Families are helping the environment in Scugog this summer

COURTNEY McCLURE The Standard

SCUGOG: The Scugog Environmental Advisory Committee (SEAC) gave away free pollinator seed packets to families living in Scugog. SEAC has given these seed packets to families who have shown interest in planting a small section of wildflowers. The township asked residents to email a submission that included a poem, explanation or drawing about the following topics: Pollinators you have seen on your property, where you would plant the seeds on your property, and why you want to help pollinators. Residents are asked to plant the flowers in a one metre by one metre flowerbed. According to public works and a parks associate at the Township of Scugog, Maegan Michel, the seeds are black eyed susan, coneflower, spotted joe pie weed, yarrow and milkweed. SEAC got the seeds from a plant company in Durham Region. These wildflowers will help insects spread pollen, according to the Township of Scugog. Ms. Michel said most pollinators, such as bees, collect nectar from flowers and use it as food and water. She said pollinators also help plants to reproduce, providing new plants for other wildlife. Pollinators sustain our ecosystem by helping plants reproduce, she added. “Approximately eighty percent of all flowering plants need help with pollination,” shared Maegan. “It is an essential ecological function.” Pollinators also have an effect of people’s food and the way it grows. For example, since they pollinate numerous types of crops, they help feed other animals, hence farmers livestock in the dairy and meat industries. One crop, Ms. Michel gave an example of that pollinators help flourish, is alfalfa. “We have pollinators to thank for many of the foods we eat,” explained Maegan. She proceeded to list off foods like apples, nuts and vegetables. According to her, pollination is important to the production of one third of today’s food crops. Ms. Michel said experts have indicated that, without pollinators, there would be a collapse in the ecosystem. “Humanity depends on the ecosystem to survive,” she said.