Living in the Southwest US, I am familiar with the concept of rescuing native plants from land that will be developed. Cacti are frequent losers in the land-use game.

I had never heard of houseplant rescue at the same level. I have certainly engaged in it a bit when people I know toss houseplants because they have a bug or two or have dropped a few leaves. Poinsettias are frequent victims at this time of year. And who hasn’t bought that nearly dead plant on the sale rack at a big box store even though you know it’s likely a bad idea and waste of money… Heck, I have a split-leaf philodendrum that I bought on the order of 50 years ago for $0.10 (remember when we used to have cent signs on our keyboards – where did they go?)… Of course, I don’t remember all my failures over that same time period.

So, it was with great interest that I read this article in The Guardian this morning. The story takes place in Seville, Spain and involves a man with a mission and a group of 2400 fellow Sevillanos joined through a facebook page who agree that houseplants belong in the house, not in the trash. When a member sees a plant sticking out of a trash bin, they quickly post the information to the facebook page and whoever wants said plant goes and rescues it.

Pepe Ortiz, the organizer, says, “It’s a reclamation of the plant as a living being. People need to realize that these aren’t just objects to be used and discarded. They deserve respect, care and a measure of dignity.”

While a quick internet search didn’t provide any links as directly focused on how to rescue plants, I found one site in the UK that rescues plants for resale. In addition to interesting information on working to rehome rescued plants, the woman, Sarah Gerrard-Jones, has a great book about taking care of plants – The Plant Rescuer: the Book Your Houseplants Want You to Read. In her introduction, she writes: “I’ve been rescuing unheard and misunderstood plants for years and I’ve poured all I’ve learnt into this book so that you too can recognise the cries for help and save your plants from the compost heap.”

Interested in rescuing plants? If you know of any groups that do this work in the US or around the world, let me know and I’ll post information here.