are more aesthetically pleasing.

  • I don’t think anything’s wrong with trees, but maybe we could also have some of these as well as trees ?

    Replace the advertisements on bus stops with a really cool green liquid wall 😮 (but they’d have to make the glass super thick, these things tend to be vandalized from time to time)

    • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      edit-2
      4 hours ago

      I don’t think anything’s wrong with trees, but maybe we could also have some of these as well as trees ?

      First of all nobody is proposing to replace existing trees with that, that would be silly! AFAIU the people who created this also don’t want these to be used where trees could be planted. They are outspokenly designed for already densely packed cities that are already highly polluted and hostile to trees, to start turning things around. Rebecca Watson’s 6min take

  • bluewing@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    4 hours ago

    Yeah, those are going to last at -40F/-40C nights we often experience where I live. Nor do I see them being able to add any cool relief from their shade on a hot day.

    That said, it is hard to grow healthy trees in the poisoned soils of a big city. They tend to struggle and be sickly when choked by concrete and asphalt.

    • jagged_circle@feddit.nl
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      15 minutes ago

      Oh thats why the box below it provides heating and cooling. Its powered by a gasoline generator.

    • superkret@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      20
      ·
      edit-2
      8 hours ago

      I love this about lemmy.
      Like someone stumbling into the wrong house and still being welcomed.
      It’s a lot more informal and relaxed than on the piss page of the Internet.

  • 21Cabbage@lemmynsfw.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    23
    ·
    8 hours ago

    Practical answer, fits in places trees may not. Pessimistic answer, fits in some guys cyberpunk ass vision for what he wants his office block to look like.

    • jagged_circle@feddit.nl
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      14 minutes ago

      Line the plater with steel, and this is not a problem. Bonus: trees are dwarfs and don’t present risks of falling on structures in storms.

      • xor@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        edit-2
        6 hours ago

        It makes it difficult to use the pavement, especially for elderly people and people with disabilities, costs the council a bunch of time and money to repair, and doing the repairs often require killing off the tree

      • splendoruranium@infosec.pub
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        6 hours ago

        So, uh, what’s wrong with that?

        … with damaging infrastructure? Well, presumably the infrastructure will no longer be as good at serving its original purpose once it is damaged.