Gardening is often considered to be a ‘green’ hobby. Obviously growing your own food near your home can reduce fossil fuel emissions quite a bit. Managing weeds and pests with elbow grease instead of pesticides is also great for the environment (not that all backyard gardeners do that).
A quick look around the garden centre at your local Walmart though, will give you an idea of how much plastic is consumed by modern gardeners. I’ve blogged about reducing plastic in the garden before. This post is specifically about alternatives to plastic pots and planters. I recently retrieved two stainless still sinks from a local illegal dumping site. After I repurposed them to make a feeding station to feed cow’s milk to my pigs, I did a quick search to see what other people do with free stainless steel kitchen sinks. The main uses are BBQ grills and planters.
Almost anything that was originally designed to contain something can be repurposed to contain potting soil. If you are growing food, you need to carefully both the material the container is made from and the former contents. A stainless steel kitchen sink is a great option.
Thanks for sharing my article on ‘Clever Plant Container Ideas’. I agree with you about looking at the functionality of a container or item – if it has adequate drainage and hasn’t been contaminated by chemicals or toxic materials, then it’s usually safe for planting and we can help reduce landfill by reusing rather than throwing away.
I do recommend doing your due diligence if you want to plant edibles. It’s wise to consider the former life of any pre-loved material. You can find some practical tips in ‘Safe Containers for Growing Food’ (http://themicrogardener.com/choose-safe-containers-for-growing-food/). Hope this helps.