Are you smarter than a fourth grader?

The Ecology Action Center teaches fourth graders around McLean County about what can and cannot be recycled. Teachers ask for our streamlined recycling flyer to help remind their students, children, and significant others to stop wishful recycling. Despite good intentions, wishful recycling often leads to contamination, which is increasingly problematic for the recycling industry.

So phone a friend with a 4^th grader, ask your own child to play along, or challenge yourself with our recycling game! At the end of the quiz see which answers you got correct to determine if you are smarter than a fourth grader.

Take it Easy on Yard Work this Season, and help Wildlife!

Around this time of year, all of us are preparing our houses and yards for winter. Usually, that means a lot of work tidying up lawns and gardens before snow starts falling. This year, though, consider doing yourself a favor, and leaving your backyard a little messy!

Your backyard is home to more animals and insects than you may think about on a daily basis. We see birds and squirrels all the time, but pollinators like bees, moths, and butterflies along with tiny invertebrates do plenty of work to make sure your yard, and local ecosystems here in Bloomington-Normal, stay healthy. Many types of wildlife depend on the leaves, brush, seeds, and stems of flowering plants for food and shelter in the cold winter months. With that said, there are a few things you can do– or rather, not do, to make your yard wildlife-friendly!

The first thing that comes to many people's minds when they think of fall is raking leaves. While doing this may make your yard look tidy, consider keeping the leaves on the ground this year. Leaves serve many important purposes to the ecosystem in your backyard! “Those leaves are important because they rot and enrich the soil, and also provide places for insects and birds to forage for food”, says Tod Winston, the manager of Audubon’s Plants for Birds program. Not only is leaving leaves beneficial, but raking and leaf blowing can actually be harmful to wildlife in your yard. According to the Humane Society of the United States, “leaf blowers and rakes destroy winter habitat, where bumblebees, hummingbird moths, fritillary caterpillars and toads seek shelter”. Invertebrates especially rely on “fallen leaves and other organic debris to cover and insulate them from the elements” according to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Furthermore, leaves raked into the street end up overwhelming our storm drains and rivers and lakes those drains feed into with leaf matter, resulting in street flooding and water pollution.

Those who have gardens can help wildlife even more! Preparing your garden for winter is a time consuming task, and this year you can make it easier for yourself. Do not cut and dispose of stems from shrubs and perennial plants; instead leave your garden how it is to support your backyard ecosystem! Gemini Bhalsod, a horticulture educator at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, encourages leaving piles of brush, saying, “the added insulation and protected space are great for bees and butterflies”. Birds, bugs, and small animals also feed on seed pods dropped by all kinds of plants, especially during the winter. These pods and stems can create habitat for pollinators to hibernate and lay their eggs as well.

Tree Pruning: The Basics

The Ecology Action Center launched Tree Corps, a tree planting initiative, in 2021 with the aim of increasing native tree populations in Bloomington-Normal and McLean County. Planting trees increases air quality, provides native wildlife habitat, mitigates stormwater, and cools urban landscapes with shade. Planting and maintaining trees is a lot of work, but we do it to give them the best chance at survival, one of those tasks is pruning.

Pruning Timing

The best time to prune your deciduous trees is between Christmas and Valentine’s Day while the trees are dormant and the structure is easily seen. The next best time to prune is around Midsummer when leaves have fully developed. Coniferous trees often need little pruning and anytime of the year is acceptable.

What not to do

• Do not top trees. This will cause weak shoots to grow from the wounds and will make the tree susceptible to insect infestation, disease, and decay and shorten the tree’s life.
• Do not remove more than 25% of the tree’s branches in one growing season.
• Do not flush cut. This will cause an open wound that the tree cannot seal.
• Do not prune branches of a newly planted tree, wait at least one growing season.
• Do not seal wounds with pruning paint or tar unless absolute necessary. Sealing can impede the tree’s natural ability to heal.
• Only prune oaks and elms in winter to prevent oak wilt and Dutch elm disease. If you must make cuts in summer, spring, or fall, then DO use a latex paint to seal the wound.
• Never prune trees during tree budding or fall leaf drop. This is when trees are transferring energy from the roots for new growth or from the branches to the roots for winter dormancy. Conifers need little pruning and if they do, then anytime of the year is fine.

What to Do

• Prune safely and watch out for utility lines. For overhead lines contact your electrical company and for underground lines contact J.U.L.I.E. to have the lines checked.
• Make intentioned cuts – A single branch can take years to grow, be mindful of the tree’s structure and shape.
• Remove suckers and sprouts from the base, trunk, roots, and branches.
• For trees grown from seedlings, prune them so a central leader runs down the middle of the tree. Trees purchased from retailers should have been pruned with a single leader.
• Remove any crossing or rubbing branches which could create wounds.
• For small branches, use a clean, sharp hand pruner. If pruning different trees with the same pruner, sterilize it after each tree.
• For large branches, use the three cut method to ensure no further damage is done to the tree.
• Contact a professional arborist or tree removal company if the job is too much to handle.

The 4 D’s

Dead, damaged, diseased, and dangerous tree limbs should be removed at any time of the year.

If you’re interested in helping Tree Corps, be sure to stay tuned to volunteer events for tree plantings which occur in early spring and fall. Check out ecologyactioncenter.org/volunteer to sign up and check out Tree-Corps.org to get a glimpse of our tree focused programs, like the West Bloomington Free Tree Program.

Winter weather is upon us…

• Now that daylight savings time is here we all know that winter is coming and with it the days will get shorter and colder, then warmer again, then colder, then warmer, then maybe colder again. Sometimes it is confusing to know when it is the correct time to winterize your rain barrel.

  

  Winterization of rain barrels is important because as water freezes it expands. This expanding can weaken and crack your rain barrel. To avoid this, follow these instructions before the first hard freeze occurs.

  • • Let it flow! Make sure to let all the water in your rain barrel drain by keeping the spigot open for the entire winter season
    • Reconnect your downspout

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. If your barrel is installed with a “Y” diverter, all you need to do is slide the lever from one side to the other to switch from summer to winter configuration – this will divert water away from your rain barrel and back down your down spout.

               2. 

                  With the FlexiFit diverter, remove the screws above and below the point of attachment, squeeze and wiggle the flexible insert to remove it from the downspout, then use the two screws to attach the flat cap to the downspout.

               3. 

                  If you removed the original downspout and attached different sections in order to route water to the barrel, remove the new sections and replace the original one. To accomplish this, you probably need to remove and replace a few screws.

• • • Store your rain barrel: Store your rain barrel in a shed, in place, or wherever else is convenient. It will withstand the seasons, and does not need to be indoors. If you do leave it outside, turn it upside down or cover the screen to reduce rain and snow melt getting inside, and be sure to place some weight on top to ensure it does not end up rolling into your neighbor’s yard.

•  If you have any trouble with this process, find that a component needs to be replaced, or want to change your setup and need a different diverter, call us! 309-454-3169 ext. 13.  Watch this video for visual instructions!

Is Your Water Heater Gassy?

The EAC staff is seeing more evidence of water heater back drafting in recent energy audits. Do you have a natural gas water heater? If you do, go check it! Look at the top to see if you notice any discoloration or signs of melting. You can even get a small mirror and hold it next to the flue cap when the water heater fires up. If you see signs of melting or discoloration, or the mirror fogs up when the water heater is on, those are signs of improper ventilation and back drafting. In atmospheric venting water heaters, exhaust gases should naturally rise and go up the chimney.

There are varieties of variables that can prevent this rise, causing back drafting: improper vent connector installation, insufficient rise in the flue (ideally, it should be 6 – 12” of vertical rise, insufficient rise in the vent connector (should angle up from the flue pipe, never horizontal or lower than height of flue), or a blockage in the vent. If you do notice signs of back drafting on your water heater, make sure you have carbon monoxide detectors near your water heater and outside sleeping spaces, and contact an experienced HVAC technician to help resolve the problem. The EAC can also help identify back drafting and potential causes through an energy audit with diagnostic testing (book an audit now at BNEnergyBright.org), but the only 100% solution to back drafting is to upgrade to a gas water heater with a power vent, or replace it with a heat pump or electric water heater.