NEBLINE WILDLIFE & ENVIRONMENTAL FOCUS February 2020 • Page 4 Backyard Bird Feeding Tips

suet. Suet is a nutritious food for wood- preparations that can be used throughout Soni Cochran peckers, flickers, nuthatches, chickadees, the year. Find no-melt suet blocks where Extension Associate, Lancaster County brown creepers and more. What is bird seed is sold. suet? Suet is a solidified mixture of fats Do you enjoy feeding birds? I sure harvested from beef animals or sheep. If FOR MORE INFORMATION do, and my favorite seed mixes include you would like to make your own suet Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County has black-oil sunflower seeds and shelled for birds, check with your local butcher information about attracting and feeding nuts like peanuts. This mix results in or grocery meat counter for suet. You can birds at https://go.unl.edu/attracting-birds very little waste from uneaten seed and also purchase commercial no-melt suet fewer problems with nuisance birds like starlings and English house sparrows. MAKE YOUR OWN SUET CAKES Vicki Jedlicka, Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County Extension Nebraska Vicki Jedlicka, A recommended bird seed mixture 3 cups melted suet* (available consists of 50% black-oil sunflower at your meat counter or seeds, 25% millet and 25% cracked corn. butcher shop) 3 cups yellow cornmeal 1 cup chunky-style peanut One of the mixes recommended butter by specialists consists of 50% black-oil sunflower seed, 25% cracked corn and *Can you use lard instead of suet? 25% white millet. Cardinals and doves Lard is fat from pigs and can be will also eat safflower seed. Niger thistle used or added to suet. Lard does seed is very attractive to finches and other melt quicker on warmer days so use caution around pets. small birds, but you’ll need to use a special in Lancaster County Extension Nebraska Vicki Jedlicka, tube-shaped feeder. Small “sock feeders” filled with thistle seed are also commer- Melt suet in a pan and add the cornmeal and peanut butter. You can add bird seeds, cially available and easy to hang. raisins, rolled oats, unsalted nutmeats, dehydrated egg, apple bits, brown sugar, Avoid inexpensive bird seed mixes. honey or syrup. Add or subtract ingredients depending on what you have handy, but Many of these are loaded with filler seeds avoid anything with rich seasonings. Pour the suet mixture into cupcake papers in a like milo (sorghum). Instead of saving muffin tin to harden. Remove the papers, and the cakes are ready for the birds. money, seed is wasted as birds search through the filler seed looking for seeds Tip: We stored our suet cakes in a large plastic bag in the freezer until we were they prefer. Read the label on commercial ready to use them. When we made the suet logs, we just pressed pieces of the suet bird seed packages to learn what seeds are cakes into the logs to refill them for the birds. Hang all suet for birds out of the reach included in the mix. of pets.

Soni Cochran, Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County Extension Soni Cochran, Nebraska Another attractive food for birds is Positive Change on Environmental Issues shopping at thrift stores, bringing their recycling right. recycled, versus what an individual wishes Willa DiCostanzo own silverware everywhere you go and With so many products in the stores, could be recycled. If you are unsure City of Lincoln Waste Diversion more. Citizens also call to ensure they are it can be confusing on what can be about an item and if it can be recycled, it Coordinator is better to double check instead of just INTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENT HIERARCHY placing an item in the blue bin. The more Global environmental issues such as Most Preferred non-recyclable items in the blue bin, single-use plastics, the giant garbage patch the more recycling contamination and floating in the ocean and what happens 1. Cleaner production, sustainable that slows the entire process of getting a to the materials consumers have recycled, consumption and prevention. material recycled, recovered and made have caught the attention of journalists, into something new. photographers and citizens over the last 2. Reusing waste in its current form. If community members would few years. These environmental concerns like a tip on how to reduce, reuse or can seem larger than one person can recycle, call the City of Lincoln Solid tackle, leaving society feeling a bit hope- 3. Processing waste to recover Waste Management Division’s hotline at less with no clear solution on the horizon. commercially valuable products. 402-441-8215 or visit our website But, hope does exist. http://recycle.lincoln.ne.gov. Our office The story of resiliency exists can help answer questions about how to throughout history. For example, during 4. Recovering energy from waste. reduce and reuse and help to identify if WWII conservation through Reducing, something can be recycled or not. Reusing and Recycling was an “all-in” As a community, we can learn from effort from Americans across our great history and set this intention as we enter nation to support the troops. These 5. Safe disposal in a landfill. into this new decade to make our commu- efforts included reducing national food Least Preferred nity and our world a cleaner, greener and demand by growing a Victory Garden, more resilient place for the future. reusing what you purchase and repairing the items that may be broken through mending and fixing instead of buying new. Recycling was also in high demand What Do the Three Arrows of Recycling Mean? for everything from animal fat (for the Recycling is intended to be a and on the back of the packaging using glycerin for bombs) to rubber tires and closed-loop system, that is why you see Collection of recyclable words such as 100% recycled content, steel cans. In order to get through the war, three arrows represented on the recy- materials 25% post-consumer waste. conservation through the “all in” attitude cling symbol. At the top of the loop, the In a world of fast news through was a necessity and Americans did all they collection of post-consumer recyclables social media and the internet, you can could to help. occurs; the second arrow identifies that easily voice your opinion to businesses Across the world today, citizens are the collected recyclables are sorted, and ask them questions such as, “Why creating new technological advancements cleaned and manufactured into a new are they still using Styrofoam pack- to help solve environmental challenges product; the last arrow is the purchase aging? How is their business working while using the principles of the three R’s of products made with post-consumer to reduce their environmental impact? Purchase that have existed for years; reduce, reuse recycled content. As a consumer, the Manufacturing Why aren’t they using recycled content products made and recycle. decisions you make every day help to of recyclable in their packaging?’’ Consumer demand from recyclable Locally, citizens in Lincoln and drive industry demand of products materials and purchasing power make a big Lancaster County are doing their part made from recycled content. materials impact on the system of recycling. Close to make a positive change on environ- Paper products such as tissues, the loop and purchase products made mental issues. The office of Solid Waste toilet paper and paper towels are great retail stores generally have a few paper from recycled content today. Management at the City of Lincoln examples of items consumers can products made from post-consumer receives phone calls from community purchase to ensure they are closing recycled content. Companies are eager members sharing how they reduce waste the recycling loop. Local grocery and to place this information on the front through using reusable grocery bags,