Song of the Day

Totally diggin on this new song so I thought I would share. Plus, beyond great beats, this video is super sweet and makes me remember that I really need to read "Where the Wild Things Are".

Enjoy...

Green Lake's Phosphorous Problem

Last week, Seattle's Green Lake got an alum treatment to help combat the phosphorous issues that lead to blue green algae. Alum is a non-toxic chemical that binds with phosphorous to inhibit the growth of toxic algae. Since this is an issue that should be dealt with, it's great that Seattle is taking a step in that direction. However, this is a small indicator of a bigger problem that needs attention... humans.

First Issue: Lawn Care 
While Seattle might be slightly better regarding sustainable lawn care practices than many places in the country, it still has a long way to go. Many homes in Seattle do not apply heavy chemical treatments for herbicide and fertility issues. And to their credit, most homeowners in Seattle and the surrounding Puget Sound area do not water their lawns, preferring instead to bring sexy back with their brown lawns during the drier summer season. However, bad habits continue and making matters worse, many homes are built next to waterways, exacerbating pollution issues.

We've all seen these homes before. Grass lawn or turf is planted right up to adjacent waterways. This close proximity aids in water pollution.

In Seattle, the moist environment often encourages moss to grow in lawns in addition to other weeds that plague most lawns. Scott's and other "turf experts" out there have successful advertising campaigns saying moss is terrible for your lawn and must be removed, most often by herbicides. This treatment of so-called undesirable vegetation is the reason for pollution that in recent years has been making headlines. The Great Lakes, for example, are battling a huge issue with blue green algae and chemical pollutants. When will it be enough?

Second Issue: Pet Waste
Isn't he adorable? Don't you just love dogs? So much fun... oh wait, they come with a lot of issues!

Seattle is a mecca for dogs and their people. For dog owners with yards, most of us have no idea how damaging pet waste is for the environment. In my soils class a few years ago, I used my yard as a test case for a project. It is relatively small and, at the time, I had one large dog and multiple small dogs. While we did pick up after the dogs, it wasn't an everyday occurrence. When I sent a sample of my soil in for testing, I found it had extremely high levels of phosphorous. This problem is a small glimpse of what could be ailing parks like Green Lake.

The park at Green Lake is a popular destination with a trail around the perimeter attracting every type of person for all types of activities, many of which include dogs. Even though people are fairly good about cleaning up after their dogs, this doesn't take care of the liquid waste issue. If this is part of the pollution issue, what can be done with vegetation and soil treatment moving forward to help combat this problem?

By the way, the dog above is our foster Sawyer who is, as of the date of this post, up for adoption through People United for Pets.

Explaining the Science Behind the Issue
Watering grass can be a tricky thing. Grass blades naturally bend when water is applied. It takes a slower process like rain to get past the natural sheeting effect and penetrate the root system. Most irrigation applies water to grass at a rate that is impossible for it to be fully used by the roots. All that excess water then sheets off downhill. This is part of the issue regarding polluted stormwater runoff.

Another issue in water and nutrient uptake is the pH of the soil. If the pH is off, which it often is, applied nutrients will instead leech into waterways. Seattle tends to have acidic soils so limestone can be applied appropriately to balance the pH levels. While you can optimize the pH of your soil, it is something that requires constant maintenance, something which most homeowners are not interested in doing.

This results in problems when applying chemicals such as fertilizers or herbicides. Due to soils not being able to take in all applied nutrients, what does not get taken up by the grass leeches into our streams and waterways via rain or irrigation. This is why having that waterfront property I discussed earlier is a big problem.

Disclaimer: Please get your soil tested prior to applying any amendments. 


Bottom line is we need to be better stewards of our green spaces. This responsibility is not only on homeowners or even renters, but on businesses and city governments. While it is not the only source of pollution in places like our now fair Green Lake, our actions in these green spaces need to take into consideration the bigger environmental picture and the impact our actions have. In the continual water cycle we learned about in grade school, our water eventually goes to places that affect wildlife like fish that are vital to ecosystems. Let's take our responsibility to the earth seriously for once and change our default from reaction to ACTION!

Save Dory!

Song of the Day

Yes, it's been a while, and for that I would like to dedicate this post to my dear friend Orinda.

I just had to share my newest favorite song... totally obsessed. Enjoy!

Holiday Moments...

So, we just passed a big milestone! On November 30th, while my parents were visiting me here in Massachusetts for Thanksgiving, this little guy celebrated his fifth adoptiversary! (You can read about how his adoption came to be here.) He was utterly spoiled by his grandparents with yummy food and treats as you can see.

It's so hard to believe we've had him so long. That would put him around 15 years old as best we can tell.

So as I've been in deep with finishing up the final deliverable for the fall quarter at school whilst shoveling snow... I thought I would take a moment. In honor of the Christmas season, because I love them and because I miss the Sing-Off show where they debuted, I'm sharing a video of Pentatonix singing Little Drummer Boy... enjoy!

Moved...

Once again I am moved to tears about the power of many at the climate march that happened just over a month ago. You can read all about my experience here. This video is so awesome. To see everyone coming together with one goal in mind, coming together to say what is going on is not okay and we need to make a change. Everyone taking a stand for our earth. It was and is amazing. Just as we paused for a moment, all 400,000 of us, we took a moment to recognize the fight, the loss and the magnitude of what is happening. And then to hear a collective sound that was almost deafening... amazing. Just think of what we can do if we all come together. My hope is this inspires all of us to do at least one thing in support of our climate.

Living Machine...

As school has started, I am a little behind in all the things I wanted to blog about. So, I thought I'd take a moment to look back and cover some cool things that have happened.

The first week of school we went on an orientation trip all over Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. We saw so many cool things and continue to learn a bunch every day. As my year progresses, I am committing to sharing all the amazing things I'm learning so we can all join in the process of being more earth-friendly.

On our last day of the orientation trip, we went to see a living machine in Grafton, Massachusetts called the Living Systems Laboratory. A living machine is defined as a form of ecological wastewater treatment designed to mimic the cleansing functions of wetlands. You can read all about this specific one here and here. The story of this site is based on the industrial history of the river.  There was a mill located upstream that produced various types of things over the 150+ years it was in operation on the Blackstone River. It was closed in 1986 and the structure subsequently burned down in 1999 leaving a toxic rubble. Since then the mill site has leeched oils and contaminants into the ground, heavily polluting the river.

In response to this issue, John Todd Ecological Design built a living machine to help with the cleansing of the river. Here's how it works:

First, the water is skimmed and cleansed by passing through these floating islands of vegetation. At this part of the river, the water is murky and when the temperature outside increases, you can see the oils in the river bed rise to the surface creating a nasty film.

They are made to float on the buoyant material below and planted with water-loving plants and fungi that help take up the harmful toxins in the water through their roots, thereby starting the cleansing process.

The water then moves through piping at the bottom of the river and is pumped into the main core of the living machine in this greenhouse.

When it's pumped in, the first station is the fungi station. Water is pumped successively through these fungi-inoculated trays.

Here's a close-up of the fungi in action!

The water then moves to a series of large planted vats resembling ponds. They too are planted with various water-loving plants and fungi. Most of the greenhouse is filled with these large vats containing water and filtering plants/fungi.

  

Here's a close-up of the plant life in the containers.

Just like the fungi trays, the water is successively pumped from vat to vat where it is moved further along the cleansing spectrum.

After the water moves through all these stages, it is pumped back into the river, better than when it came in. This living machine is constantly in motion which is very cool. The plants and fungi that were originally placed in every stage of the machine have changed and other plants have taken over. That is the beauty of nature - it changes and adapts to best work with the situation.

The best thing about this project is that they have measured a considerable reduction in toxins downstream from the living machine. How amazing plants and fungi are. Just think how our world could be improved if we incorporated more of this technology into our everyday lives. It's out there. People have systems even in their own homes where all their grey water is filtered and cleansed so that it can be re-used. Water is a limited resource, something that is hard for especially those of us in the Northwest to comprehend. It should be treated as the precious commodity that it is. I'm so glad places like this living machine are out there doing the hard work to repair what damage humans have done every day.

A little country...

Since moving to the countryside in Massachusetts, I have seen this as an opportunity to take a break from hip-hop-ish music to delve into country again and I love it. I love country because the songs always tell a story and often make me tear up.  I have found a couple songs recently that make me very happy when I hear them so I thought I would share.

Dirt - Florida Georgia Line

Video's a little cheesy but what a great song!


Perfect Storm - Brad Paisley

Enjoy!