1.  As more people recognize that what's good for the environment is also good for them and their families, there is growing interest in making gardens and landscapes better for the Earth.  Used since the 1940s, synthetic (chemical) fertilizers and pesticides have been shown to be harmful to our air, water, soils, wildlife, and to people.  Synthetic nitrogen leaches nitrates into groundwater and surface waters, causing massive algal growth that harms aquatic life and threatens human life.  Synthetic nitrogen also releases nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.  For soil fertility, use USDA certified organic products, OMRI-listed products (Organic Materials Resource Index) , or your own compost. Ask your favorite garden center to carry these types of products.  Devote a portion of your backyard, or a strip along your driveway, or on your patio for native wildflower plants (not hybrids) to create pollinator corridors in every neighborhood to support struggling birds, butterflies and other pollinators.

2.  70 out of 100 major crops- apples,blueberries, watermelons, zucchini, nuts, soybeans, squash, cucumbers, oranges, avocados, to name a few - rely on bees and other pollinators.  But diseases, pests, climate change, and human encroachment on pollinator habitat have all been implicated in the loss of over 700 North American bee species, 40 percent of all wild insect pollinators, and 90 percent of Monarch butterflies.  A growing body of science also points to neonicotinoids, or neonics, the world's most widely used insecticides, as a key factor in the nationwide collapse of bees and other pollinators.  Ask retailers who sell plants and gardening supplies to eliminate neonics from the plants they sell.  You can provide healthy habitat and food for pollinators by converting parts of your lawn to native plants that do both: go to the website of the EcoFaith Network (https://www.ecofaithnetwork.org/pollinator-project or to the Xerces Society (https://www.xerces org/) for up-to-date information on pollinator conservation.  

3.  The EPA estimates that 9 billion gallons of water a day are used on lawns and 17 million gallons of gas are used in mowers every year.  Expanses of lawns also require the use of broad-spectrum chemicals (such as neonicotinoids) that kill many bees, butterflies, moths, caterpillars, dragonflies and ladybugs, as well as contributing to the death of nestling birds when their insect food disappears.  According to the National Wildlife Federation, fish and other aquatic organisms can succumb when pesticides end up in nearby ponds and lakes.  By replacing all or part of your lawn with native flowers, (National Wildlife Federation's Native Plant Finder at bit.ly/3vGsXz), you will mow less and provide plantings that will create a diverse and inviting ecosystem for beneficial insects such as dragonflies and damselflies that are voracious eaters of mosquitos.  Turtles, frogs, bats, and many species of birds will also feast on the insects, and provide sustenance for their young.  

4.  Toxic, synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are popular because they have the ability to increase yields and reduce loss, though at great cost to the health of the soil and the living creatures who come in contact with the chemicals.  Chemicals such as neonicotinoids (neonics) not only destroy the pollinators, but also likely harm up to 80 percent of all threatened and endangered species.  Neonics are turning up in our food and drinking water, and are implicated in increased risk for birth defects like malformation of the developing heart and brain as well as increased risk of autism-like symptoms, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Nature-based solutions you can use instead are: 1) Neem oil, made from the neem tree, which should be sprayed when you see the first adult bug; and 2) Insecticidal soaps (you can make your own with 1 TBSP of dishwashing soap in a quart of water).  Find more tips at Green America.org and search "Climate Victory Garden." 

5.  The Audubon Society reports that at least one-third of all American birds (around 300 million) have disappeared since the 1970s, the result of the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss from industrialization.  Researchers are finding that artificial light at night can interfere with the behavior of animals, including migrating birds, dung beetles, pollinating insects and baby sea turtles, according to Dark Sky International, a nonprofit founded by astronomers in 1987.  Light pollution can also disrupt the life cycle of tree leaves and increase the amount of carbon released by animals and plants. The late primatologist/author Dr. Jane Goodall taught us that when we truly see what is unfolding in the natural world, we are called to protect it.  With the growing realization that natural darkness is as essential to the environment as clean air, clean water, and green space, each of us can use low-impact, or no outdoor lighting in our own spaces, and support a broader push across the nation for the legal protection of dark skies.