Purchasing locally grown foods and growing your own reduces waste because fossil fuels do not have to be burned to transport foods from across the country.  Home grown and local foods also reduce the use of plastic bags and packaging.  For example, my family grows some herbs and spices, and while it is a small impact, it means that we do not need to waste a plastic container to store it in, but rather pick it right off the plant to use in cooking.

I think that having your own garden is a great idea. I also think that more people should be informed about how to make their own fertilizer out of their waste.

I agree Katya. I found an interesting article about the pros and cons to making your own fertilizer. Some of the pros include the fertiizer increasing the ability of the soil to retain moisture, thus reducing the need to water very often and the fertilizers release nitrogen slowly, giving the plants a more stable and steady growth period. Some of the cons, though, were that organic, homemade fertilizers can carry disease causing rganisms and that getting the correct ratio of fertilizer to soil needs some experimenting before you can really rely on the fertilizer. This aricle also includes five very interesting compost recipes for homegrown fertilizers.
http://www.organicauthority.com/organic … cipes.html

Wow! I didn't know that homemade fertilizers could carry disease and that ratio matters. Reading over the article, I saw that fertilizer also has to be compatible with your plants, as different plants have different needs. For example, tomatoes do well in acidic soil. However, some plants just do better in different areas and have different seasons that they thrive in. When I go to my local nursery, I see that they have different plants for different seasons in order to make it easier for the plant to get introduced into its new area.