That moss growing in your lawn, garden, patio, on rocks or granite steps, is trying to balance the planet’s ecosystem. Please don’t kill it, know this about moss:
- One of the planet’s BEST ways to sequester atmospheric carbon , holding 6.43 BILLION metric tons of carbon in place.
- Protects soil from erosion, absorbing rainwater and runoff – 30x its weight.
- Grows quickly after wildfires as a colonizing species.
- Ancient species (450 million years old).
- Reproduces via spores, not roots or flowers.
- 12,000+ known species.
- Grows naturally on every continent (including deserts, rainforests, suburbia, cities, even the frozen tundra, totaling a land-mass span larger than all of Canada).
- Stores and cycles essential nutrients nitrogen, magnesium, phosphorus.
- Keeps soil pathogens in place underground.
- Filters water and provides habitat for wildlife.
Nature detests “tidy”, and soil seeks to be covered; let moss do its beautiful work.
Planetarily,
Laura & Gil
Our friends Laura & Gil Richardson are, in their own words, “imperfect” but they are much further down this Planetarian path than anyone I know. They are a treasure trove of sustainable living inspiration and we’ve asked them to share one simple swap per week that they’ve made (and the products they love) in hopes it might inspire you to make them, too.
