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PrintGiving Back: 20 Things You Can “Give” to Help Nature This Season
Nature gives us sunrises, rainbows and shooting stars. We enjoy the cheery song of the robin that welcomes spring and the katydid’s music in fall that lulls us to sleep. To reduce stress and feel fit, we jog along the river, hike a hillside trail or bike backcountry roads. We watch deer, feed birds and fish for trout. Nature gives us many gifts. Most are free for the taking, unwrapped and without obligation.
If you feel gift-giving has “overtaken” your holiday spirit, consider this: The average American's trash output goes up 25 percent between Thanksgiving and New Year's. We give and receive gifts we do not want or need. But there are “gifts” we can give that help nature and make the holidays greener. Here’s a list of 20 ideas to choose from. Try just one this holiday season, and you’ll feel good!
Help your area parks and nature centers
1. Contact your local park or nature center and find out what they need in the way of donations: Kitchen strainers for pond scooping? Black oil sunflower seed? Markers? Glue sticks? Binoculars?
2. Volunteer at a park special event
3. Write a letter to a local official, or your newspaper, about your experiences at your favorite park.
4. Does your local park have a Friends group? Join it!
Friends of Elkhart County Parks 574-535-6458
Friends of St. Joseph County Parks 574-654-3155
Friends of Potato Creek State Park www.friendsofpotatocreek.org
Friends of Cass County Parks (MI) swyman@casscoroad.com
Friends of LaPorte County Parks www.laportecountyparks.org/friend.html
Greener gifts and decorating
5. Give park coupons. Some area parks sell gift certificates for park activities such as inner tubing or nature day camp. They make perfect stocking stuffers. An annual entrance passes to your state or county parks makes a great present for moms and kids who use the playground, dog walkers, birders, cross county skiers and more.
6. Instead of giving the “hard-to-buy-for” something they don’t want, donate funds in their name to a charity.
7. Buy a migratory bird and conservation stamp as a gift (available at post offices). Funds from the stamp help purchase land for conservation in the National Wildlife Refuge system
8. Don’t wrap your holiday gift in reams of wrapping paper you will send to the landfill. Instead use reusable gift bags.
9. Consider sending e-cards or make your own holiday cards from recycled materials.
10. Trade out your energy hogging holiday lights for LEDs. They are up to 90% more efficient that incandescent lights.
11. Give someone a pretty set of reusable grocery bags to keep in their car.
“Do it” gifts for habitats and wildlife
12. Disinfect your bird feeders with a mild bleach solution at least once a month to keep birds healthy.
13. Refresh the water in your heated winter birdbath weekly and scrub it clean to prevent disease.
14. Stop feeding bread to ducks, geese and song birds. It has poor nutritional value.
15. Keep your cat indoors. Cats kill millions of songbirds each year.
16. Clean up discarded monofilament fishing line from popular fishing locations near you.
17. Donate funds to an area land conservancy that purchases and protects special places.
Trillium Land Trust
Elkhart/St. Joseph Counties
eecmail@coelkhartindiana.org
LaPorte County Conservation Trust
www.lpcct.org
Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy
www.swmlc.org
The Nature Conservancy
www.nature.org
Give nature to others
18. Donate a bird feeder to an area nursing home with an ample supply of sunflower seed. Be sure there is a staff person willing to fill the feeder.
19. Sponsor the transportation costs for a school class to take part in an interpretive naturalist program at a nearby nature center. They’ll have a unique learning experience looking for macro-invertebrates in a pond, tapping a maple tree, or sweeping for insects. Make the sponsorship in someone’s name and the donation does double duty!
20. Take a child to a park or natural area and hike, fish or snowshoe with them. Not only will you will give them the gift of your time, but they’ll learn natural areas are special places for wildlife, plants and people!
