Chicago Botanic Garden

Easy ways to kick the Carbon Habit!

At the Garden and around the world, people are focusing on ways to lessen their carbon footprint, a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment.

Making small changes in the way we live helps to reduce the amount of carbon (and other greenhouse gases) that are released into the environment. Other changes help to offset carbon emissions. Known as sequestering, carbon is absorbed from the atmosphere and stored.

Both kinds of changes help to mitigate the impact of global warming.

The Chicago Botanic Garden recommends easy ways you can kick the carbon habit in your yard and garden. Each small step can help make a world of difference.

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Plant a native, urban-tolerant tree where it will help to reduce energy needs by providing shade in summer or a windbreak in winter. A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Find recommended trees at www.bestplants.org and www.chicagolandgrows.org.

Replace gas-powered mowers and leaf blowers with human-powered equipment such as reel push mowers and rakes.

PHOTO: peppers Buy locally grown fruits and vegetables that don’t require long-distance shipping, reducing both the amount of fuel used and carbon emitted. Better yet, grow your own!

Purchase transplants in biodegradable packs, and recycle (or reuse) plastic nursery containers whenever possible.

Decrease the amount of energy-expensive potable water used to irrigate your garden by collecting water from downspouts in a rain barrel instead.

Use less synthetic nitrogen fertilizer (made from natural gas) and pesticides (made from oil) by growing native plants that need little or no extra fertilizer, and by selecting pest- and disease-resistant plants.

Recycle yard waste in a compost pile and return the organically rich compost to your garden. This reduces emissions from hauling yard waste away and makes soils more fertile, lessening — and possibly eliminating — the need for synthetic fertilizers.

Use homemade compost instead of products made with nonrenewable peat, one of the world’s most important carbon-storing materials.

PHOTO: grasses

Replace as little as 5 percent of your turf grass with deep-rooted, drought-tolerant perennials and native grasses. Plants absorb and store carbon, helping to offset carbon emissions and mitigate global warming.

Contribute to organizations that support the conservation of carbon-storing ecosystems, and plant carbon-storing trees.

Take classes to learn more about growing native plants, how to compost, and the best ways to “green” your gardening practices.