Because we’re talking about plants today, I want to say that buying like 200 plants online through DTC shops hurts the very Earth that brought them to you & is kinda greenwashing. Since it’s also Earth Week here’s a thread on how to plant shop and think about the environment.

The most low-effort way to do this (and most relevant right now) is simply buying carbon offsets to make your online purchase carbon-neutral, especially those beautiful tropical plants. @rootednyc has them on their online shop through @getcloverly. https://rooted.nyc/products/carbon-offset-for-shipping

A sidebar to this is that carbon offsets is a huge can of worms and way too complicated to get into in a thread about plants, but it’s better than nothing and I’m sure you can part with a few more $ to make it happen.

Look into where your plants are grown. Lengthening their path to you deepens their footprint. Go for local nurseries, or even take plants off someone’s hands to extend the lifetime of a purchase. Plant Swap and FB Marketplace is a great way to do that. https://plantswap.org/listing-locations/united-states/new-york-1/new-york-1/

You’re probably getting your plants in plastic nursery pots. Normally they should be kept in these pots for at least 8-12 months after you get them, but you can do more. Try asking your grower if they provide recyclable or biodegradable nursery pots and reuse as much as possible.

Now let’s talk soil. Soil is also a whole can of worms (pun intended) but one simple thing to try is going for compost soil instead of regular potting soil. My favorite in NYC is @mcenroeorganic’s which uses @GrowNYC compost.

It takes a lot of energy to grow a plant. If you want multiple babies, try propagating! A lot of popular house plants can be propagated just by snipping off some extra shoots and putting them in water or soil. It’s also a good way to meet plant friends through gifting / swapping.

Your plant gets a bunch of dust and crap on it’s leaves over time. If you’re wiping it off, please use a damp hand towel instead of disposable paper. Another good alternative is sticking them all in the shower together () and giving them some indoor rain.

Please stay away from harsh chemicals for plant care, they end up draining into our water stream. Neem oil is a natural pesticide that solves 90% of common houseplant problems I’ve run into.

And lastly, PLEASE evaluate the number of plants you have the resources to support. A lot of people get ambitious about plant buying and end up with more plants than they have the pots, soil, sun, time, etc. for and those plants end up dying (super sad face).

TL;DR I used to think that surrounding myself with plants and being good with them made me a Earth-loving, hippie millennial — but that’s just the face of it! Carry that image through with action, especially when you can afford to part with a few more big tech bucks.