Refresh, Renew, Revitalize: Brushing off the Cobwebs and Rolling Up Our Sleeves
Set some realistic green goals for the New Year!
Bloodroot Emerging. Photo by Robert Severynse
As spring approaches, animals stir in their winter dens, and we as humans tend to throw open our windows to the returning sun. What a time for shaking off the dust of winter! And what a time to stretch our stiff limbs to new life – to refresh, renew, and revitalize!
The idea of changing your lifestyle can be daunting, and it’s something many of us hope to do every New Year. But what we’ve learned over time is that the changes that tend to stick are the ones you make gradually. So if you’re looking to make a positive environmental change in your life this year, consider choosing just one of the goals below to make your life, and our world, a little greener!
Clear the Clutter: Reduce Plastic Bags
Many of us across Maryland in the past few years have experienced the new county laws on single-use plastics, implemented to curb the plastics flowing into our biggest local watershed, the Chesapeake Bay. Even if you haven’t, moving towards reusable bags is an achievable goal, and one that will reduce the clutter in your life.
While many of us reuse plastic grocery bags as trash bags for kitchen waste, what do you do with the ones with holes in them? Many grocery stores now accept clean, dry plastic bags and plastic film in receptacles at the front of the store. Collecting plastic bags you can’t use to bring back the next time you go for groceries reduces the amount of plastic in landfills, as well as the amount of plastic bags that end up impacting wildlife by accident. One way to save space with these is to knot them; this removes volume, and makes them less likely to either blow away or get caught.
In choosing reusable bags, pick something suited to your needs. Cloth bags can be thrown in the washing machine, but reusable bags made of recycled plastic can be wiped down easily, and may be more convenient for grocery items that are frozen or refrigerated. The most important thing is to choose something that you know you will want to use, and will be the most comfortable to adopt into your life.
Up Your Fashion Game: Choose Sustainable Clothes
Garlanded Beaver. Photo by James Pekar
It can feel these days like everything you see in the stores or online is polyester. If you’d like to reduce your use of plastic, a great place to start is to reduce the amount of polyester, nylon, or spandex you buy. All clothing releases small fibers in the washer, meaning clothes made of plastics like these release plastics into the wastewater from our homes. Wastewater treatment plants treat for bacteria, viruses, and an assortment of pollutants, but microplastics are unfortunately beyond the scope of modern wastewater management.
Try to choose clothes that are made of natural fibers like cotton, wool, linen, or rayon (a semi synthetic fabric made of cellulose). Even if it’s just making sure an item is blended with cotton instead of being 100% polyester, every little bit helps!
Make New Friends: Forgo Pesticides
Emerald Jumper Photo by Madhuri Shenker
How do you increase the number of butterflies, help native bees, and ensure the future of fireflies? It’s simpler than you think – don’t spray!
Pesticides by design have a tendency to be very general; this causes problems because they wipe out beneficial insects as well as the ones humans are targeting. Not only that, but on occasion the bugs that can survive on poisoned ground may be less desirable as well (for example, leeches thrive in polluted waters).
When problems arise with “pests” in your garden, there are a variety of least toxic pest products that can be used instead of pesticides, many of which specifically target insects you’re seeking to remove while encouraging biodiversity in your yard.
Additionally listed on our above resource are common beneficial insects and how to encourage them. You may even make some new friends! We have a tendency to shun the friendship of wasps, but some species like Cotesia congregatus, may prove your ally when it comes to hornworms in your garden!
Get More Greens: Plant Native Plants
Groundhogs do not stay on the ground. Photo by Ekaterina Ivleva
One of the most common questions received by the Maryland DNR Wildlife and Heritage Service is how to best help native animals, and the answer is nearly always to plant more native plants! Native plants provide food all through the year for animals at different stages of their development, where often ornamental, non-native plants do not.
Often, boxwood bushes are used to create plant barriers between lawns, or to cover unsightly utility items, but native deciduous shrubs can serve the same function while also acting as habitat and food sources for native birds. Late winter and early spring are ideal times for replacing bushes in your yard with more wildlife-friendly alternatives.
Deer-tolerant ferns are wonderful to provide habitat as well- while they do not supply food to animals, they act to cool areas, absorb excess moisture in the soil, and are wonderfully shade tolerant. In fact, ferns are nearly never a food source for animals, although their structure makes them perfect foraging locations for birds looking for bugs!
If you have a lawn, have you considered how much time you may regain by not mowing? While such a proposition in many places may put you on the wrong side of an homeowners association, groundcover plants can replace grass lawns, allowing you free time back without your lawn growing out of control.
So where do you get native plants? DNR maintains a native plant nursery, and that’s as good a place to begin as any!
Commit to Good Sleep Hygiene: Turn Out The Lights
Frog camoulage. Photo by Danielle DeWitt
How blue light and screentime can affect our ability to fall asleep deeply has been a subject of much discussion in recent years, but did you know that the same things apply to wildlife?
When streetlights stay on all night, the light can confuse nocturnal animals, and may mean animals awake in the daylight don’t get the restful sleep they need. Lights on at night in particular during the fall and spring migration can cause building strikes from birds making their way north or south when traveling at night. Curbing these negative effects are easier than you may think though! Changing floodlights to motion censored, or positioning them so they shine less light into the sky and are directed to where they need to be, are both great ways to reduce light pollution and help your local wildlife!
Check out Lights Out Baltimore for more tips on reducing light pollution for wildlife around you!
Let Go of Little Things: Leave the Leaves
Mammal enjoying fallen leaves. Maryland Department of Natural Resources photo
You may have seen posts this fall about how leaves provide important winter habitat for animals in hibernation, and that is absolutely true. But what about what to do with them in the spring? First, before you get to raking, try to let your yard wake up at its own pace- most insects haven’t finished waking up until daytime temperatures are consistently in the 50s. This includes many of our native North American bees.
Leaves can also provide important nutrients to the soil bed, so consider leaving them where you can to decompose naturally.
Refresh Your Space: Providing Habitat
Toad Abode. Photo by Maryland DNR Staff
Are you ready to turn a big piece of land into habitat, but don’t know where to start?
We have a guide for that! What about a meadow? We have a guide for that too!
Have a pond and want to make it more wildlife friendly? You’re not going to believe this, but we have a guide for that too!
So what about those of us with cramped quarters and dreams of grandeur? The fact is, nature is all around us. That means urban nature-scaping is just as important, and you can make your small spaces an oasis in the sea of concrete!
Wild-scaping townhouses and condos can be tricky due to the limited space available, so see our guide on how to select native plant species to make the most of your small corner of habitat. Do you have even more limited space? We have guidance for porches, decks, and balconies too!
Something as small as water drips can have a significant impact on the wildlife that visits your space. See our other Wild Acres and backyard wildlife resources to
Give Back: Teaching Others
Those who can do more teach!
If you’re in a position to do so, consider joining a Project WILD training to learn a wide variety of methods to teach conservation and biology to a class, scout group, youth group, or even kindergarten group! The lessons have been vetted and refined by environmental educators, and are interdisciplinary and aligned to state standards. Moreover, the courses apply towards continuing education credits. To check out upcoming Project WILD courses, visit the DNR website.
If that doesn’t sound appealing to you, DNR has many other educational resources that may spark inspiration. We loan out education trunks full of activities centered around different topics free of charge, or you may find something interesting in our many Wildlife Education Resources.
Deep Breath!
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the possibilities, so again, start small. Pick one thing to work at. The fact is that every little thing you do helps, and even if it doesn’t feel like much, others seeing what you’re doing matters too.
Talk about it. Reach out to others if you think something isn’t working, and ask for help when you need it. And above all else, remember that learning is part of the process!
Article by Katy Gorsuch, Natural Resources Biologist with the Wildlife and Heritage Service
