I just got a CO2 meter and checked the levels in my house and went down a rabbit hole trying to address the issue. Apparently it would take 249 areca palms to offset the carbon RESPIRATION of one adult.
So okay 249 trees just for me to breathe, not to mention the rest of the bad things we all do.
So how can this math ever balance? 249 trees just to break even seems like an impossible number. Then all the flights I have been on, miles driven, etc.
I feel like that’s… Way too many trees. Is it hopeless or am I missing something?
I think your math is wrong, most websites I see say 7 or 8 trees produce all the air you breathe, so that’s perfectly reasonable.
Offsetting the rest of your consumption is another thing, but not something a single person can do. An average person doesn’t personally produce a crazy amount of CO2, it’s industrial and excessive consumption that does the bulk of it.
It was a study I read for figuring out how many houseplants would it take to clean the indoor air for a house. So I guess tree is a bit of the wrong image. Probably large houseplant that grows quickly but is technically a tree.
The 7 or 8 trees are probably very large oak or something.