Here at Dragonfire Meadery we care about the planet. After all it is the only one we have.
As April is considered Earth Month this seems like a good time to focus on habits that can be helpful to the environment everyday.
This year Earth Day is focusing on Planet vs Plastic.
In the past recycling has been thought to be a step in the right direction.
However, only 16% of plastics and plastic packaging are being recycled. The rest will end up in landfills or find its way into rivers and oceans.
Decreasing frequency of single-use items and heading toward a plastic- free lifestyle is one way to help combat this.
We at Dragonfire are starting to implement using less plastics and more compostable or reusable items.
You can too!
One of our favorite ways to accomplish this in our daily lives is switching out our single use snack/ sandwich bags for earth friendly reusable ones.
If you tend to eat on the go, which during fair season.... is hard to avoid, bringing your utensils with you instead of using plasticware is another great way to decrease you plastic waste.
Check out The Greener Gift for some awesome reusable products to replace your single use items.
The Greener gift is a truly green company and small business. Laura the owner and crafter strives to keep things from going to the landfill. The company uses repurposed, recycled and rescued materials when ever possible. She also looks for sustainable resources.
Cutlery bags, snack and sandwich bags, paperless towels! These are all great ways to help the environment and look super cool doing it.
Going Plastic free is not necessarily easy in this day and age. But if we all start doing our part it will start to become a planet friendly and healthier lifestyle.
There are some easy things you can do to make a difference in other ways.
Taking time to clean up your local environment-
You can clean up trash along your road, hiking trails, river banks etc.
To make it even more fun plan a clean up party with your friends or volunteer to join an existing one.
Check out this link for some great kits!
Encourage your friends by ending the day of hard work with a nice glass of mead and a potluck dinner. Humbaba has a nice refreshing flavor perfect for relaxing after a hard days work.
Composting! Another great way to help!
Set up a compost pile for your food scraps. This will help keep additional trash out of the landfills. Even if the food waste breaks down quickly- the bag its sealed in doesn’t
Check out this free composting guide!
We compost our food scraps, animal waste and yard debris on the Dragonfire homestead. It makes wonderful fill for our garden beds and planters.
Get excited and interested in nature.
You can learn about the native plants in your region. By learning about the plants that are best for pollinators and identifying invasive plants- you can start to help gear your outdoor space to be more beneficial for the pollinators.
Plant a pollinator garden.
Bees are not the only pollinators that we need in the world. Butterflies and certain flies visit flowers, as do some beetles, moths, and wasps.
Planting with the seasons in mind can maximize your yard as a pollinator haven. Make sure you have flowering plants from early spring to fall. This will help ensure they have fuel for the entire year.
Remove invasive plants. Plants like burning bush, autumn olive, Japanese barberry, American bamboo, bittersweet and others all take over the landscape if left to their own devises. Removing them will allow the beneficial native plants to thrive.
Here in Coventry we have a lot of autumn olive on the property. Derek has made an experimental batch of mead with the berries (they taste kind of like cranberries). We have much less now since the goats enjoy eating the leaves and branches! Goats are a great way to deal with invasive and overgrown areas.
You can find a list of invasive plants in New England here.
Bug Hotels and Nests
Don’t do yard cleaning too early- it disrupts the hibernating and just waking bugs.
You can build or purchase bug hotels for your property to help provide a safe place for the beneficial insects to inhabit.
No Mow May is another way to help ensure the pollinators get a good start for the year. By not mowing flowers (dandelions included) during May allows the flowers to bloom in your lawn to help early season pollinators.
So this month lets all try to get into earth friendly habits so that we can continue to enjoy the beauty of our planet.
