Make A Difference In the Yard

Revisit your landscaping practices.

• Plant deciduous trees in strategic locations around your home, including easement areas if permitted. The shade the trees cast can reduce your energy consumption. In addition to energy savings, another benefit is that trees store ("sequester") carbon during photosynthesis and can remove 50 pounds of carbon in a year. Design your yard for xeriscaping (plants that require little watering).

• Use a composting lawnmower. Composting yard waste on site reduces the waste stream sent to your community's landfill, and landfills generate a potent gas called "methane" that adds to global warming. For more information on the relationship between climate change and waste, visit EPA's Climate Change and Waste website.

• Using a push mower instead of a power mower will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80 pounds per year.