Fuck these things. Even if they aren't bad for the environment, they absolutely wreck your yard. In the summer, each week, I'll go around my yard and clean out 15-16 massive webs. Some of them 40 feet up. Most of them face level. The webs are strong so they easily get filled with leaves. Your yard ends up looking like a fucking haunted house with webs everywhere and leaves floating in the sky. Not to mention the females are HUGE - 6 inches across the legs sometimes. Total nightmares.