Porthcawl Planters also PEAT-free

Firstly, thanks to all those who helped, especially SUSSED volunteers, Gutteridges and Stokes for flowers, and Porthcawl Chamber of Trade with cash and encouragement. All of us are delighted that BCBC Cleaner Streets officers have also placed a waste bin nearby the planters, to help maintain a litter-free site from the Hilsboro car park into the centre of Porthcawl town.

The planters were skilfully made from recycled wood pallets by Saulat and the SUSSED volunteers made sure that the soil was topped-up with peat-free compost.

What are the problems associated with using peat-based compost? 

Peat bogs are irreplaceable as peatlands take thousands of years to form. According to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), it takes a century for just 10 cm of peat to form, from partially decomposed plants.

Healthy peatlands can store large volumes of carbon, with research showing they can hold up to 30 times more carbon per hectare than a healthy tropical rainforest.

Peatlands also provide unique and intensively biodiverse habitats for wildlife, insects and plant life and can also help to prevent floods. Extraction of them releases the carbon.

Earth is home to 10 billion acres of peatlands (including bogs and fens). The UK is home to over 5 million acres of peatlands, currently occupying around 12 per cent of the UK’s land area, placing the UK among the top ten countries globally by area. These wetlands holding a similar amount of carbon to that collectively found in the forests of the UK, France and Germany.

In 2020 alone The Wildlife Trust report states that the peat extracted in the UK could release 880,000 tonnes over its lifetime.

Significantly, The Republic of Ireland has recently slapped a moratorium on extraction of all peat-the main supply source to the UK. This is a landmark decision.

Our view is that the use of peat is avoidable and unnecessary, there are suitable alternatives which need to be scaled up to become mainstream as soon as possible.

Please always aim to buy peat free compost.

Check out the advice from the Royal Horticultural Society https://www.rhs.org.uk/soil-composts-mulches/peat-free