My name is Jorge Carlos. The purpose of this project is to raise a bit of environmental awareness. The world we live in is chaotic—filled with wars, pollution, violence, drugs, and much more.
Years ago, I started noticing changes in my natural surroundings: hotter temperatures, less rainfall, warmer winters, and other shifts. After doing some research, I realized these changes were caused by global warming, mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels (which worsen the greenhouse effect) and deforestation. These two factors aren’t just affecting my daily life—they’re impacting yours, too, and every living being on this planet.
Once I understood the causes, I realized that for now, we can’t just stop using fossil fuels to generate the energy that keeps the world running. According to the IEA, they still provide 80% of global energy. Maybe it’s because renewable and clean energy is still too expensive or the technology isn’t there yet. But I think the biggest reason is economic interest and a lack of political will. The oil and coal industries are incredibly powerful and don’t want to give that up. So they keep putting obstacles in the way of transitioning to cleaner energy, even if their public statements say otherwise.
You can’t go up against Goliath with your bare hands, I think there’s not much we can do in that area for now—except wait for social pressure, necessity, and the climate emergency itself to push change when it comes to fossil fuels.
Knowing how dependent we are on highly polluting energy, I realized the second main cause of global warming—deforestation—is something we can act on. Trees and plants 🌳🌲🌴🍂 are our first line of defense against CO₂, yet the reality is grim. Not only are greenhouse gas emissions rising yearly, but forests are also being destroyed for 'development'. According to the World Resources Institute, we lose an area equivalent to 10 soccer fields every minute, making global warming even worse.
A couple of years ago, I started planting trees in different places to help a little with this serious issue—a problem many people don’t know about or simply don’t care about. Trees don’t just absorb CO₂—they also cool the environment, lowering temperatures by about 2°C to 8°C (35°F to 46°F).
In 2024, I planted around 40 trees in different places, but many of them didn’t survive—and that was mostly my fault. First, I planted trees that were too small. Second, I planted them outside the rainy season. Third, some were too far away for me to water regularly. Fourth, there weren’t other trees around to protect them from direct sunlight. And there were other mistakes too. Some trees were even cut down because they were “in the way.” I don’t know what they were in the way of, but apparently, they were.
Months later, I saw a video on the internet from a YouTuber (I honestly don’t remember which one), and there was a moment in the video that really inspired me. The YouTuber saw some people watering plants and went over to talk to them. During the conversation, those people asked him if he could help spread the word about where the trees were planted so others could help water them too.
And that’s when the core idea for this project was born. I started reading and researching again, and I dusted off my old programming books—books I hadn’t touched in over 10 years.
The development process was slow. It took time, money, and effort—and it still does. But with my brother’s help, we managed to get this project off the ground. Here are his social media handles if you want to follow him. He doesn’t create content, but if you ever need help developing an app or software, he’s really good.
The project is called Water-Them. It’s an initiative that everyone—or at least most of us—can be part of. If you truly want to help fight global warming with real actions, this is a great way to get involved. Many people and governments are planting trees in different places, but they often don’t survive due to lack of water—especially in extremely hot regions like the Yucatán Peninsula, where average temperatures on hot days range between 93°F and 104°F (34°C to 40°C), not even counting the added heat from humidity.
With your help, we could make a real difference—whether by planting trees or by helping water the plants around you. You could plant one tree per month in a park, on a sidewalk, a median strip, or even in your own yard. It won’t take more than 15 minutes. Watering it is the most important part to ensure it survives. And you don’t have to do it every day. In very hot weather, just one gallon of water every three days is enough.
Why every three days? Because that’s the schedule I used when it was 104°F (40°C) for several days in a row. The tree’s leaves started to wilt, but with that watering schedule, the tree survived. Watering takes only about 5 minutes—it may not seem like much, but it makes a big difference in our quality of life, and in the lives of all living things.
Global warming is real—whether you believe it or not, whether you care or not. Everywhere you look, there are news stories about natural disasters, unusual heatwaves, hurricanes, heavy rains, and more. And it's not just the news—you’ve personally felt those weird weather patterns more than once.
I’m not some kind of extreme environmentalist. I still produce waste, I drive a car, I use single-use plastics—just like most people. Honestly, it’s nearly impossible to avoid all of that. But I try to reduce it as much as I can. I recycle, I reuse, and I walk when I can—because life isn’t all about driving. It’s about being a little more eco-conscious, about moving toward sustainable development. Not everything needs to be asphalt and concrete. If you cut down a tree to build your home, you can plant another one. There’s always room for another. Care for it and water it. You’ll benefit from it. We all will.
Plant a tree!
