Earth Day, the annual day we honor that which sustains our lives, came and went on Wednesday, April 22. You may have gone to DPR's Earth Day festival at Holton Career and Resource Center, or went to any of the numerous events around the Triangle. Now that Earth Day has passed for another year, what small, regular steps can we all take to take care of this fragile ecosystem that sustains us?
- Turn off the water when you're brushing your teeth. Gallons of water go down the sink when in the minute that you're brushing.
- Don't throw food trash out your window. That apple core may seem a nuisance in your vehicle, but those birds of prey--hawks, owls, falcons--are waiting for the rodents who wait on the roadside for our tossed apples, burgers, fries and gum. They swoop down to get the rodents and BAM! meet the grill of a car.
 |
| Hawk on Power Line |
- Install a bat house on your property. About 80% of the brown bat population (almost 99% in Pennsylvania!) has been annihilated by White Nose Syndrome, a fungus that kills hibernating bats. The disease is spread two ways: by humans carrying the fungus from one cave to another, or a bat from a contaminated cave roosting in a new cave. Bats eat about 3,000 mosquitoes per day and help pollinate the planet--in other words, the world would be pretty darned miserable without them. Help give them a safe place to roost, and keep your yard free of mosquitoes!
 |
| A bat house provides a safe roosting place for bats. |
- Water your lawn when it needs it rather than on a schedule. In the humid southeast, our lawns need far less water than we think they do. Better yet, install native plants, mosses and grasses which thrive in local conditions. I'm letting a native grass take over my front yard and I have a lush, green lawn without herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers. A very interesting article from NASA about lawns and watering can be found here.
