A collaborative Earth Day project
The 50th anniversary of Earth Day and Arbor Day are in April, which gives us reasons to focus on our environment. Let’s look at a hands-on practical way to celebrate: by doing an Earth Day project.
Have you ever considered whether your yard has a positive or negative effect on the environment? All across America we are moving back toward a greener country, but in our yards’ landscaping we are ignoring the basic essentials to make those spaces compatible with our natural surroundings.
When we remove honeysuckle and blackberry vines that look unkempt and snaky, we remove the animals that depend on the berries for food and the birds and small mammals that hide in the brambles.
Worldwide, our songbird population is plummeting, and we are seeing plant and animal extinction at a rate only surpassed by the great dinosaur extinction. There are many reasons for this alarming decline; one of the prime causes is loss of habitat due to urban development. We must reverse this trend with simple habitat management and by agreeing to share our yards with wildlife.
Here are a few ideas that will let you convert a small piece of your sterile green yard into an attractive wildlife-compatible yard.
The most critical area is the backyard.
Think of the back 20 feet as your habitat contribution. This will give birds and small animals shelter and food. Consider the habitat benefits if your wildlife corridor were connected to your neighbor’s backyard to form a 40-foot corridor, which connects to your adjacent neighbor’s yard.
That should be our goal: to give small mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects access to food and safety. However, we must give Mother Nature a hand by planting a grove of nut- or berry-producing trees along the very back edge of the lot. Then edge the grove with berry bushes of varying heights and species. Mow and weed this area very lightly. Your goal should be to allow this area to slowly return to its natural state.
Next, along the sides of your lot, continue with more hedgerow-type plants and berry bushes. Plant native grasses and wildflowers and let them reclaim a portion of the rest. Finally, in a back corner, create a small pond. Set it in a natural drainage area, possibly one that would receive runoff from your roof. Don’t be concerned about the size. A six-foot by 10-foot pond is adequate.
The pond depth should be around three feet in its deepest part, feathering out to two to six inches on one end. I recommend a thin layer of cement to slow seepage. After construction, add four inches of dirt and rocks to cover the concrete. Your construction should allow a natural drainage spill point to carry excess water into the wooded back portion of your lot.
Stock your pond with minnows for mosquito control, and Mother Nature will do the rest.
Finally, leave a mowed strip along your front sidewalk to keep your neighbors happy.
Your new yard now has the three components that make for a fine small wildlife habitat: woodland, wetland, and grassland.
April 22 is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Fifty years ago an estimated 22 million Americans turned out to show their determination to save our planet. The air, water, and land pollution present in the 1970s was so horrible that Earth Day marches kicked off a wave of reform, which produced huge positive strides to reverse the pollution of our planet.
When we compare our environment today with the 1970s, we can easily see how much pollution was reduced. This outpouring of people created an awareness of how we needed tougher regulations, and how each individual could help to reduce the pollution of the planet.
During the ’60s and ’70s, New York City had smoggy days that resemble what major cities in China and India have today. The water in the city’s East River was so polluted that it created a lifeless pool of stagnant, smelly water, and in Cleveland a river caught on fire.
Our leaders, who crafted the laws that resulted from that first Earth Day March, received a wake-up call from the vast numbers who marched. Congress passed the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act; our air and water has improved dramatically since then.
As much as we have gained over those 50 years, a great deal will be lost if we don’t demand our existing regulations be enforced and more stringent ones passed. Today is not the time to sit back and say, “Job well done.” We have just began to correct the environmental disasters that were created over the past 100 years. If we will once again attack the attitudes that created the degraded environment of the ’70s, we can build on what was started 50 years ago.
We should celebrate our success with the realization that, while many of the problems of the past are history, others—such as climate change and the continuing extinction of species—have reared their ugly heads, and if we don’t confront them, our children and grandchildren will live in a degraded world.
This 50th anniversary of Earth Day is a perfect time to renew our goal to restore our damaged planet. We must gear up to bring a worldwide message that the earth is in danger, and we want to be a part of the people who are determined to save it. We can make a difference just as those millions who marched that first Earth Day did, and use our influence to encourage others to be involved.
We can’t march this year, but let’s make our voices heard again. I would like to see us flood this paper with Earth Day Letters to the Editor.
Submit yours to https://www.arkansasonline.com/contact/voicesform/ to show you care.
Email Richard Mason at richard@gibraltarenergy.com.