The Chic Ecologist

Container Gardening

I’ve always admired gardeners for a hobby that produces food that’s not only delicious, but also eco-friendly and sustainable.  I mean, what’s more local than your own backyard? The University of Washington and the City of Seattle did a study on greenhouse gas emissions from locally sourced food versus food sourced out of state or internationally. (Find it here) They found that the fuel used to transportation non-local fruits and vegetables produced almost six times as much CO2 as local alternatives. That’s a lot of CO2 we can cut out of our daily lives by simply eating locally sourced and homegrown food.

Growing up, I hated gardening. However now that I’ve matured a bit, as my mother would say, I’ve found a type of gardening that’s right up my alley.   Container gardening. Container gardening is great because even those with apartments, can do it. And these days there are so many recycled, or compostable options for containers, that’s there’s really no excuse to not give it a try.

The best way to start is to pick something to plant that you’ll actually eat. There’s no point growing something that you won’t eat or store for later. For me, I chose zucchini and strawberries. I eat them raw, as well as making them into zucchini bread and strawberry jam. It’s fantastic to eat the fruits of my labors year round. It’s also important to pick something that does well in your climate and that you’ll actually be able to devote the time to upkeep. Also make sure you know when to plant, and what to expect from your plants. Try the Farmer’s Almanac for a list of last expected frost dates as a start. So do your research and if all else fails, hit your local garden store, there’s always someone there waiting to convert another person to gardening.

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Tags: backyard, gardening, Organic, Plants, sustainable

Remove Indoor Toxins with these Specializing House Plants

Winter is approaching which means we will be spending a lot more time indoors, and most likely, a toxic indoors. Indoor pollution levels generally exceed outdoor levels due to all of the toxic off-gassing of carpet, furniture, paints, plastics and more. One of the best ways to fight this is the natural way- plants!

I’ve been reading a lot lately about air filtering house plants and which ones are the best for the job. Turns out, most are specialized to remove specific toxins, so lets first look at the list of indoor toxins so we can find out which plants you need to remove those toxins. Pretty much all plants are going to improve air quality, these have just been researched more than others and/or are better performing at removing certain things. Also keep in mind that many of these are also invasive weeds, so please keep them in pots in your home and take care when disposing of them.

Trichloroethylene (TCE) in the home is introduced from dry cleaning, printing inks, paints, lacquers, varnishes, and adhesives. This chemical is considered by the National Cancer Institute as a potent liver carcinogen.

Benzene is present in many common items including gasoline, inks, oils, paints, plastics, and rubber. It is an eye and skin irritant as well as being a contributing factor to leukemia in humans. Repeated skin contact with benzene will cause drying, inflammation, blistering and dermatitis.

Formaldehyde is a extraordinarily common in almost every indoor environment. Found in everything from particle board or pressed wood products used in many furniture pieces, to grocery bags, facial tissues and paper towels. Even common household cleaning agents and air fragrances contain formaldehyde. With carpet backings, fire proof coatings, permanent-press clothes and natural gas all containing the toxin, it is nearly impossible to avoid.

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Tags: Cleaning, eco friendly, Environment, green home decor, interior design, Plants, toxins

North America’s Largest Living Green Wall

PNC now holds the title for the largest living green wall in North America currently hanging on the exterior of their Pittsburgh headquarters building located at One PNC Plaza. With approximately 14,448 plants covering 602 modular panels, the 2,380 square-feet living mural really livens up the 30-story building.

The eight varieties of plants, installed by locally sourced (within a 500 mile radius of downtown Pittsburgh) materials and labor, only need 15 minutes of irrigation per week. Not only does it look pretty, its also doing some work- reducing the ambient temperatures of the south-facing wall by 25%.

Not only that, PNC has constructed more green United States Green Building Council LEED certified buildings than any other company in the world with a count of 64 Green Branch locations and two office buildings.

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Tags: Architecture, eco friendly, green office, Living Wall, Plants

Green Living Walls, Vertical Gardens, Urban Rainforests, oh my!

So you say you have no space for a garden? Poppycock! You can always go vertical. This may conjure up thoughts of the ancient Hanging Gardens of Babylon, but the modern interpretation is just as stunning. A blend of architectural innovation and imaginative gardening resulted in these ‘living walls’. Not only are they beautiful, they are complete ecosystems. Plants, bacteria, microbes and insects all work together to form these amazing gardens. They have been built to cover entire buildings right down to just a simple wall piece for your home.

Relatively easy to keep due to advancements in technologies, they can even be built to recycle greywater (the stuff that goes down your sink). Putting these together can be difficult without the proper knowledge of anchoring, irrigation, and plant selection, but there are experts out there.

For commercial installations, Patrick Blanc (the creator of Vertical Gardens or le mur vegetal, meaning vegetal wall) is probably the most famous, covering Museums, Malls, Restaurants and more. There are a few others that offer DIY kits that you can order, such as ELT, who also produce green roofs much the same way.

These make great outdoor wall coverings, but some people even have them indoors, as living wallpaper. They can even be seen in stores as part of product displays or framed much like a painting. An added benefit is that it will increase humidity in the room (not to mention the smell of fresh air), for those dry climates. For a more technical description, check out the wiki article on green walls.

Just another way to reduce your carbon footprint, enjoy some fresh oxygen and surround yourself with a rainforest-like atmosphere.

[via pingmag]

Tags: Architecture, gardening, Living Wall, Plants