Using peat free growing media helps to protect irreplaceable peatland flora and fauna. But did you know that peat also has a crucial role to play in relation to climate change?

Peat locks carbon and prevents it from entering the atmosphere, where it forms CO2, the main greenhouse gas. There’s around 100kg of carbon per cubic metre of peat, equivalent to the emissions from one car driving 2,000 miles. UK peatlands store approximately 3 billion tonnes of carbon. If this was lost as CO2 to the atmosphere, it would be equivalent to over 20 years of UK industrial emissions*.

Peat develops very slowly, so it may take hundreds of years to replace each metre that is extracted for garden growing media.

At present, the peat dug up in Britain for growing media releases almost half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year – the equivalent of 100,000 cars on the road.**

Amateur gardeners account for almost 69 per cent of all peat used in the UK, mainly in multi-purpose compost and grow bags***

In a recent poll of over 1000 UK gardeners, less than 29 per cent said they buy peat-free growing media.

Our results also showed that over 38 per cent of the public were not aware that most 'multi-purpose composts' contain peat (unless otherwise specified).

What you can do

Choosing peat-free products when you buy growing media (such as grow bags) is one of the most important things you can do to reduce your environmental impact as a gardener.

• Home-made compost is one of the best alternatives to peat as a soil improver or as a base for potting compost
• If you have to buy growing media or soil conditioners check that the label reads 'peat free' – ask if you are not sure
• Ask for plants which have been grown in peat-free growing media
• Use bark chip, leaf mould or home made compost as a mulch instead of peat
• Well rotted farmyard manure or wood waste based soil conditioners are good alternatives to peat

*Source: Carbon Flux from Peak District Moorlands Moors for the Future Research Note No. 12
**Source Defra News Release Ref: 118/09
***Source: Defra 'Monitoring of peat and alternative products for growing media and soil improvers in the UK 2007' report