In celebration of #EarthDay we wanted to talk a little about our impact on the planet, the plans we have to help more and some top tips for greener gardening.
This highlights the things we are striving to promote and projects we are working
on to lessen our carbon footprint and impact on global climate change #climatechange.
One of the points we find ourselves talking about often is ‘Peat Free’. April is peat
free #peatfree month! Many customers know that it is better to buy peat free compost but
often do not know exactly the reason for this. Here’s a little bit about why it is vital
to try to buy peat free compost.
Peat has been used in compost for years because of its rich nutritional benefits that make it perfect for growing. However the peat used for compost is dug up from peatlands. Peatlands are formed over thousands of years as plant material slowly builds up over time in waterlogged landscapes. The UK has an estimated 2.6 million hectares of peatland.
Peatlands are also environmentally important because they supply more than a quarter of the nation’s drinking water. They also help prevent flooding by storing water and are rich in botanicals and wildlife. The flora and fauna found in these wetlands is now becoming endangered. Peatlands are also very important
because they absorb and store carbon therefore reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. This is key to fighting climate change. When Peat is dug up for compost it releases the carbon and methane it is storing into the environment. These greenhouse gases are then contributing to global warming. Right now
peatland degradation is so fast that we are releasing more carbon than the peatlands are able to store. It is said that only 13% of UK peatlands are now in a near-natural state. What can we do to help?
There are now so many amazing alternatives to peat based compost. For example clever farmers in the Lake District - Daylefoot, have created a wonderfully rich and beneficial compost using products that would otherwise be wasted. They harvest the invasive bracken in the hillsides and the wool left over from the sheep herds they graze on these hillsides and make compost! Other organic ingredients such as comfrey (a gardening super feed) are added to the mix to create a wonderful, organic alternative to peat based compost! We highly recommend trying this when growing and potting up your own flowers and vegetables this Spring.
Here at Leaf we stock only peat free compost (Dalefoot included) #peatfreecompost and other fun
and sustainable compost alternatives such as coir. For Peats Sake! Is a brand we love for its sustainability and eco awareness. It is also a lot of fun and a great way to get children involved in potting up seedlings or sowing seeds.
For Peats sake! Is a tightly packed coir brick that expands when water is added. These bricks are packed up in recycled packaging and made using what would again, only be a waste product. Everything is considered - the water used in creating the product, the packaging and they are extremely handy - no more huge bags of compost to carry! A very neat option.
“Our compost is made purely from a super renewable resource, coconuts! The discarded pith of these coconuts, that would otherwise go to waste, is turned into our ultimate growing medium. We and our suppliers do our best to minimise the environmental footprint using innovative technologies to preserve the state of the natural environment coconuts grow in.”
As well as peat free we are always evaluating our own methods. We use only green energy. We are buying from as many UK suppliers as possible and will continue to source as locally as possible, hopefully increasing the number of UK suppliers every season. We are constantly working on our recycling and reusing what we can here at Leaf. We also offer a plastic pot recycling service should you need to pot on your seedlings soon. We are currently involved in tree planting schemes and a rewilding project! More information on this to follow...