How Climate Change Will Affect Birds in Indiana

Did you know that the Baltimore Oriole helps pollinate several tree species by transferring pollen from tree to tree as they eat nectar from their flowers?  You can attract them to your backyard by offering them nectar, grape jelly, and orange halves.

Isn't it interesting how birdwatching just sneaks up on us as we get older? We spend most of our lives not caring one bit about birds and then one day we're like, "Hey, Sally is that a Yellow-throated Warbler on the veranda?"

It’s Spring in Indiana and many of us are enjoying the sights and sounds as our backyards are once again filled with our feathered friends. 

Here are some of the benefits of attracting birds to your backyard.

·         Pest Control: Many birds eat a variety of insects, including aphids, mosquitoes, spiders, grubs, slugs, and other bugs that may not be welcome in a yard or garden.

·         Flower Pollination: Hummingbirds, orioles, and other birds that sip nectar are efficient pollinators of garden flowers.

·         Weed Control: Finches, towhees, and sparrows consume great quantities of weed seeds, making them effective landscapers to help control unwanted plants.

·         Wildlife Conservation: As more habitats become threatened through development, attracting backyard birds provides a critical oasis for bird and wildlife conservation, both for local species and migrating birds. This helps preserve birds both in the yard and in the larger local environment.

·         Stress Relief: Watching birds and listening to their songs can help relieve stress and promote well-being.

But climate change poses a risk to the birds in Indiana and elsewhere. Rising temperatures and shifting weather patterns affect birds' ability to find food and reproduce. Some species may even go extinct if they cannot find the conditions they need to survive and raise their young.

In Indiana, the species that are most threatened by a combination of climate change and additional climate related threats include the Field Sparrow, Red-headed Woodpecker, Wood Thrush, Yellow-throated Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, and Northern Flicker. For more information on threats to individual species in Indiana, see the attached link from the Audubon Society. How Climate Change Will Affect Birds in Indiana

Studies have found that 27% of Indiana's 208 bird species are vulnerable to climate change across seasons. A rapidly changing climate could lead to population declines and local extinctions if species are not able to adapt.

 What can we do?

·         Show Your Community That Birds Matter: We can ask our local leaders what they are doing to protect wildlife in the face of climate change. We can share stories about our favorite climate-threatened birds with community groups, or consider leading a field trip to a local Important Bird Area (IBA) or park to connect people to species that need our help.

·         Grow a Bird-Friendly Garden: Create a safe haven for birds in your yard or container garden by growing native plants, using fewer pesticides, and adding a bird bath. Native plants provide important food and shelter for birds and help them adapt to a changing climate.

·         Stand for Solutions: To fight climate change, we need policies and technology that cut carbon pollution and increase renewable energy. Common-sense measures such as energy efficiency, renewable energy standards, and putting a price on carbon pollution can all help reduce emissions and limit the effects of global warming on birds.

 Let’s do what we can to protect our birds so that future generations of Sallys can say, “Ya know what, Fred, I think that is a Yellow-throated Warbler.”

-       Jeff Gabbard

For more information:

https://www.audubon.org/climate/survivalbydegrees/state/us/in

https://www.audubon.org/important-bird-areas

https://www.thespruce.com/benefits-of-attracting-birds-386399

What can you do to lessen your food waste?

According to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG), the United States produces more than 12% of the planet’s trash, although it represents only 4% of the world’s population?  In 2018, we threw over 292 million tons of trash into landfills or incinerators and each of us threw out 4.9 pounds of trash every day.  EVERY. DAY.  In 2018, that was roughly 1,800 pounds of trash per person. 

In all that trash being thrown out, food accounts for 21.6% of it; other trash includes containers and packaging (28.1%), nondurable goods like clothing and newspaper (17.3%), durable goods like furniture, appliances, and cars (19.5%), and yard waste (12.1%).

Based on these figures, we throw away over a pound of food per person, per day!  That’s over 365 pounds of food per person, every year.  And largely, this food “trash” winds up in a landfill where it decomposes anaerobically and emits methane, one of the worst greenhouse gases; even worse than carbon dioxide in its ability to trap heat in the atmosphere.  So not only does wasting all that food hit our pocketbook, it also contributes to global warming and wastes the water used in its production.  But that’s not all.  It’s also about justice: to waste so much of what others might desperately need. 

What can you do to lessen your food waste? Lots!!

·         Buy less food!  At the grocery, try sticking to a list of items you know you need;

·         Don’t stuff your fridge or freezer because out of sight is out of mind;

·         Eat your leftovers! Or use leftover bits to make soups, casseroles, or omelets;

·         At restaurants, don’t be shy about taking your leftovers; tonight’s dinner is tomorrow’s delicious lunch;

·         And if you’re a gardener, COMPOST!  Sure, you can’t put everything in the compost bin, but there are a lot of food scraps that can be composted and therefore saved from the landfill.  When food scraps (usually considered “greens”) are composted with “browns” (like leaves, straw, newspaper) it all decomposes aerobically and does not produce methane, but does produce a wonderful nutrient-packed compost to use in your gardens.  For more information on composting, see Compost - Rodale Institute.

-          Anita Camic

Native Plants and the Spring garden

We may not be sure when spring is arriving this year with such a mild winter, but I do have daffodils poking through the dirt by 6 inches or more! This is definitely not typical for February, yet we can’t help but hope for an early spring and think about planning our gardens. I am sharing below an article by Jim Kessler that was published in the Quaker Earth Care Witness December 2022. He talks about how critical our choices of native plants are for our wildlife, birds, butterflies and bees. Some of ourGreen Team members started planting a pollinator garden on the southside of our Meeting last fall. We hope you will join us as we enjoy watching it grow, bloom and support our native eco-system.

-Ellen Blacketer

By Jim Kessler:

Native plants are adapted to the local area and its climate. Unfortunately, many of our beautiful non-native garden flowers provide little or no food for honeybees, native pollinators, songbirds, and other wildlife. Non-native plants have the potential to become invasive species, weeds that spread rapidly and often crowd out native species. Native wildflowers and grasses are very beautiful, produce a wide variety of shapes, colors, and bloom times. Native plants are important because they:

Reduce Maintenance. Local native plants need no fertilization, no pesticides, and little or no watering once they are established, so they reduce maintenance costs. Native plant gardens do require weeding and some maintenance.

Increase Critical Wildlife Habitat.Loss of plant habitat is one causeof local extinctions of native wildlife. Since urban development and agriculture have removed a large percentage of native plant populations from our North American landscape, many pollinators, songbirds, and other native wildlife populations are rapidly declining. The World Wildlife Fund’s 2020 Living Earth Index shows an average 68% decrease in monitored populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish between 1970 and 2016. Many wildlife species will become extinct without the restoration ofnative plant populations that provide their food and shelter. Planting native trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and grasses in yards, on acreages and farms, on corporate property, and in public spaces can reverse this decline.

Help our Songbirds. Migrating songbird populations have declined 1% annually during the last 50 years. Songbirds feed their young insect larvae which are found mostly on native plants. The result of declining native plant populations from the landscape is that many baby birds starve. Planting natives in urban yards and rain gardens increases songbird populations.

Save Monarch Butterflies. Monarch butterfly populations have been declining very rapidly, in part due to the loss of milkweed populations, though recent conservation efforts seem to be helping. Some hopeful news: 250,000 monarchs landed along North America’s Pacific Coast this winter, the highest numbers since 2016, according to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Planting local native milkweed species in gardens and other residential landscapes is crucial to the survival of monarch butterflies.

Increase Vital Honeybee and Native Pollinator Populations. The current pollinator crisis is important to everyone. One of every three bites that we eat requires insect pollination. 80% of our plants cannot produce seeds without insect pollination and would become extinct without pollinators. Honeybees, native bees, and other native pollinators are declining because there are not enough native wildflowers to supply the nectarthey need to stay healthy. Widely used neonicotinoid pesticides are insect nerve toxins that are especially deadly to bees and other pollinators. The solution to our pollinator crisis is to plant lots of local native wildflowers and to keep them free of pesticides. Native plantings also increase populations of other beneficial insects that feed on insect pests in our yards and gardens.Gardeners can make a significant difference for honeybees, native pollinators like the monarch butterfly, songbirds, and other wildlife populations by planting natives in yards and acreages. Your native plant garden or larger native planting can be part of that difference.

Jim Kessler is a member of Grinnell Friends Church (Iowa Yearly Meeting –FUM) and teaches Environmental Biology at Iowa Valley Community College–Grinnell.

Recycling - Are we changing with the times?

Perhaps many of you remember the Mobro 4000 trash barge in 1987 that hauled the same load of trash from New York City to Belize and back until a disposal site was found. Or perhaps the first Earth Day in 1970 is a more prominent memory. The Cuyahoga River fire in 1969 was another event crying out for better care of our resources and environment. It was a time that created the mantra Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. I like to add Rethink.

As a society we have done a great job of thinking it’s good to keep “it” out of the landfill, whatever “it” might be. We have emphasized the importance of recycling but failed to adapt with the changes of an industry that began over 50 years ago.

Today’s Schedule D Landfills are a far cry from the town dumps they replaced. Today’s landfills are engineering marvels, in my opinion, but that doesn’t mean we should fill them up. So, what do we do?

Just about everything could be recycled, but that doesn't mean it is. Recycling is always local. What is collected in your area may not be collected in mine. Glass is a good example. Although glass can be recycled repeatedly, it is heavy. Transportation costs are many times prohibitive. There are entities in and around Indianapolis that can collect glass in an economical way, and yet they won’t collect plastic bottles.

Styrofoam is another material that can be recycled, but the transportation cost of something that is mostly air is not usually seen as a wise way to spend money.

 There must be a market for the material, it must become something else. If not, it just takes a more costly route to the landfill. Cardboard lately brings in more profit than aluminum. There are companies that will process it nearby and a market to supply boxes for our online purchases. I was surprised when I heard that. That strong need for cardboard won’t last indefinitely.

 Find out what’s recyclable in your area and follow the guidelines offered. Reach out to the company or the solid waste district that serves your area.  You can find your district here. http://aiswmd.org/page-1630206

 Proper recycling is good. Reuse and reduce are even better options. They eliminate the transportation and energy costs involved in recycling. Reduce and reuse do take some thoughtful planning. Consider where will my item go when I’m done with it, what will it become and how will it get there?

 Things to Consider:

 -         Perhaps there is a way to lease, borrow or share the item you want to purchase. 

-         As you head to a restaurant that serves large portions, take your own container for the leftovers. 

-         If plastic silverware is provided take only what you need. Perhaps you can share a knife, maybe you don’t need the spoon. Better yet, take your own. Those plastic utensils are not recyclable, and the compostable ones are not compostable unless you have a commercial type of compost facility. 

-         Explore your own creative options as you rethink what you throw away.

 Respectfully,

Carol Stradling

Solid Waste District Director, Retired

fall Nature Walk

"Our parks and preserves are not mere picnicking places. They are rich storehouses of memories and reveries. They are guides and counsels to the weary and faltering in spirit. They are bearers of wonderful tales to those who will listen; a solace to the aged and an inspiration to the young."   

- Colonel Richard Lieber, founder of the Indiana State Park System

Our Fall Nature Walk will be held October 8th at Turkey Run State Park. This is our 2nd Meeting-wide trip to one of our state parks and should be a great time to enjoy the trees as the leaves start changing color.

We know that time spent in nature does wonders for our physical and mental wellbeing. It can lower anxiety and breathing fresh air has been shown to boost our immune systems. It also reminds us of the miracles of creation we are gifted with on this wonderful planet and inspires us to protect them. 

In 1900 fellow Hoosier, Richard Lieber, was just so inspired. After a tour of Yosemite National Park, he came back to Indiana and began a journey that eventually led to creation of the Indiana State Park System.

During Indiana’s statehood centennial in 1916, Lieber encouraged Indiana Governor Samuel M. Ralston to start the State Parks Committee, with Lieber as chairman. The committee started acquiring parks, succeeding with McCormick's Creek and Turkey Run both opening on December 11, 1916, without any state funds (The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a major private donor).

So, join us, if you’re able, and enjoy time spent in one of Indiana’s great state parks.

Visit our website and register for the walk by October 1st at the latest.

https://www.fairfieldfriends.org/eventsignup

Or email Jeff Gabbard at jgabbard42@gmail.com

What the Inflation Reduction Act Means for Climate

There were several climate related events in the news this past month, devastating floods in eastern Kentucky, a megadrought in the southwest, and stifling heat waves in Europe. But our focus this month is on President Biden’s signing of the Inflation Reduction Act.

The below information is borrowed from the Earthjustice website:

The Inflation Reduction Act will invest $369 billion in climate solutions and environmental justice. The bill will put the US on a path to 40% emissions reduction by 2030 while restoring our credibility to lead climate action on the global stage.

SOME NOTABLE WINS FOR CLIMATE IN THIS BILL:

The Inflation Reduction Act will accelerate a clean energy transition that will lower energy costs for people across this country by:

• Expanding access to clean energy by making clean energy tax credits more accessible and extending them by 10 years.

• Creating jobs and increasing our country’s energy security by investing $60 billion in manufacturing solar panels, batteries, and other clean energy technologies in the U.S.

• Providing funding for low-income families to electrify their homes, including $9 billion in home energy rebate programs.

• Removing barriers to community solar, an innovative solution to making solar power more accessible and affordable for the average person.

The transportation sector is the largest contributor to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and spews massive amounts of toxic air pollution into communities across the country. This bill will help transition the sector away from fossil fuels and invest billions in zero-emissions transportation, including:

• $3 billion for the U.S. Postal Service to electrify its fleet of more than 217,000 vehicles, the largest government fleet in the nation.

• $1 billion for clean school and transit buses, garbage trucks, and other heavy-duty vehicles, prioritizing communities overburdened by air pollution.

• $3 billion to clean up air pollution at ports by installing zero emissions equipment and technology, with much of the funds going to portside communities that are breathing disproportionately high levels of toxic air pollution.

• Tax credits for electric vehicles

Communities of color and low-income communities face disproportionate harms from pollution and the climate crisis. Climate solutions must be led by and for these communities. This bill will fund:

• $315.5 million for air monitoring so that communities know exactly what’s in the air they breathe, with specific funds for schools and those living near polluting industry.

• $3 billion for community-led projects in areas experiencing the disproportionate impacts of pollution and climate change.

• The reinstatement of the Superfund Tax so that industry — not the public — foots the bill for cleaning up their pollution.

Industrial agriculture fuels the climate crisis — and the climate crisis in turn threatens agriculture. This bill will advance practices that make farming climate-friendly, with:

• More than $20 billion to help farmers and ranchers shift to sustainable practices like crop rotation and cover crops.

• $300 million for research into the climate impact of agricultural practices.

Some of the best technology for fighting the climate crisis is already available in nature. Oceans and ancient trees store carbon, shelter species facing climate catastrophe, and sustain communities. This bill will provide:

• $50 million to advance protections for mature and old-growth forests.

• $2.6 billion in coastal resilience grants to fund projects, including by state and tribal governments, to protect and restore coastal communities and ecosystems.

• $250 million to implement endangered species recovery plans and address climate change impacts on key habitats.

• $1 billion to ensure federal agencies can conduct robust environmental and NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) reviews and public engagement on large projects using federal funds or on federal lands.

What will the Inflation Reduction Act mean for you? It includes tax credits and rebates to help people electrify their homes and vehicles, including:

• A 30% tax credit for installing residential solar panels.

• Up to $7,500 for purchasing an electric vehicle.

• Up to $14,000 for home energy efficiency upgrades, including up to $8,000 to install a heat pump.

• Making these changes could help families save $1,800 per year on energy bills and make their costs more stable and predictable compared with volatile fossil fuel prices.

THE COST OF A COMPROMISE:

• The bill includes tax credits for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) that could extend the life of dirty coal plants, which would make it harder to reach critical targets for clean power while exposing residents to toxic coal pollution.

• It mandates the federal government to offer up parts of the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Cook Inlet for oil and gas development. It also requires additional oil and gas leasing in order for new wind and solar projects to be approved.

There is a side deal to move a separate bill in September for so-called “permitting reform” that could weaken core protections under the National Environmental Policy Act, the federal law that gives communities a voice in what happens to the environment around them.

Upcoming Green Team Events:

• August 27th – Meeting with Jalisa Maudlin from Faith in Place ●

• September 10th - Green Festival – Featuring Carrie Newcomer ●

• September 11th-14th – Faith in Place Green Team Summit ●

• October 8th – Fairfield Fall Hike

Fairfield Friends Green Team

As a member of the newly formed Fairfield Friends Green Team, I recently attended a Multifaith Climate call where the current heatwave in Europe and the war in Ukraine were discussed. On the call were pastors and priests from around the globe, representing many faiths, United Methodists, Episcopalians, Unitarian Universalists, Church of England, Baháʼí, and 1 Quaker. I was intimidated, at first, to be on the call. There was excited talk of getting all our congregations to “ring-out” their church bells the Saturday before the November United Nations Climate Change Conference. I told them that we Quakers aren’t that much into bells, but our pianist has a bowl-gong that I’m sure he’d be happy to whack at the appropriate time. That elicited a few smiles and eyerolls about Quakers, and I felt more at ease.

Joking aside, it was gratifying to spend time with others to express our shared concerns about our world and the work we’re all doing. The work we’re doing at Fairfield is in the creation of our Green Team. The Green Team held its first meeting on July 16th. A small, but enthusiastic group of Friends met to discern ways to make our Meeting House and community more energy efficient, and to acknowledge that our Quaker values extend to all creation. As Quakers we acknowledge that we see that of God in everyone. Creation care calls us to extend that value to see that of God in all of creation. Our kinship with God’s creation connects us through the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the soil that grows our food.

 During our meeting, Anita Camic gave an update on the pollinator garden project she started with the Garden Club. She and others are working to create much needed habitat for pollinators and a beautiful space, full of native plants, for future generations at Fairfield to enjoy.

 At the end of the Climate call we were asked what gives us hope. I answered that our community at Fairfield and our Green Team are among the things that give me hope. Hope brings us together in the pursuit of a better world and sustains us when we feel despair.

 If you are anxious about our future, I encourage you to join us on the Green Team and register for the below event, sponsored by our Friends at QEW.

Ecological Grief: Engaging with the Emotional Impacts of Climate Change

Our next meeting will be August 27th at 11AM via Zoom. If you are interested in joining us, please visit our website https://www.fairfieldfriends.org/green-team or reach out to me for the Zoom link.

Jeff

 Upcoming Events:   Fall Hike

Viewing Party for the Documentary film, 2040