No doubt we have all been looking out of our windows wishing wistfully that the rain would stop just long enough to do at least a couple of jobs in the garden! Hopefully by the time you read this, the sun will be shining. [And it is! Ed]
Plastic pollution doesn’t just come from food packaging and plastic toothpaste tubes etc, it extends to the materials we use in our gardens too. As you plan for this year, may we encourage you to think about ways in which you can garden plastic-free as much as possible; it’s a good time to have a rethink. Over 1.5 billion individual items of horticultural plastic are produced each year.
Thank you for what you already do to make your garden eco-friendly, but do keep using what you have until the item needs replacing. But be mindful that shards of broken plastic, or shreds of torn plastic items, can get left in the soil, sometimes unnoticed, to break down into microplastics.
Here are just a few items you might swap for an eco friendly alternative:
Plastic plant pots – 500 million are produced every year in the UK and are rarely collected kerbside. The pots require specialised, expensive equipment to recycle. In particular, black plant pots cannot be detected by the sorting machines.
- Wash and re-use them if in serviceable condition, or take to a local nursery which has a collection point.
- Make seed pots from rolled-up newspaper, cardboard inner tubes (save your loo roll insides!), or cardboard packaging made into little boxes with paper tape, or with a bit of origami, all of which can be planted directly into the ground and will biodegrade.
- Other options include pots made from terracotta, coir, fibre, bamboo and Vi-pots.
Plastic seed trays – hard to recycle.
- Replace with bamboo trays or make from scraps of wood.
Plastic modules – flimsy and easily breakable, only fit for Council incineration in the end.
- Alternatives as for plant pots.
Plastic string/plastic cable ties – both types of material end up polluting the ground forever. The plastic string is not great for the stems of tender plants.
- Some of the biodegradable options to investigate are twine/ties made from hemp, hessian, jute, sisal, cotton or sheep’s wool.
Plastic plant labels – these are made from petroleum-based polypropylene which is a complex plastic to recycle. More potential plastic pollution, or food for the incinerator!
- Firstly, use up the supply you may already have. Then perhaps consider introducing the alternatives of bamboo, slate, blackboard, wooden lolly sticks or different metals. The bamboo and wood can be composted. Each material will need different styles of pens for labelling.
Plastic fleece – again this is made from polypropylene. As the fleece breaks down it will leave microplastics in the ground.
- There are plastic-free bio-fleece options online. Hessian, sheep’s wool, cardboard and straw are eco-friendly alternatives.
Please be cautious of items marked ‘plant-based’ (what additives have been introduced?) or made from ‘bioplastic’. These can be as problematic to dispose of as conventional plastic.
As the late Queen Elizabeth put it
“It’s worth remembering that it is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about lasting change”.
