Monday, February 11, 2008

A Gardeners Patriotic Duty



How did we evolve into a country where patriotic duty has become synonymous with shopping? In recent years during times of crisis rather than being encouraged to volunteer, donate, or sacrifice, we Americans are asked to pull out our credit cards and head off to the mall. Our current president told the nation right after 911 that every citizen could contribute to the common good by purchasing stuff, and now that we are in…yes I will say it…and economic recession, the low and middle class will receive tax rebates costing the federal government 170 billion dollars so that we can dash out and buy a new red, white, and blue, flat screen tv. Some answers as to how we got where we are today can be found at Annie Leonard’s site The Story of Stuff , her very thought provoking video brought me to examine my own consumerism which to be honest at this point in my life has slowed down with of course the exception of my horticultural purchasing. All of this leads me to ponder could gardeners and all they consume rescue a failing economy? Consider how well the short life cycle of most plants in my garden fit into the current economic requirement of planned obsolescence, buy plant, nurture plant, kill plant,… buy plant, nurture plant, the length of this cycle can be remarkably short I have been known to loose a young plant over night only to run back to the nursery the next day.
Have you noticed how the frequency of new plant introductions have aided our materials driven economy by perceived obsolescence? Most gardeners love being the first person on their block to be growing the latest and greatest plant. The nursery industry has taken this to such lengths that we now have a long list of inferior Echinacea introductions, and don’t even get me started on the subject of hemerocallis.
In 2007 the Chicago Tribune reported that the nursery industry uses up 320 million pounds of plastic a year making plant containers and pots. Most of which are not recycled primarily due to the lack of uniformity, unlike milk and water bottles. If we could replace the plastic pots for compost friendly pots there would still be a constant need for production of new pots but without toxins. I feel confident that the nursery industry will be unable to ignore this issue for much longer.
So will you be doing your patriotic duty and buying new plants for your garden with your tax rebate check?

3 comments:

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Katy
Just dropped by after you cute comments on my blog .. thank you !
We will be married 31 years come April .. most of that time I was an army wife .. so it is doubly incredible to have a marriage last that long with that STRESS.
The roses and goodies are about time by now ? LOL

You have written a very insightful post here ! ..
Even though I am Canadian many of the points you make are applicable to us .. and I have wondered MANY times about a "compostable?" pot when buying plants .. excellent idea !

Gardeners are truly a force to be reckoned with .. too bad they haven't taped our ideas or requests for a better environment consumer wise is right ! Eh ?!
Joy : )

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Katy .. Thank you for the fav ! ..I wanted to do the same for you but Stuart has us up to a limit I see .. I guess we all would be favs and overload his program some how ? LOL
Today my head is still in bed after seeing how much more we have been dumped on .. I think I have the winter BLUES (really should be called stark raving mad WHITES !
You are lucky not to be here .. I haven't painted the kitchen yet and I'm spinning my wheels .. no one should be here, including me ! hahaha
Joy

kate said...

Canadians have become just as consumer driven as Americans ... we fall prey to many of the same issues.

I used to try and take my plastic plant pots back to garden centres and they would be refused. (It cost more to clean them than it did to use new ones).

How true it is about all of the new plant introductions. We run out and spend lots of $$$ buying new annuals and perennials because they are 'in'. We buy garden magazines now that tell us what is 'in'.

Most people also want instant results and are quite happy to pay for having the perfect flower combinations.

It's hard not to be affected by forces telling us to consume.

Great post!