Each of us can do a little bit every day to reduce our carbon footprint. Whether it is reducing our use of the car, planting a tree, hanging our laundry on the line to dry, buying local or growing some of our own food, each step is helpful.

As your local garden centre in Wood islands and in Hunter River PEI, we are making a difference. Many of the plants at Island Pride are grown on PEI. We grow many from seed, we bring cuttings in to grow on, and limit the number of full-size plants we bring in to reduce trucking. Many of the perennials are propagated and kept on-site during the winter for resale in the spring and summer.

The plastic we use for most all our plants is reused. The greenhouse plastic is again reused for other purposes.

We sell local seafood compost made on PEI from shellfish industry waste. Soil, compost and mulch is available in bulk to reduce the packaging and shipping. Bulk products can be loaded into your truck, delivered or  you can borrow a plastic bucket to take the bulk soil or compost home and return the bucket to get your deposit back.

We wait as long as we can before we turn on the heat in the greenhouses. In addition to reducing our carbon footprint, we do this to better prepare plants for a cool outdoor garden bed. Many of our perennials are never heated.

A portion of our electric power comes from solar panels.

So, what can you do? Start by adding a few eco-conscious acts to your daily routine and build from there. Shorten your morning shower or perhaps compost your veggies, You can even try raising your lawnmower’s blade as it is better for your lawn and it reduces evaporation.

Let’s make this a greener world.