Are we really this stupid?

I was extremely concerned (not to mention depressed) by the piece of news which pinged into my inbox this morning in the form of a press release from the nice people who make Velvet Toilet Tissue claiming that one in five Britons don’t realise that the oxygen we breathe is produced by trees.

The key findings of a survey, conducted by the bog roll brand as part of its ‘Campaign for Trees’  – an initiative to plant trees to replace the thousands which are flushed annually down our household waste disposals–, can be found below:

* 16% of Brits do not realise that the role of trees is to provide oxygen

* 74% of Brits believe the most important role of trees is to provide fruit!

* 71% voted the Oak as Britain’s most iconic tree, but 33% could not identify an Oak tree’

While I’m all for surveys and opinion polls, this truly seems absurd.  I didn’t study advanced science at school, but learning about the connection between trees and oxygen is first grade stuff. Not to mention the reams of info about photosynthesis imbibed by students at GCSE level, for which a biology exam is usually mandatory.

Although said survey waxes lyrical about the lack of clear knowledge and understanding its poll findings show, it doesn’t give any information about the number of people or age group it surveyed. I can only hope this is because it questioned a bunch of baboons and doesn’t want to ‘fess up.

The release quotes Campaign for Trees supporter supermodel Erin O’Connor saying: “This study clearly shows that people are crying out for more trees in their local areas (66%).  There is a real need to educate people on how trees benefit us all – they provide the air that we all breathe. ”

Quite.

(Image courtesy of Getty)

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