Most landscaping work has a perfectly manicured look and maintains a perfect shade of green year round. The techniques used to achieve this often are damaging to the environment – they use excess amounts of water, remove trees, and use chemical treatments on their lawns. You can still have a lush landscape without doing so much damage. Get started with these three steps:
Use a rain barrel. Collecting rainwater provides an extra water resource that is excellent for maintaining your garden, lawn, house plants, or for washing your car.
Plant trees. Plant them where they are most needed – your lawn, around shrubs and bushes, near shade flower and vegetable beds, and around the southern side of the home, if possible. Planting trees around the south side of the house will help cut down on cooling costs in the summer.
Use climate friendly plants. Plants that are not native to your environment are less likely to thrive without excess water or environmental alteration. Talk to nurseries in your area about the best type of plants for your current climate.
Chemicals that kill things
The “easy way” to kill bugs and weeds has been underway since the early part of the last century. After WWII petroleum chemical companies realized that a lot of chemicals developed for the war could be used to kill insects and weeds. That was good for agriculture because the U.S. was moving away from small family farms into “big business” farms. Thus, expensive labor could be replaced with cheap chemicals.
DDT, one of the pesticides in the Chlorinated hydrocarbon family was banned in 1973, but more than 3 decades later is still being found in humans. Chemicals in the organophosphates category have been found to cause nervous system disruption. Lead, Arsenic, Mercury, & Copper have been used as pesticides for more than a century, and we all know that each are dangerous to human health.
So what is the big deal you say? The federal government sets limits on the amount of any of the chemicals that can be in the food we eat. They claim they are safe, yet here is the problem. Lots of the fruits and veggies on the grocer’s shelves can exceed these levels because there is no system for checking. Plus the food we get comes from global sources, and let’s just say that some places don’t have the rigorous regulations. AND, have you noticed the amount of people with Celiac disease, food allergies, and digestive disorders?
A lot of these chemicals can cause damage to the nervous system, disrupt your hormones, and according to a report by the Nat’l Research Council, 30 percent of commonly used insecticides, 60 percent of herbicides, and 90 percent of fungicides can potentially cause cancer. It’s unethical to test humans, so we rely on the poor farm workers who have been regularly exposed to these chemicals regularly.
As spring approaches, and you sign those contracts with the lawn companies, think about what you are throwing on the lawn where your children might be playing, and consider a more natural product.
One that takes to heart the impact their product makes on the Planet, the Rivers, Streams and Ponds, in their community as well as the lawn where your children romp and play. We use Natural Lawn of America. Email me to know more: deb@eco-logicalnews.com
Eco Logically Yours
Deb Villarese
www.bellawelllifestyles.com
