Boycott Cypress Mulch

The latest expose of non sustainable practices from the lumber industry come not from some far off forests in Borneo, but from the Cypress swamps of Louisiana.  Lumber companies are grinding whole trees into mulch to sell to nurseries and municipalities.  It is bad enough to over harvest slow growing crops for building and furniture, but to harvest this local resource specifically for garden beds is just another example of large companies packing their pockets at the expense of the local ecosystem.

Cypress trees (Taxodium distichum) are slow growing natives of swampy areas and help to maintain the wetlands they inhabit and protect local areas from storm surges and flooding.  The clear cut methods employed by these lumber companies will destroy fragile swamps and doom all creatures that exist there.

Please avoid using Cypress mulch and if your local nursery carries it, please ask them, in a nice way, to stop.  They may not even realize the situation.  Even Walmart stopped stocking it.

 For more information visit Living On Earth at www.loe.org  Search “Saving the Cypress.”