How to go peat free at home

The Wildlife Trusts recently surveyed major retailers: the table below includes some of the findings from this as well as information from retailers that have been in contact with us or made announcements since. Please note this is not an exhaustive list of retailers.

The list below shows the peat-free composts that the larger retailers stock, to help you when shopping for your garden or allotment this year. Shoppers should also look out for peat-free plants - B&Q, Dobbies, Blue Diamond group garden centres, Hillier and Asda are all stocking ranges of plants grown without using peat.

Find out if your retailer is peat-free!

Peat is made up of decayed organic matter and vegetation, developing slowly under particular, wet conditions over thousands of years. Peat can be found in wetlands such as bogs and moors, and its composition makes it home to a unique ecosystem.

Peat bogs are home to all sorts of plants, including colourful sphagnum mosses, insect-eating plants, and curious plants such as ‘butterwort’ and ‘bog myrtle’. They also provide an environment for rare dragonflies, spiders and other invertebrates, and a feeding ground for birds, such as golden plover, meadow pipit and skylark.

When it comes to climate change, peatlands are vital. The excess carbon in our atmosphere is causing the planet to heat up. Peat bogs act like a sponge, absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it like a sink.

The UK’s peatlands store around 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon and alongside the oceans, are the second largest store of carbon on the planet whilst covering a much smaller area.