A resolution passed at the April 7 New Paltz Town Council meeting supports “no-mow May” as a way to reduce the harm humans cause through the way they control their environment. The initiative is to encourage property owners to hold off on mowing lawns until June, because the wildflowers that will thus be able to bloom during that month will provide a much-needed food source for native bees and other local pollinators. It’s pollinators who support the bulk of the human food system, but the role that insects play in the wider ecosystem is not yet fully understood. Council members agreed that there will need to be public education if this resolution is to have any effect.
Part of the awareness campaign is to get residents who are avoiding mowing to put up “pollinator garden” signs. There are sample signs that can be downloaded for printing at beecityusa.org/no-mow-may, and town officials have paid for weatherproof ones to be produced at PDQ for the first 24 residents who sign up. Information on how to get one of those free signs will be posted on the Town website.
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