Eco-Friendly Choices Found in
the Backyard
at
March
12, 2008
Backyard Ecotopia
combines love of gardening and sustainable living practices to create a green
paradise in the backyard
“It really doesn’t matter whether
the natural environment is immediately upstream or downstream from where you
live or is as far away as the nearest Great Lake,” said
Tony DiGiovanni, Executive Director of Landscape Ontario, and one of the
partners of Canada Blooms and this display, “as gardeners, we play an
important role in the environmental health of our communities and the Great
Lakes Basin ecosystem in which we live.”
“Backyard Ecotopia
helps show how, through sustainable gardening practices, each of us can make a
world of difference to those environments,” said DiGiovanni.”
Examples
of how gardeners can incorporate simple, sustainable “green” living
practices and products into their every day lives, include:
o
Composting kitchen scraps and other organics to
reduce household waste and produce nutrient-rich garden soils;
o
Using wind energy to power small water garden
features and solar energy produced through panels to run lights, pumps or fans;
o
Conserving water through the use of mulches and soaker
hoses or by harvesting rain and storing it in a rain garden, rain barrel or
cistern for future watering needs;
o
Replacing concrete and asphalt surfaces with
porous paving stones to allow rainwater to soak into the soil and help recharge
local groundwater supplies;
o
Protecting
o
Planting native species of trees, shrubs and
flowering plants to attract beneficial wildlife.
Information about how the
Backyard Ecotopia garden has been designed and can be
re-created in urban backyards and gardens is available at www.backyardecotopia.ca
-30-
For more information, please contact:
|
Dennis
Flanagan Landscape Ph:
905-875-1805 ext 303 |
Mark Heaton Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Ph: 905-713-7406 Cell:
416 993 1295 |