New Year’s Resolution #9: Travel more.

Traveling today often involves a vehicle with wheels! Where does all that rubber come from to make those tires? Well, plants, of course! (to be fair, a large amount comes from petroleum as well…)

Much of the rubber comes from the milky latex material produced by the rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis. The tree growing here is the rubber fig, Ficus elastica. It also produces latex; however, the extraction of latex from Ficus elastica for rubber production has not yet been commercially successful.

How did you score on this resolution in the past year?

1 point – I thought about travel this year
2 points – I traveled more than 50 miles from my home this year
3 points – I traveled more than 100 miles from my home this year