The latest Act on CO2 campaign – to stop using peat-based compost in our gardens – was launched today by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn. He is supported by celebrity gardener Diarmuid Gavin in urging gardeners to switch to peat-free composts to protect bog wildlife.

Amateur gardeners are now responsible for the majority (70%) of peat use in UK horticulture although it only started being used widely in compost in the 1950s.

Most gardeners are not even aware that the compost they are buying contains peat, and that peat-based compost damages the environment.

Peat forms in three habitats across the UK – fens, lowland bogs and blanket bogs. Peat is extracted from lowland raised bogs destroying this fragile habitat and the plants and animals that live in it.

Peat, which forms over thousands of years by squashing and trapping decomposing plant remains in a waterlogged environment, is also a carbon store. Its extraction releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Around half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide is emitted each year from peat extraction in the UK alone, and we import over half of our peat supplies from overseas.
 
Peat-free alternatives include composts made from bark, green compost, wood waste, wood fibre and coconut husks. These alternatives are just as good for growing all but the most specialist plants.

The campaign aims to phase out peat altogether from garden centres and DIY stores by 2020.

Find out more about becoming peat-free.