Window Farms – key to a sustainable future?

The Windowfarms Project operates in what seems to be a small niche. It seeks to encourage the use of vertical, hydroponic and high-yielding edible window gardens that are built using low-impact or recycled materials. It seems to be a relatively easy, low cost and viable solution for the exponentially increasing number of people living in urban areas.


Researchers have suggested that growing your own food is one of the most effective actions that can be taken towards the improvement of the environment. This is not only because of the food industry’s heavy carbon footprint, but also because participating in agricultural production cultivates a valuable skill set around sustainability issues.

It is estimated that with the current industrial food production methods, it takes 7-10 calories of fossil fuels to produce 1 calorie of food. Furthermore, many of the vegetables we get at the store have lost a good deal of their nutritional value in transit. Thus according to the Windofarms organisation, “people in cities need to be exploring alternatives to these very real logistical issues”.