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Learn How to Install a Rainwater Catchment System

11/20/2014

Throop Learning Garden

Invites you to Learn How to Install a Rainwater Catchment System
A free hands-on workshop, sponsored by Throop Unitarian Universalist Church

Saturday, November 29 — 9:00 am–1:00 pm

Join Scott Mathers (Hey Tanks) and Leigh Jerrard (Greywater Corps) as they install Throop's rainwater catchment tank.

Participants will learn:

to calculate amount of water available from your roof
basic design principles of a rain catchment system
ways to filter harvested water
how to install a system in the landscape
how to distribute harvested water effectively

Space is very limited. RSVP is necessary to attend.

Click here to RSVP by email, no later than 11/26/14.

We thank everyone who generously sponsored our "Faithify" grant, that
made this workshop possible.

— January Nordman

The State of the Mulch

11/10/2014

The State of the Mulch was the topic of a public meeting on October 8 at the Donald Wright Auditorium at Pasadena Central Library, sponsored by Transition Pasadena. The panelists and residents examined the use of tree mulch—the material that exits the shredder when trees are trimmed—and the role it could play in conserving water in Pasadena.

Sylvia Holmes first envisioned a growing role for mulch, and Therese Brummel and Lin Griffith helped her organize the meeting; Blair Miller served as moderator.

First, Wendy De Leon described the efforts being made by the Department of Water and Power to achieve a 20% reduction in citywide water use. Then, Gabriel Silva described the ways that the Public Works Department has made mulch from street tree trimming available to Pasadena residents once a month at Victory Park. Marco Barrantes, principal at La Loma Development, explained how mulch reduces water run-off and evaporation, facilitating water percolation to replenish groundwater, and how it provides an inexpensive way to remove lawns and replace them with drought-tolerant landscaping. Dr. Sabrina Drill, Agriculture and Natural Resources advisor for the University of California Community Extension, described research and best practices for avoiding the spread of the Polyphagous Shot-hole Borer and the fungal tree disease it carries, which is endangering trees locally.

Discussion after the panel presentations will provide the basis for recommendations to the City for making mulch more readily accessible and encouraging the public to use it.

— Lin Griffith

Facebook: Mulch For The People

Photo by Sylvia Holmes: organizers and panelists, left to right,
back: Sylvia Holmes, Therese Brummel, Wendy De Leon;
front: Gabriel Silva, Lin Griffith, Marco Barrantes, Blair Miller, Sabrina Drill.

Learn How to Install a Rainwater Catchment System

Throop Learning Garden

The State of the Mulch

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