Add some eco-style to your garden with recycled tyre flower pots
Spring is just round the corner, and those of us lucky enough to have gardens are starting to think about them – so why not liven up your garden with these funky recycled tyre flower pots. Driving is one of the major causes of carbon emissions, and many car parts and accessories are simply scrapped, ending up in landfill, so finding a use for old tyres rather than just throwing them away is at least one way of helping to cut waste. These recycled tyre flower pots are suitable for use both indoors and out, and come in three sizes – handy for all your planting needs! Strong, durable and made to last, these recycled tyre plant pots are hand-cut and hand stitched by traditional craftsmen in the Middle East, many of whom are using talents passed down from generation to generation. Each pot is made from 100% recycled materials, made from the rubber of old tyres that would otherwise be sent to landfill. So you are not only buying a fun, funky accessory for your home, patio or garden, you are helping support traditional skills as well as being eco-friendly – making these the perfect gift, even if just for yourself!
Greener gardening with a Worm Works wormery
Most people are slightly squeamish about worms, but this Worm Works wormery shows that they can be your garden’s best friend. This stacking wormery is easy to use: you simply add your kitchen waste scraps and the worms will eat their way through it, leaving rich compost in their wake. Worms are actually super environmentally friendly creatures, eating waste and creating plant-friendly compost – they eat their own body weight every day and double their population every 60-90 days, so as your wormery (or worm farm) grows, you can increase the amount of scraps you add to it. This stacking wormery operates simply, harnessing the surface feeding nature of the Tiger Worms that live inside it. They rise to the top of the wormery as they feed, so that you just need to pull out the bottom tray to access the compost. The liquid fertiliser gathers in a chamber at the bottom, and the wormery is fitted with a tap so that this can be easily drained. So not only will you save money on shop-bought fertiliser, you reduce the amount of rubbish sent to landfill. The wormery needs little care – it looks after itself when you are on holiday – and can be stored inside or out. Easy to assemble, the Worm Works stacked wormery is made from 100% recycled plastic, so is good for the planet and the garden!
The unique Composphere lets you easily make compost for your garden
If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to be greener in the garden, the Composphere is the perfect way to do this. With a generous 351 litre capacity, this unique garden composter is designed to make it easy and quick for you to have great compost for your garden. The Composphere is made from 100% recycled plastic, so is environmentally friendly, and is designed to be super easy to use. It is similar to a traditional compost tumbler but isn’t limited to a frame, instead you can roll it around the garden, tumbling your contents together. If you also use an accelerant – organic, of course – you could have some great compost in weeks, so in plenty of time for your spring gardening. If you need to store the Composphere, you simply unscrew it and the two hemispheres rest inside one another. The Composphere also allows you to move it around the garden easily so you can spread your compost without any hassle – perfect especially for those with larger gardens. The Composphere design has already proved popular and has been featured on the BBC and in Garden News. As we throw away a huge amount of organic waste every year – much of it going to rot in landfill where it generates harmful gasses – using your food waste to make compost in a Composphere makes sense for the planet, and for your garden.
A rechargeable mower makes your garden greener
While it may not be gardening weather at the moment, spring will be here soon enough, and this rechargeable mower provides the ideal eco-gardening solution. The rechargeable cylinder mower uses no messy or polluting petrol and is cordless, so you also avoid potentially dangerous trailing wires – no risk of tripping or accidentally slicing through the power cords! The rechargeable mower runs off a 12v rechargeable battery and will mow a 2000 square foot lawn (186 square metres) on a single charge, which lasts up to one hour. The rechargeable mower is lightweight – which also reduces energy use – and comes with the extra safety features of a safety switch and isolator key, which has to be plugged in for the mower to work. It also has an easy to empty collapsible grass soft box, which allows for easy storage. It is simple to use and gives a great result, as its blades are adjustable and it has a roller, allowing you to achieve a beautiful striped finish for your lawn. But the real bonus of a rechargeable mower is that, by running on rechargeable energy rather than petrol or oil, you are saving valuable fuel resources and saving money. The rechargeable mower uses less energy and is a clean and easy way to garden, allowing you to be as green as your lawn!
Being Green is Good For the Environment – Seeing Green Is Good For Your Health!
We know green spaces are good for the environment and all realise the importance of the role of trees and grassy areas (particularly in built-up and inner city areas). Now, new research has been revealed in The Times Newspaper Online, showing that ’seeing’ greenery is also good for your mental health and emotional well being!
Environmental biologist, Ross Cameron, of the University of Reading, has revealed ‘Urban green spaces are good for your health’. Mr Cameron uses examples of crime reduction, domestic violence reduction and stress reduction, in studies carried out in Chicago. The studies concluded more trees and greenery in urban areas had a positive impact on social well being.
Furthermore, Mr Ross Cameron suggested we must protect our green spaces from ‘garden grabbing developers’. Mr Cameron expressed his dismay at the large sections of domestic gardens being paved, concreted and asphalted over. Highlighting the importance of domestic gardens by citing a study in Australia whereby the risk of dementia onset was delayed in correlation to the amount of time spent gardening. Getting children into gardening early – for instance with a children’s vegetable garden – can also teach them valuable lessons about nature and food, encouraging them to eat vegetables and therefore decreasing their risk of obesity and other diet-related conditions. Finally, Mr Ross Cameron told the Times Newspaper urban green spaces should be awarded the same protection as the countryside, in order to allow us all to benefit – emotionally, mentally and socially! So, do yourself a favour – mentally, socially, emotionally and environmentally – keep your garden lawn. Yes, concrete may be low maintenance, but why risk depression and crime, for the sake of having to get a lawnmower out every fortnight or so!
Reduce your household waste with a Compost Pail
Caught up in the drive for environmentally friendly products and services is the notion this can only be made possible by innovative technological advances. Eco-friendly gadgets will often comprise the very latest in technology and will aim to do a particular job more efficiently than older products. Moreover, eco-friendly gadgets will produce little or no carbon emissions, which often puts their predecessors to shame. Nevertheless, whilst technologically advanced eco-friendly gadgets are warmly welcomed by most, they tend to overshadow more rudimentary methods of protecting the Earth.
Indeed, organic waste is something that many people take for granted. In fact, such waste is usually discarded without any consideration as to how it may be used for the greater good. As many bin collection services throughout the UK are undertaken fortnightly and recycling has been made an obligation, little attention is paid to organic waste. However, food comprises a significant proportion of the waste that is dumped on landfills each day and, in the context of being left to rot for two weeks in residential bins, there are certain social and health related concerns to consider. Moreover, bins would not fill up so quickly if they did not contain organic waste.
Thus, the Powder-Coated Compost Pail, which retails for around £20.00, can help people reduce their waste even further by providing a convenient and immediate method of food disposal. Indeed, this handy and stylish pail is designed to hold kitchen waste until it is ready to be composted, which is a far more environmentally friendly throwing out food and organic matter. If you prefer a more contemporary look for your kitchen, stainless steel compost pails are also available for around the same price, with removable filters retailing for around £5. If you are keen to start composting but aren’t sure how best to go about it, there are a number of cheap and simple to follow guides on the market.
Offsetting Your Carbon Footprint: Grow Your Own Tree
There is nothing new about growing fruit, vegetables, plants or flowers in the garden, which are seen as effective ways in which organic produce can be cultivated at home to save money the green way. Furthermore, people are now more conscious of their individual impact on the environment, which is commonly expressed in terms of the so-called carbon footprint. Much like a normal footprint, the carbon variety refers to the impression left on the environment by a particular individual or household in the context of harmful CO2 emissions.
Every person leaves a carbon footprint behind them and, in this increasingly eco-conscious community, each is accountable for it. As such, many homeowners have sought to reduce their carbon footprint by adopting renewable energy sources, such as installing solar panels, insulating lofts and cavity walls, upgrading boilers and installing underfloor heating, which typically uses less energy than conventional radiator systems. However, there is a greener way in which carbon footprints can be offset somewhat. Indeed, if every home that has a garden or access to public grounds planted a tree, the world would literally become a much greener place to live.
Trees are beneficial to the environment not least because they support eco-systems in a general sense but also because their leaves absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Thus, the Grow Your Own Tree kit from Canova, which comprises a compostable grow bag into which the included silver birch tree seed is sowed and eventually planted into the ground, provides a convenient way to grow trees, which will considerably offset carbon footprints. And if you don’t have access to a garden? There are a range of kitchen friendly options, from organic herbs in a bag to instant kitchen boxes or instant compact herb gardens.
Green Fingered NASA Technology
Urban dwellers often find themselves in the unfortunate position of wanting to grow something green to help the environment but cannot do so because they do not own or rent a little patch of Earth. Those people who are lucky enough to have their own garden will note growing plants, flowers, shrubs and trees can prove to be a very rewarding experience. Moreover, as environmental awareness has increased sharply recently, many people take great delight in giving a little back to the planet.
Furthermore, gardens are ideal for people who wish to grow their own food, which is sensible in the middle of a recession and an era in which green produce is heavily treated by chemicals. A garden is also useful for growing flower bearing plants such as rose bushes, which come into their own on birthdays and Valentine’s Day. You can even grow your own organic Christmas decorations by planting a holly bush. However, the aforementioned urban dweller does not always have access to this way of life. Indeed, in his or her case the grass is very much greener on the other side. Nevertheless, the Aeroponics Power Plant Growing Machine, which is based on cutting edge NASA technology, is the perfect solution for those stuck in a concrete jungle.
Requiring a connection to the mains electricity supply, the Aeroponics Plant Growing Machine is exceptional in that its technology enables plants to grow without the need for any soil whatsoever. Indeed, only water needs to be added to the machine, which uses a special growing sponge, nutrient mix and microjets to stimulate relatively rapid growth. Perfect for the green fingered soul trapped in a concrete jungle. (And if that all sounds too technical? You can still grow your own organic herbs out of a bag on your kitchen windowsill or even buy a ready made kitchen windowbox. So there’s really no excuse…)
Gardening – a great way to start going green
If you have a small plot of land spare, perhaps an allotment or garden, you may want to consider getting your fingers green this summer. Despite a worldwide economic downturn, the cost of living continues to rise. Indeed, many shoppers have noticed that their weekly food list is costing more than it had been when the economy was experiencing a stable inflation. Fortunately, for those who are also interested in doing their bit to ’save the planet’, financial savings can be coupled with a greener way of life.
Growing one’s own supply of vegetables, fruits and herbs may seem like a mission impossible to the uninformed, but actually it is relatively straightforward to get started. Depending on your local climate and the physical space you have available, growing your own produce can be sustainable throughout the year and offers a wide variety of fruit, vegetables and herbs. If possible, erect a greenhouse in order to stimulate
regular growth, especially in relation to produce that would not normally grow during the UK’s colder months. However, do ensure that your greenhouse is eco-friendly by using materials that do not require excessive winter heating and, for the summer, develop a capillary watering system that supplies the plants with rain water, which can be collected in an external reservoir. Also ensure that produce is grown organically – the Earthmaker compost bin could come in handy for this – and that insect repellent plants such as Sweet Woodruff are used instead of pesticides. Finally, unless you want to feed the birds, do not forget to cover your produce with sufficient netting!
And to keep all of your gardening green you can find a great selection of green and ethical seeds, plants and garden accccessories at green retailers greenfingers.com , Nigels Eco Store and Biome
