Archive for January, 2008

Photosynthesis

Monday, January 28th, 2008

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to conjure your favorite food out of thin air? Plants accomplish this seemingly miraculous feat every day. They are able to feed themselves using a technique called photosynthesis. Instead of having to search for food, they create all of the food energy they need from sunlight, air and water.

How does this amazing process work? Here is the chemical equation for photosynthesis: 6CO2 + 6H2O (+ light) -> C6H12O6 + 6O2

For those of us who slept through high school chemistry class, this equation can be translated into English as follows: 6 molecules of carbon dioxide plus 6 molecules of water plus light converts to one molecule of sugar and 6 molecules of oxygen.

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Only 49,970 to go…

Wednesday, January 16th, 2008

We received an advance order of 30 trees this week and planted them up. The first 30 have been donated to the staff at K International and will be planted in their gardens in the early spring.

The variety was Sitka Spruce, it’s a very hardy and fast growing tree. They are also thought to be one of the best species for sequestering carbon.

The first one was marked and moved to a special place. We will keep a close eye on its progress and report back via the logblog. We plan to make a commemorative plaque in the forest highlighting this tree when its planted. We called the first tree Tiki which is a shortened version of tikikrautauwok which is Inuit for the first arrival.

At the moment Tiki is 57cm tall.

Pictures of the new trees in their new homes will follow in the spring.

Remember - We are a long way off our target of 50,000 trees but… 30 trees will provide enough oxygen for 60 people and each year 30 trees will sequester 600kgs of CO2 from the atmosphere.

And for every 1000 words that we translate in 2008 we will plant a tree - you can make your translation projects carbon neutral by asking K International to help you.

Only 49970 to go…

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So what is a Sitka Spruce?

Monday, January 7th, 2008

Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) is part of the family of coniferous trees called Pinaceae. The tree takes it name from the Sitka Sound area of Alaska where the tree originates. It is now found all over Northern Europe as well as the west coast of the USA as far south as California.

It was introduced to the UK in 1831 by David Douglas as an exotic tree due to its height. Originally into in many parks and gardens up and down the country but now it can be found in many woodlands.

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