For the past few years, my mom has tried many times to start a garden of her own. It's hard for her to keep up with it because she's often out of town on weekdays, so very few have worked. However, when the plants do end up surviving, my siblings and I eat all of the produce within days of its harvest. Gardening can be pretty difficult, but I think it's worth all of the work and effort. The only plant that we've been able to keep alive is our fig tree and every year we're able to collect tons of figs from it. For the past two years, my mom has taken all the figs harvested and made fig jam, which she eats with her breakfast. I think that if my siblings and I put more effort into these gardens, we could plant other types of fruits and berries and do the same for those. Gardening reduces one's carbon footprint because it eliminates the need for a trip to the grocery store. In order for produce to get to a grocery store, it has to travel miles from the farm it was grown at to the actual store. The trucks that transport this produce release large amounts of carbon dioxide int o the air, especially if traveling a long distance. This can all be avoided by growing your own produce in your own garden!

I think it's great your mom has been trying to start a garden! My dad is very into gardening, and we have a had a garden of our own for three years. He will grow everything from potatoes to limes. Like you said, we also eat most of the produce within days of its harvest. If we don't eat all of the produce, we share it with our family or friends. Gardening has definitely helped reduce my family's carbon footprint because we don't have to go to the grocery store as often anymore. We used to go at least once a week, but now that we have our own garden, we've reduced our trip to maybe once every 7-10 days! We don't have to buy most fruits or vegetables anymore because we now have them in our own backyard. These foods are also healthier for us because they haven't been sprayed with pesticides or other growth hormones. In addition to the garden, my dad has a little area next to it for composting. We put anything from leaves to orange peels in the composting area. It produces very fertile soil that we use in our garden. This eliminates the need to buy soil for our garden, savin g carbon dioxide. It also eliminates waste because most food trash scraps can be thrown into the composting area! I know most people don't have time, but if everyone could try gardening or composting even a little bit, we could reduce our carbon footprint immensely and save a lot of money!

What a great suggestion! My family has a huge garden every summer and I definitely agree that it makes everything easier in the way of food preparation. Not to mention it tastes 10x better as fresh, locally grown food! So glad others are realizing that gardening is the way to go.

My relatives have a garden in Pennsylvania. They grow raspberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. They taste great in salads! Nothing like some fresh, organic produce especially when it helps reduce footprints! I never thought about actually reducing the trips to the grocery store because of them though, but it's a really good point. You could probably save a bunch of CO2 emissions as well as money in the process.

I think that is good to harvest so that you do not have to go to the grocery store to buy the fruits or vegetables. It is also a good idea because you are not using as much carbon so you do not have that big of a carbon footprint.

I really don't agree, Because some of our systems won't allow us to have our own personal garden. Maybe some people live in apartments and there owners won't let them, how are they going to get what they need if the trucks stop importing the good to the stores.

I do and don't agree because some people are not able to grow there own gardens like the ones that don't live in homes some people live in apartments.

Starting a garden would be a great idea to help lower your carbon footprint but unfortunately it does take a lot of time that not very many people have these days. Another way we can help to lower our footprint would be to shop at a farmers market where they sell farm grown items from areas near where you live.

I agree that starting a garden would be a great save. I love growing and eating fresh veggies so this would benefit me and the environment. Also I also agree with the fact that all people can create gardens because they may live in apartments.

You are right! There are many benefits of gardening-better tasting food, more healthful foods, a lower carbon footprint, and good exercise. If several people work together it is more fun and a great way to share the work. Some people who live in apartments use raised-beds on the roof.

I agree with building a garden to decrease your carbon footprint but the amount of work and time that you have to put in to the garden is a lot. Yes there are a lot of benefits coming from building a garden but there are also a lot of downfalls. You have to make sure that you water it and keep the soil healthy and you have to worry about animals eating. My family has a little tomato garden on the side of our house that we use but thats it. We save a little money on buying tomatoes at the grocery store so thats a good thing.