Geb & Green is exhibiting at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, 23rd–27th May 2023
Our Chelsea Garden Studio
Cleaning up the houseplant industry
Our studio was designed to highlight the problems within the UK houseplant industry, and showcase a solution to how existing growing practises can be changed to reduce their carbon footprint. The use of the laundry room is to show how a peat free growing medium can be “cleaned” and recycled to grow beautiful, lush houseplants right here in the UK creating a circular economy. Precious peat stays in the peatlands and virgin coir does not need to be grown, processed and shipped to the UK.
Choosing houseplants that are peat free can make a huge difference in the fight against climate change.
- Every year in the UK, peatlands release more carbon than all the HGVs on our roads combined, and damaged peatlands are emitting 6% of all global greenhouse gas emissions.
- The UK Government has announced that sales of peat to amateur gardeners in the UK will be banned by 2024. (We don’t think this goes far enough and believe it should apply to commercial growers and imports from commercial growers too.)
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors: we borrow it from our children”
Native American Proverb
The elephant in the greenhouse
The use of peat for growing houseplants has been the elephant in the room for a very long time. We don’t just want to highlight this issue, but offer a solution too.
The central focus to our laundry room is a mini steriliser sat on a washing machine. This is to showcase how we clean the waste material, through steam alone, and recycle it.
The laundry room will be dressed with detergent bottles, laundry baskets, hanging clothes and an ironing board, reflecting day to day life in a family home. Plant care and growing guidance will be shared in a fun way reflecting laundry care guidance.
Want to learn more about our sustainable vision?
All our plants here are chosen as they are native to tropical rainforests, and a laundry room emulates the warmth and humidity of their natural environment.
The plants are all “mainstream” and can be easily sourced from independent houseplant shops to garden centres and online, as well as from our website. We want everyone to know that all houseplants, large or small, tropical or not, can be grown in a more sustainable way while maintain quality.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023 Sponsors
Our Mission
Our mission is to combat “greenwashing” in the UK houseplant industry, reduce the use of peat used for houseplants, and ask consumers to start thinking about how green their houseplants really are.
Our ‘roots’, lie in the farming industry, with 25+ years growing experience we want to bring our knowledge of sustainable growing into the mainstream.
We want to provide an easy, sustainable alternative for our plant obsession – removing nasty peat from our plants and horticulture – growing happy, healthy, plants in a recycled peat free medium.
