The substances that turn our lakes and rivers green each summer come from our lawns and yards. We think of leaves as waste, but to a lake they are food. The algae in lakes love leaves and fertilizers, and when we feed lakes too many chemicals and leaves, algal blooms turn our lakes and rivers green and smelly. Protecting water is everyone’s job What can you do? Simple–remember the land/water connection! What we do to the land we do to the water. Reduce chemicals, clean your streets when the leaves fall from the trees, and when you mow the grass clean your streets and sidewalks. Keep our lakes and rivers clean.
It’s A Beautiful World!
“The world around us,” she says, “we take it for granted. But if we pause a moment and look around, there’s so much beauty right in our own backyard. I want people to see that. I want people to realize this is not an ugly world.” Ellen Lentsch
This is an amazing story of a woman who climbed up the Red Wing, Minnesota bluffs, overlooking the Mississippi River, to take a sunrise picture everyday of 2016. Read the entire story and see her pictures here
“My vision is to create a world where we can live in harmony with nature” Jane Goodall
Celebrate Climatarian Week!
What is a climatarian? A climatarian considers the foot-print they are making when they make their purchases. The idea is to buy local and reduce beef and dairy.
My suggestions on being a Climatarian:
* Eliminate beef, and reduce dairy consumption
* Walk or take public transport to purchase groceries.
*Participate in Meatless Monday, and go meatless often.
*Buy in bulk and refill your own bottles.
*Work to reduce all food waste and compost any food waste you have.
*Choose minimal packaging, and recycle as much as possible.
*Use real dishes!
* I love “clean out” the refrigerator stir fry or soup.
*Shop food co-ops, farmer’s markets and eat locally grown foods, and grow your own food.
Justice For All
Life Liberty and Happiness
These words from the Declaration of Independence which declared our independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776. Today is the USA’s 241st birthday.
It appears to me that more people than usual are thinking about what it means to be an American on this 4th of July holiday. We grieve a lack of leadership, but it is the people who have always made the U.S. great and we must have hope for the future!
On This 4th of July celebrate what is great about our country: Celebrate our beautiful landscapes and parks, celebrate our diversity and our right to speak out. Celebrate that we have a free press working hard to get us the real news, and find the truth.
Democracy is hard work and it is messy. As Americans I hope we will continue to speak out honestly, strive for truth, work for justice, and act peacefully. Continue to March, call your elected officials on issues (local, state and national), write letters to newspapers and officials, Carry signs, wear bold t-shirts, ask questions, follow the rules(we are a nation of laws), and pursue the common good for all! It is our children’s destiny. Wishing you happiness and justice on this 4th!
See Neil Young’s video below:
https://www.ecowatch.com/neil-young-children-of-destiny-2452520963.html
Chemical Weapons
We have an administration in this country that has shown it doesn’t care about the health of the American people. It is working hard to take away health care from our nation’s most vulnerable, allows industry to pollute our precious air and water, and has left the Paris Agreement which is a teamwork agreement with 175 other countries to work on climate change. But when this administration speaks out, it speaks out about the Syrian people which they have banned from entering The United States? All this is impossible to make sense of, but the below letter to the editor had a lot to say:
CHEMICAL WEAPONS from Startribune.com
There are two kinds: Syria’s, and those sprayed on food
The hypocritical attitudes of the current administration in Washington were clearly depicted on Page A4 of Wednesday’s Star Tribune with the juxtaposition of two news stories.
One article notes the White House’s warning that the Syrian regime would “pay a heavy price” if it used chemical weapons against its own people. The next article describes the EPA’s reversal of the ban on spraying chlorpyrifos on food in our country.
The EPA’s own studies have proved that chlorpyrifos harms children’s brains and that pregnant mothers “ingesting even minuscule amounts” can interfere with babies’ brain development. Is there a connection between this chemical and the 78 percent rise in autism in the last decade?
Why would EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt side with Dow Chemical rather than the American Academy of Pediatrics, whose 66,000 members are deeply alarmed with the decision? Could it be that the $13.6 million Dow spent lobbying last year or the $1 million donated to President Donald Trump’s inaugural influenced Pruitt’s decision?
The big question to be answered: Why is the White House outraged by the Syrian children being sprayed with chemicals while allowing chemicals to harm American children? Just whom is the Environmental Protection Agency protecting?
Kathleen Ziegler, Lino Lakes
Information from Earth Justice on chlorpyrifos
June on Lake Superior
June is a month of variety, fresh green plants, and interesting skies. As the month ends, I reflect on the beauty of Lake Superior and the landscape that surrounds it. The length of the days and natural beauty is energizing. Everyday differs with the direction of the wind, and the big lake is usually part of this equation.
The birds are secretly nesting and raising their young, but I watch an unaware flicker fly in and out of her nest hole with food.
The lupine, wild geraniums, Canada anemone, thimbleberry, and raspberries bloom while the milkweed takes over the garden path.
And.. everyday enjoys a new butterfly.
A Simple Idea to Improve Water
It’s raining where I live. Do you ever wonder where all that rainwater goes? Our earth naturally manages rainwater, drainage, and wetlands, and it is able to naturally purify and clean our water. Unfortunately, we created an impossible situation with our concrete urbanization and all the chemicals we use. Instead of allowing the rain to fall and soak into the ground we get it away from our houses and buildings as fast as we can sending water rushing down our storm drains into our lakes and rivers. As this water cascades over concrete and asphalt it picks up chemicals, pollutants, trash, lawn clippings and leaves which wash into our lakes, rivers, and oceans.
This is a classic example if everyone were to do just a bit to give some of this natural cleaning back to the earth, it would make a big difference in our water quality.
No one wants a wet basement, so always keep water 10 feet from your house or apartment, but beyond the 10 feet you can do many water managements things with a few flexible downspout extensions which you can purchase at hardware stores.
Below is an excellent blog from the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization on a very simple way to use some of the water running off your home, and making a big difference for water quality.
From the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization : “Your goal, as an eco-friendly house-dweller, is to soak as much of that water into the ground as possible. The soil will filter out the pollutants and the water will move downward until it reaches the water table. As a bonus, any plants, trees or other vegetation in the area will soak up a portion of the water to use as fuel.” Read the entire blog here.
The same thing can be accomplished on agricultural land that uses buffer strips of trees and deep-rooted plants along ponds and streams. These buffer strips absorb the chemicals! The Gulf of Mexico thanks you! Read at Gulf
Celebrating Butterflies
I love butterflies, and National Pollinator Week gives me an excuse to concentrate on what brings butterflies to my yard and to my walking routes. This week I learned two new skipper butterflies: the hobomok skipper and Arctic skipper. Both are crazy for wild geranium, The yellow swallow-tail, painted lady and admirals are plentiful now also, and a few monarchs are checking out the milkweed. Also, this week I saw one pearl crescent and a silvery blue.
Below are two books that help me identify butterflies, and here is an on-line butterfly guide.
Have fun land I hope you enjoy butterflies as much as I do! Get out for a walk and look!
Happy Summer!
“Today is a new day. It’s the first day of summer. Go for a walk, listen to the birds chirping. Take in the fragrance of the Earth. And resolve to keep fighting for what you believe in.” Dan Rather
” I allow myself to appreciate each moment for the richness it brings to my life.” Attitude of Gratitude
This is Pollinator Week
What butterflies can you find this week?
What plants bring pollinators to your yard?
