Ray At SEA Lab Endorses Ocean Friendly Gardens
Posted on 22. Apr, 2012 by pamela in Environment 911, G3 Blog, G3 Community, G3 Education, G3 Partners, Homeowner, HOWs, Los Angeles/South Bay, Nature Lessons, Surfrider Foundation, Water, Watershed Notes, West Basin
Ray At SEA Lab Loves OFG
Ray at SEA Lab pulled G3′s Pamela Berstler aside to share his concerns about the quality of ocean water and to heartily endorse Surfrider Foundation’s Ocean Friendly Gardens and West Basin MWD’s Ocean Friendly Landscape Programs. According to Ray, 80% of ocean pollution is from land-based sources. He recommended enlisting the help of soil-based microbes to halt polluted runoff before it enters the ocean. Soil microbes are accustomed to dealing with land-based pollution, while the ocean and waterways simply don’t have the funding, bandwidth, or technology to clean it up. That’s why Ocean Friendly Gardens get Ray so electrified! He understands that everyone who implements an OFG in their own yard is taking a step toward healing the ocean and local waterways through CPR (Conservation, Permeability, and Retention). When it comes to rainwater and preventing pollution, be sure to practice Ray’s Mantra: SLOW IT! SPREAD IT! SINK IT! You can make a difference by being part of the solution, not the pollution.
Inspired by Ray, G3′s Pamela Berstler worked with Elise Goldman of West Basin MWD to teach a couple hands-on workshops at Redondo Beach/SEA Lab’s Earth Day Event. This mini OFG program demonstrated how to select plants that are climate-appropriate, group them for maximizing water conservation according to sun, shade, or other microclimate factors, and place them in the ground at the appropriate distance.
Earth Day West Basin MWD Event
Other techniques included converting from a spray irrigation head to on-line drip tubing using 1 GPH pressure-compensating emitters, including adding mycorrhizae fun guys to the soil, planting correctly using sufficient water to wake up the soil party, and mulching heavily 3″ – 4″ total with the soil party pizza-equivalent: small-sized bark and shredded leaves.
Tucson Circle Complete At Biosphere2
Posted on 05. Apr, 2012 by pamela in Environment 911, G3 Blog, G3 Community, Green Infrastructure, Rain Gardens, Watershed Notes
Biosphere2 Rises In The Desert
A whirlwind week of exploring Biosphere1′s Green Infrastructure and Low Impact Design (LID) throughout Tucson, Arizona brings itself to a conclusion with a journey to the desert home of Biosphere2. Biosphere2 is an Earth systems science research facility owned by the University of Arizona. Its current mission is to serve as a center for research, outreach, teaching and life-long learning about Earth (Biosphere1), its living systems, and its place in the universe.
Cisterns Capture Rainwater
The grounds are landscaped to capture rain water passively in the landscape and actively in cisterns. An experiment with twenty or more mini-greenroofs explores the best growing conditions for living roofs in arid environments.
Passive Capture In Landscape
Biospherians (yes, that’s what they call people who lived in the Biosphere) inhabited the enormous enclosed structure from 1991 to 1993 and then again for six months in 1994. Intervention into the two-year living experiment came when oxygen levels dropped precipitously and Biospherians found they could not cultivate sufficient calories to sustain the more than 65 hours of work each week required to maintain life within the enclosure. While it is no longer inhabited, the enormous (two and a half football fields under glass) structure is now used by the University of Arizona as a collective research facility, and interesting experiments in Earth-sciences are constantly underway. TreePeople’s Edith de Guzman and her husband Jolly joined G3′s Pamela Berstler and Surfrider’s Paul Herzog for a two-hour tour of the facility. Nearly twenty years have passed since the original Biospherians were locked inside, and the various biomes have grown significantly.
Rise Above Plastics Research
In the more than 600,000 gallon “ocean” an experiment is being conducted on the rate of plastic decomposition. Another experiment is growing Arizona desert native plants in different controlled environments to determine the effects of climate change on desert flora.
Climate Change Experiment
Compared with The Eden Project in Cornwall, England, Biosphere2 seems a bit too “engineered” and sterile. But the research conducted within this controlled environment undoubtedly will contribute to a better understanding our fragile, blue world — and that makes it one of the great wonders of our time.
Conservation Starts With LID Education
Posted on 14. Mar, 2012 by pamela in Environment 911, G3 Blog, Green Infrastructure, Rain Capture, Rain Gardens, Resources, Water, Watershed Notes
It’s time for the Conservation folks to be honest with the public about the realities of “reliable” water supply and join hands with Stormwater folks who need to motivate property stewards to break with a century of building code and begin SLOWING, SPREADING, and SINKING rainwater on EVERY SITE possible. Jason Gurdak, Assistant Professor of Geosciences at San Francisco State University, notes “conservation starts with educating future generations about where their resources come from and how limited they may be.” Gurdak has been studying the effects of climate change on groundwater, and the results are as expected — we need to start thinking seriously about recharge NOW, BEFORE the water table drops to the point where it cannot be recharged.
Says Gurdak, “In many ways, California is leading the way in developing solutions. Artificial recharge, managed storage and recovery projects and low impact development around the state will become more important for many local water systems to bank excess water in aquifers.”
For more on Jason Gurdak’s research, check out his book.
Jeremy Irons Out Plastic Bag Migration
Posted on 12. Mar, 2012 by pamela in East Coast, Environment 911, G3 Blog, G3 Community, G3 Partners, Los Angeles/South Bay, Nature Lessons, Orange County, San Diego County, San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Barbara County, Surfrider Foundation, Ventura County, Water, Watershed Notes
The Ocean Friendly Gardens Program is a complimentary program to Surfrider Foundation’s Rise Above Plastics Campaign. But lots of great activity is happening about single-use plastics awareness. Check out this Heal The Bay video about the migration of the Plastic Bag from grocery store to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch hilariously narrated by Jeremy Irons.
Groundwater Extraction Economics: We Can’t Dig Our Way Out Of This
Posted on 12. Jan, 2012 by pamela in Environment 911, G3 Blog, G3 Partners, Green Infrastructure, Rain Gardens, Surfrider Foundation, Water, Watershed Notes
For all of you newsaholics that don’t follow environmental issues, but are following the growing discussion about “extraction” economics (See all recent coverage of GOP presidential candidate debates and their comments about Bain Capital), here’s the kind of extraction that we have to be really worried about — the over-extraction and pollution of our groundwater. How are you going to contribute to the solution?
As G3 has been teaching in its classes for the past three years, groundwater pollution and lack of replenishment are WORLDWIDE problems with colossal consequences in our own neighborhoods. Yet, this problem has many solutions that can be implemented by individuals in their own front yards! Low impact design (LID) Best Management Practices and Surfrider’s Ocean Friendly Gardens standards are just a couple of the ways ordinary people can help reverse the dire groundwater situation discussed in this article from Science Alert: Australia and New Zealand – Groundwater Supply Running Out.
