Strangers in the backyard

Why save the planet if you don't know who lives here?

Posted by Miles Grant (Guest Contributor) at 2:28 PM on 23 Apr 2008

There were plenty of depressing numbers out there this Earth Day, from dwindling numbers of moose in Minnesota to ongoing honey bee decline.

But to me, this takes the Prozac-frosted cake: a study found that while young people could identify a thousand corporate logos, they couldn't identify even a handful of plants and animals in their backyards. Will future generations care about protecting the planet if they can't even pick a starling out of a lineup?

How can we start to change that? The No Child Left Inside Coalition has a simple idea: get 'em outside:

For story: Strangers in the backyard
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An apology

I can't imagine what crime a starling might be accused of that he or she would end up in a police lineup. Starlings are law-abiding citizens. Unlike those shifty blue jays ...

http://www.nwf.org

by Miles Grant at 2:43 PM on 23 Apr 2008

Woodpeckers

are communists!! They even wear little red hats.

Well at least the local ones are. Check out Communism in the California Woodpecker(PDF warning) Locally they have communal granary trees where thousands of acorns are stored in holes in the bark. The holes are precisely a millimeter or so larger than the acorn stored in it.

So that left coast attitude is just nature's way.

Put the Carbon Back

by Pangolin at 3:37 PM on 23 Apr 2008

Peterson's Guides

Makes a good gift to a kid:

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/peterson/petersonhome ...

Texeme.Construct(Participant)

by jabailo at 3:41 PM on 23 Apr 2008

Video link quit

Starlings I can live without.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 8:13 PM on 23 Apr 2008

yes

Yes, we need to get the kids outside: it's their natural environment. Kids of all kinds tend to thrive outdoors, especially the ones that have lots of energy. I worked a lot with kids in outdoor settings in California (envi ed science camps) and was usually surprised how much even the 'problem' kids enjoyed it all: the tough gang-banger types, and one memorable bully that turned out to be a real joy and went days without needing his ritalin.

Erik

The Orion Grassroots Network: 1,200+ grassroots groups working for conservation & more

by Erik Hoffner at 7:36 AM on 24 Apr 2008

E.O. Wilson

is a strong advocate of letting kids explore outdoors. But he seems to mean they should be left alone while they do it; their experiences should not be so structured as apparently they are in this program.

On starlings: They are beautiful and entertaining birds in their own way, much maligned. It is certainly not their fault that their ancestors were captured in Britain, brought to this continent and released in Central Park. Same with pigeons and house sparrows.

On putting Peterson's Guides into the hands of children: An excellent suggestion from John Bailo!

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 1:14 PM on 24 Apr 2008

Community living

As a young student, it is difficult to understand what parents look for in a neighborhood, when raising children. However, in a recent class, a guest lecturer discussed the idea of community housing. These divisions have been developed with the intention to nurture community living. All the homes fulfill the affordable housing criteria. The communities have a variety of families with different socioeconomic status and backgrounds. The common thread that all community members share is the desire to create safe community for their kids to grow up in and to instill the importance of respecting the environment. The homes are surrounded by an organic farm, organic gardens, and a prairie restoration site. Additionally, there are communal meals and events for the community members to partake in. I feel this community living is what parents desire, but do not always receive. The speaker mentioned that kids know one another in the community and parents befriend their neighbors. Most of these parents are not scared to send their kids outside to play because they know that other parents are watching out for them, as well.

Today's society has become increasingly isolated. Our houses are bigger and more spread apart. It is rare that we know all our neighbors. As social creatures, this isolation is unhealthy. Our jobs and home responsibilities cut us off from others, making it difficult for us to feel like we are part of something bigger - a community. If we cannot get to know our neighbors or trust them, then who can we depend on? Can we leave children to play in the backyard while we are inside or do we have to be out there with them? As a future parent, the community housing looks attractive.

by nsehgal at 9:20 AM on 05 May 2008

CoHousing

Is really just an artificial village construct made in the middle of the rest of the burbs. I helped plan and develop our local cohousing project and my kids still live there. The kids just don't understand how good they have it.

The local project was 30 houses, a community center, pool, play space, parking and gardens. Because of the enclosed green space design the kids are pretty much allowed to run free on the property during daylight hours. The biggest hazard is that they leave scooters and skateboards everywhere and you have to watch your footing. These are some lean kids.

That said these kids, who all have access to Ph.D geologists and biologists as neighbors know much more about MySpace than mycelium. You can bring a horse to water....

The biggest problem with cohousing is that the US doesn't have the cultural models to make communal sharing of property easy. That means long meetings to decide trivial matters and some decisions are going to be made by cliques just like in junior high.

The next problem is the cost is prohibitive to almost everybody except the upper middle class. Most of these projects are bespoke developments and require considerable cash to get into. Due to the barrier to entry they represent a kind of "Volvo ecology" that is easy to mock.

Put the Carbon Back

by Pangolin at 10:24 AM on 05 May 2008
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