Why Beyond Peat?
Creating a sustainable product to protect our planet’s natural resources for future generations
With every bag of Beyond Peat™ Professional Organics soil mix you use, you help reduce carbon emissions and the footprint caused by needing to mine natural resources. And in the fight against climate change, every bag helps. It’s why we set out to create a product that can act as a sustainable alternative to peat moss.
Peat moss is a built-up layer of dead sphagnum moss that’s harvested in wetlands known as peat bogs. While many wetlands feature large amounts of it, it takes a long time for it to naturally regenerate after being mined—and this process ends up hurting the unique ecosystem in a peat bog. Hugely important to the global community, these wetlands (which there are over a million square miles of worldwide) also store one-third of the world’s soil carbon. Because it slowly regenerates after being harvested, we’re doubly affecting the global carbon cycle if we rely on this material to help our gardens. And with temperatures warming because of climate change, peat bogs become dry and are at increased risk for fire (which would ultimately add carbon to the atmosphere even quicker).
Simply put, we cannot continue to let our wetlands lose more carbon than they’re storing.
Around the world, gardeners have flocked to natural peat moss because it increases soil’s capacity to hold water and nutrients and its slow decomposition rate and high acidity. It’s an incredible tool for gardeners to use, but we’re beginning to see how much its harvesting and use is affecting the world around us. That’s why we set out to help supply a product that’s 100% peat-free and derived from renewable resources—not harming the natural beauty and importance of wetlands and peat bogs.
Through a patented and proprietary process we call Bio-Fiber™ Technology, we extract bio-fibers from horticultural and agricultural residuals to create a sustainable, renewable product. It optimizes land use, limits water consumption, and maximizes resources we readily have available to us. Absorbing up to 7x its own weight in water and producing up to 25% more air space than traditional peat moss, our soil mixes provide enhanced moisture retention to protect against over- and under-watering. And because our products are all created from residuals, there are naturally occurring, beneficial bacteria and fungi for increased performance.
Every contribution toward combating climate change is needed—and together we can help preserve a special part of our natural world while also growing our own beautiful environments at home.
