Project Maya Peat-Free Pledge #PeatFreePledge

Although I thought everyone knew that we shouldn't be using peat in our vegetable plots, allotments and gardens, it seems this is not the case and it will not become illegal until 2020. Shame on any gardeners that use peat- it's time to stop! Here's how and why.

So Project Maya is pushing for all gardeners to take the Peat-Free pledge and to use alternatives (organic, pesticide-free and non-animal based are what we should surely be using, for many environmental reasons).

· UK Peatlands store more carbon than the forests of the UK, France and 
 Germany combined. 

· Peat is being consumed 200 times faster than it forms. 

· 94% of our lowland bogs in the UK have been lost. 

· Every month, UK gardeners use enough peat to fill 69 Olympic swimming pools. 

Inspired by the research of Professor Mark Reed (Birmingham City  University) Project Maya is asking gardeners to pledge to be peat-free in 
their gardens. 

There would be an outcry if a company started excavating top-soil from your local park and selling it to gardeners. And yet most of us are silent about the excavation of peat from habitats that are just as valuable to us.  The UK gardener is a gift to wildlife; we are increasingly growing flowers that are perfect for pollinators, along with our own fruit and vegetables, saving the  packaging, and carbon used in transportation. In fact, our gardeners make a huge positive impact for UK nature. Yet, each month UK gardeners are using enough peat to fill the equivalent of 69 Olympic swimming pools, with no idea of the damage they are causing by doing so.

An average 100 litre bag of peat compost takes around 100 years to develop. In this time, a bag this size will have absorbed as much carbon dioxide as you would emit by driving from Manchester to Gloucester and back in a petrol VW Golf. 

Speaking about the campaign, Dr. Olly Watts, the RSPB’s peat-free campaigner said: ‘The RSPB has encouraged gardeners to go peat-free for many years – our bogs are wonderful places with amazing wildlife. It’s a tragic irony that they are drained and dug up for gardening, especially now there are good alternatives widely available.’ 

UK gardeners make a significant contribution to improving the environment for nature, and by going peat-free they can do even more. Our peatlands are a beautiful and incredibly valuable resource. Let’s keep them and our gardens beautiful. For more information, and to take the pledge head to www.mayaproject.org/peat-free-pledge. 

Peat is used in compost because it’s cheap, light, retains moisture and stores nutrients. But we don’t need to use it. Most amateur gardeners wouldn’t notice a difference in the performance of peat versus peat-free composts, but switching to peat-free would make a significant difference to our peatlands.

If we don’t start buying peat-free composts voluntarily, they may be banned. Already, the Government has set a target to phase out the use of peat by amateur gardeners in England by 2020. They are monitoring peat use and will be reviewing progress next year to see if  “additional policy measures are necessary”. 

Peatlands are a vast green lung that provides unique places for recreation and habitats for some of our most threatened wildlife, whilst absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday.