There’s no getting around it. The world is showing more signs of wear and tear, whether it’s global warming or other natural catastrophes. As part of a growing movement of going ‘green,’ and living healthier lives, many people have turned away from grocery stores and organic markets, and have decided to grow their vegetables at home.
This movement towards ‘sustainable gardening,’ not only reduces our carbon footprint, but it helps to promote healthier eating habits, as the fruits and vegetables you grow at home are free of pesticides and other preservatives commonly used in mass production.
So what is sustainable gardening, and why is it so important to the future of our world?
What Is Sustainable Gardening?
Sustainable gardening, also known as self-sufficient gardening, is a fancy term for growing fruits, vegetables, grass, and shrubs, in a manner that does not use harmful pesticides, and promotes a continuous harvest that does not damage the environment. In the old agrarian days, this was not a novel concept, as many families grew their own food in ways that were in harmony with nature.
But today, it takes a little bit of effort and focus to practice sustainable gardening, and with the bustle of everyday life, time is at a premium. But the truth is, sustainable gardening is not a difficult thing to start. All you need is the initiative, a few simple gardening tools, seeds, soil, and determination. If you’re growing fruits and vegetables, you need to know where you want to grow them and what kind of food you want to grow.
Sustainable gardening is gardening that is self-replicating, meaning you can renew your resources without significantly affecting future generations from doing the same thing in the same location. In other words, a garden that yields fruits and vegetables over and over ‘sustains’ itself by natural means such as seeds, water, and sunlight. Other examples of effective sustainable gardening methods include the recycling of garden waste into compost that can be used in the soil and the use of native plants that are more adaptable to the natural environment.
Why It’s Important For the Future?
Sustainable gardening is just one aspect of a ‘green’ revolution to reduce the pollution and chemical hazards associated with many of today’s activities, including the production of food and the operation of motor vehicles and factories. By using only natural resources, and biodegradable materials, sustainable gardening gives hope to a future generation by showing them that growing food or creating a new garden does not have to mean harming the environment through the use of pesticides and chemicals.
This is important because it establishes the kind of mindset necessary to protect the environment in the future, and to leave the next generation the building blocks to change how we use natural resources. To continue harvesting the fruits of the earth, everyone has to pitch in to make sure the earth is not damaged to the extent that it can no longer provide sustenance in the future.
