What is sustainable living? Grow your own food and reduce food waste!
Photo by Elaine Casap on Unsplash
Sustainable living is becoming increasingly important as we strive to protect our planet and reduce our carbon footprint. One aspect of sustainable living is growing your own food and reducing food waste. Not only is this good for the environment, but it can also be a fun and rewarding experience.
Growing crops requires time; they are not instant meals ready in minutes. People want to grow their food if someday the food supply is disrupted. But all of it needs planning. Additionally, to get sustainably manufactured food for your pets you can use the frontier pets discount code to make a difference. Underneath, benefits and tips for increasing your food are listed. As well as Singapore example is also given. Lastly, how it helps in reducing food waste is explained.
Benefits
Decrease in carbon mission
Growing your food is good for the environment and makes you feel good because your food grows in front of your eyes. It prevents you from relying on the grocery store for your veggies. Although, thinking about buying from the grocery store where food arrives from 1500 miles traveling before reaching the shop. That’s approx. 728 kg of CO2 emission, this amount of damage is not worth it. It affects freshness, and the carbon emission produced during the transportation is directly in link with air pollution.
Via growing your own food, you’ll not be contributing towards the high amount of fuel burnt just to transport produce. In addition to this, you will also be able to reduce the packaging waste used in food conveying.
Prevent carcinogenic and pesticides intake
When you grow your food, you know how the produce is grown and that it’s safe from any chemical fertilizers. The chemicals used in commercial farming not only pollute the air but are also harmful to the soil and water to which it adds. Traditional agriculture uses a lot of pesticides and Carcinogenic Pesticides to increase the yield of the crops. But that is another way to fill this earth and our food with more dangerous chemicals.
Some have proven to be cancer-causing.
Whereas, when you grow your food, you have the freedom to choose what goes in your plants and what is forbidden. This allows you to introduce fewer chemicals in the environment and water waste. In addition, growing your own food means you are not feeding yourself chemicals or pesticides.
New skill
Also, when you start growing your food and get your hands dirty. You understand how much effort and care get into growing crops. This is a great way to teach kids where food comes from, and its process can teach them patience and consistency. Furthermore, Patience requires waiting for it to grow, which children nowadays lack because of the instant tech world. And Consistency needed to regularly take care of the product and water them. Growing food is also an excellent hobby to adopt. While growing your food, you will understand environmental factors and how they can affect the plant.
Tips to get started
- Find a place in your house with sunlight reaches easily.
- Use recyclable containers to grow plants. An example is eggshells for growing seeds and then transferring them into pots.
- Water-growing herbs such as Brazilian spinach, mint, lemongrass, shallots, and Indian borage are easier to grow indoors than to shift them in the soil.
- Give your garden soil a boost by adding 100% natural fertilizers or food waste to the ground as it decomposes. It produces nutrition, which helps plants to grow.
A successful example of a country with limited land
Urban farms are popping up everywhere. Urban farming is way more than a fad of the garden cities. This less resourcing utilizing urban agriculture has picked up pace in the last few years.
In Singapore, Urban farming receives appreciation; people use their rooftops for agriculture. It’s the most land-optimizing, and greener, and has the potential to improve food resilience. Furthermore, many companies have taken it upon themselves to start urban farming. Singapore is growing its food because of its 30 by 30 vision.
ComCrop is the creator of the first rooftop farm. He has an idea of giving affordable food that is produced sustainably, healthier, and fresher. Singapore aims to get there by 2030, but ComCrop is willing to help even if it takes longer. ComCorp’s method uses hydroponics instead of soil-based farming, which disposes of 90% water and nutrient delivery. Instead, they can recycle, giving the critical nutrients to the crop it requires for growth.
By adding tech and nature, they can make sure that crops grow in optimal conditions. In computer-controlled lighting conditions and nutrition delivery. The product will grow consistently and give higher yields without making use of harmful pesticides.
Saves money
Growing your food is not only a sustainable and environmentally friendly choice, but it can also help you save money on your grocery bills. Here are some ways that you can save money by growing your food:
Reduce grocery bills: When you grow your food, you can save money on groceries by eliminating the need to buy products from the store. This can help reduce your grocery bills and free up money for other expenses.
No transportation costs: Commercially produced food often has a high price associated with transportation. When you grow your food, you can eliminate the cost of transportation, as your food is grown right in your backyard.
No packaging costs: Store-bought food often comes in plastic packaging, which can add to the overall cost of groceries. When you grow your food, there is no need for packaging, reducing your comprehensive grocery bill.
Reducing food waste
Alongside, all the food produced in the world, around 17% of it goes to waste each year. Food waste comes from the produce thrown intentionally by retailers and households. In addition, households produce more than two thirds of food waste.
It is specifically true in the case of growing your food. When you produce food waste, you start composting them, and that compost is going to benefit your plants by enhancing their quality.