Remove Cute English Hanging Baskets, Save the Planet?

Travel Blog  •  Joanna Kakissis  •  02.11.09 | 12:00 PM ET

Photo by Unhindered by Talent via Flickr (Creative Commons).

The politicians of Harrow, a borough of Northwest London, say banning the (to some) quintessentially English flower baskets in the town center as well as replacing seasonal flower beds with less water-needy shrubs will help save water, land and money, The Evening Standard reports. If Harrow’s flower-basket-removal plans go through, will they catch on in the rest of England? And will the English and hanging-basket-loving Anglophiles around the world see the move as environmentally responsible or culturally obscene?

Via TreeHugger

Tags: Eco Travel, Outdoors, Europe, England, London, News and Briefs

Joanna Kakissis's writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post, among other publications. A contributor to the World Hum blog, she's currently a Ted Scripps fellow in environmental journalism at the University of Colorado in Boulder.


3 Comments for Remove Cute English Hanging Baskets, Save the Planet?

Jessica Reeder 02.11.09 | 3:11 PM ET

Ha! Funny how such a small thing could potentially be effective.

It does seem a bit absurd, however. I’m as pro-green as the next guy, but there are probably bigger fish to fry. I like the idea of switching out the flower beds to use less water, a more sensible (and less press-friendly) part of their plan; that’s an excellent choice and something that everyone should consider.

Ling 02.12.09 | 10:03 AM ET

Well, they could start with that giant basket hanging on the side of the new Indigo Hotel. The savings from that one basket should be good enough to save the rest of London’s hanging baskets.

Grizzly Bear Mom 02.12.09 | 12:07 PM ET

I think we should concentrate on the biggest water waster: our worship of the U.S. lawn!  Also our waste of ?25%? of the world’s chemicals trying to keep it green.  I vowed to do nothing but mow it to keep in in compliance with county laws and have bunnies, squirrels, racoons, chipmunks, butterlies, bees and all kinds of other critters.  It makes more sense to plant clover, which is a cover crop that puts nitrogen back into the soil, or plant edible landscaping instead.  I would if I had a more sunny lawn.

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