Wild Chia

 

Wild Chia by Azaria Brooks

 

              The chia pet was originally created to give children a cheap and easy to take care of “pet.”  When they first came out it was never thought that they could cause any damage to the environment.  This all changed when people started to dispose of their beloved chia pets the wrong way.  Children grew tired of these pets that did virtually nothing.  All they did was sit in the sun and grow.  They had no way of playing with it and soon let it die.  Parents grew weary of looking at the ugly dead pet sitting in their nice windowsill.  To dispose of these pets they took the easy way out.  They just threw them out of their car window while driving along I-40.  When they did this, they did not think of any possible harmful effects that could happen.

              The chia pets now are starting to take over the red rock formations of New Mexico.  The chia is not a native plant species to New Mexico or even the United States and this version of chia is believed to have been spliced in a lab.  Their growing conditions match those of the red rock formations perfectly because it so closely matches the clay pottery they originally grew on.  Speculations are that the chia pet was created just to up the sales of pottery.  However, now the side effects are worse than anyone could ever have imagined. 

              The chia seed is generally eaten in Mexico as a snack.  They have a lot of nutritious value and are also eaten by people who are really health conscious.   “Chia seeds are currently harvested in several countries and are sold commercially in local health food stores and on the internet”(Stanley, Ethel; Lafferty, Toni, “The Chia Challenge: Invasive Species or Wonder Crop?” http://www.bioquest.org.)

              It is believed that, unless action is taken, the chia plant will take over all the red rock formations in New Mexico.   There are not many predators that eat the chia plant, so the possibility of the problem solving itself and the chia dying of natural causes is highly unlikely.  As stated in an article, “without anything to check the spread of these plants, they will cover the state in a short time and ultimately destroy all life on earth” (“Illegal Chia Pet Dump found in New Mexico!” http://www.getodd.com.) While the last part may be a bit drastic, people do need think about the consequences before they just dump their chia pets.   For the proper chia pet disposal “contact the Chia Disposal Hotline at 1-800-555-3344. You should NEVER discard Chia Pet plants in the trash, flush down the toilet or incinerate them yourself” (“Illegal Chia Pet Dump found in New Mexico!” http://www.getodd.com.)  Taking these steps will help reduce the chia problem in New Mexico and restore our red rock formations.

    

 To the left is a picture of the chia plant growing wildly in New Mexico. 

This picture was received from http://www.getodd.com/news/hamhock/71599h/71599h.html