Eco-friendly designs are expanding beyond home design and appliances, these days. Now, sustainable landscaping is on the rise as homeowners seek to find ways to save a little time and money while helping out the Earth. Landscaping often depends on a number of elements that can be just as harmful to the planet as the daily exhaust from traffic. Homeowners and landscapers often pile on pesticides and fertilizers full of chemicals and nonorganic ingredients. The goal of sustainable landscaping is to provide an attractive environment without causing damage to the earth. Recent developments in this field are drawing attention to land owners.
So, what is sustainable landscaping? Sustainable landscaping addresses environmental problems such as global warming, earth toxicity, stormwater management, and energy usage.
The world has been focusing its attention for decades on the need to find sustainable fuel sources that do not produce vapors that damage the earth’s atmosphere. During this time, expanding eco-friendly practices to other areas has all but been lost. With growing environmental concerns, people all over the world are changing their mindset to think environmentally outside the home.
Sustainable landscaping is about perpetuating the plants on the earth, and creating a more green-friendly environment. Often, however, the traditional landscaping industry relied on using caustic chemicals. Sustainable landscaping is an emerging field that deals with design and management of both residential and commercial landscapes and making them more environmental friendly. Sustainable landscape architects in Utah specialize in developing specific on-site strategies for sustainable landscaping. As a result, land owners are finding the resulting landscape requires very little, in terms of resources, to sustain it.
Permaculture involves designing a landscape that works with nature, not against it. It is a full architectural design that encompasses not just the grounds but the buildings, as well. Sustainable professionals are using this format to incorporate wind generators, editable landscapes and water conservation into the program. Permaculture is taking the ways of pioneers and modernizing them to create an environment that has less impact on the earth’s health.
Sustainability is about reusing what nature provides to maintain a landscape. For areas with naturally low water tables or poor absorbency, professionals are looking at ways to reuse grey water. This might include taking water that accumulates on the roof or collects in barrels for irrigation or even incorporating daily routines to water the landscape such as building outdoor showers.
Turning to solar power to light landscapes does two things: it automatics the illumination and it reduces the electricity expenditure. Solar lights absorb energy from the sun with photovoltaic cells. As daylight dissipates, the lights convert that energy to a usable form to light gardens and paths. Solar power is not new technology, but it getting more and more attention these days due to the dwindling fossil fuel resources. Solar lighting is a cost-effective approach to reduce dependence on electrical devices to brighten up property at night.
Like the sustainable landscape architects in Utah, manufacturers, landscape engineers and environmentalists are also focusing on ways to maintain the health of the planet and reduce dependence of fossil fuel. Sustainable landscaping solutions are providing additional tools in the fight to save the earth.
