Contact Laureen Rama
at (403) 969-1176
Laureen Rama is an experienced gardener, landscaper and landscape designer with a background in public involvement consulting and shamanic healing and teaching. From a 20-year gardening hobby, she moved into business as an eco-friendly landscaper in Calgary, Alberta in 2006, after the onset of severe chemical sensitivities (triggered by a house renovation) forced her to give up her previous employment. She turned her attention to chemical-free outdoor work, and became a strong advocate of earth- (and people-) friendly methods of land stewardship. The eco-yards method goes far beyond eco-friendly products; it emphasizes building environmental health from the ground up, supporting nature using nature’s own methods.
Laureen is available for and experienced in media interviews. A brief media resumé:
Press Photo Downloads (2mb jpg files):
Laureen Rama Spreading Compost
For further information, to receive a book for review or arrange an interview, contact: Laureen Rama at (403) 969-1176 or by email info@eco-yards.com.
• 40 - 70 % of municipally treated water is used on landscapes. Better use could be made of taxpayer dollars and municipalities throughout North America are starting to restrict water use on yards.
• Lawn only absorbs 10 % of the water that a flower, tree, and shrub bed absorbs. So beds in urban yards help replenish underground water aquifers.
• Chemical pesticide (herbicide, fungicide, insecticide, rodenticide) use has been linked to cancer, neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, hormonal disorders (e.g. thyroid), birth defects, and developmental delays and impairment in children.
• Many medical associations (e.g. Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Ontario College of Family Physicians, Canadian Cancer Society) are calling for the phasing out of pesticides used just to make yards look “nice” (cosmetic use). The American Medical Association has suggested that “homeowners, farmers, and workers limit pesticide exposure to themselves and others” and consider using “the least toxic chemical pesticides or nonchemical alternatives.” (From a 1994 meeting report - see page 7, http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/443/csai-94.pdf).
• Over 152 municipalities in Canada (as of January 2009) have passed bylaws phasing out cosmetic pesticide use and the provincial governments of Ontario and Quebec have banned the sale and use of the most toxic chemical pesticides.
• Calgary is now the largest city in Canada without the protection of a pesticide phase-out bylaw. Calgary City Council in Summer 2008 directed the City administration to prepare a bylaw phasing out pesticides to come into effect in 2010.
• Chemical pesticide and fertilizer use and tilling the soil have greatly depleted the organic matter and micro-organisms in the soil. World-wide, urbanites and farmers are using organic methods to replenish the soil. Compost is their most effective soil enhancer!
• In Canada, 70 % of adults garden and 8 million households have yards. Canadians spend about 8 billion dollars annually on yard-related goods and services (from Lorraine Johnson’s 2002 book Tending the Earth: A Gardener’s Manifesto, Penguin, Toronto). In the United States, about 30 trillion acres and $45 billion annually are devoted to lawns - more than is spent on agriculture. (from a video on www.buildinggreentv.com called Eco-friendly Yards: Landscaping Using Water-wise Plants and Creating Natural Habitats). Imagine the influence if these resources were devoted toward eco-yards. Once established, eco-yards cost little to maintain and these dollars could be used for other purposes.
“I have been landscaping most of my life, from helping my parents landscape yards as a child, in towns across Western Canada, to beautifying landscapes as an adult, inspired by travelling and living in landscapes around the world and North America. I’ve spoken to gardeners whenever and wherever I can, and experimented with what works and what doesn’t in many different environments. Life on earth depends on the vitality of the topsoil and the plants that grow in it. I strongly believe we should leave the land we steward in better shape than we found it. We can enrich the soil and enliven the energy of the places we steward by using sustainable landscape methods. In this way we create a healthier, more beautiful, and fruitful world.”
“ I wrote the book Eco-yards: Simple steps to earth-friendly landscapes because I found that so many people want to do the right thing for the environment and human health in their own yard - they just don’t know how to go about it. And they think it will be a lot of work to change over a yard to be eco-friendly and then to maintain it. This isn’t true! It’s definitely much less work to maintain and eco-yard and a Canadian federal government study backs this up.”
“ Creating an eco-yard is easier than most people think. Flower, tree, and shrub beds can be made pretty easily by covering a lawn with newspaper and wood chip mulch. Lawn can also be gradually changed over to eco-friendly grass types, such as Sheep’s feescue that require little water, fertilizer, or mowing.”
“In the book Eco-yards I included sections on why it’s important to have eco-yards - the health and environmental benefits - so that folks are inspired and motivated to act.”
“ Some people require a whole attitude shift from battling with nature to working with the natural patterns and I’ve given examples in the book Eco-yards of how to shift attitudes to embrace an eco-yards approach.”
“ Most of the book Eco-yards is ”how-to” create and maintain an eco-friendly yard with step-by-step instructions accompanied by photos. Stories of people who’ve created a variety of eco-yards round out the explanations inviting people to plan and take action. The how-to’s include:
“My favorite chapter of the book Eco-yards is ”Soil: A Feeding Frenzy” because it shows and tells the story of how valuable soil micro-organisms are to the plants in our yard and to life on earth. I hope that others respond with the wonder that awoke in me when I first saw photos of these microscopic beneficial bacteria, fungi, and other microbes and learned the amazing story of how they interact with plants. These microbes swarm at the roots of plants and on their leaves. The plants exude sugars to feed the microbes because it is the microbes that bring plants the nutrients they need to grow. The microbes also protect plants from disease. Whenever chemicals are used - herbicides, insecticides, and even to some extent fertilizers - they kill the microbes and leave plants more vulnerable and less healthy.
Life on earth depends on this vital interaction that happens between plants and microbes in the soil. That’s why it’s so important that organic rather than chemical methods are used in landscaping. Compost is the best, and often needs to be the only, soil enhancement used on yards. It is rich in organic matter and soil microbes. I also make a compost-based spray (Eco-yards Spray) that is rich in micro-organisms. In the Calgary area, I offer the service of spraying Eco-yards Spray on peoples’ trees, plants and lawn - on the leaves and soil - to augment the microbes naturally there.”
