The Gardening Industry is Creating Plastics that Can't Be Recycled: Going Green with an Irresponsible Industry

Taking a trip to your local gardening center brings home numerous plants in plastic pots. With every trip and every person to garden centers all over the world, plastic pots are filling up the land fills in record numbers. About 1 percent of plastic from gardening gets recycled. Plastic pots, trays, and flats don't have a stamp that indicates that they can be recycled. The horticultural industry may be starting to respond to a namely green industry. Stacks and stacks of plastic flower containers can be avoided or reused with proper care, if the agriculture industry would do it's part. Plastic soda and water bottles are recycled at 23 percent. While 26 percent of the plastics used in milk jugs are of recycled nature. Flower pot plastic would have to be cleaned and then reused by garden centers. An extreme time consuming task. Are they up for it?

Garden centers see their plastic pots as single use. This practice guards against plant diseases that can spread through a nursery and wipe out their stock. Are garden centers ready to accept all the plastic pots, trays, and flats back from consumers? How will this trend play out with rising fuel costs? Is it cost effective to ship the gardening pots back to where they came from for reuse? Some say it's a wise move to let the trucks take them back with them as plastic is light weight.

In the war against waste, what can you do to help? "Speak up" and ask your local retailer if they will accept the pots back for reuse. If they refuse, ask them why? Ask what they are doing to reduce the plastic landfill over load.

Recycle bins are starting to pop up for garden plastics. One of the challenges is that consumers are not doing a good job of cleaning the plastics. More volunteers are needed to sort the plastics. Alternatives are available, but the consumer will feel the price increase. Biodegradable pots are an option. Growers fret the changes as plants grow differently in different types of pots. The ultimate answer would be a plantable pot that disintegrates in ground. The biodegradable plantable sleeve is also an option being considered.

Who is at fault anyway? Why do we expect the horticulture industry to be the responsible party to the massive plastic it creates? No other business is responsible for it's recyclable waste. The grocery store isn't made to take back empty milk jugs or plastic soda and water bottles. That problem was solved many many years ago. Those plastics are made to easily be recycled through our regular garbage pick up. Can we now do the same for garden plastics? Not yet. Let's hope in the near future garden plastics will be made from recycled plastics.

Today's garden plastics can be chipped and used for other means. Going green has a cost just like everything else.