Biodiversity, one square yard at a time.

Every year, the expansion of cities, the building of new highways, and other human developments turn roughly two million acres of wilderness, an area the size of Yellowstone National Park, into agricultural monocultures and residential developments. This level of habitat loss has led to unprecedented extinction rates in not only the US but around the globe, as humans eliminated food sources and places of shelter of many native species. Furthermore, the trend towards the artificial selection of various species for their crop or aesthetic has reduced the natural biodiversity, which is existential for the survival of ecosystems and the people that live within them. Furthermore, Biodiversity ensures resiliency against environmental changes, and provides a basis for survival.

Founded in 2019, biosquareyard seeks to raise awareness about the importance of biodiversity and provide measures through which individuals can transform their gardens into fields of native flowers and grasses. One of the first initiatives can be found under Products, where various types of seed packets are listed, which are shipped free of charge throughout the continental US. Thus, biosquareyard is committed to promoting biodiversity, one square yard at a time. Ideally, if every household in America would dedicate just one square yard to biodiversity, it would create 128 million square yards of biodiverse land. This area, equivalent to about 20,000 football fields, would provide habitats and food sources to all kinds of native species, but more importantly, it would foster a spirit of conservation and appreciation of nature.

While many Americans see their gardens as plots of land that counteract the loss of habitat for native species, this notion is not entirely correct. While the typical American lawn does counteract soil erosion and reduces carbon dioxide levels in the air, it does much more harm than good. A monoculture that lacks any diversity in plants, the chemicals used to maintain it, and the gases of mover engines, which create eleven times more pollution than a regular car, hurt the surrounding wildlife and endanger human health. This, along with the enormous potential that residential gardens pose, made it easy to identify the transformation of the American lawn as our mission.