Like everyone else on this thread, I am trying to eliminate peat from my gardening practices because of its environmental impact. I'm also finding coconut coir to be the preferred alternative according to a lot of experts. While one of the contributors to this thread has mentioned unethical production practices in poor countries, I also want to underscore the author's point about the "long boat ride" coir has to make to be usable to us in the north. I live in Nova Scotia, about 2 hours away from the nearest peat producer. The nearest coconut tree is thousands of kilometres to the south, and its coir is only going to reach me by that "long boat ride" that is doubtless using fossil fuels to propel the boat. I will use distant coir rather than local peat in the interests of phasing out peat use globally, but I do hope for an alternative to coir that doesn't put us in the fire as we step out of the frying pan.
Like everyone else on this thread, I am trying to eliminate peat from my gardening practices because of its environmental impact. I'm also finding coconut coir to be the preferred alternative according to a lot of experts. While one of the contributors to this thread has mentioned unethical production practices in poor countries, I also want to underscore the author's point about the "long boat ride" coir has to make to be usable to us in the north. I live in Nova Scotia, about 2 hours away from the nearest peat producer. The nearest coconut tree is thousands of kilometres to the south, and its coir is only going to reach me by that "long boat ride" that is doubtless using fossil fuels to propel the boat. I will use distant coir rather than local peat in the interests of phasing out peat use globally, but I do hope for an alternative to coir that doesn't put us in the fire as we step out of the frying pan.