Use and Value Renewable Resources

August 31, 2026

Hi Friend

I am writing this issue of the shed letter from a hotel room in the middle of a city.

Quite a different experience than being surrounded by my garden, currently bursting with roses, and the sounds of birds chirping.

Instead I have the hum of the fridge, the grinding of cars and dripping tap in the bathroom.

Being in the city really highlights the importance of using and valuing renewable resources, which is the permaculture principle I am diving into this week.

It’s so in your face; the single use plastics, the cheap clothing, the throw away culture. Yes, the straws are paper now but is that enough?

And because it’s almost Christmas the frenzy of buying is ramped up and there is all the added baubles and tinsel.

So how can we switch our buying, gardening and daily habits to renewable resources, close those loops of waste and be part of producing more resources to use in our systems later?

What I do, is try to think about the embodied energy in each thing I’m buying. And by that I mean how many steps and resources did this object have to take for it to get to me?

Let’s take 2 types of hats as an example.

Hat 1 - Was made by a local woman at the market. She bought the wool from a local shop and dyed it herself with onion skins. The wool came from a farm not too far away and was carded and spun by the people who raised the sheep.

Hat 2 - Was made in a large factory from acrylic (plastic wool). The petroleum had to be extracted from the ground, transported to a refinery, refined, processed into little plastic pellets, transported to another place, processed into acrylic wool, transported to another place, spun into a hat, packaged (probably in plastic - so repeat the same process as above for the plastic bag too), boxed up and transported across the world, unloaded and transported again to the store, where I drove to buy it.

So a lot more embodied energy in hat 2. And because our current form of energy is mostly the very nonrenewable oil based kind, the choice is very obvious on which one to buy if we use and value renewable resources.

This might be a more extreme example than the choices we are met with daily but I like to think about this when I am choosing how I spend my money.

In the Garden

As gardeners we know we need to feed our soil to keep our plants healthy and thriving. As the plants grow, they use some of those nutrients and when we harvest them and eat them we transfer those nutrients to our bodies. And then we need to feed the soil again before we can grow more food.

So in the garden I am always thinking about how I can grow plants that help with soil fertility. Like legumes (bean family) that fix nitrogen, chop and drop plants like comfrey that bring nutrients up from deeper in the soil with their big tap root and the leaves then make a wonderful compost tea or addition to a compost heap. And I collect seaweed from the local beach.

Building a living soil becomes a renewable resource that feeds plants rather than having to add synthetic fertilisers, which have high embodied energy.

Buy Quality

The reason The Garden Tool Store exists is to provide beautiful, strong and functional tools that will last you a lifetime and perhaps even outlast you!

Buying quality products that you don’t have to replace is such a great way to value resources, and if exceptional quality is what you are looking for, you can’t go past the PKS Copper Tool Collection.

The most popular small tool in the collection is the Castor Copper Trowel.

It's been getting rave reviews from recent customers.

"...so well designed and effective. Gives another dimension to gardening; every stroke feels it's doing extra good to the soil..magic!" - Tim

SHOP NOW

"I absolutely love my copper trowel, it slides through the soil like butter. As soon as it arrived in the mail I tested it against my old standard metal trowel, the difference was really noticeable. The old one seemed to grip the soil and I had to push my way through the soil, my new copper one slides through the soil, parting it with minimal effort! So excited."- Brook

So if you are in the mood for a spot of Christmas shopping and you have passionate gardeners in your life, the copper tool collection offer a range of exceptional gifts.

Get your🎄 🎁 ✨ Christmas 🎄 🎁 ✨orders in by Sunday 7 December!

Thank you for being here with me and I would love to hear from you. If you have any questions or ideas for topics to explore, please let me know and reply to this email.

I look forward to exploring Produce no Waste with you in the next issue.

As always... Happy gardening!

Beth