Planting HerbsThis week, I planted an herb garden next to the pond I made for week 10. We will use the herbs in meals/cooking, as well as allow caterpillars to eat the leaves. I already have vegetables and fruits in my garden, and this will be my first time growing herbs.
By planting herbs at home, we become less dependent on grocery stores, and instead are more self-sufficient. We can grow our own food safely without having to worry about toxic pesticides and herbicides. We also make fewer trips to the store and save more money by growing our own food. Not only will we use the herbs as food, but caterpillars can also eat them. Various herbs act as host plants for several different species of butterfly and moth larvae. A host plant is any plant than an insect uses to lay its eggs on and that the larva will then use as a food source until it reaches adulthood. Many different trees, flowers, and other plants are host plants. I planted 7 different herbs, and I will probably buy more within the next few weeks, like sage and dill.: I got thyme, lavender, oregano, & basil from our school greenhouse for free (thanks to Mr. Lindsey.) I then purchased cilantro, parsley, & mint from Lowes Hardware Store for a total of $15. Swallowtail butterflies use parsley, mint, and basil as host plants. Mint is also a host plant for the pyrausta moth. Lavender is a host plant for the hairstreak butterfly. Oregano is a host plant for the common buckeye butterfly. Not only do herbs act as host plants for pollinator larva, but they also benefit pollinators themselves. Flowering herbs are crucial in providing pollen and nectar for butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. Herbs, just like any other plant, also combat erosion and clean the air.
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Trash TrapperThis week, I built a small trash trapper for a creek near my house that gets a lot of litter running through it. I often go there to pick up trash, but by making this blockage, all the trash will hopefully stay in one place for me to collect.
Trash makes its way into waterways from people purposefully littering, trash accidentally blowing out of bins, vehicles, etc., illegal dumping, and more. An example of this is someone throws a cigarette onto the road from their car window. When the next rain comes, the cigarette falls into a storm drain, where it is then carried into a creek. From the creek, the cigarette will most likely flow into a river, and eventually it will end up in the ocean, which is the final destination of most aquatic trash.
To build the trash trapper, I first went to the creek to find a good spot to put it. I measured the length of the creek where I would put the trapper and then got to building. I found a piece of wood in our barn that was the right size, and then cut a piece of wire mesh/screen to size. I nailed the mesh to the wood, leaving about a foot hanging. I then went to the creek and moved rocks around so that I could properly place the trapper. The wood sat on the bank, sitting above the water. I put rocks on the bottom of the mesh in the water to make sure it was secure. Whenever trash comes floating down the creek, it will be stopped by my trash trapper, and I will come collect the trash at least once a week. This will help keep the creek downstream cleaner, preventing more litter from continuing on into the ocean. Making a Garden PondThis week, I built a small wildlife pond in my garden. I worked on it over the weekend and still have some things to complete.
Building a pond, whether it be larger or on the smaller side, has many benefits. A pond attracts wildlife like birds, turtles, frogs, insects, and more. Ponds provide shelter, food & water, and a place for birds to take a bath. They also increase biodiversity and create habitat. To build the pond, I bought a small metal tub from Walmart and leveled the soil out. I chose a spot in my garden that gets full sun. I filled the bottom of the container with mud from a large pond that is at my moms work. The mud is full of worms and other insects that will live in the pond. I placed several large rocks at one end of the container. These rocks will allow animals to enter & exit the pond safely, provide a place for frogs and aquatic insects to hide from predators, and help birds to land and take a bath/drink. I also put a broken piece of terracotta pot in the water, which will also allow frogs and insects to hide. I drilled a small hole towards the top of the container. I put a small pipe in the hole that drains into the bog garden, letting no water go to waste. This drainage hole will keep the water in the pond at a constant level, making sure that when it rains, the pond doesn't fill up and overflow. I created a small bog garden that sits next to the pond, catching runoff water when it rains. I used a new oil pan from Tractor Supply, filling it with the same pond mud and sand. I planted native aquatic plants that grow well it wet/soggy soils. These plants will shade the pond and create habitat & protection. I still have to add aquatic plants to the pond that will oxygenate and clean the water. I will also add more soil, mulch, and rocks around the pond & bog garden to make it look as nice and natural as possible. The water still has to settle and clear up, but soon it will be full of life. Planting FlowersThis week, I planted flowers. Flowers are a vital food source for pollinators, providing nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies, moths, and many other insects. They also increase biodiversity, reduce erosion, provide oxygen, improve air quality, provide habitat, and much more.
I went to a plant nursery in Winston Salem called Franks's Perennial Border, that has a lot of native perennial flowers and shrubs. I bought 5 milkweeds and 4 creeping phlox. In order to plant the flowers, I first had to remove the leaves, sticks, and weeds. After I did that, I spaced out the flowers and put them in the spot I was going to plant them. I then dug a hole, removed the plant from the pot, loosened the roots, and planted it. Once all of the flowers were in the ground, I put mulch around them. Mulch keeps moisture retained in the soil, protects the plant's roots, prevents erosion, keeps weeds out, and just makes it look nice. I didn't have to worry about watering because it rained after I planted the flowers. I planted the orange milkweed plants together in a rock garden bed that has been empty for a year now. Milkweed is the only food source for monarch butterfly larvae, an endangered butterfly species native to North America. It is important to plant milkweeds so that the monarch butterfly can successfully reproduce and lay eggs. Milkweed flowers bloom in the summer, and will act as a food source for pollinators. I planted the creeping phlox around a fruit tree. I planted a pink variety and a white variety, two of each. Creeping phlox are small flowers that bloom in spring, and are a ground cover that will spread out around the base of the tree, providing food for pollinators when there aren't many other flowers blooming yet. Planting TreesThis week, I planted trees. Trees produce oxygen, improve air quality, conserve water, reduce erosion, provide shade, lower temperatures, provide food and habitat, mitigate climate change, increase biodiversity, and much more.
April 22nd is Earth Day, so I went to Lowe's Hardware store and bought a native flowering dogwood tree. Dogwood trees grow in the Eastern United States, and the dogwood flower is the North Carolina state flower. Dogwood flowers provide nectar for pollinators, and the berries are a food source for many birds and other animals such as chipmunks, foxes, skunks, rabbits, deer, squirrels, and bears. The dogwood tree is a host plant for 111 species of butterflies and moths. I donated a total of $35 to 3 different tree-planting organizations. Ecosia, the Arbor Day Foundation, and One Tree Planted. Ecosia is an online search engine that uses ad revenue to plant trees where they're needed most. Ecosia supports over 20 tree-planting projects in 15 different countries, and has planted over 150 million trees since 2009. Roughly 1 tree is planted for every 45 searches made. -ecosia.org I donated $15 to Ecosia, which will plant 5 trees. Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit conservation and education organization dedicated to planting trees. The Arbor Day Foundation has planted over 500 million trees in over 50 countries since 1972, and $1 = 1 tree. -arborday.org I donated $10 to Arbor Day Foundation, which will plant 10 trees. One Tree Planted is a nonprofit tree planting charity that has planted over 92 million trees across 80+ countries worldwide since 2014, and $1 = 1 tree. -onetreeplanted.org I donated $10 to One Tree Planted, which will plant 10 trees. I also planted 3 trees this week by simply walking. I have the app Treecard, which plants 1 tree for every 10,000 steps you take. The app connects to your health app to track your daily steps. Once you have walked 10,000 steps, you click "claim tree" and a real life tree gets planted through Ecosia, which partners with Treecard. Treecard is also a wooden debit card that plants trees as you spend money. Removing Invasive PlantsThis week, my goal was to remove invasive/non-native plants, weeds, and trees. I rarely get out and do this because of how time consuming and strenuous the process is, but I'm glad I got something done.
Invasive plants species are non-native plants that cause harm to the environment, and possibly human health and the economy. Once introduced, invasive plants easily adapt to an area, quickly reproduce and spread, and have the ability to cause extinction of native plants and animals, reduce biodiversity, change the food web of an ecosystem, and permanently alter habitats. Invasive plants reproduce & spread so quickly/easily because of a lack of natural predators, parasites, or competitors.
I spent about 1 hour removing invasive plants on my property. I used several methods: 1.) Pulling the plant up with my hands, 2.) digging the plant out with a shovel if the roots were too deep, and 3.) watering the plant with salted water to dry up the soil and dehydrate the plant's roots. I mainly used my hands to pull up the plant. I used a plant identification app called PicureThis to properly identify the plants to make sure that they were invasive. It is important that you remove the roots so that the plant cannot grow back. I removed a total of 9 different plant species: butterfly bush, Chinese privet, English Ivy, bigleaf periwinkle, autumn olive, Japanese honeysuckle, creeping Jenny, oriental bittersweet, and oriental false hawksbeard. I put all of the plants in a wheelbarrow that I will keep in our barn where there is no access to water or sunlight until they die. Vegetarian + VeganThis week, I ate vegan for 1 day. I have been a vegetarian for the past 2 months, so I wanted to try stepping it up by going vegan.
A vegan diet is based on plants. Vegans don't eat food that comes from animals, such as meat, fish, eggs, honey, dairy products, etc. Going vegan not only improves your health, but also improves Earth's health. By eating more plants and less animal products, you are reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing energy consumption, conserving water, stopping deforestation, and saving animal's lives.
I started off by going to the grocery store to buy what I needed. I bought fruits, vegetables, and two different frozen vegan meals, one for lunch and one for dinner. For breakfast, I had a bowl of fresh fruits: an apple, a banana, a mandarin orange, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. For lunch, I had baked cheesy cauliflower, chickpeas, and broccoli, the cheese being vegan of course. The brand was Wholly Veggie, which makes plant-based snacks and meals. The "cheese" tasted like real cheese. I rate this meal an 8/10. For dinner, I made brown rice and asparagus with "chicken" from the brand Daring, which makes plant-based chicken. The "chicken" tasted very similar to real meat. I rate this meal a 9/10. In between lunch and dinner, I had a bowl of peanuts. I drank water throughout the day. The easy part was not eating meat, but what was harder was not eating any dairy products. I had to plan out my meals and make sure everything I was eating was vegan. I don't think I could eat a vegan diet permanently, but I am glad to have been able to for 1 day and make an impact even if it was a small one. Petitions + Emailing a RepresentativeThis week, I signed petitions, pledges, and emailed our state senator. I've been wanting to write to a government official for some time and this week I finally gained the courage to do so.
Petitions are used to influence decisions, to protest something, or to get something changed. They are an easy and accessible way to gain support for a cause. In total, I signed 67 environmental petitions through the following 12 environmental organizations: National Wildlife Federation, National Resources Defense Council, Greenpeace International, World Wildlife Fund, Oceana, The Nature Conservancy, Defend the Atlanta Forest, Protect the Arctic, Environmental Defense Fund, The Climate Reality Project, Earth Day Network, Fossil Fuel Treaty. The petitions addressed various topics such as: Banning plastics, protecting endangered species, tackling fossil fuels, protecting air, protecting water, protecting land/forests, banning PFAS, workers rights, and more. Doing something as simple as signing a petition might seem useless, but if a bunch of people do the same, then it will work. It's about collective action. I also sent an email to North Carolina senator Ted Budd. I used Earth Day Network's "Letter to an Official Template," and filled in my personal information as needed. The template is part of Earth Day Network's Climate and Environmental Literacy Campaign, and was written to inform government officials on the importance of climate literacy in our education system and to persuade them to be a part of the campaign and take action towards including climate education in our schools. Click here to see the response I received from Ted Budd's office. I hope that in the future petitions won't be needed, because we shouldn't have to go out of our way to get governments to protect Earth, and I hope that United State's schools will teach children about climate change and how to protect the environment. It is one of the most important things we need to know in order to make change and save our planet. DonatingThis week, I donated to 3 environmental organizations. I wanted to help make an impact in a way that I couldn't do by myself at home.
At first, I was going to donate to just 1 organization, but then I thought 3 would be better. From there, I was going to pick 3 organizations that I knew of, (Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Earthjustice,) but then I thought "why not choose local organizations?" So, I started researching North Carolina environmental organizations. I decided that since I would be donating to 3 organizations, I should choose one that focuses on the mountains, one that focuses on the Piedmont, and one that focuses on the coast, since those are North Carolina's geographical regions. I ended up choosing to donate to Appalachian Voices, Piedmont Land Conservancy, and the North Carolina Coastal Federation. I visited each website, informed myself on what they do, and donated $10 to each. Appalachian Voices works to protect the land, air and water of Central and Southern Appalachia and advance a just transition to a generative and equitable clean energy economy. To achieve this, we work to end harmful fossil fuel practices such as mountaintop removal, coal mining, and construction of unnecessary fracked-gas pipelines. -appvoices.org Piedmont Land Conservancy protects the Piedmont's natural lands, farms, and waters for present and future generations. We protect important land resources through conservation easements, acquisition and stewardship of previously protected lands. -piedmontland.org North Carolina Coastal Federation works alongside coastal communities to protect and restore the unique North Carolina coast. Through efforts for clean coastal waters, living shorelines, thriving oysters, effective coastal management, and marine debris removal, the Federation and North Carolina's coastal communities continue to work together for a healthy coast! -nccoast.org In total, I donated $30 and helped support 3 NC organizations that work to protect and conserve our state's air, water, and land. Monarch WaystationThis week, I got my garden registered as a Monarch Waystation. I already have my garden listed as a Certified Wildlife Habitat, and this was the next step I wanted to complete.
The Monarch Waystation program was created by Monarch Watch, a nonprofit education, conservation, and research program based at the University of Kansas that focuses on the monarch butterfly, it's habitat, and the fall migration (monarchwatch.org). Monarch Waystations are habitats that provide food, shelter, and a place to reproduce and lay eggs for monarch butterflies. The monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, is a butterfly species native to North and South America. It is a large, orange butterfly with dark veins and white spots at the edges. On July 21st, 2022, the migratory monarch butterfly was placed on the ICUN Red List of Threatened Species as endangered. In the last two decades, monarch butterfly populations have decreased by 85%. They are threatened by climate change, pesticides, and habitat loss as a result of urban development and farming. The monarch butterfly will only lay it's eggs on one plant, milkweed. The larvae, once hatched, will spend their days feeding on the milkweed leaves until it is time to form a chrysalis. Once the adult butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, it will either live 2-6 weeks, or migrate to Mexico and live up to 9 months, depending on the time of the year. Milkweed plants are disappearing across the country, and so are the monarchs. Last year, I bought and planted several milkweed plants in my garden. At the end of the summer, a monarch butterfly laid its eggs on the milkweed, and I got to watch the caterpillars grow and eventually turn into butterflies. This week, I registered my garden as a Monarch Waystation. I had to visit the Monarch Watch website, where I then filled out an application and paid an application fee to get my garden certified. I also purchased a metal garden sign to identify my garden as an official Waystation. The profits will be used to help support Monarch Watch's conservation efforts. Picking up LitterThis week, I picked up trash everyday Monday - Sunday. I usually pick up trash every week, but I've been putting it off lately.
I went to 7 different locations; 5 near my home and 2 different parks. To pick up the trash, I used my reusable trash bag and gloves from 4Ocean, and a trash grabber I had from Amazon. Once I had a full bag, I returned home and transferred the trash into a biodegradable trash bag that would go into our garbage bin. The 4Ocean bag is much more durable and can hold more trash than a regular trash bag, which is why I purchased it. The gloves provide safety and sanitation, and the trash grabber allows me to not bend over as much. Based on what I picked up, cigarette butts were at the top. This is also the case worldwide, with cigarettes being the most littered item, 4.5 trillion each year to be exact. Cigarettes are 98% plastic, and can take up to 1000 years to decompose. Aside from the air and land pollution, cigarettes also leach toxic chemicals into water like arsenic, lead, & copper, which harms aquatic life. Following in the footsteps of cigarette butts, the second-most littered item I found was cigarette box wrappers. Notable mentions include: plastic bags, plastic straws, straw wrappers, plastic bottles, lottery cards, food wrappers, napkins, receipts, and more. In the end, I ended up with 4 full trash bags. I spent about 45 minutes on average each day picking up litter, and by doing so I prevented tons of trash from entering rivers and oceans, and helped create a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment for wildlife as well as humans. It is sad seeing so much trash outside but it is also rewarding knowing the impact I'm making. Cleaning UpThis week, I cleaned up an old fort in the woods that I made when I was little. It has not been used in years and needed to go. This is something I have been wanting to do for a while now and I finally had motivation to do it thanks to Genius Hour. The fort was full of rotting wood, broken glass, rusted nails, trash, and just a bunch of junk in general.
The first thing I did was gather the materials I would need to help me. These consisted of a wheelbarrow, work gloves, and several trash bags. Once I had these things, I got to work. I started by collecting larger items like a bucket, and putting them into the wheelbarrow to be put in our barn. This allowed me to have more space to work. Next, I picked up all of the broken glass, trash, and nails, and put them in a trash bag. Nails that I couldn't pull out of the wood, I hammered in to prevent anyone from getting cut. This took up the most time as I had to dig through all the leaves t find each piece of glass. After that, I put all of the rotting wood in a pile to provide habitat for bugs and other animals. Once I was finished, I disposed of the trash and washed my hands. Overall, I am pleased with my work and it went as expected. It took me about 1 hour and I completed this project on Saturday, 2/25. By cleaning this area up, I made it less of an eyesore and provided a safer environment for wildlife. The only challenge I had was that it was raining, so it made it more difficult to see what I was doing. |
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