Goal 1: Protect and Grow Local Habitat

Restore Nature
Written By Natasha Juliana

Gardens and trees improve our lives and help nature thrive all around us. Restoring local habitat is essential to living in balance with the world.

TAKE ACTION:

  • Grow Gardens

    • Sheet mulch lawns

    • Grow habitat & pollinator gardens

    • Grow a community garden

    • Plant & maintain street trees

  • Save Water Outside

    • Apply compost & mulch

    • Install drip irrigation

    • Install a rain garden

    • Install rain barrels

  • Support Wildlife

    • Avoid pesticides or killing wildlife

    • Reduce noise pollution

    • Protect night skies

    • Become a beekeeper

    • Build an owl box or bat box

Grow Gardens

Why grow gardens and trees? Too many reasons to list! For you, the benefits include increased exercise, improved nutrition, time in nature, reduced stress, and social connection. Planted wisely and well, gardens and trees also conserve water, provide habitat for pollinators, increase biodiversity, and capture carbon. 

☑️ Sheet mulch lawns

Using a layered system, sheet mulching is a quick and sustainable way to produce healthier, more drought-tolerant gardens. Use recycled and other materials such as cardboard, newspaper, and bark or wood chips to lock in moisture, improve the quality of your soil, and block weed seeds. 

And if you've thought about replacing your lawn with artifical turf as a "green" alternative, think again. These plastic patches of fake grass may not need water, but they have many drawbacks: they are made out of forever chemicals that add to our pollution load, create soil dead zones when we need more habitat, and they get dangerously hot in the summer when we look to our yards to cool us off.

Families Advocating for Chemical and Toxics Safety (FACTS) team measured temperatures of the ground across Petaluma, CA on a hot day. The heat island effect of artificial turf is real: 

  • 171 degrees at Lucchesi Field - 71 degrees hotter on plastic turf than natural grass 

  • 163 degrees at Casa Grande HS Field - 67 degrees hotter on plastic turf than natural grass

So let the ground do what it does best by helping it grow life instead.

Resources:

California:

Petaluma, CA:

☑️ Grow habitat & pollinator gardens

You can create an inviting habitat for pollinators and other species by making conscious choices in your garden. Different colors, fragrances, heights, and blooming times attract different types of pollinators – any animal or insect that helps plants grow new fruit and seeds. 

Plant native species and consolidate similar plants in groups of at least three to attract birds, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Also, don’t go to an extreme with garden clean-ups. Why not? Because brush piles can provide shelter for birds and insects, and ripe seeds from spent flowers provide food for many birds. 

Resources:

California:

Sonoma County, CA:

Petaluma, CA:

☑️ Grow a community garden

Community gardens beautify neighborhoods, help bring neighbors closer together, and provide easy access to healthy food. They also offer space for people who wouldn’t otherwise have a place to garden. And community gardens are proven tools to reduce neighborhood crime, especially when developed in vacant, blighted lots. Check out iGrow Sonoma’s handy guide for getting started with a community garden. 

Resources:

USA:

California:

Sonoma County, CA:

☑️ Plant & maintain street trees

You can help by becoming a tree steward! The potential benefits are plentiful: 

  • Absorption of greenhouse gas emissions

  • Drought and fire resistance

  • Increased biodiversity

  • Shade and reduction of heat islands

  • Improved mental health

  • Reduced toxins in air and water

  • Increased property values

Resources:

USA:

California:

Petaluma, CA:

Natasha Juliana
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Restore Nature
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Goal 2: Restore Watershed and Ocean