With basketball over, April’s Earth Month shifts our focus to environment

April 10, 2014By 0 comment

Basketball is over … now what?

Wow, what a basketball season! I am still recovering from the game parties last weekend and staying up way too late on a work night to watch the final game. I am also recovering from my guilt in thinking that our team would not get nearly as far this year. But now that basketball season is over, how will we ever spend our spring?

This artistic rain barrel was painted by Franklin Independent High School art teacher Miles Johnson and his students. It is located in the Capitol Annex in Frankfort. (Photo from bgGreensource)

This artistic rain barrel was painted by Franklin Independent High School art teacher Miles Johnson and his students. It is located in the Capitol Annex in Frankfort.

Aside from Major League Baseball’s opening games (which if we are honest, who really watches baseball until much later in the season), April is known for Earth Day. April 22, 1970 was the first celebrated Earth Day (as well as the day my husband was born!) and, since then, environmentalists have expanded the day to Earth Week, and now many of us talk about Earth Month.

So now that your weekends have become more free, I thought that I would give you a list of the wonderful things happening in Central Kentucky to celebrate and give back to our Earth. The list starts this weekend and goes through April but if you are interested in celebrating Earth Day all year long, join Bluegrass Greensource’s e-newsletter or check out the calendar on the website at www.bgGreensource.org:

Reforest the Bluegrass is held Saturday, April 12, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Hisle Park between 3551 and 3655 Briar Hill Rd. in Lexington.

Since its beginnings, Reforest the Bluegrass has used citizen volunteers to plant over 100,000 trees along streams throughout Fayette County. The program is designed to recreate pre-settlement streamside forests that were once native to the inner Bluegrass Region of Kentucky. Through the efforts of thousands of volunteers, Lexington is progressively restoring the long lost benefits of streamside forests for generations to come. Register here.

Downtown Trash Bash is held Friday, April 18, from 12 to 4 p.m. in various locations downtown.

Come on out to the Downtown Trash Bash and make our downtown more beautiful while helping to protect water quality in the Town Branch.
Individuals and businesses are invited to join us any time between noon and 4 p.m. at one of five starting locations, where we will provide the tools you need to help remove litter from our cityscape.

Our check-in booths are located at:

• Fifth Third Bank Pavilion at Main Street,
• Thoroughbred Park at Main Street,
• Duncan Park on North Limestone,
• Jefferson and Short Streets, and
• South Limestone at Avenue of Champions on the University of Kentucky campus.
Register here.

Main Street Clean Sweep is held Tuesday, April 22, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in various locations in Central Kentucky.

Bluegrass Greensource needs your help this Earth Day for our first annual Main Street Clean Sweep.  On April 22, employees from seven downtown communities throughout the Bluegrass will work during their lunch break to pick up litter and keep their Main Street clean.
Register here.

Rain Garden Workshop is held Friday, April 25, in Boyle County.

Join Bluegrass Greensource for class instruction on building your own rain garden, and on Saturday, April 26, for the garden install that will coincide with Boyle County Earth Day. Register by contacting the Boyle County Cooperative Extension Service at 859-236-4484.

Arbor Day at the Arboretum is held Saturday, April 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Arboretum.

This year the Arboretum will host the 27th Annual Arbor Day event. Activities will include:

• More than 40 exhibitors
,
• Proclamation by the mayor,
• Presentation of Tree City USA Award,
• Tree planting ceremony with Kentucky Utilities representatives, Lexington dignitaries and Arboretum staff,
• Free admission to KU Day in the Kentucky Children’s Garden
, and
• Many children’s activities including a puppet show.

Registration is not necessary for this event, but more information can be found at here.

 

1 Amy-SohnerAmy Sohner is executive director of Greensource and a graduate of the University of Kentucky in Natural Resource Conservation and Management. Sohner has worked with Greensource since its inception in 2002 and is a Certified Environmental Educator. She is involved with the Kentucky Environmental Literacy Alliance, the Bluegrass Rain Garden Alliance, the Licking and Kentucky River Basin Teams, and serves as vice-chair of the Keep Lexington Beautiful Commission. Sohner lives near the Kentucky River palisades with her husband, two daughters and a multitude of pets.

This article appeared in KY Forward on April 10, 2014.

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When redecorating for spring, don’t run to buy new or throw out – go green

April 9, 2014By 0 comment

Spring is finally here, and if you’re anything like me then you like to mix some redecorating in with your spring cleaning. Recently, I have been redecorating my dining room while trying to focus my efforts on reducing my consumption.

Admittedly, the easiest decision may have been to just head to a big box store and pick-up the prettiest items on the shelf, but I wanted do my best to reduce my impact on the environment.

I decided to follow the buying decision chart below. I did my research and decided that I would paint and recover my old dining room chairs. I also decided that we really needed a larger dining table. My first choice was to look for a used table on Craigslist and at thrift/antique stores. However, I soon discovered that the size of table I wanted was not a common size.
(Chart from Infographic)

(Chart from Thenotepasser.com)

My next best option was to find an affordable table made from sustainable materials. Through a little research and some patience, I actually found a local artisan who builds custom furniture from sustainably harvested native Kentucky wood. Yes, I did have to wait for it to be built. However, it is a piece that I know will last, and surprisingly it cost less than many of the mass-produced pieces I have seen at various stores.

Now my dining room has a beautiful new look, and I know that I made a more eco-friendly decorating choice.

If you are looking to do some eco-friendly decorating of your own, I’ve got some tips for creating an environmentally conscious living space. You can find some more tips and even some projects on our Pinterest board here.

When you are trying to do some eco-friendly redecorating, your first step should be to reduce the number of items on your “want list.” Ask yourself, “Is this really something that I need?” or “Will I still want this item in a year?” If the answer is no, resist the urge to purchase.

If the item is something you really need, buying it new shouldn’t be your first choice. Try buying the item used, or look for items made from recycled or sustainably produced materials. Craigslist, Ebay and thrift stores often have great, gently used items for amazing prices.

Do you have some old wood furniture in your house or in storage? Rather than simply discarding it, you could give the piece new life by refinishing, repainting or repurposing it. If you do need to get rid of any item, why not contact your friends and plan an exchange party? I bet your friends have furniture or accessories they are ready to change out.

Their bookshelf might be the answer to your living room storage needs, and your lamp could be the piece his/her bedroom was missing. If it can’t be repurposed or exchanged, consider donating home items you’ve replaced to nonprofits and thrift stores.

Eco-friendly redecorating may take a little more time and energy, but the results are usually worth the time and effort. So when you are redesigning or redecorating, try taking some of these steps to move toward a green theme – and I don’t mean the color.

Ashley photo

Ashley Bryant Cheney is the green jobs coordinator for Bluegrass Greensource, connecting green businesses with a young workforce and preparing students for green careers in the Bluegrass. From Knoxville, she’s worked in volunteer and program management at various nonprofits. She has a bachelor’s in Psychology from Carson-Newman University and a master’s in Urban Studies and Community Development from Eastern University.

 

This article appeared in KY Forward on April 3, 2014.

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Downtown Trash Bash 2014

April 2, 2014By 0 comment

Help Keep Downtown Lexington Clean and Green at the 2014 Downtown Trash Bash

Come on out to the Downtown Trash Bash on Friday, April 18 and make our downtown more beautiful while helping to protect water quality in the Town Branch watershed!

Individuals and businesses are invited to join us any time between Noon and 4 p.m. at one of five starting locations, where we will provide the tools you need to help remove litter from our cityscape.

Our check-in booths are located at:

  • Fifth Third Bank Pavilion at Main Street
  • Thoroughbred Park at Main Street
  • Duncan Park on North Limestone
  • Jefferson and Short Street
  • South Limestone at Avenue of Champions

Each location will provide snacks and thank-you gifts for participants. Prizes will be given to the organization with the most volunteers, all organizations who register at least 10 volunteers, and the top 3 businesses with the most improved storefronts (must be within the Central Business District)! Event and registration details are available at downtownlex.com or by calling 425-2590.

In case of rain, the event will take place on April 25, 2014.

This year, we have partnered with the Downtown Lexington Corporation and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government to help expand the scope of this annual event to include multiple areas of downtown. We have been further assisted by our partners at the University of Kentucky Student Sustainability Council, Fayette Alliance, and NoLi Community Development Corporation in organizing the sign-in locations.

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Earth Day Main St. Clean Sweep

April 1, 2014By 0 comment

Bluegrass Greensource needs your help this Earth Day for our first annual Main Street Clean Sweep.  On April 22nd, employees from seven downtown communities throughout the Bluegrass region will work during their lunch break to  pick up litter and keep their Main Street clean.

BGGS_Main St Clean Sweep

In the past, Bluegrass Greensource has worked with numerous community groups on litter clean ups and helped collect over 150,000 bags of trash and recycled an additional 1,500 tons.

Cleanups are planned in Frankfort, Lawrenceburg, Harrodsburg, Irvine, Lancaster, Stanford, and Winchester from 11:30 – 1:30 pm, rain or shine, on April 22nd.  Bluegrass Greensource will provide trash bags, gloves, t-shirts (adults), and tattoos (kids) to participants at each location.  Click on your city below to see more details.  Click here to register.

[add_eventon event_type=”176″ fixed_month=”4″ fixed_year=”2014″ event_order=”DESC” ux_val=”3″ ]

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