Include care for the Earth

This is a great opportunity to introduce native flowering plants and trees to our parks that will cut down on pollution and provide food and habitat to local birds, insects and other wildlife, especially bees and butterflies.

Trees can be purchased at low or no cost from the Arbor Day Foundation, and the Cornell University Cooperative Extension service can offer expert, enthusiastic advice. Also, it's a good time to evaluate the ecological impact of maintenance practices such as weed killers and insecticides that harm the local ecology. We have fewer bees, bugs and birds than we once did, and we seem to be rapidly heading towards Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. This is an opportunity for Plattsburgh to do its part in reversing this trend.