How Green Are Their Backyards?

Daily Iowan: April 16, 2008
by Brian Stewart

Since it first sprouted in 2006, Iowa City-based Backyard Abundance has continued to grow.

"We're definitely more popular," group founder Fred Meyer said. "One of the things we're tryig to do now is show folks how to actually do some of these environmentally friendly features in their yard."

And the group's goal is just that - instructing people how to help better the environment in "their own little space," Meyer said.

Even little changes or additions to the current backyard - or front yard - can have a significant effect.

A rain garden designed to capture runoff water, creating a compost for use as fertilizer, or harvesting fruits and vegetables are all beneficial for the environment, Meyer said.

"About four or five years ago, I was frustrated" about not knowing if his "green" efforts were actually helping the environment, he said. "Go figure, a frustrated environmentalist."

So he hit the books - and the classes, becoming certified as a "Master Gardener" - and learned what he could about nature.

"I found I got the most knowledge from just messing around in my backyard," Meyer said. "I changed my backyard from one that was all turf grass to one that was beneficial to myself and to insects, wildlife, and other creatures."

That newly unearthed backyard served as the setting for the group's first backyard tour - an event that soon transformed into a summer-long spectacle.

An urban woodland backyard at the home of James Fluck and Julie Scott will kick off this year's summer backyard tour list on May 10.

"If folks want to see a genuine effort to help the environment, they're really doing great things," Meyer said.

Group member Dan Daly's yard boasts a rain-garden system - wood barrels capture water during storms - that he uses to feed his plants and replenish his backyard pond.

Daly's efforts germinated long before he learned of Backyard Abundance - though group-sponsored events have helped him meet eco-savvy individuals.

"The group has vindicated my efforts and, I hope, inspired more people to follow suit," he said. "I look forward to another season and visiting other people's homes and seeing how they innovate green methods in their backyard ecosystems."

Meyer said while the group continues to flourish, the focus remains the same.

"Backyard Abundance is really about showing people the potential that is in their backyards, the potential that is in themselves to do something for the environment," he said. "Step back and see that turf grass has its place, but there's so much more potential there, and we can do anything with it - whether it's really small or really big."

Meyer noted the importance of small, local endeavors.

"A lot of times we give money to rain-forest rescue programs and ask them to fund projects - these things, they don't really make us feel empowered," he said. "Being able to look at a green space and being able to say 'I can change this space and make it better for the environment' - that is really empowering."