How To Make Sure Your Houseplant Collection Isn't Harming The Planet

Unless you're a serious collector, your houseplants probably come at a way smaller environmental cost than, say, your closet or your car. But hey, there are still plenty of opportunities to reduce the impact of your at-home jungle even more.

Like animals, rare and endangered plants can be illegally taken from the wild—often in South Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia—and sold for exorbitant amounts of money. Bárbara Goettsch, Ph.D., a conservation biologist and the co-chair of the IUCN SSC Cactus and Succulent Plant Specialist Group, tells mbg that just last year, 1,000 Chilean cactuses were poached in Chile's Atacama Desert and shipped to Italy to the tune of more than $1.2 million.

Although many cactuses are listed on the CITES treaty of protected endangered species, Goettsch notes that their unique colors, shapes, and highly prized flowers still make them a target for illegal trafficking. And with all the #plantlife on social media these days, Goettsch has even seen evidence of such trafficking on sites like Instagram and Facebook.

Plants that are rare and time-consuming to grow in a nursery are oftentimes the ones being poached. Goettsch says that in addition to succulents, certain carnivorous plants, orchids, and aloes are at risk.

Ultimately, the only way to know for sure where your plant comes from is to grow it yourself! That's why yogi and eco-conscious plant lover Roos Kocken likes to buy small plants and nurture them to life, or propagate plants using leaf cuttings she gets from friends.

In addition to poaching, another dirty "P" word on the lips of houseplant enthusiasts these days is peat. A common additive in most potting soils, it's a layer of decayed organic matter that takes years to form over peat bogs. Critics of the material say that its endless extraction is disrupting these valuable ecosystems and releasing carbon that's been buried underground ground back into the air.

Synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are usually more destructive when used on outdoor gardens, where they can harm pollinators and leach into nearby ecosystems. Still, opting for natural alternatives with your houseplants is a smart move, as they're usually made with organic materials that can strengthen soil health.

Don't want to write off those throwaway pots that plants come in as yet another piece of single-use plastic? Use them more than once! Kocken always keeps hers around to house future plants, and if she's ever looking for a certain size she doesn't have, she's found that garden centers are usually happy to give her their leftovers for free instead of throwing them away.

Another opportunity to reuse plastic waste comes during the seed germination or propagation phase. Old egg cartons, lettuce containers, or tomato tubs can be a perfect size and shape for starting your seeds or giving your propagations some extra humidity. Kocken adds that you can even place old plastic bags on top of any plant that's infested with pests, to keep them from crawling over to the rest of your collection.