Why So Many Young People Prefer Being Plant Parents Instead of Having Children

Psychology
3 years ago

Plants give color and life to any space, purify the air, and help us to relax and feel at peace. In addition, their maintenance is usually simple and inexpensive. That’s likely why thousands of young people have started to fill their homes with plants. Also, when you live in a noisy area, in a city that never sleeps, being able to sit in a small garden or on a balcony decorated with different types of plants and flowers is one of those things that you just can’t put a price on. But for young people, especially millennials, it’s not just a hobby. Some of them are even calling themselves “plant parents.”

Today, we at Bright Side want to talk about why more and more young people prefer having plants instead of children.

Plant parents, the new concept of the modern family

Life changes, lifestyles, and challenges of today’s youth are not the same as they were many years ago when it was common to have big houses and large families with lots of children running around. The pace of life has become increasingly faster, big houses have been renovated and turned into small apartments, and the group of children running around has been replaced by something rather unexpected: pets or plants. This is the way many young people between 20 and 39 years old prefer to live. That’s right, young people today prefer looking after “just” plants or animals instead of children.

Plant parents, as the fans of this new trend define themselves, treat their plants as if they were people. In addition to ensuring their general well-being, they also experience a great deal of involvement in their growth. They enjoy taking care of them and develop a great love for the plants. It might even be described as a parental bond. Some of them even consider these plants to be their own daughters or sons and a part of their own family.

More and more young people are choosing to own only pets or plants.

In fact, 7 out of 10 of millennials that took part in a survey said that they would rather raise plants than children, given the current global climate crisis, general uncertainty, and instability of today’s world. In short, while it’s true that a small plant requires some care and pampering, this can hardly be compared to the challenges of raising a small human being.

The data reflected in a recent study conducted by OnePoll and Article regarding the attitude that these young people exhibit toward plants is truly a curious phenomenon. 53% of those surveyed said they started buying plants for their apartments or houses just for aesthetic and decorative reasons, while the other 47% did it simply out of following a trend.

Plants are not only decorative, they also benefit us psychologically.

67% of those who took part in the survey said that raising plants was more difficult than they had expected. That hardly comes as a surprise since they usually had no idea about what kind of care was required before they actually got the plants. In fact, 3 out of 10 respondents said that one of the most important lessons, and one of the first that a good plant parent should learn, is to be aware of how easy it is to accidentally kill a plant.

For many of them, 3 out of 4 to be precise, the plants were adopted with the intention of having pets later on. Plants seem to be just one way to test whether or not they’re prepared for such a thing and to see if they’re responsible enough to have a pet at home.

“The survey revealed millennials’ desire to incorporate plants into their home, despite the apprehension and challenges associated with caring for them,” said Zoe Garred, the director of product development at Article.

In addition to making your house look great, this trend is fantastic for the environment.

In 81% of the cases, respondents of the survey said that having plants has benefited them both mentally and physically. In addition to that, 4 out of 5 said that taking care of their plants has also helped them develop more awareness regarding their personal care. In other words, they started taking better care of themselves.

While most of the young people said they started having plants just because they were following a trend or for aesthetic reasons, the daily care, watching them grow, and understanding that they are living beings just like us made them realize that they actually consider them to be a part of their family. During their learning process, each new plant parent saw at least 7 of their plants die.

Maybe that’s also why their concern for proper plant care kept increasing. That, in turn, led them to do more and more research. For example, they want to know the exact amount of water and sunlight their plants need, the type of room and space they require, and even take into account the stress that plants can take on when they’re moved from one place to another.

Some plant parents only “adopt” a few pots, while others have entire gardens.

Designer and influencer Justina Blakeney, who has nearly one million followers on her Instagram account, Jungalow, believes this new trend of plant love stems from the human need to be in touch with nature. “I can’t tell you how many people tell me that they have a new obsession with plants. People are looking to be close to nature. You can come home and be surrounded by greenery. It’s a respite to be surrounded that way. It’s nice to have a piece of outside inside,” she explained in an interview.

Be that as it may, plants are life! They benefit us all, and there can never be too many of them on the planet, so we love this new green trend.

What do you think — do you have plants at home? Would you like to be a plant parent? Don’t forget to share this article to encourage everyone to bring a little more green love into their lives.

Comments

Get notifications

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😅😅😅😅😆😆😆😆😆😆 sorry mom and dad

-
-
Reply

Related Reads