Neighborhood Greening

Dedicated to Community Environmental Education and Stewardship

Photo credit: Vicki Bonk

Harnessing the spirit of residents, schools, places of worship, organizations, and businesses to create a greener community.

Featured Articles from The Butterfly Effect Journal

The Suburban Lawn: Shifting the Paradigm

I live in a lovely but turf-dominant Twin Cities suburb in Minnesota. After earning my certification as a Minnesota Master Naturalist and studying the work of noted ecologist Douglas Tallamy, I began to understand the critical importance of transitioning my corner of the world to a more natural habitat, primarily for the sake of native birds and other pollinators, but also to improve water, soil, and air quality. (more…)

Food as Sacred: The Deep Connection between Cacao and the Indigenous Bribri Culture of Costa Rica

An Interview with Mainor Ortiz Ortiz, by Sara Nelson

Sara Nelson: In 2016 I began a series of trips to Costa Rica with the intention of learning rainforest field botany. However, after apprenticing with a brilliant herbalist, chocolate maker, and Scottish Costa Rica transplant named Ancel Mitchell, my focus veered towards understanding the dynamics of the local cacao trade. 1

(more…)

Mission to the Earth. Creating Biodiversity at One’s Place of Worship

In the spring of 2020, we were in the first stages of the pandemic and religious services at my church had been suspended. Entry to the church was limited, making any effort to do interior maintenance impossible.

(more…)

Your contact information will be kept strictly confidential and will only be used to send you issues of The Butterfly Effect and occasional update emails.