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Sustainable Stone Lowering the Environmental Impact of Your Hardscaping Project
Because natural stone comes in so many sizes, it’s easier to work around pre-existing living plants and shrubbery. STEVE AMBROSE PHOTOS
BY STEVE AMBROSE rom a patio or walkway to a custom fireplace, designing your backyard’s features with natural stone has become more popular in recent years for its beauty and durability. To be an educated consumer and build your outdoor oasis with the environment in mind, it’s important to understand the impacts of the stone you choose and how you can make better choices to ensure your design is eco-friendly.
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Shop local, buy natural After the year that was 2020, we all want to get outside more. True nature-lovers may fear that
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digging up your backyard or altering it in any way could hurt the environment. But there are environmentally friendly hardscaping practices that can allow you to design the backyard of your dreams and still do what’s right for the planet. Before shopping for materials for any outdoor renovations, it’s essential to understand how your choices could affect Mother Nature. First, consider where you’ll shop. While searching for stone for your outdoor patio or fireplace, if you decide to shop at the local big-box hardware chain, you might end up selecting stone that trav-
eled a long distance, using gallons and gallons of fossil fuel while they made their way to you. Transporting natural stone a far distance ranks as the most significant environmental hazard of choosing this medium. Think of the large planes or boats exporting and importing natural stone from a developing country. Then, a truck transporting the stone barrels down the highway with gas billowing out of its exhaust pipe. But shopping locally is easy because quarries exist across the United States, including in and near Western North Carolina. The trick to maintaining a low environmental cost is to choose a natural
stone from a local, nearby quarry. Selecting local stone also helps ensure it will hold up in your region’s climate. Picking natural stone native to your area means less maintenance, price, and carbon emissions for you. Next, ensure you’re actually choosing a natural stone. Some products you might purchase look like stone but are really made of concrete, which presents many environmental issues.
The costs of concrete Homeowners looking to design an inexpensive outdoor patio may seek out materials like concrete to create a functional and afford-
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