Urban Green
“To plant a garden, is to believe in tomorrow”
How to live more simple yet in a green context, when more and more people are flocking to the cities?
There are many cool projects out there, from urban gardening to promoting biodiversity on your balcony and from guerrilla flowers to green rooftops. Where do you fit in?
Green (Up)!
This picture shows two different streets in the same city on the same day. Buildings absorb up to twice as much heat as natural environments. As the planet heats up, trees and green spaces help keep our cities naturally cooler without the need for energy-hungry airconditioning.
Green spaces like gardens, parks, balconies and even rooftops provide a home for a wide range of plants and animals, improving biodiversity. They also give space to grow produce, cutting food miles and facilitating composting from food waste. Jobs can be created at urban farms and smallholdings, farm shops and markets.
Having green social spaces around you, also reduces stress levels, and gives room for exercise and creative play.
What can you do to “live” more greener in your city!?
1. Start a garden
Create a garden on your balcony, or of course in your (shared) real garden.
Plant native flowers to attract bees and other pollinators, and grow herbs and vegetables to eat.
2. Community Garden
Get involved with a community garden or start your own.
It’s a great way to meet other people, get some fresh air and teach kids about how food gets to our plates.
It’s really quite easy, city officials or even privates actually are often happen to lend out pieces of their land for urban gardening projects.
Here an example of the Stadtgarten in Davos, which we helped set up. Since the start in 2017 the project has grown into 2 gardens and several raised garden beds all over town. In total over a hundred people and students volunteered their time to produce food that is then shared with everyone for a small donation.
3. Plant a bomb
Make your own seed bombs using clay, earth and seeds (be careful to choose native species only, have a look at https://www.flora-helvetica.ch/). Launch them in spring and watch them grow.
>> For all those from Solothurn, do participate in our Biodiversity survey, to see which cool projects around biodiversity we could start!
4. Join a GreenUp event
From seed swaps to urban food foraging, we have lots of fun sharing ideas and practical ways to make a difference in your own city.
5. Compost
It’s really easy and doesn’t smell. There are many different ways. For warmer areas you can use this super simple method. In colder temperatures, you might need some wurms to help the process along.
It’s great way to keep organic waste out of your bin, save money, close the loop and give back food to the earth, even if you don’t want to use it for growing plants!
Do you have other tips to share?
We’d love to hear your story!
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