Showing posts with label watershed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label watershed. Show all posts

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Save Water Now

Last week, as I was reading through my issue of The National Wildlife Federations magazine, I came across an article in which they interviewed Doug Kent about creating a carbon neutral, sustainable garden. In 2008, Doug was involved at the 19th Annual Southern California Spring Garden show, where he designed and built an "Ocean Friendly" garden and won Best Theme Presentation at the show. I volunteered with Doug for a day in 2008 in helping to setup the garden. The garden included innovative methods of reducing water runoff from the garden. It did this using native Southern California plants with low water requirements and landscape features to contain the water in the garden, instead of allowing it to run off into the street and watershed. This garden therefore required less water consumption.

California is currently in its third year of drought. Southern California gets most of its water supply from the Sierra Nevada and Rocky mountain snow packs during the dry seasons of spring and summer. Rising temperatures and increased rainfall, due to global warming, may lead to a large reduction in the snow pack and therefore an even bigger water shortage for Southern California.

If CO2 emissions continue at their current level (fired by burning coal, oil, gas and single use products), temperatures are likely to rise. Increased temperatures may bring increased rain fall to Southern California during the winter but will result in dryer summers and a drastic reduction in the snow pack. This would pose a difficult problem for water managers in storing winter rainfall, reduce power production through hydroelectrics, and of course reduce snow recreation activities.

We therefore need to start reducing waste now. We have already discussed numerous ways to reduce waste. Here are 7 more ways we can reduce water waste inside our houses and how much water they can save.
  1. Fix leaky faucets. This can save up to 20 gallons per day per leak.
  2. Only wash clothing when you have a full load. This will save up to 20 gallons per wash.
  3. Only use the dishwasher with a full load. This will save up to 4.5 gallons per load.
  4. Do not let the water run when you are rinsing dishes or brushing your teeth. This can save up to 2.5 gallons per minute.
  5. Bath less often and instead take showers. When taking a bath, save up to 25 gallons by only making the tub half full.
  6. Shower with a friend or shorten the time you spend in the shower. Every minute less you spend in the shower can save 2.5 gallons.
  7. Fix leaky toilets. This can save as much as 50 gallons a day per toilet. If your toilets are old you can also upgrade to a high efficiency toilet and look out for the rebates from the water companies.
Spring is almost here and we are looking forward to a good period of activity. The team at GoGreenMug will be involved with Earth Day on April 22 and International Surfing Day on July 21 as well as other environmental activities. With Earth Day just over 2 weeks away we are offering a 20% discount at http://www.gogreenmug.com to promote reducing waste at coffee shops, by using less disposable coffee cups. Get yourself a reusable mug, personalize it with your name, drink order and photograph and use it whenever you visit a coffee shop.

The coupon will also apply to gift certificates, so gift your friend a mug too.
Enter the Coupon Code: svplntmg at checkout.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

10 Ways to Keep our Oceans Clean

Last week we mentioned that we would be taking part in the Rockwater race on March 21, 2009. This is an annual race from mountain to ocean to raise awareness about the watershed organized by Surfrider Newport Beach Chapter. We want to thank Surfrider Newport Beach, particularly Robert and Robyn, for organizing this event and for much of the information given below.

A watershed is any river, gully, canyon or pathway that drains to the ocean. Watersheds are everywhere and anything on land can find its way to the ocean via a watershed. This means that if you throw something on the ground it may eventually end up in the ocean. Drop a cigarette butt or plastic fork, and it will end up in the ocean, on our beaches, or in the stomach of a fish, sea bird or other marine animal.

It's up to you to make the right choices and protect our watersheds, oceans, beaches and marine life. Here are 10 ways you can help:

  1. Always pick up your pet's waste.
  2. Rake up and discard yard clippings. Do not let them get washed away with the next rains.
  3. Always dispose of your cigarette butts properly.
  4. Do not use a hose to water down your driveway. This wastes a lot of water and also drains the oil and other pollutants from our cars into the watershed. Use a broom instead.
  5. Plant native and if necessary drought resistant plants.
  6. Always dispose of motor oil properly at an approved collection and recycling facility.
  7. Join in at beach clean ups or pick up trash whenever you can and dispose of it properly.
  8. Excess fertilizer is often washed away into the watershed with watering or rain. Reduce the amount of fertilizer you use.
  9. Reduce the amount of single-use plastic. Use reusable shopping bags for your groceries. Do not buy bottled water.
  10. Get a personalized travel mug and remember to bring it with you whenever you visit a coffee shop. Do not use a disposable coffee cup, plastic coffee cup lid or cardboard sleeve. This is all waste!
Now that you know what to do to protect the watershed, here are some pics of the Rockwater 2009 race and our GoGreenMug team. The race is a 28.8 mile run/walk/bike/skateboard down the Santa Ana River from the trail head at the border of Orange County and Riverside to the Ocean in Huntington Beach. Our team consisted of Sam, Scott, Jay, Sally, Jennie, Melanie, Sarah, Sean, Dennis, and Dudley; we covered the full 28.8 miles in a little more than 4 hours 10 minutes. Congratulations to the team and to the other teams who competed.

To see more pics of the race click here.

Next year we will be back to race again. Why don't you plan to put a team together to challenge us?

Have a great week and reduce the waste.