Gardeners' World presenter Monty Don is urging people not to buy mass-produced plants grown in peat, explaining that garden centres who stock them are 'actively choosing to do harm'.
Commonly used in gardens and fields, peat is composed of dead mosses and plants that have slowly built up under wet conditions. When peat is spread on the ground, its carbon quickly turns into carbon dioxide, adding to greenhouse gas levels.
Writing in his Gardeners' World magazine column, the presenter said: 'If you don't care about this you are sticking your head in the sand, not least because it will affect the quality of life for your children and grandchildren. For gardeners, this means we have to consume less and think more about the connections... never buy peat in a potting compost.
'And don't buy plants that are grown in peat. No garden centre should stock these things. If they do, then they are actively choosing to do harm.'
Monty explains the importance of buying from small producers, instead of larger companies: 'If you supply a product that relies on upon harmful environmental practices, cheap labour, poor conditions or the destruction of habitat then you are part of the problem.
'We should not be buying cheap, mass-produced, disposable plants but either grow them ourselves or buy them locally from small producers. We should each own the impact of what we buy and how it contributes to carbon emissions.'
Around 10 years ago, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs explained that the use of peat by amateur gardeners should be phased out by 2020.
Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox.
In need of some positivity or not able to make it to the shops? Subscribe to House Beautiful magazine today and get each issue delivered directly to your door.