Vertical Farming Future Greener Growing Solution?

Vertical Farming Could Yield Greater Yields Than Fields However Challenges Still Need Solutions

People interested in greening farms to reduce chemical harm may be interested in pursuing large-scale vertical indoor gardening. At first glance, vertical indoor gardens may seem like a great idea, especially in parts of the world with a shorter growing season. However, surprisingly, growing food indoors in vertical gardens could have some serious environmental impacts. 

Visual Capitalist published the following interesting sponsored infographic on the topic of vertical farming recently that may be of interest to you if indoor vertical gardening is something that may interest you.

Advantages of Indoor Vertical Gardening InfoGraphic from visual Capitalist

The article on Visual Capitalist shows studies suggest that growing food indoors on multiple floors has a huge appeal over growing crops in outdoor fields. However, there are some surprising and puzzling environmental costs to growing lettuce indoors.

First, let us look at the good news about growing lettuce in indoor vertical farms.

By growing lettuce indoors in a vertical garden, farmers can eliminate the need for using so many pesticides. This could greatly reduce the costs of growing crops. 

Next, indoor vertical gardens are shown to give much higher yields.  A traditional one-acre field planted with lettuce yields 16 tons whereas a one-acre vertical garden yields almost 10 times as much - 126 tons!

Third, a vertical indoor garden uses about 95% less water per ton of lettuce than the traditional outdoor farming method.

However - the CO2 or carbon dioxide emitted by lettuce grown indoors is astronomically larger, so much so that it seems questionable.  How on earth can it be that lettuce grown indoors in a vertical garden could produce so much more gas? A ton of lettuce grown outside produces almost 40% less CO2 than lettuce grown in an indoor vertical garden? What on earth could be the cause of this increased production of carbon dioxide?

Two other challenges facing the use of indoor vertical gardens for growing food are the need for artificial lighting and the need for copious amounts of water - two things usually naturally supplied when lettuce is grown outdoors in a field.

One thing I did not see covered in this article was how the nutritional value of the lettuce compares between the two growing methods. For me, the nutritional value and taste of the food are the most important aspects to be considered when determining whether to pursue a farming method.  If lettuce grown indoors in vertical farms had a higher nutritional value, then it would be worth the investment of time and energy to find solutions to challenges facing indoor vertical farming - otherwise, it is not a viable proposal.

What do you think?

Source:

• Is Virtual Farming the Future? - Visual Capitalist

Note: Posts on this blog have referral links that can help our authors eat when you shop through them. Want to join in the writing fun? Pop a note in the comments below

Attention Bloggers

Do you have a blog? Would you like to get paid for sharing interesting products and services on your blog?

Sign up for these free affiliate marketing programs:

• Share A Sale
• Panthera Network Affiliate Marketing.

About This Author

Sister Su is grateful to God for keeping her alive. She writes on several blogs, has a YouTube channel and is most easily reached through Twitter @Sister_Su

This post was proofread by the free version of Grammarly

Find out more about Grammarly Here on Sister Su's Writing Tips Blog

National Wildlife Week Celebrations 2021

National Wildlife Week 2021 North American Celebrations

 National Wildlife Week runs from April 5th to 9th in 2021. Did you know  National Wildlife Week is at beginning of Earth Month each year? This is definitely something to put on my calendar to remember for next year. 

Note: This blog has affiliate links from companies who will pay our writers when you shop through them at no extra cost to you. Thank you. Want to write a Guest Post or two? Leave a comment below.

This post will have links to information about National Wildlife Week as I find them. Do you know of other National Wildlife Week special events happening? Please pop a note in the comments below. Here's what I've discovered so far.

Money Saving Time Saving Planet Saving Laundry Solutions!

 Wishing There Were New Ways to Save While Doing Laundry? 

Here are some cool new ways to save time, money, your back and the planet while doing laundry. This post has some fun and practical ways to rethink doing laundry that can save you time, and money while being earth-friendly too!

Are you keen on trying to be more green? Join our writing crew or just pen a post or two!

Note: This blog has affiliate links from companies who will pay our writers when you shop through them at no extra cost to you. Thank you. Want to write a Guest Post or two? Leave a comment below.

My Top Three Favourite Ways to Save Money and Energy While Doing Laundry

1. Stop paying for water and jugs. Use laundry strips! 

Have you seen the latest real men do laundry ad from Tru. earth? 

Tru.earth Laundry Strips Save You Multiple Shopping Trips!

They get the earth-saving message across with a bit of mirth. Here is a clip of my favourite part of their Real Men do Laundry laundry strip ad.

Discovering Leaf Leather!

What Is Leaf Leather? 

Leaf leather is new to me, so perhaps it's new to you too. Leaf leather is an innovative plant-based leather alternative made from tree leaves! Isn't that cool?

Note: Posts on this blog contain referral links that may help our authors eat when you make purchases through them.

Leaf leather lovers say it's better than traditional leather because it's more environmentally friendly and created from tree leaves so it doesn't require harming animals. 

Tree Tribe Offers Handcrafted Teak Leaf Accessories

I discovered Leaf leather on the Tree Tribe blog

Did you know that leaf leather can be made just as strong and durable as animal leather? It can even be made water-resistant! 

Leaf Leather - How Do They Make it?

Wondering how leaves are made into leather?  Here is how Teak leaf leather: is made by Tree Tribe:

1. First,  sustainably harvested Teak leaves are collected from fallen leaves. No trees are harmed in the process 
2. Next, the leaves are soaked in water, and dyed,.
3. After that, the leaves are arranged flat together and set out to dry. This bonds the leaves together and makes a large sheet of leaf material. 
4. The next step is to amend the leaf material with cotton fabric to provide a soft interior backing and structure. A thin translucent outer layer made from a non-toxic BOPP film is also applied that seals the leaf layer and protects it while maintaining the texture and feel of the leaves. This layer also provides waterproofing, durability, and longevity. 
5. With the leaf leather material complete and strengthened, it can now be sewn into accessories.

The whole process from leaf to leather takes  five days. Then after the leather is created it can take up to an hour to create one of the handcrafted items Tree Tribe offers.

Teak Leaves Become Handcrafted Accessories -Tree Tribe Leaf Leathers

Apparently, you can use a variety of plants (and fungi) to make plant-based leather - tree leaves, pineapple leaves, mushrooms, soybean waste, even kombucha!  Tree Tribe chose Teak leaves for many of their products for three reasons.:

1. Teak leaves are huge.
2. Teak leaves can be harvested sustainably.
3. Teak Leaves' natural designs live on permanently in the product. 

 

Handcrafted Leaf Leather Travel Kit -Tree Tribe Leaf Leathers

Leaf Leather - History 

The entire process of handcrafting Teak leaf leather is a traditional hand made art from Thailand. Tree Tribe partners with a small family business of Thai artisans and skilled seamstresses that share eco-friendly values and have a passion for quality crafting.
Every piece is unique, so the Tree Tribe leaf leather gear designs are truly one of a kind - you get a unique piece of art that shows the beautiful variances of nature.  

If you want to get in on some leaf leather goodness check out a wide range of Tree Tribe Leaf Leather accessories here:

About Tree Tribe 

Tree Tribe is an outdoor lifestyle brand that plants a tree on every sale. They create consciously and draw inspiration from nature. Tree Tribe is on a mission to plant millions of trees and make a positive impact on the world. So far they've planted over 400,000 trees in 12 countries!  Tree Tribe is a US-based company but they're spread all over the planet and always looking for their next adventure.

Thanks to Charlene on Facebook for asking some great questions about leaf leather to help make this post more interesting!

Please drop a note below before you go, 

Or Tweet Me

@Sister_Su

This post was proofread by the free version of Grammarly

There are some advanced issues that can be fixed with a premium version of Grammarly.

How nay can you spot?

Tiny Homes Bring Smaller Footprint?

 Case Study - My Tiny Village Oregon

Trying to Reduce your ecological footprint? Could a tiny home be a step in the right direction?

My Tiny Village Oregon started with a woman building herself a tiny home to cut down on her expenses and ecological footprint. Later, her plan expanded into a grouping of tiny homes in a forested area where she hosts people wishing to try out the tiny home lifestyle. 

Aerial View My Tiny Village Birdhouse- Oregon

Note: Posts on this blog may contain referral links that help our authors eat when you make purchases through them. Thank you. 

Watch  My Tiny Village on Smart Healthy Green Living streaming service for free and see how this might be a smaller footprint solution for you.

My Tiny Village Oregon Highlights Artistic Low Impact Living

My Tiny Village Oregon - Loft Home

The founder of My Tiny Village - Oregon built her first tiny home as a way to cut down on her expenses. After that, she started looking at ways she could put her hard work and new knowledge to work.  With a lot of love from supportive people who helped her along the way, a Tiny Village soon emerged.

Lofty Ambitions?

My Tiny Village is part of the Tiny Village Expedition series airing on Smart Healthy Green Living streaming services/ The first Tiny Home on this tour is a loft home hideout that sleeps three. Originally, it was planned to sleep five, but the planned sofa bed on the first floor was swapped out for a table and chairs with a very unique furniture addition - an original antique automobile trunk upcycled with casters added for storage! This is just one indication of the quirky interesting touches this Tiny Home designer has injected into the Tiny Village in Oregon. 

The tiny homes in Tiny Village Oregon have artwork from local artists, and many unique handmade solutions.

Oh, and if you do need extra space for more guests, the Tiny Heritage Hippie Teardrop is available too.

Here are a couple of other Tiny Homes from My Tiny Village - Oregon airing on Smart Healthy Green Living streaming service.

My Tiny Village Oregon- Windows Galore Tiny Home

My Tiny Village Oregon - Pine Retreat Tiny Home

What a great way for people to try the Tiny Home lifestyle before they buy! Whether you're looking for some tiny space utilization ideas, contemplating a Tiny Home vacation, or just curious about Tiny Homes, this show in the Tiny Home Expedition series on Smart  Healthy Green Living streaming service is a must-see!

Registration for Smart Healthy Green Living streaming service is free and easy. Just click this  Smart Healthy Green Living streaming service link, add your email address, and start watching!

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by! Please drop me a note in the comments below and let me know how I can make this blog more enjoyable for you. 

Or Tweet me 

@Sister_Su

You may also be interested in:

• More info About Smart  Healthy Green Living Streaming  on my private blog