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brightgnosis · 4 months

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The Anti-Lawn "Conversation" Needs More Nuance

The whole "plant natives not grass" thing is so frustrating to me as a Master Gardener and Civilian Conservationist specializing in Plains Natives because it's just ... It's a lot like the "Save the Bees" nonsense.

Is it well meaning? Yes. Is the core message important? Yes. But the entire focus is out in left field. And a lot of that is because nobody talking about it usually has any real clue what they're actually talking about or doing 80% to 90% of the time; it's a conversation of Activists, frequently, instead of Experts. And there is also somehow zero nuance ever involved- which is always incredibly problematic.

And the really unfortunate bit of that which causes a huge slew of problems? Is that good intent still causes horrific environmental damage on a bad day and does nothing at all to actually make change on a good day. Because the "solution" or "focus" is not actually the right one for the problem at hand; you may get lucky if it's a tiny bandaid at best ... But while we're saying this over and over again, no one is actually listening- especially because what's being said by experts is frequently not in line with what activists themselves want to hear, or the way they've decided is the "right" way to be an activist in this manner / on this subject.

Guerilla Gardening and Seed Bombs also scratch this itch, in that they are also things which are great in theory and intent, but horrid and damaging in legitimate practice because the vast, vast majority of people carrying it out do not actually have the training to do it correctly, on a truly non-detrimental level.

Like ... In regards to "Save the Bees", y'know, obviosly those facts are that "Save the Bees" is a problematic campaign becusse it focuses almost solely and exclusively on the Honey Bee. But Honey Bees are a Domesticated Farming Species that is not at risk and does not need any help (what issues they were facing was already largely dealt with)- but especially not generic "save the bees" seed products mostly comprised of generic non-native box store plants ... It's the thousands of native species of Bees that actually need help (most of which have very specific food and habitat needs these plants do not meet), which the STB campaign completely ignores- and which helping Honey Bees actually actively helps to harm further, because Honey Bees are so efficient they outcompete Native Bees for food.

But in regards to Lawns? The thing literally no one wants to hear, is that Lawns actually do have multiple legitimate purposes and benefits. It's not actually Lawns themselves that're the real problem ... It's Lawn Culture and the cult of middle class capitalist conformity ("Keeping up with the Joneses")- a system which places an absolutely insane set of stipulations and expectatuons on what a lawn is, what products must be used to create it, how it must look, and how it must be maintained. This is whan needs to be dismantled, or abolished, or rethought, whatever.

But also, the most common conventional Turf Grass replacements that people choose to use to reseed their Lawns after they "get rid of them" (because they are still recreating a Lawn, they just don't understand what a Lawn is and so therefore don't understand they're doing it)? Are not actually the adequate environmental replacements that people want them to be. Because even though they may be naturalized in some cases, they're still not an adequate food source and provide no safe habitat (much like generic "Save the Bees" seed packets).

And also, there are, in fact, actually a lot of native grasses that are far too overlooked, that function perfectly fine as Turf in Lawns, that can replace conventional Turf Grasses (which are invasive, and difficult to get rid of, and have horrid water runnoff rates, etc)! And a lot of them can be maintained the exact same way and provide the exact same benefits as traditional Turf- while also providing food, habitat, etc, for local natives in a way that common introduced replacements (like Clover) actively cannot. And these same grasses are often water retainers and drought tolerant, and require far less resources to maintain! And yes they are natives! This is the nuance!

I just want to take people by the shoulders, and very gently shake them. Because while you certainly don't have to know Botany to love the Earth, by God please take at least one class by an academic professional before trying to fix it; true environmental activism really is one of those areas you can't actually just "Fuck around and Find out" in. It's an area where not actually knowing what you're doing or talking about can actively hinder your overall goal, damage the environment even further, or outright do nothing at all.

And, like, as with all things, that does not mean, that you have to go out and get a whole ass College Degree first in order to do anything ... But, like ... There are hundreds of thousands of books written by Academics on the subject, and libraries (and the ILL system) exist. So many states have Extension Services that offer free (or low cost) training at certain times of the year- and they and the Colleges they're connected to have free, up to date, academic grade resources online. So many Colleges themselves have free classes online for non-students, too, now and again. Many Proffessors and Proffessionals are absolutely exatatic if you just email them to ask questions and chat, even! They love that shit so much and many now even have Social Media presences specifically for civillian Scientific Outreach. And there are so many legitimate, professionally run programs and organizations to get involved with that require no to minimal prior education, or will outright provide the required education for you: Master Gardeners, Civilain Scientists, some local Cleanup Programs, Master Naturalists, Invasive Species Councils, Civilian Conservationists; the list goes on.

You don't need to be highly trained with the best degree and all the knowledge before you do anything. But good Ecological Activism that has a greater chance of helping rather than harming actively needs to start on a solid foundation of academic and scientific knowledge about the ecology you are trying to save; it needs to be a conversation of Experts first, not Activists like it currently is. And this information- good, solid, well researched information- is easily accessible if you know where to look (though there is still a conversation to be had about cost barriers that reduce that accessibility in some areas).

#Lawns Aren't Bad Lawn Culture Is #Original Content #2024 #Original Herbal Content #Master Gardener #Master Gardeners #Disabled Gardener #Gardening #Gardenblr #Plantblr #Personal #Green Witch #Green Witchcraft #Witchy Gardening #Oklahoma

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sakebytheriver · 2 years

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Statistic: The number of men under 30 who report not having sex has tripled since 2008. And the number of ALL people under 30 reporting not having had sex has spiked since 2008 as well

You dumb reactionary ghouls: I can't believe men feel so entitled to women's bodies they will complain about not having sex. All men are shit and they deserve to die for not being happy about the fact they're lonely and aren't having sex

Random person: I don't think it's men's fault that the social framework of our society and the economic alienation of capitalism has made it difficult for them to connect with people to the point they're unable to have intimacy with someone they're attracted to

You dumb reactionary ghouls: So you're saying it's WOMEN'S fault?

Do you not get tired of proving stupid MRA motherfuckers right about blue haired feminists? Could have taken this moment to talk about how patriarchy is harmful to men as much as it is to women, but noooo 🙄 we had to be as reactionary as the motherfuckers who say it's your fault if you get harassed because of what you're wearing. Could have used this time to talk about how capitalism and the rise of anti-feminist reactionaries are actively hurting Americans' ability to connect with one another, but nope we had to tell all these men feeling depressed and lonely that they deserve to die for wanting to have sex. Could have used this time to talk about how dismantling the systems of oppression put in place by patriarchy will ultimately be to the benefits of every person on earth and even help these guys connect to women, but no we had to do this shit instead 🙄🙄🙄🙄

Men are human beings. Human beings like sex. Human beings are social creatures. Human beings are not meant to be alone. Men wanting to have sex with women is not an inherently evil thing. And this statistic is troubling not because it's saying men aren't having sex or that all people aren't having sex, but because of what it means to the broader conotations of our society. It says that people are not connecting to each other, it says that people are not building good relationships with others, it says that the people in this country are isolating themselves and have been long before a pandemic forced them to, and it says that in America at the very least there is an increase in people being alienated from their peers and their community

Trying to moralize this statistic and make this about rape culture and toxic masculinity was your first mistake, because that's not at all what this data was about to begin with and by trying to make it about that stuff you will only feed into the patriarchy rather than fighting it and I hope at the very least my followers will now know to think more critically about shit like this in the future, because idk if I have hope for any of the rest of you

#ignore me

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