STEP #17
Be a Carbon Neutral Gardener
How does your garden grow? While we usually think of gardening as a healthy and natural activity, if you use chemical pesticides and fertilizers as part of your gardening protocol, you may actually be doing as much harm as good. In America, more than 67 million of us spend over $33 billion annually in garden-related expenses. Unfortunately, too many of those dollars are spent on petrochemically derived products that are harmful to humans, animals, and our planet.
Leukemia and childhood brain cancer have been linked with pesticide, insecticide, and weed killer products use, especially those which include diazinon and carbaryl. Manufacturing these chemicals also adds to the greenhouse gases in our environment.
The good news is that tending our gardens without these harmful petrochemicals is easy. A Google search for “carbon neutral gardening” will reveal many companies that are dedicated to natural gardening practices and products. Clean Air Gardening is one such company that offers online resources and products for green gardening and matches customer donations up to $10 to Trees for the Future during online purchases.
Your carbon neutral gardening strategy should include these elements:
Use organic fertilizers. Organic fertilizers include natural materials that have been used for generations to grow healthy plants and vegetables that are good for the body, the soil, the earth, and the air. Here are a few good options:
Control pests naturally. With all of the options nature has given us to rid our gardens of pests, relying on harmful chemical pesticides to do the job is unnecessary and irresponsible. Here are some ideas:
Use a push mower instead of a gas-powered one! Yes this is important. Despite their obvious convenience, gas powered lawn mowers are among the worst offenders in the battle to reduce carbon emissions. In fact, just one hour of mowing generates the equivalent emissions to driving 140 miles in your car, according to pscleanair.org. Push or reel mowers are also quieter and provide exercise, and according to stopglobalwarming.org, using them will save 80 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. For those of you with enormous lawns, watch for the development of hybrid and alternative mowers in the near future.
Reduce your lawn. Minimizing the space you devote to grass, which does not grow naturally in many areas, can significantly cut energy costs by reducing the temptation to use a gas-powered mower. Consider lawn alternatives including low maintenance groundcovers such as dichondra that require little or no mowing.
Plant lots of trees. If each of America’s gardening households planted just one new tree, those trees would absorb around 2.25 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. (See Step 44, Plant a Tree.)
Plant native. As a plant’s native environment naturally offers the conditions it needs to thrive, planting your garden with native plants requires less upkeep and is healthier for the environment than non-native gardens.
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