Something you can do to help.

I grew up in a time when young people we were very aware of the environment and cared about the land, air and water around us and how they were being abused. I was a bit idealistic and sometimes unrealistic I know, but I know some of us still do care about these issues, however in our hunger for adequate housing... some more adequate than others, jobs that support us... some with more support than others, and times of running around multitasking, it comes to mind that the things that we held dear in our youth may have slipped away, obscured by the day to day of getting on with life. The evidence is all around us that we have not stuck to those ideals. I see forests wrenched from the earth and rolling hills leveled to build tract homes, don't fool yourself thats what they are. Strip malls and shopping malls are all the rage and people flock to them. Of course it's obvious why they are built, the reason we build these is to make money and we all need that to live, but do we really need to do it in such a callous manner that we completely strip the land of all of nature and make everything sterile to start over and build what is a repeat of the mall or house just down the road? Does making an area flat and lifeless in the name of saving building costs really help in the long run? It's my thought that we need to start working with nature instead of always overrunning it. It's time for us to start thinking outside the box, the stick built box. We could use materials that are more conducive to our environment, last longer, and are more energy effecient. There are some incredible technologies available to us these days. Ever think of going off the grid?... it is totally possible with a little imagination and knowhow. We could stand to throwback a little and look at the styles of Frank Lloyd Wright, or Bruce Goff, embrace their philosophy of building with the surroundings and integrating useful architecture with modern building materials to make homes and businesses fit into their surrounding rather than overpowering them.

One of the things that was big on my list of things to "save" was wetlands, marshes and flood-plains. I suppose these were important to me because I grew up on the coast and saw on a daily basis the incredible diversity of life that exists in these type of environments. A summer marine biology course opened up a whole new world of creatures that exist in every body of water large and small. Large mammals such as deer and smaller ones like fox or raccoons, birds large and small, aquatic and otherwise, right down to the tiniest frog and even insects in the pond. All congregate and thrive on the rich diversity of life that a body of water provides.

This brings me to something you can do to positively impact the environment in your own back yard. As I said in every body of water exists life, even the smallest container of water can be a haven for frogs and their offspring. If you wish to attract wildlife to your back door or just to your property, nothing does it like a body of water. Building a water based ecosystem on your property will provide a home for so many species that it would take a lifetime to identify all of them. Just think if we could persuade one person on each block of a development to build a small to medium sized ecosystem on their property or even collaborate on a centrally located system , wildlife would flourish and thrive. Then perhaps people would be one step closer to trying to live with nature instead of trying to overpower it. I have not met one person that isn't struck by the feeling of relaxation sitting by a lake or stream. A pond or bog or even a pond-less waterfall will all attract many species with very little effort on the part of the sponsor. And as an added benefit you don't ever have to mow fertilize or water that part of the property again. More importantly this is something you can do to directly impact the environment in a positive way. You never have to be concerned about what percent of your donation goes where. You know where every penny of your "donation" to the good cause goes. Build a bog, pond, or pond-less fall and make your positive impact on the environment around you.

As always if you have any questions or perhaps you want to invest in your own little ecosystem and need help please feel free to contact me and I will walk you through it, or give you a fair quote for your oasis that benefits every living thing around it, including human beings.

Doug Coe
Dreamscape Water Gardens
www.dreamscapewatergarden.com