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A Yale University graduate student found that Americans apply approximately 70 million <br /> pounds of pesticides to residential lawns, trees and shrubs annually- roughly 10 times more <br /> per acre than the amount applied to agricultural lands. A significant problem with heavy use <br /> of chemical pesticides and herbicides is that they can seriously degrade downstream lakes, <br /> ponds and streams. These products also harm bird, insect and animal populations. The U.S. <br /> Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that more than five percent of urban air <br /> pollution results from gas-powered landscape equipment.Traditional horticultural landscapes <br /> also consume large amounts of water- as much as two-thirds of urban freshwater is used for <br /> grounds maintenance in some cities. <br /> In addition to minimizing resources consumption, the financial savings of native plantings <br /> provide a compelling argument: once established, native plants mean less care, fewer problems <br /> and lower costs, not to mention year-round beauty. In contrast, many non-native plants <br /> cannot survive without costly and harmful fertilizers and chemicals, irrigation and constant care. <br /> X <br /> 6 rP <br /> w. <br /> a <br /> 0 <br /> Great River Greening -- <br /> Forest Grove <br /> Planting(left)and <br /> Two Years Later(right) <br /> 20 <br />