While you might think that gardening is a small and unnecessary task, it has a plethora of benefits in the real world. It not only reduces our carbon footprint, but our mental and physical health is improved as well! By making the choice to grow fruits, vegetables, and herbs in your garden, you are limiting the amount of visits to the grocery store and therefore reducing the carbon emissions from the car ride. You can also compost your organic food scraps in your garden's soil to fertilize the soil and increase the growth of your plants! Growing foods at home ensures a pesticide-free environment where your crops can flourish and you can eat as much as you want with no worries of hidden chemicals and toxins. As I mentioned before, gardening is good for the earth AND your body. In an article from Rodale News (http://www.rodalenews.com/benefits-gardening), I learned that gardening has a few great health benefits. In a study done by a professor and Texas A&M, gardeners rated themselves with much higher levels of optimism and positivity than non-gardeners. Your physical healt h is also improved because the exercise involved with gardening is shown to reduce osteoporosis and diabetes risks. Finally, gardening is proven to relieve stress and create a sense of calm, which can greatly improve your sleeping habits. Overall, surrounding yourself with leafy greens and getting your hands dirty while gardening will help not only the world, but you too!

My family has always had a garden, and it is true that it reduces your carbon footprint and also saves you money. We grew tomatoes and cucumbers, and one year we grew strawberries. We also used compost from our compost pile, made up of grass, leaves, and sticks. All in all, gardening is a very safe and healthy activity that is good for you and the environment.

I agree! My family recently started a vegetable garden in our backyard and it is a great way to help the environment and your own health.  I completely agree with your idea on composting. As we started gardening we began to realize just how much of the scraps of food we throw away can be used to help our garden. We have started composting our left over scraps of food instead of throwing them away. Gardening has many great effects on the environment and is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint.

You make a great point Grace! Here at my school we actually planted a garden in honor of a staff member that passed away and as a community outreach project. We never took into consideration the amount of positive effects it has environmentally. We just looked at how it would help the school visually. Your point has opened another huge spectrum for us to better our project!