The future of life on our planet depends on the actions of each individual. If you haven’t yet adopted a zero-waste lifestyle, today’s a great day to get started to reduce your carbon footprint. If you’re a gardener, why not begin with your garden?
Since the COVID-19 pandemic sent us all to our rooms, we have more time to think about how we impact our planet and its creatures. Thousands of people responded to quarantine by starting vegetable gardens. It seems that we all got the message at the same time!
We rely heavily on disposable goods, opting for convenience over accountability. The pandemic has brought with it a scourge of plastic medical and packaging waste, and home gardening is adding to it. It’s time to send out a clarion call to stop this needless waste.
The Zero Waste movement is gaining steam. The goal of a Zero Waste practice is to send nothing to the landfill. Only buy what you need, reduce your need, reuse and repurpose what you can, generate your own products (food, compost), and waste nothing. When we can reduce waste in the garden, we can reduce our impact on Earth’s environment in a profound way.
Solutions to Garden Waste
Gardening is a fulfilling and sensible endeavor. When you grow your own food, you reduce packaging waste and transportation emissions, and you’re likely to save money on food. However, there can be quite a lot of waste involved.
Many of the home gardening products come packaged in plastic or are made of plastic – soil, seed starting trays, pots, fertilizer, etc. What do we do with all this plastic?
When you need to buy gardening supplies, consider the 5 Rs of Zero Waste:
- Refusesingle use plastic, disposables, packaging, plastic toys, balloons, etc.
- Reduce consumption and donate or sell belongings you don’t need
- ReuseorRepair when possible
- Recyclewhen something is no longer useable
- Rotor compost the rest
Food Waste:
Food waste is on the rise. We toss out 1/3 of our food. It’s the #1 waste-product that goes into the landfills. The Natural Resources Defense Council reports that 40% of food that consumers purchase goes to waste. Rotting food piles up and releases methane gas, a major contributor to global warming. Reducing food waste reduces the amount of methane in the environment.
Growing your own food allows you to manage your harvest wisely. Freeze, can, or pickle any produce you can’t eat right away, so no food goes to waste.
Compost:
Make compost instead of buying fertilizer in plastic packaging. Use food scraps, leaves, and pruning and lawn trimmings. A compost bin can reduce organic waste by as much as 40%. The bonus is that you’ll be able to use the finished compost to fertilize your garden with nutrient-dense humus. You won’t have to buy soil again, so you won’t have to feel guilty about the plastic bag it comes in.
Regrow Food Scraps:
You can regrow parts of some vegetables by rooting them in water or soil. Green onions, romaine lettuce, Bok Choy, cabbage, and celery will root in a glass of water. You can regrow potatoes after they sprout by placing them in soil with the eyes on top and visible above the soil.
Root-to-Stem Cooking:
Practice root-to-stem cooking by using every part of the vegetable or fruit. We throw away parts of the plant that can actually be eaten, like stems, leaves, and cores. The parts that are thrown away are often the parts that contain the most nutritive value. Broccoli stems, carrot tops, and beet leaves are usually discarded, yet they’re totally edible, delicious, and nutritious. When you eat more of the plant, there is less food waste.
Conscious Consumption:
When you go grocery shopping, buy only what you know you can eat or preserve. That way, there is little to no waste.
Repurpose, Upcycle, or DIY:
Repurpose or give away anything that is broken or damaged. For example, the shoes in the header picture of this article were repurposed as flower planters. Egg cartons, folded toilet paper rolls, and yogurt cups make great seed starting containers. If you have a plastic clamshell from that ready-made meal you bought, reuse that. It has a clear plastic lid that’s perfect as a dome to protect tender seedlings from the cold. You can use anything that will hold soil – bureau drawers, baskets, coffee cans – as plant pots. Ladders and old window screens make great trellises. Prevent slugs from eating your plants with a collar made of leftover foil or put a little beer in an empty tuna or cat food can to attract the slugs. Make garden markers with wooden popsicle sticks and a sharpie. Use garbage bag twist ties or cut an old T-shirt into strips to secure vining plants and tomatoes on stakes or trellises. Just use your imagination and have fun!
Shut Off Lights:
Dim or shut off outdoor lights for less light pollution and to save on electricity. Use solar lanterns to light pathways.
Tools to Last:
Invest in high quality tools, so you don’t have to replace them for a long time.
Swap It:
Get plants for free or give away plants you want to get rid of. Harvest seeds from some of your plants. Save and swap seeds.
Manage Plastic Use:
Avoid plastic packaging and pots. This is a real challenge, but there is a growing green industry that is making more non-plastic products available to consumers. If you compost, you will not need to buy soil that comes in a plastic bag. Most nurseries are happy to take back any plastic pots and planting containers you no longer need. They can reuse them. Take your reusable bags to the garden store and fill them with bulk mulch, so you don’t have to use a plastic bag. Better yet, make your own mulch with fallen pine needles.
Conserve Water Use:
Mulch plants and water them in the morning or evening to reduce evaporation. Make sure you have plenty of organic material worked into the soil. It helps to retain water. Install a rain collector or use gray water. Grow native plants that are naturally acclimated to local rainfall and temperature patterns. They use less water. Reuse water that you cooked vegetables in, adding nutrients back into your garden.
Use Natural Fertilizers:
Natural fertilizers are better for your plants (and you), and you won’t have to buy fertilizer in plastic packaging. Compost is one of the best fertilizers, and you can make it yourself with food scraps, leaves, and yard clippings. You can also use seaweed and well-rotted chicken manure.
Natural Pest Control:
Save spray bottles from cleaning products and reuse them to apply natural pest control substances, such as neem oil. Practice companion planting, which also controls pests naturally.
Plant Perennials:
Perennials use fewer resources, such as water, since their well-established root systems tap deeper into the earth.
Green Gardening Products:
Green gardening products are becoming more available to the marketplace. Coco coir is one of these new green products. It’s a by-product of coconut processing that can be worked into the soil for better water retention. It’s 100% organic and renewable, is uniform in composition, promotes strong root growth, gives good drainage and aeration, has great absorption, has a high capacity for holding water, and is affordable. It comes in a dry, lightweight block. Although it comes wrapped in plastic, when water is added to the block, it expands and provides exponentially more planting material than the same volume of potting soil. It would require several plastic packages of potting soil to equal the one plastic package of coco coir, so you would not be using as much plastic. It’s a compromise. Whether you buy coco coir or potting soil, wash and dry the empty plastic bag and put it in the recycling bin. Aside from the plastic packaging, coco coir is a more environmentally responsible replacement for peat, which is harvested by practices that are damaging to the environment. Coco coir does not have any nutritive value, so you will need to mix in compost and worm castings or well-rotted manure. Used coffee grounds can be mixed in to add nitrogen and carbon.
Make Zero Waste Gardening a Habit
The key to Zero Waste is to avoid sending anything to the landfill and to reduce consumption. Throwing things away should be the last resort.
Maintaining a zero-waste garden helps you play an important role in the future of Mother Earth. An even more powerful action is to get your kids involved in the gardening and teach them responsible habits for a better future. We need to take charge of our consumption and daily practices to provide a more abundant life for all.
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