Say hello to the capital’s new City Trees!

The world is, finally, awakening to the imminent threats posed by climate change and pollution, and London is starting to do its bit to help. From zero-emissions streets to pollution-eating solar panels, along with restaurants trending towards zero-waste and veganism, the capital has begun to put greener, more sustainable methods into practice. Next in the war on global warming are three new City Trees, a series of CO2-filtering structures which have just been installed in Leytonstone.

Useful as they are, calling the City Trees ‘trees’ is a bit of a misnomer. They’re actually towers filled with different types of moss, which eat up particulates and nitrogen oxides whilst simultaneously producing oxygen. The City Trees include their own irrigation and energy systems that allows them to operate whatever the weather, and also collect data about the surrounding environment, which can then be used to inform further green solutions.

Each moss tower has the air-cleaning capability of 275 regular trees, making them an extremely powerful tool for improving air quality, especially in polluted areas where it wouldn’t be possible to plant such a large number of trees. Another handy benefit – especially given the scorching July we had last year – comes from the mosses’ ability to store large amounts of moisture, which keeps the surrounding air cooler.

You’ll find the City Trees outside Leytonstone tube station (where a pair have been installed) and on the intersection of Leytonstone High Road and Crownfield Road – both pollution hotspots within the borough of Waltham Forest, which announced a Climate Emergency last summer in order to tackle the problem head-on. It’s not the first time London has seen City Trees on its streets – a 2018 trial saw them pitch up in the West End for a few months – but with these trees being permanent installations, one can only hope it’s another small step towards a cleaner, greener city.

https://secretldn.com/city-trees-london-pollution/

sm, I’m sorry, but I may go off a bit here.

WHAT THE FUCK. THAT HAS TO BE ONE OF THE STUPIDEST IDEAS I HAVE EVER SEEN, AND I’VE SEEN QUITE A FEW.

sarahs mum said:

sm, I’m sorry, but I may go off a bit here.

WHAT THE FUCK. THAT HAS TO BE ONE OF THE STUPIDEST IDEAS I HAVE EVER SEEN, AND I’VE SEEN QUITE A FEW.

sm, start a thread on that City Tree and I’ll happily try to tear the stupid idea to shreds on the morrow :)

I thought sarah’s mum would approve of this. Vertical gardens are all the rave amongst eco-worriers.

mollwollfumble said:

I thought sarah’s mum would approve of this. Vertical gardens are all the rave amongst eco-worriers.

she’s quoted sibeen, he’s promised to come back tomorrow for a roasting

digs around in cupboard for popcorn

mollwollfumble said:

I thought sarah’s mum would approve of this. Vertical gardens are all the rave amongst eco-worriers.

I posted it cause I Rated it. Tis Sibeen who claims it is stupid.

sarahs mum said:

mollwollfumble said:

I thought sarah’s mum would approve of this. Vertical gardens are all the rave amongst eco-worriers.

I posted it cause I Rated it. Tis Sibeen who claims it is stupid.

I’m ambivalent about it.

While on the one hand I think that vertical gardens are the best possible use of sunlight when floor space is negligible.

On the other hand I think that a vertical garden is the fastest possible way (short of an earthquake) to destroy a city’s infrastructure. Plant roots plus water can quickly turn even concrete, glass and aluminium into sand.

and speaking of sand.

I’m ambivalent as well.

Not because of the roots, but just because the examples of vertical greenery in the background are cheaper, require less maintenance, and are much more interesting to look at.

“Each moss tower has the air-cleaning capability of 275 regular trees”

I guess if that was true it would be a good answer to my ambivalence.

At the moment I’d rate the probability of it’s being true to be sufficiently close to zero to be considered exactly zero.

The Rev Dodgson said:

I’m ambivalent as well.

Not because of the roots, but just because the examples of vertical greenery in the background are cheaper, require less maintenance, and are much more interesting to look at.

Yes. They are at least to the eye more pleasing than many or most of the modern scuptures dotted around the landscape like weird graveyard monuments.

The Rev Dodgson said:

“Each moss tower has the air-cleaning capability of 275 regular trees”

I guess if that was true it would be a good answer to my ambivalence.

At the moment I’d rate the probability of it’s being true to be sufficiently close to zero to be considered exactly zero.

hear hear.

roughbarked said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

“Each moss tower has the air-cleaning capability of 275 regular trees”

I guess if that was true it would be a good answer to my ambivalence.

At the moment I’d rate the probability of it’s being true to be sufficiently close to zero to be considered exactly zero.

hear hear.

I suppose it could be true if the 275 trees were sufficiently small.

The Rev Dodgson said:

roughbarked said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

“Each moss tower has the air-cleaning capability of 275 regular trees”

I guess if that was true it would be a good answer to my ambivalence.

At the moment I’d rate the probability of it’s being true to be sufficiently close to zero to be considered exactly zero.

hear hear.

I suppose it could be true if the 275 trees were sufficiently small.

To fit them into the same space of air being cleaned?

The Rev Dodgson said:

roughbarked said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

“Each moss tower has the air-cleaning capability of 275 regular trees”

I guess if that was true it would be a good answer to my ambivalence.

At the moment I’d rate the probability of it’s being true to be sufficiently close to zero to be considered exactly zero.

hear hear.

I suppose it could be true if the 275 trees were sufficiently small.

Bonsai trees?

Tamb said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

roughbarked said:

hear hear.

I suppose it could be true if the 275 trees were sufficiently small.

Bonsai trees?

Think of the jobs that could create.

roughbarked said:

Tamb said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

I suppose it could be true if the 275 trees were sufficiently small.

Bonsai trees?

Think of the jobs that could create.

Britain could sell them to the EU.

My follow up that I posted last night in the chat thread.

BECAUSE IT IS STUPID WITH A CAPITAL “STUPID”

Christos, the amount of energy to produce something like this…argghh.

Plant some trees. That’s a great idea with lots of other side benefits, like beauty for one.

Like the Rev I take their claim of the cleaning power of this magic moss with a grain of salt.

sibeen said:

My follow up that I posted last night in the chat thread.

BECAUSE IT IS STUPID WITH A CAPITAL “STUPID”

Christos, the amount of energy to produce something like this…argghh.

Plant some trees. That’s a great idea with lots of other side benefits, like beauty for one.

Like the Rev I take their claim of the cleaning power of this magic moss with a grain of salt.

In no time at all people will be trying to smoke it.

This makes more sense – maybe?

https://www.reco.com.au/images/brochures/RECO-ECOoncrete_Brochure_2019.pdf

apparently of some moss, a handful can have the same (useful, to purpose) surface area as an entire tree, + the moss have bacteria on them, good for soaking up pollution, and the water, salt etc is monitored by sensors etc and optimized, so the idea is in green areas (restricted pollution) they help

transition said:

apparently of some moss, a handful can have the same (useful, to purpose) surface area as the leaves on an entire tree, + the moss have bacteria on them, good for soaking up pollution, and the water, salt etc is monitored by sensors etc and optimized, so the idea is in green areas (restricted pollution) they help

fixed

transition said:

transition said:

apparently of some moss, a handful can have the same (useful, to purpose) surface area as the leaves on an entire tree, + the moss have bacteria on them, good for soaking up pollution, and the water, salt etc is monitored by sensors etc and optimized, so the idea is in green areas (restricted pollution) they help

fixed

Would that not depend on the type of tree?

Tamb said:

transition said:

transition said:

apparently of some moss, a handful can have the same (useful, to purpose) surface area as the leaves on an entire tree, + the moss have bacteria on them, good for soaking up pollution, and the water, salt etc is monitored by sensors etc and optimized, so the idea is in green areas (restricted pollution) they help

fixed

Would that not depend on the type of tree?

yeah, depends if it’s autumn or whatever too, and all the leaves have fallen off the tree, though if they fall to the ground (in a natural setting), they probably make good compost eventually for moss

i’m all for moss, if the tried to take over the world, challenged the supremacy of man and trees, you know i’d pick up an AK-watering can, spray some around

transition said:

apparently of some moss, a handful can have the same (useful, to purpose) surface area as an entire tree, + the moss have bacteria on them, good for soaking up pollution, and the water, salt etc is monitored by sensors etc and optimized, so the idea is in green areas (restricted pollution) they help

I could be wrong of course, but I suspect someone has been engaging in a good deal of number fudging to make their commercial product look better than it is.

transition said:

Tamb said:

transition said:

fixed

Would that not depend on the type of tree?

yeah, depends if it’s autumn or whatever too, and all the leaves have fallen off the tree, though if they fall to the ground (in a natural setting), they probably make good compost eventually for moss

i’m all for moss, if the tried to take over the world, challenged the supremacy of man and trees, you know i’d pick up an AK-watering can, spray some around

Slightly off topic, sorry.
I’ve noticed that here in the tropics eucalypts shed a majority of their leaves in Spring. Possibly because they require less leaf area in Summer.

The Rev Dodgson said:

transition said:

apparently of some moss, a handful can have the same (useful, to purpose) surface area as an entire tree, + the moss have bacteria on them, good for soaking up pollution, and the water, salt etc is monitored by sensors etc and optimized, so the idea is in green areas (restricted pollution) they help

I could be wrong of course, but I suspect someone has been engaging in a good deal of number fudging to make their commercial product look better than it is.

shocked

Tamb said:

transition said:

transition said:

apparently of some moss, a handful can have the same (useful, to purpose) surface area as the leaves on an entire tree, + the moss have bacteria on them, good for soaking up pollution, and the water, salt etc is monitored by sensors etc and optimized, so the idea is in green areas (restricted pollution) they help

fixed

Would that not depend on the type of tree?

And also how you measure the surface area.

The Rev Dodgson said:

transition said:

apparently of some moss, a handful can have the same (useful, to purpose) surface area as an entire tree, + the moss have bacteria on them, good for soaking up pollution, and the water, salt etc is monitored by sensors etc and optimized, so the idea is in green areas (restricted pollution) they help

I could be wrong of course, but I suspect someone has been engaging in a good deal of number fudging to make their commercial product look better than it is.

it’s hard to keep up with humans, that way, so many of them you know, threatened with extinction and all

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tamb said:

transition said:

fixed

Would that not depend on the type of tree?

And also how you measure the surface area.

The Rev Dodgson said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tamb said:

Would that not depend on the type of tree?

And also how you measure the surface area.

hehehehe.

Almost infinite.

sibeen said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

And also how you measure the surface area.

hehehehe.

Almost infinite.

Give it long enough and it will be infinite.

The hospital i work at put in a lovely ‘green’ wall in the main entrance foyer.

It has ferns, and orchids and such. Looks very nice.

It’s all made out of plastic.

captain_spalding said:

The hospital i work at put in a lovely ‘green’ wall in the main entrance foyer.

It has ferns, and orchids and such. Looks very nice.

It’s all made out of plastic.

I hate plastic plants. The hotel at Port Macquarie was full of them.

Tamb said:

transition said:

Tamb said:

Would that not depend on the type of tree?

yeah, depends if it’s autumn or whatever too, and all the leaves have fallen off the tree, though if they fall to the ground (in a natural setting), they probably make good compost eventually for moss

i’m all for moss, if the tried to take over the world, challenged the supremacy of man and trees, you know i’d pick up an AK-watering can, spray some around

Slightly off topic, sorry.
I’ve noticed that here in the tropics eucalypts shed a majority of their leaves in Spring. Possibly because they require less leaf area in Summer.

Likely water stress. Eucalypts tend to drop a lot (sometimes all) their leaves when under lack-of-water stress.

Divine Angel said:

captain_spalding said:

The hospital i work at put in a lovely ‘green’ wall in the main entrance foyer.

It has ferns, and orchids and such. Looks very nice.

It’s all made out of plastic.

I hate plastic plants. The hotel at Port Macquarie was full of them.

I second that hate.

Put it to the vote now.

sibeen said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

And also how you measure the surface area.

hehehehe.

Almost infinite.

actually infinite.

ABC News:

‘Philippines volcano: Thousands evacuated as Taal spews ash

A volcano in the Philippines has emitted a giant plume of ash, prompting authorities to order the evacuation of some 8,000 people living nearby.’

More of the handiwork of those dratted Greens, i’ll be bound!

trouble with trees is that they lose their leaves, so require energy to clean them up, which is ongoing. Will probably require pruning at some point more energy. Can lift pavements. so, i wonder what a complete energy requirement would be like as a comparison.

captain_spalding said:

ABC News:

‘Philippines volcano: Thousands evacuated as Taal spews ash

A volcano in the Philippines has emitted a giant plume of ash, prompting authorities to order the evacuation of some 8,000 people living nearby.’

More of the handiwork of those dratted Greens, i’ll be bound!

Gaia is pissed off.

captain_spalding said:

ABC News:

‘Philippines volcano: Thousands evacuated as Taal spews ash

A volcano in the Philippines has emitted a giant plume of ash, prompting authorities to order the evacuation of some 8,000 people living nearby.’

More of the handiwork of those dratted Greens, i’ll be bound!

So bushfire smoke and volcano plume…good sunsets and sunrises for a while and a bit of cooling?

captain_spalding said:

ABC News:

‘Philippines volcano: Thousands evacuated as Taal spews ash

A volcano in the Philippines has emitted a giant plume of ash, prompting authorities to order the evacuation of some 8,000 people living nearby.’

More of the handiwork of those dratted Greens, i’ll be bound!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taal_Volcano

buffy said:

captain_spalding said:

ABC News:

‘Philippines volcano: Thousands evacuated as Taal spews ash

A volcano in the Philippines has emitted a giant plume of ash, prompting authorities to order the evacuation of some 8,000 people living nearby.’

More of the handiwork of those dratted Greens, i’ll be bound!

So bushfire smoke and volcano plume…good sunsets and sunrises for a while and a bit of cooling?

Might need a longer (and stratospheric) eruption for Taal to contribute much.

Tamb said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

roughbarked said:

hear hear.

I suppose it could be true if the 275 trees were sufficiently small.

Bonsai trees?

depends on whether we consider them “regular”

Michael V said:

Divine Angel said:

captain_spalding said:

The hospital i work at put in a lovely ‘green’ wall in the main entrance foyer.

It has ferns, and orchids and such. Looks very nice.

It’s all made out of plastic.

I hate plastic plants. The hotel at Port Macquarie was full of them.

I second that hate.

Put it to the vote now.

we can offer you plants made out of polymer, that do everything a natural greenie tree does, literally everything

SCIENCE said:

Michael V said:

Divine Angel said:

I hate plastic plants. The hotel at Port Macquarie was full of them.

I second that hate.

Put it to the vote now.

we can offer you plants made out of polymer, that do everything a natural greenie tree does, literally everything

They certainly burn just as well.

SCIENCE said:

Michael V said:

Divine Angel said:

I hate plastic plants. The hotel at Port Macquarie was full of them.

I second that hate.

Put it to the vote now.

we can offer you plants made out of polymer, that do everything a natural greenie tree does, literally everything

Looks up plants made out of polymer.

Do youse use the most common natural polymer by any chance?

The Rev Dodgson said:

SCIENCE said:

Michael V said:

I second that hate.

Put it to the vote now.

we can offer you plants made out of polymer, that do everything a natural greenie tree does, literally everything

Looks up plants made out of polymer.

Do youse use the most common natural polymer by any chance?

literally everything

ChrispenEvan said:

sibeen said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

hehehehe.

Almost infinite.

actually infinite.

I told you I was unable to measure the length of the coastline definitively, but then you just said “cantor wont”.

I have to admit that up to about a minute ago I had no idea what the definition of a plymer was:

“a substance which has a molecular structure built up chiefly or completely from a large number of similar units bonded together,”

SCIENCE said:

ChrispenEvan said:

sibeen said:

hehehehe.

Almost infinite.

actually infinite.

I told you I was unable to measure the length of the coastline definitively, but then you just said “cantor wont”.

That’s got fractal to do with it.

Tamb said:

transition said:

Tamb said:

Would that not depend on the type of tree?

yeah, depends if it’s autumn or whatever too, and all the leaves have fallen off the tree, though if they fall to the ground (in a natural setting), they probably make good compost eventually for moss

i’m all for moss, if the tried to take over the world, challenged the supremacy of man and trees, you know i’d pick up an AK-watering can, spray some around

Slightly off topic, sorry.
I’ve noticed that here in the tropics eucalypts shed a majority of their leaves in Spring. Possibly because they require less leaf area in Summer.

I have read Eucalypts beiing described as summer deciduous.

sarahs mum said:

Tamb said:

transition said:

yeah, depends if it’s autumn or whatever too, and all the leaves have fallen off the tree, though if they fall to the ground (in a natural setting), they probably make good compost eventually for moss

i’m all for moss, if the tried to take over the world, challenged the supremacy of man and trees, you know i’d pick up an AK-watering can, spray some around

Slightly off topic, sorry.
I’ve noticed that here in the tropics eucalypts shed a majority of their leaves in Spring. Possibly because they require less leaf area in Summer.

I have read Eucalypts beiing described as summer deciduous.

For a stooped thread, this has been quite informative.

The Rev Dodgson said:

SCIENCE said:

ChrispenEvan said:

actually infinite.

I told you I was unable to measure the length of the coastline definitively, but then you just said “cantor wont”.

That’s got fractal to do with it.

stop being Kochs you two!

sarahs mum said:

Tamb said:

transition said:

yeah, depends if it’s autumn or whatever too, and all the leaves have fallen off the tree, though if they fall to the ground (in a natural setting), they probably make good compost eventually for moss

i’m all for moss, if the tried to take over the world, challenged the supremacy of man and trees, you know i’d pick up an AK-watering can, spray some around

Slightly off topic, sorry.
I’ve noticed that here in the tropics eucalypts shed a majority of their leaves in Spring. Possibly because they require less leaf area in Summer.

I have read Eucalypts beiing described as summer deciduous.

In Tasmania and other places where there is a low summer rainfall, that is true. Ecucalypts have leaf senescence when they are low-water stressed.

ChrispenEvan said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

SCIENCE said:

I told you I was unable to measure the length of the coastline definitively, but then you just said “cantor wont”.

That’s got fractal to do with it.

stop being Kochs you two!

• dusts off overalls *

no need to be a snowflake about it

SCIENCE said:

ChrispenEvan said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

That’s got fractal to do with it.

stop being Kochs you two!

• dusts off overalls *

no need to be a snowflake about it

I was hoping someone would come back with that.

:-)

I’m not sure how these can be described as stupid or what Sibeen’s problem with it really is.

I like trees and we probably need to plant more of them everywhere. But in some city situations the trees that can be planted is limited by the type of tree that can prosper in those conditions. One of my friends the other day was bitching because most of our city street trees are not natives. Well you do have to select trees that thrive in the conditions. And that is not a long list. Where they are installed are places where it is not feasible to plant 275 trees. They do have an amenity value. They are green. And there is a seat.

We do need to work out how to drop the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and this is a step in that direction. Perhaps it is a step on the road to even more efficient scrubbers. It might not be a tree but it is using natural means. If part of the installation dies back it is possible to garden it and replace that part. It also seems to be acting as a monitoring station. And more information must be a good thing.

This is probably no panacea. There has to be a background level of moisture/damp for this to work. And it probably will get that in London where it probably wouldn’t get that in Parramatta.

I stand on the side that does not regard this as stoopid.

sarahs mum said:

I’m not sure how these can be described as stupid or what Sibeen’s problem with it really is.

I like trees and we probably need to plant more of them everywhere. But in some city situations the trees that can be planted is limited by the type of tree that can prosper in those conditions. One of my friends the other day was bitching because most of our city street trees are not natives. Well you do have to select trees that thrive in the conditions. And that is not a long list. Where they are installed are places where it is not feasible to plant 275 trees. They do have an amenity value. They are green. And there is a seat.

We do need to work out how to drop the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and this is a step in that direction. Perhaps it is a step on the road to even more efficient scrubbers. It might not be a tree but it is using natural means. If part of the installation dies back it is possible to garden it and replace that part. It also seems to be acting as a monitoring station. And more information must be a good thing.

This is probably no panacea. There has to be a background level of moisture/damp for this to work. And it probably will get that in London where it probably wouldn’t get that in Parramatta.

I stand on the side that does not regard this as stoopid.

Perth city has what I assume is local artist painted planter boxes all around the city (some incorporated into seats) they look really good and I’ve seen at least two people who ride a bike around caring for them

sarahs mum said:

Tamb said:

transition said:

yeah, depends if it’s autumn or whatever too, and all the leaves have fallen off the tree, though if they fall to the ground (in a natural setting), they probably make good compost eventually for moss

i’m all for moss, if the tried to take over the world, challenged the supremacy of man and trees, you know i’d pick up an AK-watering can, spray some around

Slightly off topic, sorry.
I’ve noticed that here in the tropics eucalypts shed a majority of their leaves in Spring. Possibly because they require less leaf area in Summer.

I have read Eucalypts beiing described as summer deciduous.

We could do an experiment. About 2 hours ago I mulch mowed under the Very Big Old E. camaldulsensis in the back yard. Already the leaves are dropping again. There is actually a sprinkler going under there for the birds. This is not an overly dry bit of garden. I’ll go back and check again later in the day to see what sort of leaf drop is going on. My feeling is that we get enormous leaf drop as we go into the hot dry windy days. Those are the days the gums hang their leaves vertical to minimize water loss.

>I’m not sure how these can be described as stupid or what Sibeen’s problem with it really is

guessing you’d need kilometres of it, and if that happened, the intelligent people from all the tall buildings would abandon their structures and swing down into the greenery, there’d be dogging in the malls, all sorts of depravity, civilization would be threatened by devolution

transition said:

>I’m not sure how these can be described as stupid or what Sibeen’s problem with it really is

guessing you’d need kilometres of it, and if that happened, the intelligent people from all the tall buildings would abandon their structures and swing down into the greenery, there’d be dogging in the malls, all sorts of depravity, civilization would be threatened by devolution

We also need more than one tree.

what I found particularly encouraging about the example in the picture is the seats were too small for homeless people to sleep on comfortably, a reminder the green ideological revolution won’t abandon the class system, the structure of wealth, so it’s nice to see it keeping the embarrassing garbage out of the city, particularly city centres

sarahs mum said:

I’m not sure how these can be described as stupid or what Sibeen’s problem with it really is.

I like trees and we probably need to plant more of them everywhere. But in some city situations the trees that can be planted is limited by the type of tree that can prosper in those conditions. One of my friends the other day was bitching because most of our city street trees are not natives. Well you do have to select trees that thrive in the conditions. And that is not a long list. Where they are installed are places where it is not feasible to plant 275 trees. They do have an amenity value. They are green. And there is a seat.

We do need to work out how to drop the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and this is a step in that direction. Perhaps it is a step on the road to even more efficient scrubbers. It might not be a tree but it is using natural means. If part of the installation dies back it is possible to garden it and replace that part. It also seems to be acting as a monitoring station. And more information must be a good thing.

This is probably no panacea. There has to be a background level of moisture/damp for this to work. And it probably will get that in London where it probably wouldn’t get that in Parramatta.

I stand on the side that does not regard this as stoopid.

My issue with it is the bullshit marketing and the energy required to build one of these when all you need to do is plant a tree.

transition said:

what I found particularly encouraging about the example in the picture is the seats were too small for homeless people to sleep on comfortably, a reminder the green ideological revolution won’t abandon the class system, the structure of wealth, so it’s nice to see it keeping the embarrassing garbage out of the city, particularly city centres

What is amusing in the Perth CBD is David Jones installed blunted metal spikes type things in the window frames to stop people sleeping there so instead they camp in front of the doors

sibeen said:

sarahs mum said:

I’m not sure how these can be described as stupid or what Sibeen’s problem with it really is.

I like trees and we probably need to plant more of them everywhere. But in some city situations the trees that can be planted is limited by the type of tree that can prosper in those conditions. One of my friends the other day was bitching because most of our city street trees are not natives. Well you do have to select trees that thrive in the conditions. And that is not a long list. Where they are installed are places where it is not feasible to plant 275 trees. They do have an amenity value. They are green. And there is a seat.

We do need to work out how to drop the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and this is a step in that direction. Perhaps it is a step on the road to even more efficient scrubbers. It might not be a tree but it is using natural means. If part of the installation dies back it is possible to garden it and replace that part. It also seems to be acting as a monitoring station. And more information must be a good thing.

This is probably no panacea. There has to be a background level of moisture/damp for this to work. And it probably will get that in London where it probably wouldn’t get that in Parramatta.

I stand on the side that does not regard this as stoopid.

My issue with it is the bullshit marketing and the energy required to build one of these when all you need to do is plant a tree.

Maybe trees are too low tech

If I plant a tree it will generally look after itself. It may require some early coddling if in an urban environment but after that the care and feeding is taken care of by nature. Not with the moss wall, the damn thing would die in a week or two if not cared for. Thye best bit I ;ove from the website is this:

“Integrated IoT technology delivers comprehensive information on performance and status as well as environmental data on the CityTree’s surroundings.”

A tree does not have to be connected to the bloody internet. This is marketing gone mad, we need to make it “Internet of Things”. Arrgghhh.

sibeen said:

If I plant a tree it will generally look after itself. It may require some early coddling if in an urban environment but after that the care and feeding is taken care of by nature. Not with the moss wall, the damn thing would die in a week or two if not cared for. Thye best bit I ;ove from the website is this:

“Integrated IoT technology delivers comprehensive information on performance and status as well as environmental data on the CityTree’s surroundings.”

A tree does not have to be connected to the bloody internet. This is marketing gone mad, we need to make it “Internet of Things”. Arrgghhh.

I remember reading about and posted it here, that a decent sized tree is worth significantly more than what you get from cutting it down if you had to do what it does with technology.
This isn’t it but its interesting as well

https://eponline.com/articles/2011/03/11/1-what-is-the-true-value-of-a-tree.aspx

This is another article

https://greenearthappeal.org/what-is-the-value-of-a-tree/

This appears to be monstrously inefficient in terms of cost. Reforestation is pretty cheap per tree.

>A tree does not have to be connected to the bloody internet

chuckle

insane really, in’t

but here you and I are, connected to the internet

transition said:

>A tree does not have to be connected to the bloody internet

chuckle

insane really, Ent

Fixed

dv said:

This appears to be monstrously inefficient in terms of cost. Reforestation is pretty cheap per tree.

Especially as lots of reforestation/tree planting is volunteer work as well so no people to pay

Funnily enough I don’t mind the look of it. Take out all the unnecessary circuitry and extraneous gadgets, drop the bullshit marketing and sell it as a piece of urban art and I’d have no issue with it.

sibeen said:

Funnily enough I don’t mind the look of it. Take out all the unnecessary circuitry and extraneous gadgets, drop the bullshit marketing and sell it as a piece of urban art and I’d have no issue with it.

Plus with it being a weird plant/tree is might get bullied on social media by “real” trees

transition said:

apparently of some moss, a handful can have the same (useful, to purpose) surface area as an entire tree, + the moss have bacteria on them, good for soaking up pollution, and the water, salt etc is monitored by sensors etc and optimized, so the idea is in green areas (restricted pollution) they help

Yes but where does moss store all that carbon?

The Rev Dodgson said:

transition said:

apparently of some moss, a handful can have the same (useful, to purpose) surface area as an entire tree, + the moss have bacteria on them, good for soaking up pollution, and the water, salt etc is monitored by sensors etc and optimized, so the idea is in green areas (restricted pollution) they help

I could be wrong of course, but I suspect someone has been engaging in a good deal of number fudging to make their commercial product look better than it is.

Since when does that happen? TIC. ;)

roughbarked said:

transition said:

apparently of some moss, a handful can have the same (useful, to purpose) surface area as an entire tree, + the moss have bacteria on them, good for soaking up pollution, and the water, salt etc is monitored by sensors etc and optimized, so the idea is in green areas (restricted pollution) they help

Yes but where does moss store all that carbon?

In their stems, leaves and roots.

Tamb said:

transition said:

Tamb said:

Would that not depend on the type of tree?

yeah, depends if it’s autumn or whatever too, and all the leaves have fallen off the tree, though if they fall to the ground (in a natural setting), they probably make good compost eventually for moss

i’m all for moss, if the tried to take over the world, challenged the supremacy of man and trees, you know i’d pick up an AK-watering can, spray some around

Slightly off topic, sorry.
I’ve noticed that here in the tropics eucalypts shed a majority of their leaves in Spring. Possibly because they require less leaf area in Summer.

It is natural yes. The semi-deciduous trees in Australia do this too.

sarahs mum said:

Tamb said:

transition said:

yeah, depends if it’s autumn or whatever too, and all the leaves have fallen off the tree, though if they fall to the ground (in a natural setting), they probably make good compost eventually for moss

i’m all for moss, if the tried to take over the world, challenged the supremacy of man and trees, you know i’d pick up an AK-watering can, spray some around

Slightly off topic, sorry.
I’ve noticed that here in the tropics eucalypts shed a majority of their leaves in Spring. Possibly because they require less leaf area in Summer.

I have read Eucalypts beiing described as summer deciduous.

They also hold their leaves on edge. To show as little leaf surface to direct sunlight as possible.

Michael V said:

sarahs mum said:

Tamb said:

Slightly off topic, sorry.
I’ve noticed that here in the tropics eucalypts shed a majority of their leaves in Spring. Possibly because they require less leaf area in Summer.

I have read Eucalypts beiing described as summer deciduous.

In Tasmania and other places where there is a low summer rainfall, that is true. Ecucalypts have leaf senescence when they are low-water stressed.

They don’r stop at leaves though. Under stress they can drop almost all of their branches. They also shed bark, the gum trees.

dv said:

This appears to be monstrously inefficient in terms of cost. Reforestation is pretty cheap per tree.

hear hear.

Except that it cannot be done without water.

dv said:

roughbarked said:

transition said:

apparently of some moss, a handful can have the same (useful, to purpose) surface area as an entire tree, + the moss have bacteria on them, good for soaking up pollution, and the water, salt etc is monitored by sensors etc and optimized, so the idea is in green areas (restricted pollution) they help

Yes but where does moss store all that carbon?

In their stems, leaves and roots.

Yes but what is the surface area coompared to that of trees? I’m sure you’ll come up with a number. It is too hard to think about for most of us.

roughbarked said:

dv said:

roughbarked said:

Yes but where does moss store all that carbon?

In their stems, leaves and roots.

Yes but what is the surface area coompared to that of trees? I’m sure you’ll come up with a number. It is too hard to think about for most of us.

If your point is that trees are bigger than moss, then you’re spot on

The Larch is a big tree.
The Larch.

dv said:

roughbarked said:

dv said:

In their stems, leaves and roots.

Yes but what is the surface area coompared to that of trees? I’m sure you’ll come up with a number. It is too hard to think about for most of us.

If your point is that trees are bigger than moss, then you’re spot on

I thought it was a given, yes.

roughbarked said:

dv said:

roughbarked said:

Yes but what is the surface area coompared to that of trees? I’m sure you’ll come up with a number. It is too hard to think about for most of us.

If your point is that trees are bigger than moss, then you’re spot on

I thought it was a given, yes.

Glad we can end on this point of agreement. Schnaps?

Peak Warming Man said:

The Larch is a big tree.
The Larch.

Here’s a bit more on the Larch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0zVsxUbbjM

dv said:

roughbarked said:

dv said:

If your point is that trees are bigger than moss, then you’re spot on

I thought it was a given, yes.

Glad we can end on this point of agreement. Schnaps?

:)

Peak Warming Man said:

Peak Warming Man said:

The Larch is a big tree.
The Larch.

Here’s a bit more on the Larch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0zVsxUbbjM

Use too much water to be in most of Australia.

Peak Warming Man said:

Peak Warming Man said:

The Larch is a big tree.
The Larch.

Here’s a bit more on the Larch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0zVsxUbbjM

How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away?

Peak Warming Man said:

The Larch is a big tree.
The Larch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnC88xBPkkc