I just don’t get America’s love affair with lawns.
Sure, I like a nice patch of grass as much as the next person, but it’s those lawns that spread over acres and acres that puzzle me. What’s the point of making so much work for yourself, when all you get is a largely useless expanse of green?
Michele Colopy agrees, and she’s trying to get others to change their thinking.
Colopy is program director of the Pollinator Stewardship Council, a national nonprofit that works to protect pollinators from the adverse effects of pesticides. The West Akron resident is on a mission to persuade businesses, churches and other organizations in Ohio to turn their big lawns into habitats that would attract and nurture the birds and bugs that pollinate our plants.
Colopy is working on the project with the Medina County Beekeepers, of which she is a member, and the Ohio State Beekeepers Association. They’re seeking a grant from the Ohio Environmental Education Fund to pay for the conversion of lawns to pollinator forage, but first the grant administrators at the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency have asked them to line up organizations willing to work with them on converting their lawns.
Specifically, they’re looking for lawns that are 2 acres or larger and aren’t being used as play areas. They have an Aug. 1 deadline, so if your organization is interested in participating, email the Pollinator Stewardship Council via its website (http://pollinatorstewardship.org), or call 832-727-9492.
The idea, Colopy explained, is to show people a more sustainable alternative to grassy corporate lawns, which have little value other than aesthetics. “Really our goal is to change people’s behavior,” she said.
Say a company or a church creates a pollinator habitat where once only grass grew. That habitat would draw the attention of the employees or members, who just might turn around and do the same thing in their own yards, Colopy said.
Such habitats are critical to the survival of bees, hummingbirds, butterflies and other creatures that spread the pollen that’s vital to food production. Those pollinators are threatened by a number of factors, including habitat destruction, the conversion of land to cropland for biofuel production, pesticide misuse, diseases, parasites and invasive species.
It’s such an important issue that President Barack Obama recently called for creation of a federal strategy to promote pollinator health.
But pollinators wouldn’t be the only beneficiaries of the habitat program, Colopy noted. The participating organizations would benefit from reduced maintenance costs. The earth would benefit from a decrease in pollutants from mowers and other power tools as well as a reduction in chemical use. And farmers and gardeners would benefit from having more creatures around to pollinate their crops.
Organizations that participate in the program will decide what’s planted on their property, she said. They’ll be asked not to use any pesticides, and they’ll be responsible for preparing the land and maintaining the habitat.
The habitat can take any number of forms. An organization might choose to simply plant clover, Colopy said, or perhaps it would choose to plant low-growing wildflowers or a mix of taller native flowering plants.
Habitats might also include features such as native pollinator houses or honeybee hives. The hives would be managed by local beekeepers, some of whom might serve as mentors to 4H members, she said.
The conversions wouldn’t happen until next spring, Colopy said. That allows plenty of time to prepare the land for planting.
And plenty of time to sell off that obsolete mower.
Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com. You can also become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MBBreckABJ, follow her on Twitter @MBBreckABJ and read her blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/mary-beth.