Category: Outdoors

Time children spend in blue spaces, not just green, effects their well-being

11/25/2022

Hours spent in and around “blue spaces”(coasts, rivers, lakes, etc.) —not just green spaces—have a profound effect on children’s well-being that continues into adulthood, according to a 2022 study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.

These findings matter more than ever in the digital era. In addition, ongoing exposure to nature—and the inevitable attachment that will form—is crucial for raising future defenders of the natural world.

Read more here:

--https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272494422001219?via%3Dihub

Photo by Susan O'Donnell, Talapus Lake, WA

New brands of toilet paper use recycled paper and bamboo

11/10/2022

The biggest toilet paper brands are destroying Canada’s boreal forest according to a new study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, but many new brands that use recycled paper and bamboo have entered the marketplace.

It’s important to note that all of these sustainable brands make up only a fraction of the market and are nowhere near as widely available as the big brands. Still, consumers can make a difference by choosing more sustainable alternatives, both because it saves trees, but also because it sends a signal to large corporations that there is money to be made selling eco-friendly toilet paper.

Read more here:

--https://www.fastcompany.com/90677480/toilet-paper-really-is-terrible-for-the-planet-heres-what-you-can-do-about-it

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Make your garden more wildlife friendly this fall by simply not cutting back herbaceous perennials

11/3/2022

Herbaceous perennials provide an important winter wildlife habitat for a range of species. Another benefit to leaving them in place until the spring is the slow breakdown of nutrients they will give your soil.

Read more here.

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

--https://www.treehugger.com/why-not-cut-back-herbaceous-perennials-fall-6752336?hid=5cca5cc09cf857f7c3ce2406e7447b3b9236437e&did=864153-20221028&utm_campaign=treehugger-daily_newsletter&utm_source=treehugger&utm_medium=email&utm_content=102822&cid=864153&mid=100587181910

Compost your jack-o-lantern to keep food out of the waste stream

10/20/2022

Each year, 1.9 billion pounds of pumpkin is grown in the United States. Most of these pumpkins end up in landfills. Composting your jack-o-lanterns keeps them out of the waste stream and adds nutrients in your soil. While most of a jack-o-lantern is used for decoration, the seeds are very tasty when roasted. Another option, recommended by The National Wildlife Federation is to leave the raw seeds and pieces of your jack-o-lantern out in your yard to feed the wildlife after the holiday is over.

Dispense with the fall yard clean up: stems from old perennials provide nests for bees and the seed heads feed the birds

10/12/2022

If you are dreading the annual chore of the fall clean-up of your yard, here is some good news: it’s better if you don’t! A variety of insects including native bees lay their eggs in the stems of old perennials plants. Their eggs or larvae spend the winter in this safe shelter and emerge when the weather is consistently warm in the spring. Non-migratory birds visit the old seed heads as they forage throughout the winter. Therefore, you can put off this chore and leave the remnants of your plants to shelter and support wildlife throughout the winter. When you do cut back the dead stems, cut them high: the new growth will cover the old and leaves some parts of the old stems in place. Place the cut stems in a corner of your yard where any remaining insects can still emerge; the stems will eventually break down and provide mulch for your yard.

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Leaving a layer of whole fallen leaves under trees and landscaping provides long lasting mulch and cover for overwintering insects, which become food for birds in the spring

10/6/2022

Leaving fallen leaves as mulch benefits your plants as well as insects that need a place to overwinter. Great spangled fritillary and wooly bear caterpillars hide in the leaf litter to evade predators and to find shelter from winter weather. Luna moths and swallowtail butterflies overwinter in cocoons and as chrysalises that are colored such that they blend in with the leaves. Chopping leaves before using them as mulch increases the speed at which they break down, which is great for mulching the lawn. Shredding leaves puts these insects in danger of being shredded themselves before they have a chance to finish their life cycle as adult moths and butterflies. Insects that depend on leaf litter for shelter also require a longer lasting cover. Leaving a thin mat of whole leaves under trees allows them to break down slower and continue to provide that shelter, ensuring a new generation of pollinators and food for nestling birds in the next season.

Dig up your driveway

9/15/2022

There are some good reasons that you might consider digging up some or all of your driveway to restore permeable surfaces and vegetation. Elizabeth Waddington outlines some of these reasons on www.treehugger.com. She points out that "when rain falls onto driveways and other areas of hard paving, it cannot soak into the ground. Instead it creates runoff, which collects harmful toxins and pollutants from the surface along the way, rather than being filtered and cleaned by plants and soil."*

If your driveway is old and due for resurfacing, consider replacing the entire driveway with permeable material. Another alternative is to just have a strip down the center that can be planted with low-growing vegetation and leaves the harder surface on the side for the car wheels. Waddington also points out that driveways are often constructed more wide than needed, so reclaiming area on the sides helps reduce the overall impermeable surface.

We reap multiple environmental benefits from reclaiming the area covered by driveway. Waddington points out that "we bring back biodiversity, keep things cooler, and aid people and the other creatures with whom we share our space. Your frontage will look much better, and the space you reclaim can be used for plants which bring a huge range of local and broader environmental benefits."*

*https://www.treehugger.com/dig-up-driveway-5441607?utm_campaign=treehugger&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cn_nl&utm_content=28210549&utm_term=
Photo by Brian Robinson, Flickr

Add Nature's Best Hope by Doug Tallamy to your summer reading list.

8/11/2022

In his latest book Nature’s Best Hope, University of Delaware professor of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology Doug Tallamy describes actions private landowners can take to protect ecosystems in their own yards. To help counteract the impacts of habitat loss on plant and animal populations,

Tallamy suggests how to transform backyards into productive ecosystems, providing information about the most beneficial plants to use and which to remove. Add Nature’s Best Hope to your summer reading list and start putting into action the transformation of your own yard into a beautiful, native ecosystem!

Make your own mosquito trap with a bucket of water and Bti dunks

8/4/2022

Bti is a naturally occurring toxin produced by the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis. The dunks work by killing mosquitos in their larval stage. The larvae eat the Bti spores, which release a toxin into their guts and causes them to stop feeding. Bti is not toxic to humans or other mammals, birds, or fish. Therefore, it is safe to use in water sources that do not drain off your property, such as rain barrels or ornamental ponds. Doug Tallamy suggests a method of using Bti dunks to create a trap to reduce local mosquito abundance since most species of mosquitos travel less than one half mile from where they breed: Place water in bucket with straw and let it ferment for about 4-5 days; the larvae feed on the algae and microorganisms that grow on the straw, so this entices female mosquitos to lay their eggs in the bucket. Wait one week then add a dunk. Because Bti only kills aquatic fly larvae, you can safely dispose of the water by dumping it onto your lawn.

Reduce the amount of lawn in your yard; convert little used or poorly growing turf into native landscaping

5/19/2022

While lawns are ubiquitous in our suburban landscape, this monoculture of grass is of little value to the native ecosystem. It is a time and money sink due to required maintenance, especially under trees and on hills where grass tends not to grow well. The way we maintain lawns also does direct harm to the environment: fertilizers and pesticides that we apply to keep it full and green kill beneficial insects and pollute waterways. Let go of this burden and rethink the structure of your yard by shrinking the size of your lawn to reduce the negative impacts on wildlife and replacing it with landscaping filled with native plants!

How to get started:
Make an assessment of your lawn. Ask yourself what parts you use and what parts you don’t. Are there areas where you struggle to get grass to grow well? Keep the lawn that you use for relaxing and playing outdoors, and convert the rest to landscaping. You don’t have to do this all at once. Start by planting a tree or shrub. Expand areas that are already landscaped.

Also consider mowing your lawn less frequently, particularly in April and May when spring ephemerals pop up in the lawn. As suggested by the “No Mow May Movement”, you can support pollinators by delaying mowing while the spring flowers (such as violets) are blooming.
Photos by Susan O'Donnell

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