Smells Like Green Spirit

So…I’ve promised myself that I am not taking up any more hobbies, because between making art, learning how to play drums, teaching myself French, watching movies, and reading, I have no time for anything new. Nothing new, you hear me?!

But… I think if I had a flat roof, I would defy my promise to self, and make a rooftop garden. Because I have the awareness of a cave person, I had never heard of rooftop gardens until recently! But they sound so cool!

Square mile after square mile of our cities are covered with cement and asphalt, generating heat and emitting smog out into the atmosphere. Yuck! Did you know that because of this, cities can be around 5 degrees hotter than the land around them? That was one thing that was so wonderful about my roadtrip through the midwest a few months ago…just the rolling hills of beautiful farmland.

The Advantages

Here are the exciting advantage of rooftop gardens:

*It reduces the CO2 emissions of your home, absorbing all the bad stuff you’re putting out there, and improving the air quality.

*It insulates your home (cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter…can’t beat that!).

*It creates a natural habitat for birds and butterflies.

*You can grow fun things like herbs and tomotoes and zucchinis!

*Since there probably aren’t as many trees blocking your roof as there are blocking your yard, it’s the ideal environment for plants to get full sunlight.

*I’ve never used self watering planters, but the website gardeners.com has a list of self watering products to make your rooftop garden even easier. (Note: I’ve never bought anything from them.)

*Rooftop gardens reduce stormwater runoff.

*It can double the life of your roof.

*I’ve heard that the city of Chicago also offers tax breaks for rooftop gardens…I’ll write more on that later!

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