Eco-Mamas

Cost Effective and Earth-friendly Landscaping

EARTH TALK
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: Is it possible to landscape my property in a green-friendly way? I would like to create a more natural and wildlife-friendly backyard, but I don’t want to break the bank doing it. Are there any tax incentives for completing such projects?     -- Michal Avraham, Olive Branch, MS

One common misperception about adopting green practices around the home is that doing so will cost more money. But this may be true only in the short run. There are certainly some up-front outlays to converting a conventional backyard into a more environmentally friendly space (like any landscaping job), but homeowners should be able to make their money back within a few years through savings on their water and yard service bills alone.

Landscapes designed with the principles of nature and wildlife habitat in mind are often referred to as
“ naturescapes” (or “xeriscapes” when they also require little water to maintain). They usually replace most lawn grass and instead populate space with native plants that are attractive to wildlife for food or shelter.

According to the nonprofit PlantNative, maintaining a green backyard can cost up to 90 percent less than keeping up a traditional lawn-based landscape. “Since naturescapes effectively take care of themselves, there is little or no maintenance and hence little or no maintenance cost,” says the group. The average American lawn costs about $700 yearly to maintain, says PlantNative, which also points out that the average household lawnmower is used upwards of 40 hours a year, the equivalent of a full work week.

Carbon Neutral and Guilt-Free

By Heather Burns-DeMelo

A few weeks ago I read an article in the Danbury News Times about a man named Dr. Herster Barres whose program, Reforest the Tropics, partners with farmers in Costa Rica to plant and manage trees in order to offset personal and corporate CO2 emissions.

While working for the United Nations and as Director of the applied research program, Reforest the Tropics, Dr. Barres has studied the fastest growing and best carbon-gulping tree species in order to sequestor 25 tons of CO2 per year, per 2.5 acres. To date, 54 New England emitters have sponsored 263 acres of new forests in Costa Rica.

Carbon offsets are a hot topic these days, especially with corporations frantically trying to "green" their image. Credit companies like GE are offering card holders the opportunity to purchase carbon offsets, but as this Yahoo! article points out, the carbon offset market isn't regulated, so there's no way to be certain if your carbon is truly being offset. That is, of course, unless you purchase your credits from Reforest the Tropics, where a real person answers your questions, addresses your concerns, and they work hard to keep each sponsor in touch with their forests.

Reasons to Eat Locally

By Keyra Scovill

As we continue to hear about leafy greens like spinach and lettuce that’s been tainted by microscopic bacterial life forms, it seems foolish not to ask, what can we do to ensure that the food we eat doesn’t make us roll over tomorrow morning, ill?

For one thing, we can avoid factory farming. Factory farming means that animals raised, primarily for slaughter, are penned extremely small spaces.  Besides the bounty of animal rights violations committed, there is also the issue of hoarding animal waste. Such waste, according to an article by the EPA,  “… must include stricter construction requirements for wastewater lagoons…regular inspections… [and]… the re-use of properly managed animal waste as fertilizer and other agricultural applications”. While the recommendation is there, the action is not.

In fact most of the time, the animal waste and chemical fertilizers and pesticides contained in the water from factory farm disposal sites makes its way into nearby groundwater that's then used to irrigate crops, or into stormwater runoff.

The good news is, we don't have to worry about our food making us sick when we buy locally or participate in a food Co-op. When we get to know who is growing our food we can answer, Where is my food coming from? What practices is the farmer using to grow the food I'm about to eat? Instead, we can sit back, relax and enjoy.

Make Your Neighbors Green with Envy

By Heather Burns-DeMelo

Home composting is a cheap and effective way to make your garden flourish, recycle food scraps and lawn waste, and cut down on the amount of trash that ends up in our bursting-at-the-seams landfills. To find out how, read this step-by-step guide.

Think it's too time consuming? That's what I thought too, until I saw how much time it saved me with not having to fertilize, weed, or water my plants as much or as often. If you're still not convinced to do it yourself, check out this list of places to buy locally produced compost.