One of the best parts about having your own home garden is that you can operate it in an environmentally friendly way. That means you can skip using all of the toxic chemicals a large factory farming operation uses. But, you can also go one step further and make your garden eco-friendly from top to bottom by doing your best to use green products and tools.
Here are just three of the many different eco-friendly tools you can use while working in your garden.
Rain Harvesting Barrels
You cannot have a garden without a few core necessities: something to grow, fertile soil, sunlight, and water. And, in the age of global warming, water is becoming a scarce and valuable resource.
Instead of only relying on a well or public water, you can get one or several rain barrels to harvest rain water that might otherwise run off into the street, your neighbors’ yards, or parts of your yard where you don’t need it.
Aside from using this water in your garden, if you harvest extra you can use it for tasks like washing your car, or better, your bike.
A Shredder/Mulcher
Like making the most out of rain water, making the most out of what your yard gives you can go a long was as well. An example of this is that you can make your own woodchips and mulch instead of paying a company to drive a truck that’s not fuel efficient several miles to deliver the same thing.
While there are many gas-powered options out there, choosing an electric mulcher, sometimes called a shredder or chipper, will make this much more eco-friendly. You won’t use any gas for delivery and you won’t use any gas to operate your tool.
You can use whatever you shred for flowerbeds to help the soil retain moisture.
Bamboo Everything
If you have a garden, chances are you’re also going to have a spade, a claw tiller, a rake, and other hand tools. When you’re shopping for them, spend a little extra time to find any that use bamboo handles instead of plastic ones. It may be difficult to get the whole assortment in bamboo, so at the very least make sure you get wood when you can.
Also, you’ll most likely be using stakes for certain vegetables. Try to find bamboo stakes at your local gardening shop. If they don’t have them, you’ll certainly be able to find someone selling them online.
These are just a few ideas at how you can go the extra mile to make your garden as green as possible. With a little thought and research, you’ll surely find a few more as well.
