use organic fertilizer! but not just any, use worm poop. i know not everyone has time to compost their own scraps and feed them to their own worms. if you just can't handle one more chore, you can now buy worm poop fertilizer. terracycle.net has lots of different kinds of fertilizer and seed starters made from worm poop (the worms are fed organic waste) and packaged in soda bottles collected by the company. everything they use was once "waste" down to the boxes they are shipped in. go check them out and support a responsible company.