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Audubon At Home is about taking individual conservation action that can sustain birds, other wildlife, and healthy habitats in our yards and neighborhoods.

What You and Your Family Can Do
Bird populations are in decline as suitable habitat continues to be lost to development, forestry, agricultural, and other land uses. With 2.1 million acres converted to residential use each year, how you landscape and maintain your property can make a big difference for bird conservation and environmental health. You and your family can enhance your enjoyment of your property by making it a more welcoming place for birds and a more balanced part of the natural community. For more information about the National Audubon Society’s Audubon at Home Program, please click here.

Take Our Healthy Yard Pledge
Create healthy habitats in your backyards and other spaces by planting native species, removing invasive plants, reducing pesticide use, conserving water, protecting water quality, and keeping birds safe. Your actions can help make a difference. Here’s why:

SIX REASONS TO CREATE AN ORGANIC YARD AND LAWN

67 million birds are killed every year by pesticides
(U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Audubon, March-April 2007, p. 88)

Dogs whose owners use 2,4-D (common weed killer) on their lawns are twice as likely to die of cancer
(Hayes, H. et al, 1991. “Case Control Study of Canine Malignant Lymphoma: Positive Association with Dog Owners’ Use of 2,4-D Acid Herbicides,” Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 83 (17): 1226)

Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (the 2nd fastest growing cancer in the U.S.) is linked to common herbicides and fungicides
(Zahm, S. et al. 1990 “A Case Control Study of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and the Herbicide 2,4-D,” Epidemiology 1 (5): 349-356)

Fertilizers and pesticides from lawn runoff are highly damaging to the ecology of our streams, ponds, and the Long Island Sound.
(Burg, Robert, ed. “The Long Island Sound Study,” Sound Health 2006. EPA Long Island Sound Office, Stamford, CT.: p.12)

100% of Americans have traces of pesticides in their body tissue
(Second National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, U.S. Center for Disease Control, January 2003)

Children living in households where pesticides are used have higher rates of leukemia and brain cancer
(Leiss, J. et al. 1995. “Home Pesticide Use and Childhood Cancer: A Case Control Study,” American Journal of Public Health 85: 249-252)