It is widely accepted in today’s society that our planet is over populated and dying from human pollution.  Now that this problem has grown so large in our mainstream society, people and companies as a whole are trying to go greener, as long as it does not affect their profit too much. Many opinions arise from this, about what the next logical step is to help the environment without killing our economy and GDP. Aquaponics, an innovative way to garden greener is a small scale way of dealing with our problem, and it faces similar problems as going green as a whole.

Aquaponics is a self sustainable form of gardening that uses the environments of fish and pants symbiotically. Fish waste fertilizes the plants, and the plants filter the waste from the water for the fish. At first it appears to be a brilliant way of saving resources as the water never has to be poured out or filled back up again. The only thing required is for the fish to be fed. A nearly self sustaining gardening system such as this is a big step towards everyday people going green, and producing healthy food too. The main problem with it however, is its cost and relative size. An aquaponics system costs at least a few thousand dollars to set up and maintain, and it simply takes up too much space for one person to have in areas such as New York City. Now it may even be possible for a large scale aquaponics system to provide all of the nutrients required for people. However, the cost for the average American would be equivalent to many months of food, and the investment would not pay off until the plants are fully grown.

Although aquaponics may be a logical next step for those who can afford it and provide the space needed, it will not be a revolutionary system. Unless government action is taken aquaponics will never be able to affect the life of the ordinary individual due to its two great disadvantages, space, and money.