CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Yardwork is one of my least favorite things.
The hedges outside my house are trimmed once a year. I’ve been unsuccessful at growing grass in the shady parts of my backyard. I mow the lawn as little as possible; last year three times. If you recall, it was a dry summer. The grass grew slowly.
I was delighted with No Mow May, an effort to increase the pollinating bee population to pollinate our crops. A month off from yard work is wonderful.
But now comes word that No Mow May does nothing. Bees need a constant habitat to increase their numbers. Unless the crops are nearby, increasing bee numbers don’t make a difference.
No Mow May is nothing more than the illusion that you’re helping the environment. Let your grass grow tall for a month, and you’re showing everyone that you care about mother earth, even though you’re actually accomplishing… nothing. It’s no different than driving an electric car. You’re burning less fossil fuel and there are no pollutants coming out of your tailpipe. But the earth is strip-mined to make the batteries for your car, and business is better at the power plant which has to generate more electricity to make your car go.
So today Wausau’s Sustainability Committee meets to brainstorm ideas to replace No Mow May. The website Treehuuger.com suggests no mow ever, noting that lawns are the number one domestic crop which use up water and take pesticides to maintain. If you are a practitioner of no mow ever, your neighbors might give you the evil eye, the City of Wausau will fine you and will send a DPW crew to mow for you. Yet, ironically, that may do something good for the environment instead of just virtue signaling for a month.
Chris Conley
Comments