3 Tips For Landscaping That Does Not Harm The Environment

3 Tips For Landscaping That Does Not Harm The Environment

One of the misconceptions with landscapes and gardening, is that simply that it is always going to be environmentally friendly. According to professional landscaping company Principal Landscapes, the assumption they make is that because they are working with nature, such as plants, that they are contributing to a greener (no pun intended) world.

Unfortunately, whilst a lot of what landscaping involves is more of a help than a hindrance to the environment, there are also many decisions made and actions taken as part of a landscaping project that might be harmful. This is often done through a lack of awareness rather than any deliberate or belligerent act from someone who cares nothing for green issues.

The simple fact is that landscaping, just as with any other activity you can think of, can impact the environment both positively and negatively. The key point we wish to make in this article is that you can take some simple steps to reduce those negatives, and better still make your landscaping a lot more environmentally friendly. Best of all it need not diminish any landscaping designs you might be planning.

Remember That Water Is Precious

The first consideration we would ask you to make is with respect to how you plan to irrigate your garden and in particular the water that will be used for that purpose. Whilst we might not consider water to be limited in the modern towns and cities many of us live in, nevertheless, anything you do that reduces the amount you use is a step in the right direction.

Instead of spraying haphazardly when watering your plants, be aware of what water you might be wasting and try to use it efficiently. You may even go as far as installing a proper irrigation system which saves even more water. A more basic way to save water is to use barrels to collect rainwater, and then use the water in them to water your plants.

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ways to save water

Ways You Could be Saving Water

The global population wastes trillions of litres of water every year, and much of this waste goes unnoticed. It’s not until we view water as a limited resource that requires us to focus on sustainability that we realise how much of it we waste.

Think about your five-minute shower. You could be wasting around 70 litres of water just by staying in there a little bit longer than necessary. It’s time to focus on sustainability and sensible water usage, and here’s how.

Shorten Your Showers

While you might feel that you need to wait until you’ve finished singing your favourite song in the shower before you hop out, it’s best that you don’t. Save the encore for when you’re getting dressed.

Your shower is the third-largest water consumer after washing machines and toilets, and it’s wasting more water than necessary. Have shorter showers and do your part for water conservation.

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recycle

How to Recycle Appropriately

A significant part of sustainability is focused on making sure products have more than one use. The more you can use a product, the less you deplete the natural resources around you. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to ask yourself the question: am I recycling correctly? Believe it or not, there is a right and wrong way to recycle.

Don’t Bag Your Recyclables

It can seem like you’re doing the recycling centres a favour by putting all your plastics inside more plastic, but it’s recommended that you don’t. Many machines can’t handle plastic bags, so workers must throw these bags of possibly clean and recyclable materials into landfills. While you might think they can just open the bags and spill out the contents, that can pose a safety risk.

So, what do you do instead? Clean your recyclable materials to remove food and other debris, then put them loosely into your recycling bin for collection.

Familiarise Yourself with Recyclable Materials and Waste

To recycle responsibly and appropriately requires you to be familiar with what is recyclable and what isn’t. While many products might look recyclable, not all of them will be.

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