SUSTAINABILITY AT THE GARDEN
Botanic gardens can play an important role in the collective effort to adapt to and mitigate climate change. At the Garden, we weave sustainable practices through our operations and serve as a resource to other institutions, municipalities, or industry professionals looking to make similar sustainable changes in their communities, organizations, and backyards. Explore the Garden’s initiatives below and contact a member of our horticulture team if you would like to learn more.
HORTICULTURE DECARBONIZED
Action on climate change requires reducing our demand for fossil fuels. By using electric equipment, renewable energy, sourcing locally, and adopting gardening techniques that minimize carbon output, climate-neutral landcare operations can be achieved, even at scale. New England Botanic Garden is headed in this direction.
In 2022, New England Botanic Garden became the first botanic garden in the nation to earn Green Zone certification from the American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA) for its efforts to decarbonize horticulture operations with electric landscaping equipment. Since our journey to Green Zone certification began in 2019, we have replaced gas-powered mowers, leaf blowers, string trimmers, and chainsaws with electric models, and have also incorporated a fleet of 11 electric utility carts into our regular horticulture operations. Estimates suggest that these transitions eliminate an estimated 50 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. That’s the equivalent of planting 2,220 trees or taking eleven