ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENTS
Statement
Vandermeer Nursery strives to incorporate sustainable growing practices to reduce our ecological impact on our surrounding land and water systems. We promote environmental awareness within our retail and production operations and we commit to regularly reviewing our green initiatives to improve the effectiveness of our actions.
Water Conservation & Recycling
As you can imagine, it takes A LOT of water to run a greenhouse, which is why we make every effort possible to collect and recycle water from as many places as possible. When we water our plants, any excess water that is not used by the plant or evaporated is recollected in our greenhouses to reuse. Additionally, any rainwater that falls on our production fields and greenhouse roofs is collected to supplement the system.
In order for this water to be used again, it is filtered 2 different ways to remove particulates before being injected with a water treatment. It is then topped up with a custom fertilizer ratio and the pH is corrected for optimal growing. This fertilized water is pumped back out into the greenhouse to start the cycle again by watering and feeding the big, beautiful plants that you love!
We utilize a watering method in our production greenhouse known as “ebb and flow”, where the table is flooded and plants absorb their water from the bottom before the water is drained for recollection. This method reduces water and nutrient runoff, as well as producing healthier plants by limiting the spread of water-borne pathogens. (We do have a few of these tables in the retail store as well, used mainly for Cyclamen,Peace Lilies, African Violets, and Streptocarpus.)
Our massive water-recycling system has been in effect since 2005, but we started conservation efforts long before then. Over the years, our system has been improved upon and we continue to make improvements as new technology becomes available. These efforts are essential in helping us reduce our impact on our natural water table and incredibly important to us, especially given the nature of our business.
