Memes

From the pictures, the tank's only a couple meters from a tree itself. "supplement" would be a better word than "alternative" in the headline

This doesn't have a root system to worry about so it needs less underground space. Don't get me wrong I love me a good tree, but in places where there isn't enough land for roots to spread this could be useful. Lots of side walk trees die due to not enough space for the roots

Local ordinances specify minimum space requirements for trees, which may mean that they're not allowed to be put in certain places. Also, they can cause pedestrian safety issues, as well as Ada compliance problems in confined spaces. This is an easy way to get something green in a place where you would otherwise not see a tree because of a lot of beaurocratic bullshit.

Obviously, you can argue that all that needs to be changed. And you'd be right. And in many places it's moving that way. But then you also wouldn't get anything done for quite some time. This is an option where there might be no other viable options at the moment.

They aren’t liquid enough.

Tbf, it was an art installation and the overreactions it generated are hilarious.

Roots fuck things up.

It's coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywher...wait...that's sands... Nevermind...

Imagine replacing trees with those, and some drunk breaking the glass like once a week lmao

Can't wait for some teenager to smash it as a dare.

It's been proven that humans didn't actually get most of their fresh air from the rainforest, but actually from millions of these algea in the sea... Which is actually more logical, since trees do the opposite at night, kinda undoing any advantage they made during the day... Hence why it's said you should never put a decorative small tree or even plants in the bedroom as they can take away oxygen levels in closed rooms at night. It's even said not to sleep under trees outside at night cause it can cause respiratory problems.

The “Liquid Tree” is Very Cool Actually

I am under the impression that trees don't actually produce that much oxygen. That they're more like carbon banks, storing it as they grow and then releasing it again when they die, rot or burn down. Meanwhile most of the oxygen produced actually comes from algae and other sources.

Source: some old memory of something I heard, so take it with a grain of salt. It would explain these things tho, beyond the cases where growing a tree would be impractical.

Trees have trouble in urban areas with a lot of traffic