Newsletter #25
The more clearly we focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the Universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction~ Rachel Carson
Dear Friends,
Happiest of New Year’s to you, your loved ones and welcome to all the new subscribers, and a special thank you to all paid subscribers. Hoping for many good things to happen this new year as awareness grows about issues relating to climate change, the environment, wildlife and building stronger communities. We can all help in different ways and each action makes a difference.
This issue has information about the best ways to Feed Wild Birds; a Grassy Mystery Solved and even what I do with orange peels; how we can be a catalyst for positive change when it comes to Fast Fashion and a piece about the lovely Yo-Yo Ma.
#1-Orange Peels
In my daily quest to reduce waste in my home, even orange peels don’t end up in the bin. Gardenista recently featured a story of the ways that I repurpose them!
From the ones that I cut into star shapes…
and turn into holiday garlands with the addition of pompons.
Others, I dry and use as tinder in the fireplace.
Did you know that clementines make very pretty tea lights?
Only use fresh clementines for tea lights as dried ones are very flammable.
Read the whole story here, and how to make the tea lights and more photos as well.
Learn how to make other planet-friendly choices in a book brought to you by the team at Gardenista & Remodelista: The Low Impact Home by Margot Guralnick & Fan Winston
#2-Feeding Birds in the Winter
I’m always looking for ways to protect birds while also being able to see them. From late spring into fall, birds feed on the grasses I planted for them near the garden, or snack on berries in the crabapples trees.
Dried seed heads tucked into old watering cans at River’s Edge Farm, New York.
In the winter, once they have eaten all the seeds from the dried flower heads, I have several feeders to provide sustenance if they need it, including a heated bird bath for all their washing needs.
photo by @birdsbyjason
Providing food to birds comes with responsibilities from the location of the feeder to cleaning the feeders regularly and providing appropriate bird food.
The most responsible choice is providing a backyard buffet planted with beautiful native grasses. The planting you do in the spring will pay off next fall and winter when those birds are looking for scarce food resources.
Native grasses are not only attractive, but they are highly useful in backyard and front yard ecosystems. They provide functions above and below ground, crowding out weeds, providing support to perennials, adding nutrients to the soil, offering nesting and cover to beneficial insects, and feeding wild birds and small mammals.
photo by @tomwarrenphoto9
Plan for the future by planting native grasses in your garden. Here is a suggested list of some of birds’s favorites:
Wavy Hair Grass (Dechampsia flexuosa), Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis), Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Pink Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia cappillaris), Purple Love Grass (Eragrostis spectabilis), Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), Blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis), Indian rice grass (Achnatherum hymenoides), Northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) and Sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula)
(I print out a list of grasses and keep it in my wallet, in case I happen upon a plant nursery, so I know what to look for).
You don't have to be a bird expert or conservationist to realize that birds today face a multitude of challenges. When thinking of offering food to birds, each one of us can take a little time to do some research and to sensibly weigh the pros and cons of our choices. We can make informed decisions, and hopefully balance our desire to see the birds with what’s best for them.
Learn more info in a piece in Audubon which includes links of species at risk to what food is appropriate.
#3-Fairy Circles
-swarm intelligence in Namibia-
I found this story fascinating, because I had never before considered grasses as anything more than just “grass.” Have you come across any stories about the unsolved mystery in nature, the “fairy circles” in Namibia? These are the millions of circular patches, in the grasslands located in the coastal Namib desert region.
The mystery has been solved and this is how they did it.
Researchers installed soil-moisture sensors in and around the circles. They found that after rainfall, the water within the circles depleted quickly, despite having no grass to use it, while the grasses outside the circle were robust.
Their conclusion: The grass plants “self-organize” into circles so they can grow in the arid conditions, with the insides serving as reservoirs for the outsides.
The plants are modifying the soil moisture distribution and thereby increasing their survival chances, which can be called ‘swarm intelligence’.
Source: New York Times
#4-The Issues with Fast Fashion
Usually I like to write about hopeful stories but once in a while, I need to share something where each of us can help change the way things have been done.
Such as fast fashion, which causes suffering for the people who make the clothing and causing huge harm on the environment and the communities that live nearby.
Fast fashion are clothes made by low-paid workers in China or Bangladesh, sold in Western countries, hardly worn, and quickly discarded. Clothing is becoming ever cheaper and of poorer quality. It is primarily made from synthetic materials such as polyester and is hardly recyclable into new clothing.
Clothing and shoes are bought in huge quantities online, tried on, sent back and then not offered for resale. New collections are being launched in quick succession. In the Netherlands alone an estimated one billion items of clothing are thrown away every year. They often end up in the clothing container.
TONS OF BRAND NEW CLOTHING IS DUMPED IN THE CHILEAN DESERT AND IN GHANA
The import of discarded clothing in South America is concentrated in the Chilean harbor of Iquique in the economic free zone of Alto Hospicio. Every year 59,000 tons of clothing is brought here from around the world. What follows is a comparable ecological disaster. Clothing that cannot be used anymore – up to 40,000 tons a year – ends up in the adjacent Atacama Desert.
Or in Accra, capital of Ghana, where huge piles of discarded clothes line beaches.
What is notable is that many of the clothing in these dumps still have price tags. These are clothing that were not sold and were even never worn. Large fashion brands are responsible for this, but they act as though nothing happens.
Globally, about 92 million metric tons (1 metric ton is 2,204 pounds) of textile waste is produced by the fashion industry each year. The US alone sees over 17 million tons of fabric discarded each year.
Unfortunately, clothing may take hundreds of years to biodegrade, if at all, and often laden with chemicals, “so it is not accepted in the municipal landfills,” according to Franklin Zepeda, founder of EcoFibra, where discarded clothing is transformed into insulation panels.
This pile-up leads to habitat loss, environmental pollution and water contamination.
A 2019 UN report indicated that the mounting waste isn’t slowing down anytime soon as they revealed that clothing production around the world had doubled between 2000 and 2014 — coinciding with the rise of so-called “fast fashion.” The UN says that the industry is “responsible for 20 percent of total water waste on a global level.”
Learn what we can all do to be a catalyst for change by watching the film
The True Cost , which is available on various streaming platforms.
Watch the trailer:
Support these brands who are working in different ways for a more sustainable and transparent fashion industry
#5- Yo Yo Ma
-finds his way back to nature through music-
Yo-Yo Ma, here at New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia, has started a new initiative, Our Common Nature, with the goal of building communities and connecting with nature while making music.
Aside from being the most famous cellist alive, he is a musician of immense conscience, a wholeheartedly earnest presence who tends to bring out the best in whatever company he is in, who soothes in moments of national mourning or global isolation. And now, with a philanthropic spirit and an open mind, he is hoping for nothing less than to newly understand his, and our, place in the world.
Read the entire piece here
Watch Yo-Yo Ma and Anna Clyne - In The Gale - The Birdsong Project
Watch Yo-Yo Ma performing from his album Songs for Comfort and Hope
And here were are, the end of the latest Newsletter, which I really hope you enjoyed reading and that you learned something to take with you and share with others.
You can follow me via Instagram @priscillawoolworth and if you are interested in learning more about River’s Edge Farm, you can follow it @riversedgefarmny as well as news about @therabbitholehvny, my on-site shop of unusual grown, found or made things.
Wishing you well and see you again soon!
Priscilla