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To us dark-defying humans, flipping on a light at night is as natural as eating or breathing. Unfortunately, it is incredible unnatural for many animals that rely on darkness to thrive.

It’s easy to go through daily life ignoring our surroundings, especially our external environments when we’re cozied up inside for the night.

Garage lighting? What of it? You don’t want someone to steal the basketball hoop, after all.

Office buildings lit up like Christmas trees all night long? Well, of course! We wouldn’t want miscreants to get the wrong idea – and plus, that skyline looks awfully pretty.

Problem is, the massive amount of light we put out each night is a form of pollution. In addition to obscuring a beautiful night sky, it confused birds and other animals that travel, eat or live their lives after the sun goes down. It’s seriously disruptive to our urban ecology.

We need to do something about it, and now.

Combined sewer overflow events plague many cities that rely on old infrastructure to manage both sanitation and surface runoff. It’s time we made a change.

If you’re like most, avoiding the contents of a toilet is pretty high on your list.

It might disgust you, therefore, to discover that the sewers in many large cities regularly back up and flow into the streets.

While this fact is certainly ripe for some bathroom humor, it’s actually a very serious problem. When heavy rains lead to an abundance of stormwater, some sewers can’t keep up. Current city planning incorporates stormwater management practices to prevent this from happening, but our older urban spaces have yet to hop on board.

it’s time we change that.

Urban ecological design is a critical discipline if we want to bridge the divide between city infrastructure and the natural world.

So, exactly what is urban ecological design, you’re wondering? Well, that starts with asking: What’s wrong with our cities in the first place?

You don’t need to read City Mouse, Country Mouse to understand the divide between our sparsely populated rural places and our bustling urban spaces, complete with all the conveniences of modern times.

(Although if you haven’t read that book, you should – whether or not you have children. It’s a classic, mostly because, mice with clothes.)

The problem is that too many people see cities as centers of civilization, exclusive of the environment. On the other hand, nature is an idyllic escape that simply can’t exist inside metropolitan boundaries.

Frankly, we don’t care for that way of thinking. The only way we’ll heal the environment and transform cities into healthy places to live is to meld the two. That’s where urban ecological design comes in.

Forget bindweed, crabgrass and thistle. You’ve got a bigger problem in your garden:

Gnomes.

“You’ll find them showing up in the herb garden, then in the vegetable garden, and pretty soon, in the annuals and perennials,” explains Jerry Goodspeed of Utah State University Extension’s Ogden Botanical Garden. “Once established, they’re very difficult to control.”

Of course, if you’ve ever seen those red hats popping up in your own yard, no one needs to tell you about the threat they pose. Waiting around and hoping the problem will resolve on its own is a bad idea.

“If left unchecked, they can out-compete other lawn ornaments and other parts of the landscape,” adds Goodspeed, cautioning that your urban ecology could truly suffer ill effects from such an infestation.

Luckily, he offers solutions too. We highly recommend you check out the video to learn more.

We often think of green infrastructure as a duty or burden we “should” take on, but in truth, implement GI systems leads to major cost savings for individuals and cities.

“Hmm, wouldn’t it be great if I could spend more money for fewer environmental benefits?”

… said no one ever.

But the truth is, today’s property values often suffer deeply for lack of environmental planning and management. This is true for properties of all types, from residential to commercial, condos to office parks, hospitals to schools.

That’s good news, though: It means that with proper green infrastructure planning, we can substantially increase both property values and levels of urban ecological stewardship at the same time.

So, how do we improve property values with green infrastructure? Here’s a brief overview.

The urban heat island effect is wreaking havoc on the atmosphere, damaging human health, harming ecology and more. It’s time we do something about it.

Life on Earth exists in a delicate balance with its surroundings.

Think about it: You like being dry, but not too dry. You want to be fed, but not too full. You like being warm, but not hot. That’s because humans evolved in specific environments that conditioned us to these preferential ranges.

The same is true for non-human organisms, including microbiota, plants and animals. It’s even true for the Earth as a whole. It’s just not happy when things get too hot.

Witness: climate change. (Yes, nonbelievers, it’s really a thing. NASA says so.)

One of the biggest contributors to global warming is the urban heat island effect, and it’s time we started fighting it today.

Luckily, we’ve got an array of awesome strategies (such as green roofs!) to help reduce the high temperaturs that radiate off city infrastructure. Let’s talk problems and solutions today.

Many people have used the term “urban ecology” in many different ways, but in order to truly improve the ecosystems inside our cities, we need to settle on a streamlined definition.

Ever noticed how if you say something enough, the sounds start to lose meaning?

Try it. Say your own name over and over again. Guaranteed, after no more than 30 seconds, you’ll start to think, “Huh. Well, that’s a weird, pointless sound. Wonder what Mom and Dad were thinking?”

Buzz phrases such as sustainable, green and organic have suffered a similar fate: overuse sliding right into meaninglessness. Ditto conservation, energy efficiency, blah blah blah.

Oh, and urban ecology, of course.

FIGURING OUT HOW MUCH A GREEN ROOF WILL COST IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS, AND REQUIRES UNDERSTANDING THE MANY FACTORS THAT GO INTO THE CALCULATION.

Asking “How much will my green roof cost?” is like asking “What should I wear to my sister’s wedding?” when the person at whom the question is directed has no idea what you look like, where the happy event is taking place or what your personal opinion on bowties happens to be.

Us, we like bowties … but what if you don’t? We couldn’t possibly predict that without talking to you and finding out more.

All of which is to say, it’s impossible to know how much your green roof will cost until we examine several factors. Unfortunately, therefore, there’s no way to get an instant green roof quote online.

(And if you do get one, we strongly recommend you run as fast and as far as you can. All that means is the company uses such a canned approach that the resulting roof is unlikely to last long, or to benefit you or the surrounding ecology. Booooooo.)

That said, what exactly does a smart greenroofing company consider before providing a quote? Moreover, what are the average installation and stewardship costs of the various green roof types?

Let’s take a look.

The first step in choosing the best type of infrastructure to manage stormwater and safeguard the environment is to understand the major differences between green versus gray infrastructure.

Stormwater is one of the world’s most pressing concerns. Whether to use green versus gray infrastructure one of the most pressing questions associated with it.

Today, the increase in global climate change brings odder and odder weather, while the expansion of cities ups the square footage of impermeable surfaces by the day. Managing stormwater is difficult but possible … as long as you understand your options: green versus gray.

When you hear the word pollination, does your mind automatically change it to the word “bee”? Time to retrain your brain on all things pollinator.

Look outside your window on a spring day, and you’ll see at least one flying thing.

If you live in a bustling Chicago neighborhood, like we do, you’re likely to see more than that: birds, bees, butterflies, dragonflies and even regular flies.

If someone asked you to point to the pollinators, though, we’re betting your finger would automatically gravitate toward the bees – especially those black and yellow striped honeybees we all know and love.

These days, though, we more than love the honeybee: We freak out about it constantly. Oft-cited reports of Colony Collapse Disorder – the unexplained die-off of honeybee hives – have people super-edgy about the fate of pollinators, and those who depend upon their pollination. (Spoiler alert: us.)

While the humble honeybee has a time-honored place in our imaginations and on our cereal boxes, though, it’s far from the only agent of pollination around. In fact, it’s only one of many, many animals on which we depend for the propagation of plants and the health of our urban ecology.

This leads to a few questions: Why does pollination matter, who represents the non-bee pollination faction and are we doing enough to protect them?