GARDENING: HOW ABOUT PLASTIC-FREE GARDENING?
Sustainability in the garden is about much more than actual plants and seeds, and includes all other garden inputs. Inputs such as 100 percent organic compost/fertiliser should be fairly obvious as far as sustainability goes but there are other, less obvious, items to consider.
Take something as simple as plant pots and seed trays. There is nothing sustainable about plastic plant pots and plastic or polystyrene seed trays, no matter what the sales blurb says, or how many separate, single seed, sowing squares they contain. Plastic is an oil-based product; it is not sustainable, not environment-friendly and is designed to be disposed of at some point. Plastic residue poisons the earth if buried and poisons the atmosphere if burnt; the same applies to polystyrene. Additionally, in our climate, neither of these materials are plant-friendly as the soil — and therefore plant roots — quickly heats up and dries out in the sunshine. Therefore, on top of all other negatives associated with them, plants grown in plastic pots require copious amounts of increasingly precious water if they are to survive.
Traditional clay pots, heavy as they are, are the most sustainable containers in which to cultivate all manner of plants, and are available in all shapes and sizes, including shallow ones perfect for sowing seeds. Clay pots retain moisture during hot weather and help keep soil and plant roots cool with minimum amounts of water. If you cannot find clay seed trays, cut down wooden fruit/vegetable crates from the bazaar and line them with newspaper. These are ideal and sustainable too.
A growing number of non-plastic alternatives for tools, plant pots and seed trays are available to help you plant a truly sustainable garden
The use of plastic/polystyrene ‘cups’ for seed sowing is another obvious no-no. If you don’t fancy replacing them with homemade newspaper ‘cups’, simply go out and pick some large, tough, leaves, e.g., jamun, roll these into cone shapes, then tuck the pointed end in on itself to flatten the base, arrange them closely so they support each other in rows in a vegetable/fruit crate and you have sustainable seed ‘cups’ that can be planted directly in the ground, without any root disturbance at all, when seedlings are ready to be potted on/planted out. That is as sustainable as you can get.