Join the Ecology Action Center for the twelfth annual Yard Smart Garden Walk on Saturday, June 28, 2014. This free event features beautiful and functional yards in our community that protect the environment, create a healthy and inviting space for animals and people alike, and use little to no synthetic chemicals in the process.
The morning walk takes place from 9:00am – 12:00p.m with this year’s walk focused on urban landscaping and gardening. Afterwards, Stacy James from Illinois Prairie Rivers Network will give a presentation titled “Living with Nature: Conserving Water.” Lunch is provided.
This year’s event features a plant and Freecycle garden tool exchange. Please bring plants or garden tools to give away (for free), and maybe you’ll find something you need that someone else donates to the exchange!
The Yard Smart Garden Walk is free and open to the public; however, a $5 donation to offset the cost of lunch is appreciated. Register by June 26, to receive your details on the event. You can register online at www.ecologyactioncenter.org or call 309-454-3169.
Participants should bring their own lawn chairs and reusable water bottles for the lunch and presentation; the lunch is a zero waste event. Participants are encouraged to carpool during the tour to reduce pollution and conserve energy. Prior to the event, participants will be emailed pictures pertinent to the tour; it is suggested that participants bring that document on a smartphone or tablet if possible. Some printed copies may be available.
This garden walk promotes the Ecology Action Center’s Yard Smart program which encourages local gardeners to reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, to conserve natural resources such as water and fossil fuels, and to make room for wildlife in their yards. Yard Smart Certification recognizes the efforts of people in the community who use ecologically sustainable practices to maintain their yards, and who realize their lawn, garden, and landscaping decisions impact and affect the health of the entire community.
More information on the Yard Smart program as well as a set of free resource fact sheets to help you become more Yard Smart are available at www.yardsmart.org.
Please join us on June 28th, to see some of the beautiful results of the time and love our neighbors and friends have put into creating healthy, safe, and functional yards and gardens, and find some inspiration for your own yard in the process!
