Clean water, pure air, renewed earth with Forrest Keeling’s sustainability practices
Our ‘Sustainable Seven’
- Sustainable soil amendments
- Decreased water use and runoff
- IPM – Integrated Pest Management
- No GMOs
- Reduced and recycle paper and plastics
- Small carbon footprint
- SANC Certification
For those of you who want the full scoop, read on…
We constantly seek improved methods to reduce our company’s negative impact on the environment. Our nursery production emphasis on native plants and their effective application is central to sustainable landscapes. Low-maintenance native plants require less of EVERYTHING both for production and the plant’s long-term support, including water, fertilization, herbicides or pesticides.
SUSTAINABLE SOIL AMENDMENTS – Forrest Keeling’s growing media is over 90% recycled bark, composted rice hulls, sand, recycled plant tops, prunings and culled plants.
DECREASE USE OF WATER RESOURCES AND RUNOFF FROM IRRIGATION – The Nursery’s constructed wetlands, rain gardens and bioswales also help absorb and reduce irrigation and stormwater runoff. We use only slow release fertilizers and monitor our site water on a monthly basis to confirm low nutrient levels. Our constructed filtering wetlands use native Prairie Cordgrass and cattail to further filter nutrients and impurities.
INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM) – Forrest Keeling’s IPM includes natural predators and little pesticide use. Resident purple martins manage insect populations while hawks and other raptors control rodents.
NO GMOs are used in our RPM-production technology.
REDUCE AND RECYCLE – Our online newsletters, e-blasts, e-commerce ordering and e-catalogs reduce paper and ink use in our printed mailings and catalogs. When we do print informational and marketing materials, we specify FSC printing, which uses both ink and paper from responsible sources. Our pot recycle program provides most of our growing containers. Returned containers come from retail customers and large-scale conservation and environmental projects. We reuse plant blankets, which eliminates use of more than 40 acres of polypropylene in our over wintering practices. Coordinated plant deliveries minimize fuel consumption,
SHRINK CARBON FOOTPRINT by making the switch to solar, Forrest Keeling saves money and helps renew our earth. By 2030, our Nursery’s carbon footprint reduction will equal the benefitt of planting 46,000 trees—the equivalent CO2 reduction of eliminating the trash and waste of 2100 people over 25 years!
SANC CERTIFICATION – Forrest Keeling’s sustainable practices and use of production and shipment systems that minimize risks associated with harmful pests and diseases led us to SANC certification in 2017. SANC, ‘Systems Approach to Nursery Certication’, is a professional association that helps members of the nursery indutry learn and implement better techniques and more harmonious systems through their businesses.