Totally get the skepticism—if I had a seed for every overhyped “sustainable solution,” I could probably start my own urban jungle. Balcony gardens won’t solve climate change any more than a single lettuce leaf can make a salad for ten. But there are a few real perks worth noting. While they won’t offset your flight emissions or feed a family of four, small-scale studies (like those in Singapore and Toronto) show urban gardening can help reduce the urban heat island effect, support a surprising diversity of pollinators, and sometimes even lower household food bills for herbs and salad greens.
The catch? Scale, resource input, and, yes, habit persistence. They’re more “gateway drug to mindful living” than silver bullet. If you’re looking for numbers, the environmental savings per balcony are modest—but if every window ledge in a concrete jungle gets a tomato plant, then things add up, at least a little. So, think of it as a side dish, not the main course, in the feast against unsustainability.