Save Our Cypress Campaign Sample Newsletter
With lush gardens and flowers in bloom, it requires a close look to find the most beautiful landscaping efforts- those that don’t use cypress mulch! The cypress mulch market is driving destruction of coastal forests around the Gulf, and Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, and the Home Depot are fueling the mulch madness. Gardeners everywhere are switching to sustainable alternatives, and whether or not you like to grow plants, you can make a difference and help save cypress trees.
Cypress forests in Louisiana and throughout the Gulf are being clear-cut solely to produce cypress mulch. Whole swamp ecosystems are being lost and the entire trees are being ground up to be sold in the garden departments of Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s. The product can be found as far as Chicago, Baltimore, and even California. These forests, our best natural storm defenses and incredibly important habitat for migratory birds, are literally being sold off for two dollars a bag. It’s like shredding the Constitution to make post-it notes, a national treasure is being turned into a disposable product.
The Save Our Cypress Coalition has presented Lowe’s, Wal-Mart, and Home Depot with extensive evidence of the destruction that is caused from cypress mulch. All three companies recognize it’s a problem, but none of them have taken the concrete step that’s necessary to live up to the environmental commitments that they tout so loudly. The Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Wal-Mart need to stop selling cypress mulch.
Cypress mulch is an unsustainable and unnecessary product, but there are other options out there. Pine straw, pine bark, melaleuca mulch, farmed-eucalyptus mulch are just a few of the alternatives you can use in your garden. And of course, there’s always the leaves that fell in the driveway.
Selling sustainable options is also a great opportunity for these huge retailers to prove they’re serious about protecting the environment and the Gulf Coast. Please take a moment on your next shopping trip to tell the store manager that you don’t want the company to sell cypress mulch, and visit to send a message directly to the CEO’s of Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s.