SOMA Action Climate

Maplewood residents: Keep an eye out for our Eco-Friendly Yard mailer, with eco- and pollinator-friendly tips for your yard, & download the Eco-Friendly Yard Checklist!

Eco-friendly leaf management

Every fall, your garden offers you a resource to improve your soil and plant health that is free of charge. Allowing leaves to decompose under the plants where they originate closes the natural nutrient-cycle and reduces the amount of additional fertilizer that may be needed to create the best possible growing conditions in your yard. In addition to enriching the soil, leaving the leaves in your yard helps keep them out of storm drains, which can reduce the risk of flooding, improve water quality, and benefit wildlife. Leaving the leaves also creates overwintering sites for pollinators by providing shelter and food so that they can complete their life cycles. 

Consider the following eco- and pollinator-friendly tips for your own yard this fall:

  • Backyard wildlife rely on leaf litter for food, cover, and nesting material. The eggs, cocoons, larvae, or adults of most insect species overwinter in fallen leaves before emerging in the spring. Insects in any of these developmental stages are the major food source for birds and mammals.

  • A mulching mower is recommended but not required. Simply mow over fallen leaves (twice if using a regular mower) and leave them in the grass. Mulched leaves are natural fertilizer and improve your soil quality as they biodegrade, disappearing from the lawn by spring. Mulched leaves also slow the occurrence of weeds – thus reducing the need for chemical herbicides and saving you money – and conserve water by improving the soil’s water holding capacity.

  • Combine fallen leaves with grass clippings and other “green material." Store them in the readily available 30-gallon paper lawn and leaf bags to keep them from being blown or washed away by heavy wind and rain. You’ll have nutrient-rich compost to add to your garden next spring.

  • Native bees lay eggs in the hollow stems of plants. Other insects burrow into plant stalks to overwinter or overwinter in seed heads. Birds also rely on seed heads during the winter – both for feeding on the seeds and for the tiny insects inside.

  • Pesticides often have unintended consequences; they harm beneficial insects, and when diluted and carried away by stormwater runoff, pollute our streams and ponds.

  • Gas-powered garden tools emit up to five percent of the nation’s air pollution. In fact, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "One gas-powered lawn mower emits 11 times the air pollution of a new car for each hour of operation.” Leaf blowers damage our hearing, stir up dust, create fumes, and sandblast wildlife.

  • Native plants co-evolved with our native insects, which often depend on single species as their host plants for food in the fall and winter and to lay their eggs and mature in the spring and summer. These native plants and insects are the foundation of the local food web.

Tips adapted with permission from the Westfield Green Team.

Additional Resources:

The SOMA Action Climate Committee

Contacts: Karen Kanan Corrêa, Kathleen Grant, Mona Karim, and Rachael Metka.

SOMA Action Climate Committee is made up of local volunteers in South Orange and Maplewood whose passion is protecting our natural resources and advocating for equitable climate solutions at the local, state, and national levels. We will hold our elected officials accountable for their votes and actions but also show residents of our community what we can do in our own lives to reduce our carbon footprint.

Our priority is slowing climate change, which also includes promoting decent jobs in renewable energy, public works and technology  and applying a social justice lens. Our priorities include: 1) building electrification; (2) educating residents about sustainable landscaping practices and native plants; and 3) calling on Governor Murphy’s administration and the legislature to pursue an accelerated transition of our energy infrastructure away from fossil fuels and towards renewable sources. Our actions will include:

  • Partnering with other local environmental and social justice groups in our two towns and across the state.

  • Supporting environmental justice initiatives that reduce the burden of pollution and contamination on disadvantaged communities.

  • Organizing and implementing educational campaigns to inspire SOMA residents to adopt more sustainable lifestyles and practices and easing the change for economically struggling households.

  • Defending our existing environmental laws from attacks in Congress.

  • Protecting our public lands and clean water through legislation and local clean-up and waste-reduction actions.

  • Meeting with government officials at the state and national level to let them know of our support and our opposition on climate-related legislation and policies.

 

Questions? Email us at info@somaaction.org.