This is part of a series with Perfect Earth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to toxic-free, ecological gardening, on how you can be more sustainable in your landscapes at home.
. . . Do not raise your small voice against it. And do not take cover. Instead, curl your toes into the grass, watch the cloud ascending from your lips. Walk through the garden’s dormant splendor. Say only, thank you. Thank you. —Ross Gay, Thank You
Even for the most optimistic of us, it can be hard to stay positive these days. But hope, it is “the thing with feathers,” and there are moments that can make us soar with joy, propelling us forward: the successful bans on pesticides like neonicotinoids; the sweet burst of a juneberry still warm from the sun; the return of the whooping crane after it teetered on the cusp of extinction. We asked a selection of our ecological gardening friends to share what keeps them going—plus one small thing we can all do in our yards next year to keep the momentum going.
Above: The fluffy seedheads of the grass Andropogon ternarius ‘Black Mountain’ almost glow in the winter light along with the red branches of the red-twig dogwood (Cornus sericea) & ‘Shenandoah’ switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) in the background and dense blazing star (Liatris spicata) in foreground. Photograph courtesy of Refugia.
“At this time of year, we are enamored by the stories laid bare in the landscape. Perennials that are left standing through winter are permeated with narrative: tales of shelter and sustenance, dynamic encounters of fullness and decay. While seemingly silent, they are instead performing amazing feats of survival and renewal out of sight—just like us!—silvery-white seed tufts, seedheads glittering with frost. Winter celebrates delicate details that we often miss during the showier exuberant summer months.
“One simple thing that everyone can do to make a difference this year is to talk to their neighbors: Gift a plant when dividing perennials, add educational signage that speaks to the jobs your garden is heroically doing (habitat! stormwater!), and label plants for curious gardeners-to-be passing by. We are not defined by the division seemingly sown around us! Instead, we can inspire others. Connectivity for plants, wildlife, insects, and people is the most powerful tool we have. Don’t be surprised to find your lawn-loving neighbor carving off a sliver to plant milkweed and coneflowers next summer, and then some.“
Above: Photo: Hummingbird clearwing moth visits a wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa). This beautiful perennial also attracts birds, including hummingbirds, and butterflies. Photograph by Uli Lorimer.
“December is a time of reflection as we look back on the growing season past and ponder what the upcoming season may have in store. I want to zero in on a single image that embodies what ecological horticulture means to me and why practicing its tenets gives me hope for the future. The pink firework blossoms of Monarda fistulosa reliably draw hummingbird clearwing moths to the garden, and this image I find absolutely magical. So many things lie behind the picture of a moth captured mid-air with its proboscis curled. The garden provides an appropriate host plant for the larval stage. The plants were grown and managed without pesticides, ensuring the moth isn’t harmed in its pursuit of food. Lastly, this image is a source of wonder and awe, helping me feel connected to this place and motivated to keep my eyes and heart open. So many moments in nature are ephemeral, but mystery, spirit, and magic abound when we slow down to watch. My spirit can’t wait to see what magic awaits next year.”
Richard Hayden, Senior Director of Horticulture at the High Line:
Above: Jasper at the Turtle Pond in New York City’s Central Park. Photograph by Richard Hayden.
Overhauling a townhouse backyard after a renovation is a fairly common assignment for a New York City landscape designer. For one recent project, Julie Farris, the founder of XS Space, was given different a task. “Rather than erase and start anew as most projects do, the goal with this project was to identify the aspects of the previous garden, and to try to magnify those aspects in a more targeted and precise way,” says Farris. The results are a garden that felt deeply personal from Day One.
Farris’s clients had lived in their Brooklyn brownstone for some time before deciding to add an addition to the ground level. The family loved their home and slightly wild yard, where they had built many memories. “It sort of had this secret garden kind of feel,” says Farris. But as is so often the case post-construction, the 20 x 45-foot garden was left in a sorry state in need of a total overhaul.
“They wanted it to feel very natural and organic—sort of revealing what was there rather than inventing a new landscape,” says Farris. The clients requested a stretch of grass for the kids and a little more privacy from the nearby neighbors, but they didn’t have a laundry list of outdoor rooms and functions they wanted to cram into their space. What they wanted was simply a garden.
“It was more about having a quiet sanctuary for their family and some friends and not being a showy kind of garden,” says Farris. The family was also intent on doing it as sustainably as possible. “They wanted native plantings, birds, and butterflies,” says Farris.
The resulting garden is something of a sleight of hand: It honors the spirit of the previous garden, but almost every inch of it was built from scratch. It’s a lesson in the power of restraint and resourcefulness: All the sustainable materials and climate-appropriate plants make this garden feel like it belongs here. Now it’s ready for decades more memories.
Above: Architecture firm Bangia Agostinho Architecture designed the two-story rear extension and deck on the house. The renovation resulted in three different outdoor spaces for Farris to design: The backyard, a new deck, and a little terrace off of the primary bedroom that sits on the roof of the extension. Above: Farris describes designing the garden as a process of “sculpting the edges” to draw the eye outwards. “There’s this negative space, and then you’re just kind of feeling how you want to structure the space in terms of hierarchy and softness,” she says.
This is part of a series with Perfect Earth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to toxic-free, ecological gardening, on how you can be more sustainable in your landscapes at home.
For more than two decades, Nancy Lawson has been living in harmony with deer. Sure, they’re in her Maryland yard every single day. Yes, they come to eat, rest, and, occasionally, rut. But, no, they don’t destroy her garden. In fact, it’s thriving. “We made a commitment to creating habitat for all animals,” says the nature writer, naturalist, and founder of Humane Gardener. “We manage for resilience.” Her garden is thriving.
White-tailed deer populations have soared in this century. Since we wiped out nearly all their predators (grey wolves and mountain lions) and have taken over their natural habitat (developing 95 percent of the land in the US), they look for food and shelter anywhere they can find it, and that’s often in our gardens. As a result, their public image has gone from beloved Bambi to super villain—through no fault of their own.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Lawson shares with us how we can all happily coexist with deer.
Photography by Nancy Lawson, unless otherwise noted. (Featured photograph above by @anoldent via Flickr.)
Plant densely and employ “protector plants.”
Above: Lawson has combined tasty and less tasty plants along a pathway that deer traverse, including common sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale), blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), late boneset (Eupatorium serotinum), and American burnweed (Erechtites hieraciifolius).
Walk through a nature preserve or forest and you won’t find plants spread out like polkadots poking out of a sea of mulch. “We never put a plant out in the open by itself,” says Lawson. “It’s not how it grows in nature.” In the wild, plants grow in communities. They mingle. They intertwine. Having an array of varieties growing densely prevents any one plant from being decimated. “If there’s a big mixture that includes some less palatable plants, deer are much less likely to devour a given area,” says Lawson. “But if I have all the same species lined up for 10 feet, and it’s tasty, then that’s really easy for them to eat it all.” Think about planting as you would companion-planting in a vegetable garden, says Lawson, and mix it up.
As more garden and landscape designers aspire to create sustainable gardens, there’s one significant but often ignored aspect of sustainability they should pay attention to: hardscape materials. For most landscapes, the materials for the decks, patios, paths, and stairs will make up the vast majority of the project’s carbon footprint.
When people think of carbon footprint they often think of actions like driving a combustion engine car and flying on airplanes, but materials also possess an embodied (or upfront) carbon footprint. The “embodied” carbon is not, in fact, embodied in the material. Rather, it is an estimate of the emissions that come from making the material and shipping it. Unfortunately, some of the landscape industry’s favorite materials, including concrete and tropical hardwoods like ipe, have a high embodied carbon. (Taking in all stages of production, concrete is estimated to be responsible for 4 to 8 percent of the world’s CO2.)
“I don’t think clients are aware of the carbon footprint that concrete has,” says Sara Brunelle, co-founder of the landscape design firm Lu — La Studio, based in Cambridge, MA. “People are interested in pollinators and ecological properties, but they’re not really thinking about the material implications of their project.” However, homeowners and designers alike should consider the climate impacts of the materials they choose for their gardens.
We spoke to experts who are designing with low-carbon hardscape materials to ask them for their best advice when it comes to low-carbon hardscapes. Here’s what they said.
Want to lower the carbon footprint of your landscape? Use less hardscape material. It’ll also be better for the environment overall. “Hardscape mostly prevents water from returning to the earth—and water returning to the earth is the first thing that has to happen in order to support or create life,” says David Godshall, co-founder of Terremotto, a landscape architecture studio with offices in northern and southern California. “So, the more hardscape a garden has, the more lifeless it is.” Of course, gardens need paths, patios and the like, but Godshall encourages garden designers to ask themselves what is the minimum amount of hardscape needed to make a space useful and enjoyable to everyone, including people who are differently abled.
Don’t let your Halloween pumpkin haunt the landfill this November.More than 1 billion pounds (454 million kilograms) of pumpkins rot in U.S. landfills each year after Halloween, according to the Department of Energy.Video above: Halloween festivities in full swing in Salem, MassachusettsYours doesn’t have to go to waste. Experts told us your pumpkins can be eaten, composted or even fed to animals. Here’s how. If you’re carving a jack-o’-lantern, don’t throw away the skin or innards — every part is edible.After carving, you can cube the excess flesh — the thick part between the outer skin and the inner pulp that holds the seeds — for soups and stews, says Carleigh Bodrug, a chef known for cooking with common food scraps. You can also puree it and add a tablespoon to your dog’s dinner for extra nutrients. And pumpkin chunks can be frozen for future use.”The seeds are a nutritional gold mine,” Bodrug said. They’re packed with protein, magnesium, zinc and healthy fats, according to a 2022 study in the journal Plants.One of Bodrug’s recipes involves removing the seeds, rinsing and roasting them with cinnamon for a crunchy snack or salad topper. Then you can use the stringy guts to make a pumpkin puree for muffins. This version differs from canned purees in grocery stores — which typically use a different type of pumpkin or squash — because carving pumpkins have stringier innards and a milder flavor. A carving pumpkin’s guts can still be used for baking — you’ll just have to amp up the seasoning to boost the flavor.If you don’t want to eat your pumpkins, you can donate them to a local farm, which might use them to feed pigs, chickens and other animals. Edible parts should be collected while you’re carving and before they’re painted, decorated or left on your porch for weeks. Paint and wax aren’t food-safe, and bacteria and mold can grow on the skin in outdoor climates.Once you’ve cooked what you can and donated what’s safe to feed, composting the rest is the easiest way to keep it out of the landfill.”That way, even though they’re not safe to eat, they can still give back to the earth,” Bodrug said. Composting pumpkins keeps them out of methane-emitting landfills and turns them into nutrient-rich soil instead. You can do this at home or drop them off at a local farm, compost collection bin or drop-off site.”A large percentage of what ends up going to the landfill is stuff that could have been composted,” said Dante Sclafani, compost coordinator at Queens County Farm in New York. “So even just cutting down something like pumpkins could really help curb how many garbage bags you’re putting out every week.”Before composting, remove any candles, plastic, glitter, or other decorations — they can contaminate the compost. A little glitter or paint won’t ruin the pile, but it’s best to get it as clean as possible before tossing it in. Then, chop up the pumpkin into 1-inch (2.5-centimeter) pieces so it can break down more easily.”Pumpkins are full of water, so it’s important to maintain a good balance of dried leaves, wood chips, sawdust, shredded newspaper, cardboard, straw — anything that’s a dry organic material — in your compost bin,” Sclafani said. If you don’t maintain this balance, your compost might start to stink.According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a healthy compost pile should include a mix of “greens” — like pumpkin scraps and food waste — and “browns” like dry leaves, straw or cardboard, in roughly a 3-to-1 ratio. That balance helps the pile break down faster and prevents odors.And if your pumpkin’s been sitting on the porch all month? That’s actually ideal. “It’s never too far gone for compost,” Sclafani said. “Even if it’s mushy or moldy, that actually helps, because the fungus speeds up decomposition.””Composting anything organic is better than throwing it out because you’re not creating more refuse in landfills, you’re not creating methane gas,” said Laura Graney, the farm’s education director.Graney said autumn on the farm is the perfect opportunity to teach kids about composting since it gives them a sense of power in the face of big environmental challenges. “Even though they’re little, composting helps them feel like they can make a difference,” Graney said. “They take that message home to their families, and that’s how we spread the word.”
Don’t let your Halloween pumpkin haunt the landfill this November.
More than 1 billion pounds (454 million kilograms) of pumpkins rot in U.S. landfills each year after Halloween, according to the Department of Energy.
Video above: Halloween festivities in full swing in Salem, Massachusetts
Yours doesn’t have to go to waste. Experts told us your pumpkins can be eaten, composted or even fed to animals. Here’s how.
If you’re carving a jack-o’-lantern, don’t throw away the skin or innards — every part is edible.
After carving, you can cube the excess flesh — the thick part between the outer skin and the inner pulp that holds the seeds — for soups and stews, says Carleigh Bodrug, a chef known for cooking with common food scraps. You can also puree it and add a tablespoon to your dog’s dinner for extra nutrients. And pumpkin chunks can be frozen for future use.
“The seeds are a nutritional gold mine,” Bodrug said. They’re packed with protein, magnesium, zinc and healthy fats, according to a 2022 study in the journal Plants.
One of Bodrug’s recipes involves removing the seeds, rinsing and roasting them with cinnamon for a crunchy snack or salad topper. Then you can use the stringy guts to make a pumpkin puree for muffins. This version differs from canned purees in grocery stores — which typically use a different type of pumpkin or squash — because carving pumpkins have stringier innards and a milder flavor. A carving pumpkin’s guts can still be used for baking — you’ll just have to amp up the seasoning to boost the flavor.
If you don’t want to eat your pumpkins, you can donate them to a local farm, which might use them to feed pigs, chickens and other animals.
Edible parts should be collected while you’re carving and before they’re painted, decorated or left on your porch for weeks. Paint and wax aren’t food-safe, and bacteria and mold can grow on the skin in outdoor climates.
Once you’ve cooked what you can and donated what’s safe to feed, composting the rest is the easiest way to keep it out of the landfill.
“That way, even though they’re not safe to eat, they can still give back to the earth,” Bodrug said.
Composting pumpkins keeps them out of methane-emitting landfills and turns them into nutrient-rich soil instead. You can do this at home or drop them off at a local farm, compost collection bin or drop-off site.
“A large percentage of what ends up going to the landfill is stuff that could have been composted,” said Dante Sclafani, compost coordinator at Queens County Farm in New York. “So even just cutting down something like pumpkins could really help curb how many garbage bags you’re putting out every week.”
Before composting, remove any candles, plastic, glitter, or other decorations — they can contaminate the compost. A little glitter or paint won’t ruin the pile, but it’s best to get it as clean as possible before tossing it in. Then, chop up the pumpkin into 1-inch (2.5-centimeter) pieces so it can break down more easily.
“Pumpkins are full of water, so it’s important to maintain a good balance of dried leaves, wood chips, sawdust, shredded newspaper, cardboard, straw — anything that’s a dry organic material — in your compost bin,” Sclafani said. If you don’t maintain this balance, your compost might start to stink.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a healthy compost pile should include a mix of “greens” — like pumpkin scraps and food waste — and “browns” like dry leaves, straw or cardboard, in roughly a 3-to-1 ratio. That balance helps the pile break down faster and prevents odors.
And if your pumpkin’s been sitting on the porch all month? That’s actually ideal. “It’s never too far gone for compost,” Sclafani said. “Even if it’s mushy or moldy, that actually helps, because the fungus speeds up decomposition.”
“Composting anything organic is better than throwing it out because you’re not creating more refuse in landfills, you’re not creating methane gas,” said Laura Graney, the farm’s education director.
Graney said autumn on the farm is the perfect opportunity to teach kids about composting since it gives them a sense of power in the face of big environmental challenges.
“Even though they’re little, composting helps them feel like they can make a difference,” Graney said. “They take that message home to their families, and that’s how we spread the word.”
Is it possible to make a real difference for the planet without upending daily routines? In 2025, the answer seems to be: maybe, but not without a few surprises along the way. The push for greener living is everywhere, on billboards, in grocery aisles, and even in the way neighbours talk about bin day. But what actually works, and what’s just hype?
Why go green in 2025?
The pressure to “go green” isn’t just a passing fad. Climate warnings, resource shortages, and health scares have made it a headline issue. But does every small action really matter?
20 easy ways to go green in 2025
Lets take a look at 20 ways to go green and do your bit for the planet.
At Home
Home is where you can make the biggest difference when it comes to going green.
1. Switch to LED bulbs and unplug devices
LEDs are supposed to use 80% less energy and last for years. Unplugging devices to stop “phantom” energy drain can boost this efficiency too.
2. Insulate and weatherproof
As well as helping you go green, insulation can keep your home cosy and reduce energy bills – three very good reasons to seal up those draughty spots.
3. Use eco-friendly cleaning products
There’s a wide range of plant-based cleaners on the market these days, so switching out your old chemical-based products is an easy win.
4. Compost and recycle
Composting turns scraps into garden gold, and is a great way to cut down on waste. As well as kerbside recycling, make sure you take advantage of local charity shops and community groups before throwing things in the bin.
5. Cut single-use plastics
Reusable bags and containers are the new normal. Some households are even switching everyday items like bamboo facial tissue to reduce plastic packaging waste.
6. Install smart thermostats
Smart thermostats claim to save up to 10% on energy bills. For those looking to take it a step further, options like a solar mini-split can reduce reliance on the grid.
Food & Shopping
What’s on your plate and in your trolley can have a bigger impact than most realise. Here are some simple ways to change your habits around food and shopping.
7. Eat more plant-based meals
Cutting out meat is said to slash food-related emissions by up to 60%. “Meatless Mondays” are a good way place to start.
8. Buy local and seasonal
Local produce is fresher and supports farmers, and can also help you cut down on food miles. Aim to eat seasonally and support your local businesses.
9. Reduce food waste
When it comes to easy ways to go green, reducing food waste is high on the list. Simple things like meal planning and freezing leftovers can make a big difference to how much food goes in the bin.
10. Choose quality over quantity
When choosing clothing, try to avoid fast fashion and focus on quality rather than quantity. Go for clothes that you will wear often and that will last for more than one season. Repairing and buying second-hand are also great ways to make more eco-conscious clothing choices.
11. Use reusables
A single reusable bottle or cup can replace hundreds of disposables. At home, installing a water dispenser can reduce bottled water purchases significantly.
Transportation & travel
Getting from A to B is a major emissions culprit. These tips for greener travel are well worth a look.
12. Walk, cycle, or use public transport
Shifting even 30% of trips to these modes can cut emissions by 20%.
13. Carpool and maintain your vehicle
Carpooling for regular trips like commutes and school runs will reduce your carbon footprint and also save you money on fuel. Simple vehicle maintenance like keeping tyres correctly inflated can also help.
14. Limit air travel
One long-haul flight can equal a year’s worth of car emissions. Consider holidays in your own country and explore train and bus alternatives to domestic flights.
Community & advocacy
Individual actions matter, but collective efforts can really tip the scales.
15. Join local eco initiatives
Do you have a local community garden or clean-up programme that you can help out with?
16. Vote for climate policies
Supporting green policies is crucial, so use your vote!
17. Educate and influence others
Sharing tips and resources can inspire others to adopt a greener lifestyle.
18. Support sustainable brands
Try to support brands that favour transparency and can demonstrate eco-friendly certifications.
Digital & lifestyle habits
Even screen time and hobbies have an environmental cost.
19. Limit streaming and cloud storage
Data centres use a significant proportion of global electricity. Try to limit your streaming and regularly declutter your cloud storage.
20. Mindful tech use
Set screen time limits on your devices, and turn them off when you’re not using them. Always aim to recycle old electronics too.
Common mistakes when trying to go green – and how to avoid them
Even the best intentions can go sideways. Here are some common mistakes to avoid when trying to adopt a greener lifestyle:
Wishcycling: Putting non-recyclables in recycling bins can ruin whole batches. Check your local rules carefully.
Greenwashing: Some products claim to be eco-friendly, but don’t have proof. Check for certifications.
Overconsumption: Buying lots of “green” products isn’t always better. Sometimes, less really is more.
Neglecting maintenance: Skipping regular checks on appliances or insulation can waste energy and money.
Tracking your progress and staying motivated
Sustainable living isn’t a finish line; it’s a moving target. Tracking your progress can help:
Use apps or journals to log energy use, waste reduction, or new habits.
Celebrate small wins.
Join online or local groups for support, accountability, and new ideas.
Heat pumps: More efficient than traditional heating, but with up-front costs.
Circular fashion: Some brands now take back and recycle clothes.
Local food co-ops: Bulk buying and community-supported agriculture are growing, but not every area has them yet.
Smart home upgrades: Solar panels and water-saving fixtures are popular.
Greener living in 2025: what’s next?
Sustainable living in 2025 isn’t about perfection. Every small change, from switching to LEDs to joining a local eco group, adds up.
Focus on habits that fit your lifestyle and build from there.
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good; every action matters.
Stay connected with others for support, ideas, and encouragement.
FAQs
How to save Earth in 2025?
Planting trees, eating more plant-based meals, ditching single-use plastics, conserving energy, supporting sustainable brands, and joining local eco projects all get mentioned.
What are 10 ways to be more sustainable?
Use what’s already on hand, take care of belongings, swap or buy used, buy only what’s needed, remember reusables, eat the food that’s bought, compost, walk or bike more, reduce energy use, and support local businesses.
How to live sustainably in 2025?
Cutting back on flights, using public transport, eating local and seasonal foods, reducing waste, and choosing renewable energy are all recommended. But small daily changes, like unplugging devices and composting, are also important.
What does “eco-friendly” actually mean?
Being eco-friendly is all about making choices that minimise harm to the environment.
We’ve all done it: planted something we love only to learn, sometimes years later, that it is invasive where we live. In many cases, we can be forgiven. If a nursery is selling it, the message conveyed is that all is well. There are fewer excuses now, when home research has never been easier and when awareness of invasive species has never been higher. Despite that, invasive plants are still being sold by many growers, and the desire for some of them sometimes overrides our internal ethicist. This list of 13 invasive plants includes some well known and understandably appealing garden ornamentals. Do not plant them, and do remove them if you are currently harboring plants whose spread alters and harms local ecosystems. An invasive plant does not stay home—it travels: by roots, runner, fruit, and seed.
But what about…?
Above: Japanese knotweed in bloom.
First, a disclaimer: this list of invasive plants is by no means complete and does not include plants like mugwort, Japanese knotweed, and garlic mustard, since we’re assuming (fingers crossed) that their notoriety precedes them and that they are probably not ornamentally tempting. But, by all means, add plants you feel should be addressed, in the comments.
Butterfly Bush
Above: Butterfly bush attracts butterflies but outcompetes native plants that feed their larvae.
One of the most tempting invasive plants is butterfly bush. It smells delicious, is pretty, blooms repeatedly, and is irresistible to butterflies. What’s not to love? Consider, then, that invasive Buddleja davidii excels at producing tens of thousands of lightweight, easily dispersed seeds per flowerhead, outcompeting native flowering shrubs whose leaves are essential food for butterfly larvae. While the nectar of butterfly bush attracts adult butterflies, this shrub is not a host plant for their caterpillars, which cannot feed on its foliage. Bear it mind that while newer, so-called less-fertile butterfly bush cultivars exist, they still produce seed, just less of it. Avoid.
Plant native flowering shrubs, instead. Sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia) is a good alternative to butterfly bush, with flowers, scent, and a lot of butterfly action in late summer.
Japanese Honeysuckle
Above: Japanese honeysuckle smells wonderful but smothers shrubs and trees.
As appealing as its perfumed flowers may be, Lonicera japonica is now a serious botanical thug in wild places where it is not native. The scrambling vine uses shrubs and trees for support, creating dense, shaded thickets that alter the local ecosystem by smothering native seedlings. It is spread via its fruit, vexingly ripe during fall migration. Birds disperse the seed as they move south. Japanese honeysuckle also reproduces vegetatively, via above-ground runners and below-ground rhizomes.
An alternative to Japanese honeysuckle is of course a native honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens (but no scent, sorry). It is very attractive to hummingbirds. For a scented alternative, try star jasmine, (Trachelospermum jasminoides) or bee-friendly yellow jessamine (Carolina jasmine—Gelsemiun sempervirens).
Chinese and Japanese Wisteria
Above: Chinese wisteria at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
I admire the long panicles of Wisteria sinensis and W. floribunda dripping from pergolas in botanical gardens. And then I drive up the Palisades Parkway in New York and New Jersey and see the same vines cascading from the bent branches of oak, maple, and sycamore. It’s beautiful, but it’s deadly: the strong vines of this wisteria cut through bark and cause gradual death, by girdling. Their smothering habit also alters native forest ecologies. Wisteria spreads vegetatively, growing easily from cuttings and new shoots, and by seeds, which explode from their pods when ripe. Seeds also travel along waterways, to germinate downstream.
We all want to protect our phones from the inevitable drops, scratches and tumbles of daily life, but what if your cell phone case could protect more than just your device? The best eco-friendly phone cases offer a great blend of durability and sustainability, helping to reduce plastic waste and better the planet.
Made from natural materials like biodegradable plastics, recycled ocean waste or even sustainable bamboo, eco-friendly and compostable phone covers prove that you don’t have to sacrifice style or protection to go green. They’re designed to safeguard your device while actively combating plastic pollution, making them a win-win for both you and Mother Earth.
Whether you’re looking for something sleek and minimal or bold and artistic, there’s an eco-friendly option out there that will fit your style. Instead of a standard plastic case, you can choose one that’s both practical and planet-friendly, like biodegradable phone cases that are often recyclable and plastic-free in design.
Without a doubt, our favorite eco-friendly, sustainable phone cases are those made by Pela. We absolutely love their colors and designs, plus the fact that the entire line is 100 percent plant-based and compostable. The case material is called “Flaxstic,” which the company says is made from flax straw and compostable bioplastic elastomer. Importantly, it’s also free of BPA, phthalates, cadmium and lead. If you ever decide to get rid of it, you can indeed just chuck in a compost bin and it’ll be completely biodegradable; another win for the planet.
What’s more, Pela cases are available for a wide array of handsets. They can accommodate iPhones (from iPhone 5 onwards), Samsung Galaxies (Galaxy S10 and newer), Google Pixels (from the Pixel 4a on) and even some OnePlus and Huawei models.
For iPhone users, we should note that Pela cases are not MagSafe-compatible by default, but you can purchase a $13 MagSafe module separately. Applying it to my phone was pretty straightforward, so that’s not a big concern, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Casetify is mostly known for making durable yet stylish phone cases, but it has several eco-friendly options, too. The latest is its Compostable phone cases line, which is made with a 100 percent compostable and plant-based material called “Ecotify.” Basically, it’s a blend of bamboo, biopolymers and starch.
The regular Compostable line has a drop-protection of around four feet, while the Ultra Compostable line, with its extra corner bumpers, has a drop-protection of about 6.6 feet. My recommendation would be to go with the more durable Ultra Compostable option, even if it does cost a bit more.
Unfortunately, Casetify’s Compostable line is only available for iPhones, but it does make other kinds of sustainable cell phone cases for both the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy handsets — they’re just not compostable. Instead, they’re made from 65 percent recyclable materials. Plus, Casetify offers the option to return your old case, which they’ll then reuse or up-cycle to create a new one, thus reducing plastic waste.
The biggest perk of Casetify’s cases is that they’re very customizable. Not only can you pick out your favorite bumper colors and designs (Casetify regularly partners with brands and illustrators to come up with unique styles), but you can actually add engravings to them too. You can also choose to add even more protection with thicker bumpers (Casetify says the “Bounce Case” offers a 13-foot drop protection).
Incipio’s Organicore line of cases is one of the most attractive we’ve seen, plus they are 100 percent compostable. You’ll find them in clear and opaque designs, the latter of which has a buttery texture that makes the case feel more luxurious than you’d think. Most Organicore cases will protect your handset from drops from up to eight feet, and we like the way their raised edges defend against accidental bumps and dings. There are also MagSafe options available, so you can still use your iPhone with magnetic accessories without taking your case off.
No, Otterbox’s Defender series of phone cases isn’t compostable or made from recycled materials. But we wanted to mention them here because any phone case that can protect your device enough so that you don’t have to replace it with a new piece of gear will help you be more eco-friendly overall. Most of the environmental impact from smartphones comes during the production phase, so if you can avoid upgrading devices every two years (or even longer), you should.
Enter Otterbox cases, particularly the Defender series, which are some of the best cases that combine serious protection and attractive designs. They’re built to withstand military-grade drop tests with a trio of defenses: a bump-resistant silicone cover, a rigid inner shell to keep your phone in place and a memory-foam backing for added stability. The slightly textured exterior of the case provides better grip and they do come in MagSafe-compatible configurations for iPhone users.
A phone case can be considered eco-friendly when it’s designed to protect not just your phone but also the planet. What sets these cases apart is the use of sustainable materials like biodegradable plastics, recycled plastic waste or even natural materials like bamboo or flax straw. Instead of contributing to plastic pollution, these materials break down naturally over time, or are made from recycled content that reduces waste.
Eco-friendly cases can also go a step further by being compostable, meaning you can toss them in a compost bin at the end of their life and they’ll decompose into the earth without leaving harmful residues. Plus, many brands behind these cases focus on sustainable practices, like reducing carbon emissions during production or offering recycling programs for old cases.
Are compostable phone cases actually biodegradable?
Yes, most compostable phone cases are designed to break down naturally, but how fast they do depends on the material and the conditions. In a home compost bin, some cases may take months to decompose, while in industrial composting facilities the process is quicker. These cases are usually made from plant-based bioplastics, flax or starch blends which return to the soil without leaving behind harmful residue.
Can you recycle old phone cases?
It depends on the material. Standard plastic cases are tough to recycle because they’re often made with mixed plastics and additives so they usually end up in landfills. Some brands run take-back programs where you can send your old case in and they’ll reuse or up-cycle it into new products. If your case is made from single-type plastic or a recycled blend, check with your local recycling facility but in many cases specialized programs are the best option.
Above: A simple habitat pile tucked away in the meadow at Chanticleer. Horticulturalist Chris Fehlhaber built the stack around a center post. As the stack settles, gaps form around the post. “Bumblebees use this gap to gain access to the interior of the stack, which is likely relatively well-sheltered and dry, to make their nests,” he says. Photograph by Melissa Ozawa, from Habitat Piles: Turning Garden Debris Into Shelter and Sculpture.
Whether you call them snags or tree sculptures, dead trees are crucial to the ecosystem. According to the National Wildlife Federation, they provide habitat for a thousand species of wildlife in the U.S., including woodpeckers, bats, and squirrels. As the tree decays, insects, fungi, lichen, and moss move in, offering a feast for wildlife. As Smithsonian magazine reports, “Estimates suggest that one third of insect species in a forest rely on deadwood in some way—and these insects are food for other invertebrates, as well as birds and bats.”
Above: Wood “pavers” on Edwina von Gal’s property. She digs about three to four inches deep, embeds the tree slice into the ground, and then fills in the area around them. Photograph by Melissa Ozawa.
If you’re concerned about safety, remove any branches that pose a risk. Cut up logs and stack them into wood piles. Or slice 3- to 4-inch-thick rounds to create “tree cookies” to form into pathways, like von Gal does on her property. Tree cookies are especially good in high traffic areas or in places that have struggled to sustain grass or moss.
For smaller branches and other plant debris, craft habitat stacks or weave “dead hedges” out of branches. These areas offer shelter for small birds and other critters, protecting them from predators like hawks. (To see more examples of habitat stacks, read our story).
In a designated bin or a pile in your yard, add a mix of green materials (vegetable scraps and fresh garden cuttings) and brown matter (dried leaves, twigs, wood chips, and leftover soil). Each time you add green material to your compost heap, throw in some brown material to keep the pile fresh. If it starts to smell bad, add more “brown” bits. Turn the pile to speed up the process or simply let it be, to decompose gradually. You’ll know your compost is ready when it looks dark and crumbly.
Ludden also recommends mulching when planting a shrub border. “I would put shredded bark mulch down because it keeps moisture in the soil and prevents weeds, and it looks neat and tidy,” she says, noting that the shrubs don’t propagate themselves the way perennials do, so you’re not preventing growth. Mulching around trees and shrubs also reduces the likelihood that someone will run a lawnmower over their roots, but even better would be to plant a soft landing.
If mulching woody plants or trees, use arborists wood chips and be sure not to let the mulch cover any of the bark: The root flare at the base of the trees should always remain exposed. If you have existing mulch volcanoes, remove them (arborist Basil Camu of Leaf & Limb explains how in this video).
Vegetable gardeners may also want to mulch, says Ludden, especially if it’s something that you can till into the soil along with whatever is left of the plants at the end of the season.
Finally, McMackin says you can use mulch when you want to shift the soil composition. For example, if the soil is too basic, you might add pine mulch. “The change is not very serious, but it will start those processes,” explains McMackin, who says to think of mulch as an amendment you’re applying to the top, with the understanding that it’s going to be integrated and building soil in the future.
If you’re worried about weeds, plant more densely. Instead of maintaining a sea of mulch with plants in it, position the plants more closely together and let them naturally grow towards each other. For anyone worried about maintaining air flow, McMackin says, “That just wouldn’t happen in the natural world.” She notes that what is more important is to maintain healthy soil. In Garden Revolution, Weaner and Christopher note that you should also think about varied below-ground growth habits to inhibit weeds. And yes, you may have some weeds. “Weeding and watering are important in the first season or two until the perennials begin to fill in,” notes Ludden. “As plants expand naturally, and even seed themselves into open areas, weeds become less problematic.” (See The Garden Decoder: What Is ‘Cramscaping’? (And Why Is this Trend Here to Stay?)
You can also plant a “green mulch” or groundcover. Ludden has had success using Canadian wild ginger, ferns, and carexes, including Carex Appalachia and Carex pensylvanica as soft underplantings between larger perennials.
Above: European meadow sedge (Carex remota) is a durable green mulch. Photograph courtesy of Greenlee and Associates, from The Garden Decoder: What Is Green Mulch?
You can also mulch with clippings. McMackin suggests mulching with the plant matter from the previous season, noting, “[Plants] really want to be in a mulch made up of their own leaves and stems.” Diblik describes using a similar method in The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden, noting that, “The litter is in much bigger pieces than if it were mowed, so we cut some of the stems into smaller pieces, so that they’ll fit comfortably around the plants.” He adds, “I must admit, the first time I did this it was difficult not to run for the rake.”
If you still feel the need to mulch, all the experts recommend swapping bark mulch for a local leaf mulch or compost. Leaf mulch or compost can provide the “neat” look that you may prefer without inhibiting the growth of perennials.
Another solution is to give your garden beds a mullet. When working in Brooklyn Bridge Park, McMackin and her team used a neat-in-front-wild-in-the-back look, which she calls a “mullet” approach to mulching. “We would rake out leaves in the first foot or two of the garden and then put a clean edge of mulch. Then you can get away with a wilder look in the back, if you do that.” If you can’t see yourself quitting mulch, don’t let it get too deep. McMackin says an inch or an inch and a half is all you should ever need.
When I put a call out to my garden design friends about the topic of “cramscaping,” I received a lot of replies along the lines of, “I have never heard of cramscaping, but I suspect I do it” or “I had no idea this was a thing, but it’s what I practice on a regular basis.” The concept had recently been covered in The Seattle Times, and I was curious to discover its origins.
I ultimately found a reference to “cramscaping” in Loree Boh’s book Fearless Gardening: Be Bold, Break the Rules, and Grow What You Love, which was published in 2021. When I called Bohl, who also writes the popular blog Danger Garden, Bohl said she didn’t coin the term, but she recalls the first time she heard a garden style described as “cramscaping.” Bohl was walking the Northwest Flower & Garden Show with a friend, who used the term to describe the display they were looking at. “It instantly just made sense to me,” says Bohl. “It says it all: Lots of plants.” When Bohl asked her friend about the term, she pointed to their mutual friend, plantsman and garden designer Sean Hogan of Cistus Nursery.
Next, I reached out to Hogan to see if he knew the term’s provenance. Hogan told me he wasn’t sure if he originated the phrase, but it has been in his personal lexicon since the 1990s. Hogan remembers first using it to describe a container that was planted so densely and with such variety that he likened it to a bouquet. From there, he started using the word to describe landscapes in general. “If you can have a quick phrase or a fun just word to give people a different picture, it allows people to think outside the boxwood, as it were,” he says.
So what is cramscaping exactly?
Above: After years of cramscaping, Bohl now sits in her Portland garden completely surrounded by plants. “It’s a wonderful feeling,” she says. “There are so many more plants I want to grow, I must make space for them and keep experimenting.” Photograph by Loree Bohl.
Both Bohl and Hogan define a cramscape as richly layered with a variety of plants and no bare earth visible. The term may be instantly understandable, but Bohl is quick to point out that cramscaping is not simply squeezing as many plants as possible into a landscape. “Cramscaping is done with a little more care and knowledge of eventual plant sizes and plant needs,” she explains, noting that without this foresight, an extra densely planted garden can be “a disaster waiting to happen.”
LOS ANGELES, August 28, 2025 (Newswire.com)
– GYS, an Eco-luxury sleepwear brand, is setting new standards in nightwear by introducing pajamas crafted from sustainable bamboo fibers. With a mission to merge wellness, style, and environmental responsibility, GYS offers a collection that resonates with today’s conscious consumers who value both comfort and sustainability.
Designed with the modern lifestyle in mind, GYS bamboo fiber pajamas provide a uniquely soft, breathable, and temperature-regulating experience-ensuring restful sleep year-round. Unlike traditional fabrics, bamboo fiber naturally wicks moisture, resists odor, and reduces skin irritation, making it ideal for sensitive skin.
“At GYS, we believe that luxury begins with how you feel,” said Creative Director of GYS. “Our bamboo sleepwear is not just about elegance; it’s about creating a sustainable ritual of comfort that supports both personal well-being and the planet.”
The brand’s design philosophy embraces minimalism with a modern twist-clean lines, timeless silhouettes, and muted color palettes that blend seamlessly into a stylish lifestyle. Every piece reflects GYS’s dedication to responsible sourcing, ethical production, and a reduced environmental footprint.
Key Benefits of GYS Bamboo Fiber Pajamas:
● Sustainability: Bamboo is a rapidly renewable resource requiring less water and pesticides than cotton.
● All-Day Comfort: Naturally breathable and moisture-wicking for a cool, dry sleep.
● Skin-Friendly: Hypoallergenic, soft, and gentle on sensitive skin.
● Timeless Design: Minimalist elegance that transitions effortlessly from sleepwear to lounge wear.
GYS bamboo fiber pajamas are now available at gyspajamas.com.
About GYS GYS is a sleepwear brand built on the principles of sustainability, comfort, and timeless design. By harnessing the natural power of bamboo fiber, GYS re-imagines pajamas as a luxury essential that nurtures both people and the planet.
This is part of a series with Perfect Earth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to toxic-free, ecological gardening, on how you can be more sustainable in your landscapes at home.
Time for a bit of good news. More people are growing native plants. According to the National Gardening Association, the number of people buying them has nearly doubled since 2019. And while it can still be challenging to find native plants at garden centers around the country, small, hyper-local native plant nurseries are popping up to meet demand.
Below, we highlight six such nurseries (including three that opened just last year)—Earth Tones in Woodbury, CT; Flosagri in Cold Spring, NY; All Tomorrow’s Prairie in Tulsa, OK; Dropseed in Prince Edward County in Ontario; Redbud Native Plant Nursery in Media, PA; and Long Island Native Plant Initiative in Brentwood, NY—and asked them what lessons they’ve learned growing native plants.
Earth Tones Native Plant Nursery, Woodbury, CT
Above: At Earth Tones, seedlings (plugs) grow in trays and next to it demonstration gardens. “We take inspiration from nature and think about all the different ecosystems and the plants and how that would all work together and look right in the space,” says Turoczi.
When landscape architect Lisa Turoczi was starting out as a designer, she had to travel hours to wholesale nurseries to buy plants for projects. At one nursery she had an epiphany: “I was standing among all these flowers and there was no sound, no buzzing, no birds,” she recalled. The eerie silence was a sign that they were spraying pesticides to keep insects away from the plants. No insects, no birds. That experience provided an impetus to startEarth Tones Native Plants in Woodbury, CT, with her husband Kyle, a wetlands ecologist, in 2004. What began as a small native plant nursery with 20 different species has grown today to offer 400 different species—all geared to their region in the Northeast. They grow everything from seed, including trees and shrubs, and are also propagating ferns by spore to allow for greater genetic diversity. “Plants grown from seed grow faster and are hardier and stronger,” says Turoczi. “They’re basically grown the way nature intended them, rather than forcing a plant to make roots out of its stem.” As for sound? There’s no eerie silence at Earth Tones. You can hear nature’s full chorus.
Redbud Nursery, Media, PA
Above: Landscape architects Snell and McDonald Hanes met at Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and took over Redbud Native Plant Nursery in 2020.
“We are landscape architects who really love plants,” says Julie Snell, who, together with Lisa McDonald Hanes, founded the landscape architecture firm Tend in Media, PA, in 2013. They hadn’t set out to buy a nursery, but when Redbud Native Plant Nursery owner Catherine Smith was ready to retire five years ago, they jumped at the opportunity to take up the mantle and reconnect with the plants they love while still keeping their landscape architecture business. “When you’re working as a landscape architect, you can spend a lot of time at the computer,” says Snell. Having a nursery brings the duo back into the garden. They offer design and coaching services at Redbud, host workshops, and have display gardens so people can see, smell, and touch the plants. “We’re educators at heart,” Snell says. “We’re building community through horticulture.”
Long Island Native Plant Initiative, Brentwood, NY
Above: Part of the mission of the nonprofit Long Island Native Plant Initiative is to preserve Long Island’s biodiversity. They have several seed increase plots to increase the seed bank.
“All of our plants originated on Long Island,” says Maggie Muzante, lead nursery manager atLong Island Native Plant Initiative (LINPI). The nonprofit grows more than 40 different ecotypic species, ethically collected from seed found in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Its mission is to preserve the area’s biodiversity and to restore habitat. “We grow multiple sessions of the same species from multiple locations in the plot to boost genetic hardiness,” Muzante says. In addition to selling resilient, nursery-grown plants, they also add to the native seed bank and work mostly with a mighty group of passionate volunteers.
Byró Architekti’s smallest project to date is its biggest scene stealer. Located in a garden enclave just 20 minutes from Prague’s city center, the shed was built on the foundation of a dilapidated cottage. The owners use the property as a retreat and wanted an outbuilding that serves as a library, gathering space, shelter from the rain, and extra bedroom, while communing with the surrounding greenery.
To tick all those boxes, architects Jan Holub and Tomáš Hanus devised a pavilion with built-in bookshelves, a sleeping loft, and a façade that pops up to fully connect indoors and out. It’s a practical folly.
Above: “The building is designed as a wooden structure in a two-by-four construction system,” write the architects. It’s finished with blackened spruce cladding aka shou sugi ban. Above: Doors fold back to reveal a polycarbonate window. Above: The structure’s defining feature is a delightful surprise.
“We thought about how to connect the building as closely as possible to the surrounding garden, and we ultimately came up with the idea of a folding panel that allows one side of the house to completely open,” write Holub and Hanus.”This way, the interior seamlessly transitions to the outdoors, with the garden penetrating the building, creating a kind of paraphrase of a garden loggia, which was our architectural inspiration.”
That moment when you’re winding your way up to The Penny Bun inn in the picturesque village of Askwith in Wharfedale, England, car window down, breathing in all the beauty of the wild hedgerows, drystone walls, and patchworks of lush greens, and you are obliged to stop in your tracks for a carefree pheasant out on a very leisurely stroll? It’s a reminder to slow down, to reconnect with nature, the heart of everything at Denton Reserve.
Set within 2,500 acres of spectacular Yorkshire countryside, this estate has embarked on an ambitious journey to re-imagine, re-wild, and regenerate the land in a bid to tackle the climate crisis, improve biodiversity, and restore balance for generations to come. Rooted in the local, its intent is global. And armed with long-term vision and a profound sense of purpose, the entire Reserve team, supported by members of the neighboring communities, are rolling up their sleeves and pitching in—because the future starts today.
We visited two of the five main properties on the Denton estate in May: the recently opened Denton Hall, a Grade-1 listed Georgian Manor, and The Penny Bun, a 150-year old inn—both redesigned by architecture practice BOX9. We were greatly impressed by both the scale of the undertaking and the thoughtful attention to detail. (For a tour, read our story over on Remodelista.)
Here, we take a closer look at the land recovery project, as the Reserve celebrates some exciting milestones, including the creation of a beaver enclosure, the appearance of nightjars, and the promise of honey from black bees…
Above: Focusing on three key interrelated areas of action—carbon reduction, food production and nature—Denton Reserve has decided to “rethink everything” in order to create a new flagship model for land management and rural hospitality that will benefit both people and the planet. Above: By prioritizing nature, adopting soil-friendly farming methods, regenerating its woodlands, moorland, upland pastures, and arable land, and re-inventing agricultural properties, the Reserve aims to restore balance and harmony.
If you have prying neighbors or an HOA to worry about, move leaves to less visible areas, for example from front to rear, suggests Fell. “Make a pile in the corner of your yard, let it rot, and use the leaf compost later to feed your flowers,” says Camu. “Leaf compost is absolute gold, and it’s literally that easy to make: Just let it rot in a pile.”
4. Mulch some of the leaves into your lawn.
You’ll see a lot of advice to just mow leaves right into the lawn, but Chris Hardy, a senior associate at Sasaki, an interdisciplinary design firm based in Boston, cautions against doing this. “When fall leaf drop happens, the density of the leaves is more than lawns can handle,” he says. “If you have a lot of leaves in your lawn, I would capture that in a bag and then spread it in your perennial areas instead.” Hardy also notes that he skips mowing even a light layer of leaves into grass because he likes to let grass grow long in the fall so it can maximize its storage of sugars over the winter. In other seasons, go ahead and mow right over a light leaf litter, but be sure you have a mulching mower (sometimes you need to buy a special blade.)
5. Rake selectively.
Above: Paths should be cleared of leaves, which turn slick and slippery in wet weather.
To ensure your yard looks cared for, rake the leaves from the most visible or used lawn areas, like the front yard, says Fell, adding. “It’s also important to move leaves from entryways and paths for safety as the weather worsens.”
6. Then put the leaves into garden beds.
You can use the whole leaves in some of your beds as mulch. Hardy suggests, “Any place where you’re putting down mulch as a weed suppressant is a great candidate to leave your leaves whole in place; for instance, under hedges, underneath shrubby landscapes, or in tree pits.” That said, do not lay whole leaves over places where you’re trying to get a perennial understory going.
7. Use caution when covering perennial beds.
In spring, Fell says she tries to remember where new plants or spring ephemerals are and moves leaves aside, so as not to inhibit their growth. Further north, Hardy says he avoids using whole leaves in perennial beds altogether, because when snow presses down on leaves, it can create a tightly-knit layer that can smother smaller perennials and groundcovers. Instead, he shreds leaves and scatters them amongst perennials.
We’ve been following Midwesterner by birth, Californian in spirit Louesa Roebuck for more than a decade, describing her as a “fearless forager” in one story, “renegade florist” in another, and “rebel against convention” in a third. During that time, the floral iconoclast relocated from the Bay Area to Ojai, CA, and wrote two books—Foraged Flora and Punk Ikebana—that make the case for floral designs that are more art than arrangement, and more feral than formal. She is currently at work on a third book.
If you’re not familiar with Louesa, this is great place to get acquainted with her eccentric perspective and strong opinions (of which, she concedes, many are unpopular).
Photography by Ian Hughes for Punk Ikebana, courtesy of Louesa Roebuck, unless otherwise noted.
Above: Before she became a floral designer, Louesa worked in the food world (Chez Panisse) and fashion industry (with Erica Tanov), both of which fed her love for California living. Photograph by Sean Jerd.
Your first garden memory:
My most vivid childhood garden memories are of a Victorian gothic yet sweet, very small garden plot behind my ancestral home in Medina, Ohio. My mother’s people built the Victorian house in 1856 or 18765, depending on who’s telling the tale. White wood with dark, almost black, green shutters and trim. There was a generous gray-floored porch that wrapped around three sides, meant for living and even sleeping in muggy Ohio summers. My grandmother ( my momma’s momma); my great grandmother, Lena; and my mother, Maggie, all spent time together in the very old-fashioned English garden behind the house. My family was old-school: NO color in front of house—that was considered very tacky and low-brow. Color and culinary were reserved for the lesser-seen, more hidden bites of the “yard.” Every year, my momma’s momma battled the birds eating her blueberries. Even as a child, it felt too combative and high maintenance to me—I was rooting for those birds to snatch the berries and escape the evil netting.
She grew Monarda, a fabulous pollinator botanical, black-eyed Susans, herbs for the kitchen, and more. The memories have a fairytale quality, complete with dappled summer sunlight, dragonflies, clover in the grass. I would often get lost in the realms of clover. And then, being my gothic family, there was a lot of shadow.
Garden-related book you return to time and again:
Above: Hieronymous Bosch, published by Taschen, collects all of the 15th century painter’s fantastical works into one volume; $200.
Humans behind critters. Or…semi feral verdant. Or…human hands secondary. Or…chill on pruning. Or…herbs herbs herbs.
Plant that makes you swoon:
Above: Heirloom roses from friend Cindy Daniels’ garden and Queen Anne’s lace in a kenzan sitting in vintage ceramic ikebana trays.
It changes with every micro season and with every place. Scented geraniums, jasmine, magnolias, heirloom roses, any herb gone to seed, passion vine and fruit, persimmon (especially in late autumn on the branch), Datura, Solandra, Cobaea, nasturtiums, stone fruit blossoms, wild trillium, Usnea lichen, Queen Anne’s lace, begonia, wisteria, fennel, fennel, fennel!
Plant that makes you want to run the other way:
Anything from the flower mart, covered in poisons, transported, grown under monoculture agribusiness conditions, wrapped in plastic, cut the same length, uniform, painful, and full of toxins. Tropicals flown in and waxed really get me grossed out and worked up.
This is part of a series with Perfect Earth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to toxic-free, nature-based gardening, on how you can be more sustainable in your landscapes at home.
“We have declared 2024 the year of milkweed,” says Andi Pettis, director of horticulture at Governors Island. For the past couple of years, Pettis and her team have been busy incorporating milkweed into the island’s plantings. They’re focusing on the three species native to the ecoregion: butterfly weed (Pettis’s favorite because of the “incredible variation in color from golden yellow to almost scarlet”), mauvy common milkweed, and hot pink swamp milkweed. Her goal is to finish planting 5,000 milkweed plants this year. “Showing the relationship between monarch butterflies and milkweed is an easy way for us to connect people to the benefits of native plants and show them why it’s important to support wildlife even in an urban environment.” The efforts have paid off. They’ve been noticing more and more monarchs on the island. You’ve heard it before: If you plant it, they really do come. (See Monarch Butterflies Are Nearing Extinction: 5 Ways to Help.)
Planting milkweed is just one of the many initiatives that Pettis and her team are doing to bolster biodiversity. “Climate resiliency and sustainability were sort of baked into the design of the park,” she says. Created by the design firm West 8, with Mathews Nielson Landscape Architects, the park features 120 acres of hills, meadows, and forests in the middle of New York Harbor. “It was a reuse project really—an old military base turned into a public space with new parks,” she said. “But there was no horticulture staff when I was hired [six years ago].” Pettis, who trained at Brooklyn Botanic Garden and had risen through the ranks at The High Line to become director of horticulture before moving to Governors Island, had to build a team from scratch and began to rehabilitate areas where maintenance had been deferred for years. Today, she and her team have introduced 52 native plant species to the island, planted habitat for butterflies and birds, and brought in sheep to tame the rampant spread of invasive species. “We’re working with nature here,” she says. “It’s not a short fix, but it’s working. We’re in this for the long haul.”
Pettis talks about this bustling and beautiful urban island park and shares how they’re bringing biodiversity back. [This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.]
Photography by Sarma Ozols, unless otherwise noted.
Q: How are you gardening for biodiversity?
Above: Governors Island is doing what they can to help increase the dwindling monarch population by planting milkweed, the insect’s main food source. Here, in the milkweed demonstration garden in Liggett Terrace, several different pollinator-friendly native plants grow together including Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly weed), Asclepias incarnata (Swamp milkweed), Agastache foeniculum (Anise hyssop), Phlox paniculata ‘Jeana’ (Garden phlox), and Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ (Coneflower).
A: The park was designed for sustainability and climate resilience. West 8 built hills and these kinds of swales and berms to raise part of the park out of the 100-year floodplain. Working with Matthews Nielsen, they created a lot of naturalistic areas based on coastal maritime plant communities and filled the park with a lot of native trees. I think there are 53 different species of native trees planted on the South Island alone!
We have made it clear that we are choosing plants that mimic our coastal maritime shrublands and grasslands native plant communities. We’re also focusing on those that benefit biodiversity and wildlife. In areas where we have managed to retake the land with these native plant communities, we’ve seen huge upticks in the native insect populations.
Q: How are you adapting to our changing climate?
Above: When you walk along the pathways on the 70-foot high Outlook Hill, you’re immersed in plants like the fragrant native shrub Clethra alnifolia ‘Ruby Spice’ (right) and the red fruiting Viburnum opulus (Guelder-rose).
A: As temperatures warm, we are definitely experimenting with plants that would be considered more Southern. For example, we are considering planting live oaks on the island. We are also growing pawpaws, persimmons, and magnolias that are all doing really very well.
This is part of a series with Perfect Earth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to toxic-free, nature-based gardening, on how you can be more sustainable in your landscapes at home.
“It really felt like the land called us here,” says Michele Logan of Maranatha, her 73-acre farm in the Somerset Hills of New Jersey that practices and models conservation and stewardship, permaculture, regenerative agroforestry, and water management. From an early age, Logan had a passion for food and nature. “I still remember my grandmother, who had a hobby farm and was an amazing cook, giving me a goose’s egg when I was 10 years old,” she says. “She inspired my love for food and growing food.” The business executive acquired the property in 2015, during a time of personal struggle. She had developed an autoimmune issue, exacerbated by certain foods. Her mother and sister were ill. Healing was needed all around her, and the land seemed to hold a key to that process.
Conventionally farmed for decades, the property was blanketed with invasive species, both accidental and deliberate, such as the Norway maple trees and privet that had been planted as part of the landscaping years back. The farm, situated on a ridge above the north branch of the Raritan River, also suffered from extensive water and soil erosion, and it had been treated with chemicals. “Conventional practices turn soil into dirt,” says Christina Chrobokowa, the ecological landscape designer and founder of360 Earthworks, who Logan hired to help restore the land. The two of them brought in Johann Rinkens, a farmer and ecological designer, ofFields without Fences, who began applying permaculture ethics and principles to the restoration project (“care for the planet, care for people, redistribution of surplus or fair share,” are Rinkens’s basic tenets). “It’s a journey,” says Chrobokowa. “You need to read the land, follow the subtle cues, and take a long view.”
Photography courtesy of Maranatha Farm, unless otherwise noted.
Above: “I love multi-purpose,” says Logan. “I’m always asking, how do we grow plants that look beautiful and are also edible or serve a purpose like holding the earth and slowing down water.” This overhead view of Maranatha Farm shows the utility barn and Giving Garden North, as well as permaculture terraces and orchard. Photograph by North Jersey Drone Shots.
“We let the land lead the design of the farm,” says Logan. To reduce erosion, the team terraced the property, creating an access road to “mitigate and manage the run-off that’s coming down the slope and actually keep it higher in the landscape,” says Rinkens. They also constructed brush dams in gullies and built swales and berms to direct and slow the water. One of the principles of permaculture is to catch and store energy. In addition to solar panels, the team is catching and storing water by “slowing it down, spreading it out through the landscape, and letting it sink in,” says Rinkens. They moved stones from a fallen wall in a fallow pasture to design dry creek beds to channel the water that’s coming from the ridge above the farm into a spillway that’s designed for what Logan calls the “100-year storm.”
Above: “Water management and the topography led our farm design. Our farm access terrace was engineered with a 10 percent pitch towards a channel along the length of the road leading to the spillway that has a French mattress [a structure built under the road that lets water pass freely through] to allow stormwater to perk back into the Earth. A detention basin below the spillway further slows water as it heads downslope,” says Logan.
To promote ecological diversity (another permaculture principle: integrate rather than segregate), they created silvopastures—managed woodlands integrated with trees and herbaceous plants for animals (in this case sheep and chickens) to graze and forage. The trees also offer shade for the animals, which is especially important as the days get hotter. “Providing relief from heat lowers stress levels [in livestock] and makes them more productive,” says Rinkens. In addition, the team worked on a custom seed blend that included native grasses and wildflowers, with attention to varieties palatable to sheep. Voracious eaters, the sheep help control the spread of invasives around the property, while their manure fertilizes the fields.
Above: “One of our newly converted silvopastures shows how we created berms from debris,” explains Logan. “The berms will help slow stormwater as the silvopasture gets established with more native savannah and pasture grasses, as well as the native seed bank that was suppressed by invasive plant species.”
There are plenty of means and methods to take care of your hair. However, do you know that many of them may be harmful for the environment? The way to go is to use eco-friendly hair care ways to keep your hair health, glossy, and strong while keeping the environment clean and safe. Here are some eco-friendly hair care tips to follow. ~ Ed.
As people worldwide embrace eco-conscious living, it’s no wonder sustainable beauty habits are blossoming across different countries. If you want to look polished while staying eco-friendly, you’re probably on the hunt for the best shampoo bars that combine these qualities—along with tips to maintain your sustainable routine. In today’s post, we share eight practical tips to make your hair routine more sustainable.
8 Essential Tips for Eco-Friendly Hair Care
The key to practicing eco-friendly ways of hair care is to use homemade hair masks, natural ingredients and sustainable material, and eco-friendly brands.
Choose Natural Ingredients
Go clean with your hair products. Most drugstore shampoos (and other hair products) use your hair-ravagers and earth-ravagers. Safe to say that if you can get organic, natural, plant-based ingredients then do so. Sulfates (and other icky things) parabens and fake fragrances are so not fab. Your hair (and the Earth) will thank you!
Use Shampoo Bars
Got shampoo bottles? Dump them! Replace them with shampoo bars. They are cleaner and contain mostly natural substances. The shampoo bar by Ethique is a good option that works well with all hair types.
Use a Microfiber Towel
Standard towels are pretty rough on your hair, in more ways than one. They cause breakage and increase that attribute we call frizz. To keep your hair healthy and strong, try using a microfiber towel or an old T-shirt instead—these are much more absorbent and gentler on your hair.
Air Dry Whenever Possible
Instead of reaching for heat-damaging hair dryers, curling irons, or straighteners every time you wash your hair, try to limit their use. Letting your hair air dry saves energy and reduces damage. The less heat you use now, the happier and healthier your hair will be in the future.
Trim Regularly
Regular trims, one of the best things you can do for your hair, is also the simplest. Snipping off dead ends helps with hair growth as well as cutting down the use of heated styling tools. Healthier hair requires less product and styling so you’re also likely to use less single-use packaging and chemicals.
Invest in Quality Hair Brushes
For hair brushing materials, the most environmentally friendly option is bamboo. It is not only better for the planet, but also reduces breakage and nourishes your hair.
DIY Hair Masks
The best deep conditioner your hair can get can actually be in the comfort of your own home. Try creating your own hair masks using common ingredients like honey, avocado, and essential oils. You’ll reduce your purchase of store-bought products and minimize plastic packaging waste.
Best of all, you’ll know what you’re putting on your hair because the things you buy from stores generally are made from harmful chemicals.
Support Eco-Friendly Brands
About to spend a buck? Spend it on supporting environmentally conscious brands! It really does go a long way. Look into buying haircare brands from companies such as Ethique which use ethical and environmentally sustainable methods and source from sustainable locations. The demand for environmentally friendly haircare products has massively increased over the last year and will only continue to increase if like-minded consumers give their business to such brands and companies.
Wrap Up
Follow these simple steps to having glossy, healthy, strong hair whilst knowing you’re doing your bit to help save the world. It may take a bit of an effort initially to change your choices and habits but it is worth it. Not only your hair will be healthier, you’ll be happier too knowing you’re contributing to a noble cause.
Over to you
So tell me, are you going to be switching up the products you use for those that are more environmentally friendly?
Disclaimer: Though the views expressed are of the author’s own, this article has been checked for its authenticity of information and resource links provided for a better and deeper understanding of the subject matter. However, you’re suggested to make your diligent research and consult subject experts to decide what is best for you. If you spot any factual errors, spelling, or grammatical mistakes in the article, please report at [email protected]. Thanks.
