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Audubon At Home is a national initiative to help individuals protect
and create wildlife habitats in their yards and neighborhoods.

What You and Your Family Can Do
With more than 2 million acres converted to residential use each year, how we landscape and maintain our properties can make a big difference. Simple steps like choosing bird-friendly plants and avoiding synthetic or toxic products can make it a more welcoming place for birds and all the creatures they depend on.

Visit the National Audubon Society's Audubon At Home website for many resources to help you assess and plan for a beautiful, bird-friendly yard and home. Click here to visit that site to start learning more now.

Take The "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. Click here for some helpful facts.

Organic Lawn & Tip Sheets
For local (CT & NY) sources for organic compost and gardening products, download this flyer by clicking here (140 kb PDF).

Six Good Reasons to Create an Organic Yard and Lawn

1. 67 million birds are killed every year by pesticides
   (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Audubon, March-April 2007, p. 88)
2. 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)
3. 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)
4. 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)
5. 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)
6. 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)