There is no difference between the wild environment and the built environment.
Cities and suburbs are as much a part of the ecosystem as any national park or wetland.
In the last few years my Atlanta backyard, a few hundred feet from a MARTA rail station, has been visited by deer, rabbits, and while turkey vultures, as well as a host of predatory and preying birds and other animals.
If you want to know where the environmental war is being fought, it’s around your house. Millions of people are fighting it. They’re putting up bird feeders, planting trees, running beehives, and letting their plants grow wild.
They’re doing it without retail support. That needs to change.
You will find seed and wild animal chows in hardware stores, pet shops, and even some specialty bird stores. What I’ve yet to see is anyone offering a full set of products and services targeting homeowners who want to create a more natural ecosystem where they live.
There are products for such a store, from feeders to water gardens, from birdbaths to salt licks. Such a store could also sell services. It could send out people to inspect yards and certify habitats. It could provide environmental education and learning products to young people.
Until now, environmentalism has mainly been pursued through non-profit channels, and politics. This is one reason why the environment is losing. The market’s will is all on the other side.
Drop me a line and let’s launch this puppy.
