Garden
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How Gardeners Can Combat Climate Change
I found this article in Science Daily - 19th May 2007and it offers some very good tips:
Limit water consumption
In many parts of the country, more severe heat waves, droughts and declining snowpack due to global warming will cause a considerable reduction in available water resources. There are a number of ways to reduce water consumption in your garden, which will be particularly important when water resources become scarce. Actions that can help include mulching, installing rain barrels, watering only in the morning and evening to avoid mid-day evaporation and using drip irrigation.
Compost kitchen and garden waste
Composting kitchen and garden waste can significantly reduce your contribution to global warming pollution, especially methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas. It also provides an excellent source of nutrients for your garden, which reduces the need for chemical fertilizers that pollute water supplies and take a considerable amount of energy to produce. (See Bins to find out what is compostable.)
Establish a “green roof” and plant trees around your house
Planting rooftop gardens and planting trees near your home can significantly shield your home from the elements, reducing energy use for air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter. One study showed that shade trees can reduce energy use for air conditioning by up to seventy percent. Trees also absorb and store carbon dioxide (CO2), which is the gas primarily responsible for global warming. Over an average life-span for a tree, it can remove a ton of CO2 from the atmosphere.
Develop a rain garden
Gardeners can reduce water pollution associated with heavy downpours by developing rain gardens, which capture stormwater runoff and help prevent it from entering local lakes, streams and coastal waters.
Reduce the use of gasoline-powered yard tools
Another important change you can make is to avoid using gasoline-powered tools such as lawn mowers, weed eaters and leaf blowers. Instead, use electric-powered or, better yet, human-powered tools such as push mowers, hand clippers and rakes. If this seems daunting, you might consider replacing some of your lawn with low maintenance shrubs, bushes or a native wildflower patch.
Improve your energy efficiency
One of the best ways to reduce your contribution to global warming pollution is to use more energy-efficient products. In your backyard alone, there are a number of actions you can take, including replacing regular outdoor light bulbs with compact fluorescents, installing outdoor automatic light timers and purchasing solar-powered garden products. You can increase the availability of energy efficient garden products as well as native plants by encouraging local home and garden retailers to carry these items.
Contact your elected officials
Gardeners can voice their concerns about global warming to their local, state and federal government representatives urging them to implement strong action plans to combat global warming.These actions can include: placing mandatory limits on global warming pollution, raising fuel economy standards for cars and SUVs, investing in clean and efficient energy technologies, requiring utilities to generate a share of their electricity from renewable energy sources, developing programs to reel in suburban sprawl and expanding recycling programs.
The more global warming pollution we allow to build up in the atmosphere, the greater the risk that we will disrupt the natural systems on which humans and wildlife rely. Fortunately, solutions are readily at hand and gardeners can make a major contribution to implementing those solutions so that the beauty and utility of our gardens will endure for future generations.
According to Suzanne DeJohn with the National Gardening Association, who wrote the Afterword for the report, “Individual gardeners may think they can’t make a real difference. But imagine if all – or even half – the estimated 91 million gardeners nationwide took steps to reduce their energy consumption. Each of us can do our part in our own landscape.”
The complete Gardeners Guide to Global Warming can be found National Wildlife Federation website (US only).
Source: Science Daily - 19th May 2007