Good “Home” Keeping Tips

Good “Home” Keeping Tips
 
In keeping with the goals of Laudato Si’, the Pope’s encyclical on the health of our planet, here are some practical ways to “care for our common home.

• Limit pesticide and fertilizer use. Even natural products kill beneficial insects and plants. Fertilizer run off is a major source of water pollution. (a)
• Turn off outdoor lights or use amber bulbs. Bright outdoor lights, especially LED, disrupt bird migrations. (b) Note: amber lights do not attract insects. 
• Use reusable water bottles. Plastics don’t decompose. They become smaller particles, “microplastics”, which are readily ingested by all of us - humans and animals alike. (c)
• Plant a native tree. Native trees, like Oaks and Red Maples, are hosts to native insects which then become bird food. 96% of birds rely on insects to feed their young. (d)
• Reduce meat consumption. Animal farming produces 50% of the food industry’s greenhouse emissions. (e)
• Buy local.  Supporting local businesses reduces carbon emissions from transportation of goods. 

www.JerseyFriendlyYards.org, “Fertilizers in our Waterways”.
https://BirdCast.info 
www.sustainability.yale.edu, “Yale Experts Explain Microplastics.”
“Bringing Nature Home”, Douglas W. Tallamy.
www.Hsph.harvard.edu, “Reducing meat consumption good for personal and planetary health”