The resulting biodiversity loss is considered one of the top environmental issues facing us today. It’s not only worms who can benefit from your journey into apartment gardening.īees, butterflies, and other pollinators are in short supply the world over. You can also brew their castings into a potent fertilizer in your own garden.Ĭontribute to conserving biodiversity in your area Vermicomposters work well in conjunction with an outdoor apartment garden and because worms eat almost anything, these wiggly wonders can help recycle your organic waste. You could also go a different direction with composting and welcome some new “pets” into your apartment garden sanctuary. No more finding friends with gardens or taking your compost to a community garden. With an apartment garden to accompany your compost bin, you’ll have a complete waste disposal system. With an indoor compost bin, you can compost in the comfort of your own zero waste kitchen. You don’t need a big pile in your backyard to harvest the benefits of composting. Indoor plants alone can reduce about 10% of carbon dioxide in the air, and certain plants, such as the bamboo palm, have extra powerful carbon dioxide absorbing abilities.Īpartment gardening gives you more of an excuse to start apartment composting-as if you needed that.Ĭomposting is the perfect way to deal with organic waste (like food scraps and paper products) and reduce your carbon footprint at home. You can grow chamomile and lemon balm to steep into zero waste teas, peppermint and lavender to make infused oils, and aloe vera as a natural skincare ingredient for all sorts of DIY beauty recipes.Įnhance the air quality for yourself and the planet by increasing the number of plants in the world. Growing useful plants may save you money in the long run.Īside from growing food like vegetables and herbs, you can grow all sorts of plants that can be utilized for their medicinal properties. Greening our living and working spaces is also part of biophilic design, a type of sustainable interior design that focuses on bringing nature and living processes indoors in order to create healthy human spaces.įlowers especially are shown to improve mood, and horticulture is now used as supplementary therapy for patients with dementia, schizophrenia, and depression. Plants bring the positive, calming effects of nature right to your home.Ī study by the University of Michigan showed that plants increase productivity, creativity, cognitive performance, and memory retention by up to 20%. There are plenty of edible plants that you can grow in an apartment, but we’ll look at these in more detail later. Long-term exposure to polluted indoor air has been linked to heart and respiratory disease, and even cancer.īetween just 3 and 6 plants can help significantly reduce these risk factors, according to the University of Technology Sydney.Īlso known as the Urban Farming Movement, this “grow your own” campaign encourages everyone to have a go at cultivating edible plants.īy bringing gardening closer to urban centers (where most of the world’s food is shipped for consumption) we can reduce food production waste, shipping emissions, and greenhouse gasses from industrial-scale farming-all critical steps toward a more sustainable food system.Īs individuals, we can reduce the impact of each bite by keeping food sources as close to home as possible-and what’s closer to home than your actual home?! These include: headaches dizziness fatigue and eye, nose, and throat irritation. Indoor air pollution not only leads to “Sick Building Syndrome” (cold-like symptoms caused by dry, polluted indoor air), but also increases the risk of a wide range of health issues. Plants like peace lilies and spider plants are low-maintenance houseplants that, according to NASA’s Clean Air Study, can remove several toxins from indoor air-including ammonia (present in many non- eco-friendly cleaning products) and formaldehyde. Whether you’ve only got time and space for small indoor apartment gardening or an outdoor area that can be filled with several plants, there are many reasons to get growing.Īll plants produce oxygen and remove carbon dioxide, but did you know some plants purify the air?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |