Garden Maintenance

Manual gardening vs. using power tools

The main benefit of using manual tools for your gardening is not worrying about charging the batteries or power outages. These tools are usually lighter in weight, more compatible and sustainable. You can also have more control over the movement of the tool. We could say that manual tools are mostly used for small jobs or for sculpting fine details.

Everybody can agree that using power tools is beneficial in many ways. They are more powerful and also timesaving with better accuracy. Some of them also handle more difficult tasks that are impossible with manual tools. For example, a chainsaw can take care of a tree with ease. Just imagine cutting the tree with an axe, it would take a lot of time and energy. 

Drawbacks that should be considered before switching from manual tools to power tools are their performance, maintenance, cost and also storage because of their usually bigger size.

Electric or manual lawn mower rather than petrol ones

The consideration of these types of lawnmowers depends mostly on the size of your lawn. However, you can always choose your lawnmower based on power, economy, or emission.

Manual lawn mowers are operated by human power. They are ideal for smaller and flatter lawns. They absorb a lot of your energy, and the work may take some time.

Petrol lawnmowers increase air pollution, releasing harmful byproducts from their emissions. Therefore, we can say, they are not an eco-friendly choice. For this reason, electric lawn mowers are the better option if you don’t want to make such a big impact on the environment.

Tree planting to absorb carbon

A main benefit of planting trees is their ability of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a process where trees absorb the sunlight energy and use it to absorb the carbon dioxide. The result of photosynthesis is releasing oxygen in the air.

Even though all plants absorb the CO2, trees are more efficient because of their size and lifespan. Trees are essential for maintaining the CO2 and oxygen balance in our climate. Consider planting trees in your garden if the space and climate allows for it, take it a step further and plant fruit trees to produce your own food. See also our tips on Growing Your Own Food.

We can also consider trees as energy savers. They provide shade and thus reduce high temperatures in cities. According to www.onetreeplanted.org shade from a single tree can save the same amount of energy it takes to power 10 room-sized air conditioners for 20 hours a day!

Bamboo absorbs more CO2 and produces more oxygen

A great way to help the environment is to maintain the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. To maintain this balance, an efficient way is to plant bamboo. Bamboo can produce 35% more oxygen than a typical hardwood tree.

www.guaduabamboo.com states: “In case of giant tropical bamboo, one newly planted bamboo plant can sequester 2 tons of carbon dioxide in just 7 years. In comparison, a typical hardwood tree will sequester 1 ton of carbon dioxide in 40 years.” That means that bamboo can absorb 5 times more CO2 than a regular tree.

Bamboo has a much shorter growth cycle than our native hardwood trees and often does not need to be replanted. Promoting the growth of bamboo in addition to typical trees can be a solution for capturing a lot of CO2 from the atmosphere.

Check out this mini documentary from Cariloha all about bamboo, its uses, and environmental benefits:

https://youtu.be/bGdMTIxU9Uc