No Mow May

What is No Mow May?

The goal of No Mow May is to allow grass to grow un-mown for the month of May, allowing wild flowers to come through and creating habitat and forage for early season pollinators. This is particularly important in urban areas where floral resources are often limited.
 
This spring, we are inviting all Rotary Clubs to participate in our No Mow May campaign by producing and distributing lawn signs that contain the Rotary logo, the name of your Rotary Club, and the friendly and playful call-to-action Let's Pollinate! Our District 7930 Environmental and Public Image Committees have cooperated on this effort and have created two templates that you can easily customize for your own Rotary Club:
 
 
Similar to what we did for the new Membership Brochure, Public Image Committee Chair Andrew Maddox has created an online design tool on the Boyds Direct website that allows you to easily customize this lawn sign for your Rotary Club. Once you have done that customization, you can download the sign as a PDF document and then decide if you want to utilize a local printer - for example if a member of your Rotary Club has their own printing business - or a national chain like Staples, or if you'd like to use Boyds Direct, a printing business owned by Past District Governor Dave Gardner. Boyds Direct is offering the following quantity pricing for these lawn signs (these are printed on both sides):
 
Pricing (includes 1 lawn stake per sign):
1-9 10-24 25-49 50+
$19.00 ea $16.50 ea $14.00 ea $11.50 ea
 
In addition, for every No Mow May sign sold, Boyds Direct will donate $1 to The Rotary Foundation. 
 
Another point to consider is how to finance these lawn signs: it is entirely up to your Rotary Club to decide if you want to produce and finance these lawn signs out of your own pocket, or if you want to sell them in your community as a potential fundraiser. Both approaches have their respective merits.
 
To get started with customizing the sign for your Rotary Club, please go to https://rotary.boydsdirect.com/, then follow these instructions:
 
  1. Click Place an Order in the menu bar (if you are just going to customize the sign and then download the PDF file, the cost of the order is going to be $0.00 - no worries!)
  2. If you don't yet have an account, click Create your account on the next page. Otherwise, if you have previously used this tool to create a new Membership brochure for your club, click on Sign In
  3. Then, choose the No Mow May Yard Sign from the catalog page
  4. On the right side, fill in the name of your Rotary Club and select either Version 1 or Version 2 of the design
  5. Under Quantity select either PDF Download Only, if you just want to get the PDF file, or pick a quantity if you actually want Boyds Direct to print the lawn signs for you
  6. On the bottom of the page in the center column, click on the "Click to Customize" button
  7. In the design editor window that pops up, click on the words "Rotary Club of Yourtown" (Design 1) or "Yourtown Rotary" (Design 2) either in the graphic or in the right sidebar and enter the name of your own Rotary Club
  8. Then click on the blue "Next" button and review the final design
  9. Click on the "I have reviewed and approve my design" checkbox and then on the "Finish Editing" button
  10. You are now back on the Order page with the new design shown. Verify that you have the correct quantity selected (or just PDF Download Only) and then click on Add to Cart
  11. Click on the Check Out button and enter your address if requested
  12. Last, but not least, click on the Place Order button. If you want to just get the PDF Download, make sure the total says $0.00
  13. On the next Order Confirmation page you will now find a button at the bottom that says "Download your File(s)". Click on that button to download the PDF file
 
For more information on No Mow May, please continue reading further below or download the No Mow My Flyer by clicking here, or from the list of Files on the left.
 
In addition we have produced a brief No Mow May sign that you can download by clicking here, or again find in the list of Files on the left. This sign is something you could, for example, display at a table in town where you are distributing the lawn signs.
 

Enhancing Our Communities by Supporting Native Pollinators in Our Parks and Other Public Spaces

Plants and wildlife, including pollinators, can thrive in the seemingly inhospitable environment of towns and cities. Studies done from around the country have shown that dozens of species of bees can be found in gardens and parks in areas that are dominated by hardscapes such as Berkeley, California, and East Harlem in New York. In some cases, towns and cities are also important strongholds for rare species like the rusty patched bumble bee.

Pollinator-friendly parks are also human-friendly as they support physical and emotional benefits gained from time spent outdoors. They are excellent settings for guided group activities such as nature watching, whether that is for birds, butterflies, dragonflies, or bees. And they allow for quiet contemplation while sitting among flowers and the hum of insect life.


About Native Pollinators

Bees transfer pollen between flowers, enabling the incredible diversity of plants on our planet to fruit and reproduce. Pollinators are keystone species in essentially every ecosystem on earth, facilitating the reproduction of over 85 percent of all flowering plants and over two thirds of agricultural crops. In addition to the domestic honey bee (Apis mellifera), a species brought to North America from Europe, there are more than 3,600 species of bees native to the United States. These wild bees are generally quite different than the domesticated honey bee–most of them live solitary lives, with a single female doing all of the work to build a nest, collect pollen and nectar, and lay eggs. Unlike the honey bee, which nests above-ground and can be managed in wooden hives, more than two out of three wild bees live underground in nests that can be hard to spot from the surface! Some dig down and lay their eggs several feet below ground, while others make nests near the soil surface or in hollowed out plant stems above ground. Research has shown significant declines in native pollinator population sizes and ranges globally with up to 40 percent of pollinator species on Earth at risk of extinction in the coming years as a result a variety of environmental stressors including habitat loss and degradation, exposure to pesticides, diseases and pathogens, and climate change.


Benefits to Your Community

Ensure survival of vital animal species including bees and other pollinators crucial to the health of our environment. Build community locally and nationally through bringing your campus together around a positive, shared cause and connect with communities across the country that have made the same commitment. Improve local food production and raise community awareness of how our food grows. Support small, local businesses including native plant nurseries and pollinator-friendly landscaping. Address pest problems with fewer pesticides using integrated pest management. Heighten awareness of biological diversity.