Green Energy Homes, LLC

07/23/2024

https://xerces.org/publications/fact-sheets/supporting-ecologically-sound-mosquito-management

Lots of great ideas for eliminating mosquitoes without poisoning every living thing.

This fact sheet provides a brief overview of time-tested and effective ways to protect people from disease-carrying mosquitoes while also protecting pollinators.

04/05/2024

www.northshoreplantclub.com
Order plants now and periodically throughout the summer including these native Butterfly Host Plants at "almost wholesale prices" through the Skokie/Evanston Plant Club

03/26/2024

https://friendtocicadas.org/

Back to Cicadas - here is some important information:
1) They DO NOT BITE (they can't, no mouth), they're basically harmless, but annoying.
2) They don't harm garden plants (if you have vulnerable young trees you can wrap the trunks or cover them with netting to prevent the females from laying eggs in the branches, but it probably won't harm them either way), and
3) Using insecticides to kill them will just leave you with a yard full of decaying smelly insect corpses.
So leave them be, enjoy if you can, ignore if you can't. They won't be around long, and won't be back (in the Chicago area, anyway) for another 17 years.

Educational materials and community science opportunities for the Brood XIII and XIX emergence will be arriving soon! Please click HERE to receive materials or research opportunities as soon as they arrive.

03/20/2024

They’re coming…2 different cicada broods…but to different parts of Illinois. Just watched a webinar where a cicada researcher shared far more information than I needed. I can share that Brood XIII should emerge in Chicagoland in late May. If you’re interested you can download this app and share observations with the cicada experts. It’s a thing!

03/17/2024

As spring warms the Earth, here are some ways you can support Birds and Insects

Provide clean feeders, seeds and fresh water for early migrating birds. (Hummingbird feeders can go out end of April/early May).

Recent warm days have spurred the early emergence of invasive species such as Lesser Celandine and Garlic Mustard. Remove them before they bloom. Continue to remove them throughout season.

Leave garden leaves, stems and ground debris for a while longer to provide essential food sources for ground foraging and migrating birds. The debris and plants stems are filled with insect and butterfly larvae, overwintering insects and berries. These provide a valuable food source for migrating and nesting birds.

Include native plants in spring planting plans. Purchase supportive wildlife and pollinator plants at area native plant sales.*

*If you'd like a list of Chicago-area Native Plant Sales DM me or respond below with your email and I'll send what I have so far.

03/17/2024

03/15/2024

Of course our latest project will include an EV charger!

It’s time to put the questions to rest: Drivers quickly cut their emissions footprint by going electric, and EVs are only getting cleaner.

03/07/2024

From the daily email Nice News: Quote of the Day:

“Even the tiniest joyful gestures add up over time, and before we know it, we have not just a few happier people but a truly joyful world.”
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– INGRID FETELL LEE