Mothering Earth Podcast

Mothering Earth-136-World Wildlife Fund & the Rio Grande

A changing climate with hotter and drier weather is a challenge for people, but also for lakes, reservoirs and rivers. The Rio Grande river, which runs from Colorado into Mexico, crossing several U.S. states, continues to shrink and to run dry in places where it used to flow. Most of the water from the river is used to grow crops like alfalfa and hay to feed livestock, Other crops are cotton and pecans; some water is used for power generation and some for municipal water use. But the river can no longer provide enough water for all those uses. The World Wildlife Fund has made it their mission to revitalize the river. It’s a daunting task, one faced by my guest, Enrique Prunes, Rio Grande Manager and Freshwater Lead Specialist at World Wildlife Fund US.

Mothering Earth-135-Homegrown National Park

Whether your outdoor space is a large garden or a tiny apartment balcony, you can plant plants that are native to your part of the world. For those with lawns, you can reduce or eliminate the lawn and replace those areas with native plants. The result would be a greater sequestration of carbon by those plants, and increased support for all forms of life, including birds, insects, pollinators and other animals. Another benefit is we would use less water, and our water would be protected from pollution from fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides which are widely used to maintain lawns and non-native plants. Doug Tallamy is co-founder of the Homegrown National Park, a nationwide project that encourages everyone to plant natives and eliminate, or at least reduce, lawn areas. You can be part of this project and in the process become a conservationist, and part of the solution to climate change.

Mothering Earth-134-Return of the Rio Grande

The Rio Grande river has been immortalized in movies and in songs, but sadly, the river itself has shrunk and now regularly runs dry in certain areas. The World Wildlife Fund has prioritized restoring the river and to that end is funding programs to revitalize the Rio Grande. One such program called Rio Grande Return is building beaver dams and other wood structures in the river, in an effort to improve water retention and water quality, and they are beginning to see positive results.

Mothering Earth-133-Grass Isn't Greener

Many people spend hours on their lawns, running the sprinklers, pouring on the “weed and feed”, driving large riding mowers back and forth and using another noisy machine to makes the edges perfect. Why do we have an obsession with lawns? Have we thought about how lawns and manicured yards do great harm to biodiversity and to the natural ecology of the Earth, and contribute to climate change? In this program, conservation educator, photographer and author Danae Wolfe challenges us to instead value wilder natural landscapes that support all forms of life. Wolfe’s book is Grass Isn’t Greener, The Everyday Conservationist’s Guide to Bringing Nature to Your Yard.

Mothering-Earth-132-Nature At Night

Many of us feel uncomfortable going out into nature once the sun goes down. The natural world after dark is something of an unknown, mysterious and perhaps dangerous. In this program, we meet naturalist and author Charles Hood, who wants us to awaken to what he says is a strange but surprisingly beautiful nighttime world.