The Preener Story

A few years ago during a scorching East Tennessee summer, I took time each day to water my ornamental plants and flowers to ensure their beauty and longevity, as did others in my community. On this day, I realized I’d been neglecting the lawn for too long and it was very dry. I set out a sprinkler and went inside. Just a few minutes later, I saw a remarkable scene out my kitchen window. Squirrels, chipmunks, and numerous bird species, large and small, were all drinking, bathing, and celebrating this life-giving oasis together.
At first, I smiled in amusement. It was like something from a children’s animated film. Then my heart dropped, as I realized these poor creatures were behaving unnaturally because they were bound by a common need: water. I felt ashamed that I’d used water freely for my plants and had given no thought to how the drought had impacted the local wildlife.  
As I thought about it, I realized that many humans are oblivious to the needs of their local wildlife. I began to wonder about this and developed a keen interest in the human impact on Earth’s fragile web of life. This led me to several excellent books such as: 
  • Nature’s Best Hope - Douglass Tallamy beautifully articulates the human impact on biodiversity and presents a plan to revolutionize the way people garden and landscape to benefit wildlife and communities.
  • The Web of Life - Fritjof Capra compares the traditional and emerging world views regarding ecology:
    • The traditional “shallow ecology…views humans as above or outside of nature, as the source of all value, and ascribes only instrumental or use-value to nature.”
    • The emerging “deep ecology recognizes the intrinsic value of all living beings and views humans as just one particular strand in the web of life”
These and other thought leaders inspired me to act, and the Preener brand was born. It’s a small contribution to the seemingly infinite list of issues our world is currently facing, but it feels good to do something, starting with offering humans an easy and appealing way to provide fresh water for their local wildlife.
Our natural world is not only beautiful and infinitely awe-inspiring, but it’s also essential to our survival. I encourage you to educate yourself on ways you can support biodiversity locally and globally. Explore our Get Inspired! menu for curated lists of books, documentaries, organizations, and other informative sources about biodiversity conservation, and peruse the Animal Tales blog for endearing animal videos and insights on how you can help support your local ecosystem. 
Sincerely,
Maria Crenshaw, Founder
 
References
Tallamy, Douglas W. (2020). Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard. Timber Press. (2020)
Capra, F. (1996;2000). The Web of Life.  Anchor Books; MacMillan Audio.