ecotip
Make Mulch Enrich Garden Soil Naturally
Fracking Flub Methane Dangers May Be Three Times the Estimate
Results of a meta-analysis of 20 years worth of scientific studies published in Science magazine conclude that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has underestimated the natural gas industry’s climate impact by 25 to 75 percent by not including methane leakage from fracking, gas drilling operations and pipelines. Methane, the main component of natural gas, is a potent greenhouse gas. National Oceanic and Atmospher-
ic Administration researcher Gabrielle Petron voices concern with the discrep- ancies because, “Emission estimates, or ‘inventories’, are the primary tool that policy makers and regulators use to eval- uate air quality and climate impacts.” For a paper published in the Jour-
nal of Geophysical Research: Atmo- spheres, researchers flew aircraft over a heavily fracked region in north- eastern Colorado and concluded that emissions from drilling operations were nearly three times higher than an hourly emission estimate published by the EPA.
Homeowners with gardens have many natural, organic and sustainable options for mulching, which enriches soils with nutrients, helps retain moisture and controls weeds. In most regions, many types of trees can provide ingredients. In northern areas, ridding the yard of fall leaves yields a natural mulch. Apply ground-up leaves, especially
from mineral-rich oak and hickory trees, so they biodegrade by growing season.
OrganicLandCare.net suggests choosing from double-ground and composted brush and yard trimmings; hemlock, pine, fir and Canadian cedar; and ground recycled wood. Using a lawnmower with a high blade height or switching to a serrated-edged
mulching blade can chop leaves into tiny fragments caught in an attached bag. The National Turfgrass Federation notes, “A regular mower may not shred and recircu- late leaves as well as a mulching blade.” Shredded leaves also can filter through grass and stifle springtime dandelions and crabgrass, according to Michigan State University research studies. Ground-up parts of many other plants can also provide natural mulch
in their native regions.
AudubonMagazine.org cites cottonseed hulls and peanut shells in the Deep South, cranberry vines on Cape Cod and in Wisconsin bogs, Midwest corncobs, and pecan shells in South Carolina.
To win without risk is to triumph without glory.
~Pierre Corneille
natural awakenings October 2014
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