Why are many people missing one of the simplest things they can do to go green?
Because of my work, many people I meet bombard me with a list of things they are doing to live a greener life including recycling, eating less meat, or cutting back on flying.
Not once has anyone mentioned a simple step that would protect one of the UK’s national treasures, home to some of the UK’s rarest birds and animals which filter our water and store mind-boggling amounts of carbon. This is surprising as the gardeners amongst them only need to change one purchasing decision shifting to an existing effective alternative.
Our recently commissioned polling with 3,000 gardeners revealed that the importance of protecting the UK’s amazing peatlands is not something many consider when heading to their local garden centre. It discovered that a third don’t care about the sustainability of the compost they purchase which increases to 65% for those with limited gardening knowledge. The same polling found that only 16% of consider themselves to be ‘sustainable gardeners’.
Why is it that this simple but important step doesn’t have the same cut-through as many other actions such as recycling? We believe there are several reasons:
Gardeners are already green
Most people who garden will already feel they are doing their bit environmentally. If they wish to be greener, they are likely to look at other aspects of their lifestyle before considering how to change gardening habits. If they do think about greener gardening, they will be overwhelmed with long lists of things they might consider some of which will feel immediately tangible such as reducing the level of plastic or watering more efficiently.
It is just a bag of dirt
Anyone who has bought compost will be familiar with the piles of heavy plastic bags lined up largely looking the same with photos of flowers and containing masses of information often hidden on the back. Many will describe themselves as ‘multi-purpose’ useful for all growing needs from planting seeds to improving soil quality.
There will be little advice detailing which products are best for different requirements, there will be no advice on how best to use the product, little indication of what materials are in the compost and absolutely no connection with how your buying choice impacts on one of the UK’s most precious environments.
Given this buying environment it is not surprising that almost half of purchasers go for the product which has a good deal or offer whilst 40% go for a product they have used before.
Isn’t this old news?
Campaigns to ban peat in gardening have been around for over 30 years. The last government announced that there would be a ban but didn’t introduce the required legislation. Many well-known gardeners have also been advocates for change illustrating that successful alternatives exist if used properly. This continuing background noise has led many people to conclude that the deal is done and peat is no longer used - this is not the reality.
What needs to change?
Given the importance of protecting UK peatlands there needs to be a substantial shift with these five things needing to change.
Government needs to make good on their frequent promises to ban the use of peat in growing. A ban on the use by amateur gardeners should be the immediate priority with longer-term phase out dates set for professional growers.
The horticulture retail sector should up their game by providing much clearer information to consumers at point of purchase explaining what products are best for different needs and how to use peat free compost for growing.
Steps are required to ensure that the Responsible Sourcing Scheme for growing media become more widely known and gives consumers confidence regarding the sustainable credentials of the product they are buying.
Government and industry should collaborate to ensure that replacement materials for peat are sustainable, available at scale and cost equivalent. This includes ensuring subsidies for materials are fair between different sectors and exploring how more bio-waste streams could be effectively utilised.
Major retailers and their suppliers need to be transparent about the use of peat in the growing of vegetables and salads. Collaboration is required to phase out this use rapidly and to financially resource this transition.
With the need to hit climate and biodiversity targets becoming ever more apparent, removing peat from growing is a relatively easy and impactful step. Hopefully we will start to see greater focus on this issue raising it up the political, business and consumer agenda.