If you are going to start homesteading, then you are lining your life up for a whole host of good. But there’s more than just personal benefits to be gained. By homesteading, you’ll be contributing to a greener planet earth. How’s that?
Homesteading does the following:
- It minimizes waste
- It reduces your carbon footprint
- It cuts down on food waste
That’s right! Simply picking up a shovel and swapping shop-bought goods for homegrown can help you do your part to help the environment. But how does homesteading do that? Take a look at just three ways.
Homesteading Minimizes Waste
In the last decade, manufacturers have become more environmentally conscious and have started cutting down unnecessary packaging. But even still, everything we buy comes in some form of packet or package, cardboard or plastic.
When you homestead, you’ll grow your fruit and veg with no need to keep them in any packaging. This will help to reduce the amount of cardboard and plastic you throw away.
You’ll also find yourself saving a little money here and there. Now, who doesn’t love the sound of that? When homesteading, you’ll try to do repairs on your things when they are broken instead of immediately buying replacements. This could include:
- Sewing and doing clothing repairs
- Gluing and repainting old and broken ceramics
- Reinforcing the handles and straps on bags
- Repainting rusty outdoor furniture
- Restoring worn rugs and carpets
- Reupholstering and other furniture repairs
But what can you do if you’re not sure how to repair something? You see, this is why I love the internet because you can find online a how-to video and even step-by-step explanations of just about anything you need to fix. Besides that, by repairing things yourself, you’ll be able to redesign them the way you want, giving your home a more personalized touch.
Homesteading Reduces Your Carbon Footprint
Everything we buy in the store has a carbon footprint. This is because the things we buy come from different parts of the country and even overseas.
Studies show that 8% of the average American carbon footprint comes from their food consumption. By actively homesteading, you’ll be able to reduce your carbon footprint by a whopping 68 pounds of CO2 every year! Now that’s what I call living sustainably!
Here is another reason why homesteading is great for the environment. When you homestead, you grow the things you need locally. This means that your food will not have to travel to get to you, which will help you reduce your carbon footprint. Instead of eating exotic fruit that has traveled halfway across the world to reach you (and let’s be honest, it tastes like it has spent most of its life on a plane), you’ll consume what you’ve grown locally. And there is nothing like the fresh and satisfying taste of your produce!
Homesteading Cuts Down on Food Waste
In the United States alone, 30–40% of the food supply is wasted every year. This boils down to approximately one pound of food per person every day! And the worldwide totals are just as shocking as 33% of food is wasted annually.
Homesteading helps to cut down on food waste. Why is that?
Consider the scenario. You need four ripe tomatoes for dinner tonight. If you go to the supermarket, you’ll more than likely pick up a bag of tomatoes and use four for dinner. Perhaps you’ll eat some of the other tomatoes in the packet later on in the week, but maybe one or two of them will stay in the back of the fridge, uneaten until they go bad, and you inevitably throw them away.
When you homestead, however, you do the following:
- You pick your fruit and vegetables as and when you need them
- You pick your fruit and vegetables according to how much you can consume
- As your produce finishes its cycle, you’ll plant new seeds, making your consumption sustainable
How to Do More for the Environment When Gardening?
By homesteading, you will be doing your bit for the environment, helping to cut down on processed food consumption, your carbon footprint, and food waste. But are you ready to take things up a notch? Then try doing the following when you homestead:
- Use organic compost in your garden.
Instead of throwing away old fruit, vegetable skins, and eggshells, purchase a compost bin and use it to feed your plants! Your crops will love it, and you will be reducing the amount of food you throw away.
- Water your garden with rainwater.
A water butt in the garden will collect rain. You can then use this to keep your garden looking lush (and not to mention cut down on your water bill).
- Exchange pesticides and chemicals for natural remedies.
Don’t worry; you won’t need a lab to mix an effective remedy for insect trouble. Here are just a few natural solutions:
- Chopped garlic, vegetable oil, and water
- Neem oil, mild liquid soap, and water
- Chili powder, mild liquid soap, and water
