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CUES: Center for Urban Ecology and Sustainability

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CUES from Mother Nature Environmental Stewardship Starts in Your Own Backyard

Aaaaah! a bug! Kill it! Get the insecticide out; spray the entire yard! Is this your typical reaction to wildlife in your garden? Is it getting harder to keep the worms from eating your tomatoes even though you've applied tons of pesticides over the years? Can't seem to keep your birch tree healthy? Maybe it's time to try a new approach to gardening. One that is more efficient, cheaper, less work, and friendlier to the environment.

The Four Principles of Enlightenment

1. Biodiversity. A naturally diverse landscape discourages outbreaks of disease or insects. Such a landscape also attracts birds and butterflies.

2. Restore native vegetation

3. Compost yard waste. Backyard and community composting is an ecologically sound way of disposing of yard wastes and increasing nutrients in urban soils.

4. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) This is the practice of using a variety of cultural, biological, and chemical techniques to reduce pest problems.

The CUES message The main goal of CUES is to convince people that environmental concerns are not confined to rainforests or the Serengeti Plains in Africa. Environmental stewardship starts in your own backyard. Sustainability promotes the concept that whether you are planting a garden, managing turf, developing parkland, or landscaping a parking lot, your management practices affect everyone. The following suggestions from CUES will help you design a sustainable, environmentally friendly landscape that also requires less work!

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