How does one person save the planet?
By starting with their own little corner of it, even if that corner is very small.
 
Our patchwork of lawns and gardens are a large part of the ecosystem and the choices we make in their management impacts our world.

Saving the planet starts with how each of us tends our small piece.
Here’s how you do it.

 
Build your backyard nature reserve
Imagine your yard a small nature reserve, a lush landscape of diverse native plants and shrubs teeming with bees and butterflies, a seasonal home for migrating birds, a bridge connecting wildlife across parks and preserves.
 
By filling your yard with a dense variety of native plantings you encourage essential wildlife. Consider reducing lawn to incorporate more easy-to-maintain natives and learn about ways you can encourage wildlife.
 
Plant air purifiers
Your trees, shrubs and plants are giant filters for the air, the lungs of the community, not only removing impurities but reducing carbon dioxide.
 
By maintaining and planting more trees, which are powerhouses at absorbing co2 your yard actively combats climate change. Plants and shrubs also keep our climate cooler through evaporation. So don’t cover your yard with impervious cover, which makes our world hotter, fill it with low-maintenance natives that require little watering instead.
 
Purify water instead of polluting
When your yard is healthy, rainwater is purified rather than poisoned by it, filling our aquafers and wells with pure, clean water.
 
In our water supply, herbicides endanger our health, fertilizers kill our waterways, and pesticides are virtually impossible to remove. You can stop contributing to the pollution of our waters in three easy ways:

  • Mulch more – several inches of mulch stops weeds, eliminating the need for chemicals. Another benefit: a well-mulched area requires less water
  • Maintain a healthy lawn – a dense lawn similarly stops weeds by giving them no place to grow, reducing the need for treatments
  • Go organic – when treatments are needed, go organic and protect our waters and your health