There are too many people on the planet, too few trees, too much pollution, too few fish in the oceans and many more “too’s” that illustrate the extent to which we have stretched the capacity of our planet to the limit.  Each of us is responsible for our own actions and this empowers us to make a difference based on those choices.  Either we can contribute to the demise of our planet or we can reduce our footprint, potentially even to a positive influence.

 

This is the time of year when we all take stock, decide where we feel we need to improve ourselves, set resolutions and make goals that we believe will take us in the desired direction.  I put the challenge to you to consider resolutions that can enable you to live more sustainably in 2015.  Whatever you currently do to reduce your environmental impact is excellent, but there is always more that can be done!

 

Examples of such measures include composting your kitchen waste, producing earthworms on the kitchen scraps, catching and drinking rainwater, walking wherever possible instead of driving, turning your geyser temperature down, capturing the sun’s energy to heat your household water and insulating your home to reduce heating requirements.  These all move us in the right directions, but what about growing your own vegetables, and how about using aquaponics as the technique?

 

Low energy pumps are adequate to circulate the water in an aquaponics system, keeping energy usage to a minimum.  Placing the tanks and growbeds inside a greenhouse tunnel enables us to reduce winter & night time heat loss, whilst capturing daytime solar heat, thereby providing a superb growing environment for our plants.  The crops themselves can be grown from heirloom seeds (non-modified seeds, aka natural seeds).  No fertilisers are required as the fish waste provides the nutrients the plants need, with the exception of a supplement of alkalinity and occasional additional of chelated iron.  All this to produce the tastiest plant crops (and fish!) you are likely to encounter anywhere.

 

If we each do what we can to make our living space as environmentally friendly as possible we can reduce the impact we are having on the planet, whilst also enjoying the literal fruits of our labour.