While flowers, specifically roses, are a beautiful and traditional gift for Valentine’s Day, they are not particularly environmentally sound and only last a few days. Giving plants can be an alternative to candy or flowers which may be more romantic and representative of your affection. Gifts on Valentine’s Day are supposed to show love and affection…
2015 has been named the “International Year of Soil” (IYS) and the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) has developed activities to support educational outreach, assigning a theme for each month of the year. February’s theme is “Soils Support Urban Life”. Over 80% of the population in the U.S. resides in urban areas, while there…
One of the biggest annoyances of winter are all the pests that look for asylum from severe weather in our homes, and those that follow knowing an easy meal is within reach. Thank goodness we have a mightily effective exterminator nearby. House centipedes, Scutigera coleoptrata, may hold the distinction of being some of the creepiest…
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) founded in 1992, by environmentalists, community leaders and businesses, following the failure of the Rio Earth Summit to produce an international agreement to stop deforestation. The first FSC general assembly gathered in 1993 in Toronto with a mission to create a set of voluntary, market-based tools to improve responsible forestry practices…
Monarch butterfly habitat degradation and destruction has become a well-known issue and the public has responded to the call for action by planting their landscapes and gardens with their plant of preference, milkweed. But is any species of milkweed appropriate? Unfortunately, many people have been purchasing and planting a tropical species of milkweed, rather than the…
So we may only be a month into winter, but for many of us, our thoughts have already turned to spring. And with the spring will come planting our gardens, which is an exercise in patience; after laboring through months of cold, ice and snow, waiting further weeks or months for vegetables to sprout seems…
Conservation banks are parcels of land which enjoy permanent protection due to the value of natural resources therein. These lands are methodically managed for habitat critical for species listed as endangered, threatened or candidates for listing or otherwise at risk. As the name implies, conservation banking acts to offset impacts to habitat occurring elsewhere, this can…
Seed bombs, amalgamations of seed varieties and fertilizer rolled into a ball, were developed as an easy way to green up urban spaces, abandoned lots, brownfields and other areas which may be somewhat inaccessible or exist in a state of zoning oblivion. So-called “guerilla gardeners” will toss seed bombs into fenced-in or neglected lands quickly turning…
Well Christmas is over, time to take down the tree and drag it out to the curb, OR you could make better use of it through recycling in a multitude of ways. Your town may have a tree pick-up service which comes around on pre-determined days and hauls off Christmas trees, most likely depositing them…
The native American Wabanaki of Maine make a traditional living making baskets from trees threatened with extinction by the emerald ash borer (EAB). The Wabanaki have ancient ties to the region and are forming a single line of defense against the invasive beetles poised to rob them of their livelihood. These traditional basket-makers have, over…
