Loading ...9 Things You can Do for Earth Day
-
by Judi ~ April 16, 2009
Earth Day April 22, 2009
Celebrate Earth Day – But remember… everyday is a good day to do something for our Earth, so if you can’t do everything you want on Earth Day, that’s ok.. here’s a list of things to do, on Earth Day or any other day.
1. Lowe’s Home Improvement offers a 10% off coupon good on purchases up to $5000.
This would be a good coupon to use for plants for your yard. This year, we purchases two fruit trees (a super sweet peach and a super sweet plum). I still want to get a pear, but will likely add that next year. We also got a couple of raspberry bushes. No need to get too many of those, as they send up shoots all over the place (yes, they can be invasive!).
I also purchases gravel, lumber and stepping stones for my greenhouse (well, the gravel came from the sand & gravel company). I’ll make use of another coupon for stones for our patio.
Last year, we added walls to our back porch, turning it into a very useable indoor space. This summer, we bought sliding glass doors – one for each side of the new “diningroom”… this will bring in lots of light! Not to mention a nice indoor place to keep our houseplants through the cold months. We’ve made good use of Lowe’s this year!
2. Buy in Bulk. When purchasing mulch, gravel or other yard necessities, call your local Sand & Gravel company. If you have access to a truck, you will save a TON of money by picking up the materials yourself.
I picked up 1.5 tons of pea gravel for my greenhouse. It cost me $26 to pick it up myself. If I’d had them deliver 2 tons, it would have cost $115 – that’s a huge difference. But even having it delivered it would have been cheaper than buying by the bag.
I saw a neighbor with 4 skids full of bags of mulch (no kidding!)… Even at $3 a bag, she spent a small fortune. Way more than if she’d ordered in bulk and had it delivered.
We created a new driveway using chips and dust.. it’s a packing type of stone.. We started out needed about 18 tons.. so the initial cost was not too cheap (but much cheaper than blacktop or cement). Every couple of years, we order about 4-5 tons (delivered) and spend a few hours spreading it to the thin spots (and then a couple hours soaking in the hot tub! But it creates a nice new drive. Couldn’t have done it so cheaply had we not purchased in bulk.
Also, keep in mind when you buy mulch, a yard (bulk) of mulch is much different than a cubic foot. A conversation with an older woman years ago always sticks with me. I told her we used 3 yards of mulch for our yard. She said, well, we used 32 yards! I thought to myself 32 yards of mulch would have covered her whole yard! Not just her flower beds. She had to have bought bags and not noticed it was measured in cubic feet (usually something like 3 cubic feet in a bag). I wonder every spring if she ever realized the difference.
A yard of mulch would be equal to 27 cubic feet (3 x 3 x 3 = 27). 32 yards of mulch would be over 860 cubic feet. That’s a lot of mulch for a standard size yard.
3. Add insects to your yard. I’ve posted before about our fun with Praying Mantis egg cases – try it! The Praying Mantis are great for your yard. Very good “friends” to have around. They munch on lots of pesky bugs – like mosquitoes (I hate mosquitoes! and they just *love* me). Get some lady beetles (aka lady bugs). They usually come in a mesh bag and you just sprinkle them around your yard.
Get a Butterfly Pavilion and hatch a group of butterflies from caterpillars. Or purchase a Spiderweb Frame for the garden – while many might be icked out by spiders, they are, like Praying Mantis, eaters of the other nuisance pests.
4. Plant native to your area plants… whether it’s trees, shrubs or wild flowers… the native animals and birds will enjoy it.
5. Plant your own veggies. It might be hard to live off our home grown vegetables in this day and age, but every bit you grow is less you need to purchase. Not to mention, eating your own hard work is satisfying. Kids can easily help in the garden by planting, hoeing, watering and harvesting. Then, teach them to eat raw, or how to toss a salad or how to cook their home grown veggies. It’s healthy eating at it’s best!
6. Start a compost pile with old leaves and yard waste – like grass clippings and soft plant material.. don’t use the sticks and branches.. you don’t need those. Create an enclosure with a few wooden skids (think recycling) and zip-tie them together and stake it into the ground so it’s sturdy. Just three skids making an upside U shape would be a good start. If you have a large yard, try five but using two in the back, one other either end and one on one side in the front so you have one opening to move your stuff in and out.
It’s best not to put your compost pile near trees (so the roots don’t send a shoot up into that great compost material) but you also want some shade as the compost tends to get hot..
7. Create Animal Friendly Habitats by providing plenty of living supplies or areas – like for nesting birds, in the spring, fill your suet feeder with bits of yarn, raveled rope or burlap, pieces of hair or soft materials, even paint brush bristles. Make sure to clean out the nest boxes from their last use. And keep water in the bird baths. Birds need the water during the summer months more than they need us to feed them (feeding them through the winter is most helpful!). Birds like to play in the water mist too, so creating a water dripper or installing a water mist makes watching the birds fun.
You can even get Backyard Habitat Certified – a great project for homeschooling kids too.
8. Create a pond which is wildlife friendly. Ponds can be made from pre-formed liners, or you dig your own design and lay pond liner – this is what I would like to do… to create a “zero-entry” area so small birds can play in a shallow area. Ponds grow plants, sustain goldfish and/or koi and also provide a habitat for frogs which you might not otherwise have in your backyard. It’s fun to see frogs, tadpoles and fry all swimming around the bigger fish. My dad has a wonderful garden we even enjoy visiting in the cold Ohio winter – he covers it with a small greenhouse during the cold month and it usually stays warm and humid. But the water doesn’t freeze and some plants even stay happily growing, oblivious to the harsh reality outside the thin walls.
9. Clean your Hummingbird Feeders It’s that time of year that the hummers (at least here in Ohio) will start seeing hummingbirds visiting as they migrate to our Northern area. So make sure to have fresh nectar available for them… they’ll need it. Here’s my simple Homemade Hummingbird Nectar Recipe – two ingredients you always have on hand.. so simple!
Summers Coming – Hummingbird Time
Celebrate Earth Day Every Day
Toad Abode and Bath
Recycling Nature Landscaping
Bird Bath Water Dripper – Home made
