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By: Mallory Johnson,
AmeriCorps VISTA

As an AmeriCorps VISTA member, I have committed a year of service to help individuals and communities in Central Kentucky move out of poverty. One of the projects I am working on at Bluegrass Greensource is a series of three sustainability workshops. This series will take place from the fall through spring and will include one workshop on each of the following topics: Energy Efficiency, General Sustainability, and Urban Gardening. Though the workshops are open to the general public, I am hoping to reach at least 100 low-income individuals or families. Each workshop will include information on how the topic can help participants save money, while also creating needed environmental benefits.

The first workshop in the series is focused on Energy Efficiency and will be held at Embrace Church on December 7th from 6-8pm. Rather than listening passively to a presentation, the workshop will be hands-on so that participants get to practice the techniques, use the tools, and receive feedback from experts.

We are so happy and fortunate to partner with Chris Woolery and Rachel Norton from the How$martKY program, a residential energy efficiency initiative run by the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED). Chris and Rachel will lead the workshop, sharing their years of experience implementing energy efficiency measures in homes and apartments. Our friends at the Central Kentucky Chapter of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth are helping us survey residents in the North Side and East End neighborhoods to recruit attendees for the workshop and to help build our understanding of the energy needs our friends and neighbors in Lexington have. We will also provide a free dinner for attendees, as well as child care and energy-related educational activities for children ages four and up. Best of all, through the hands-on learning of the workshop, we will also be helping the good folks at Embrace Church weatherize the parts of their building that get the most use, thus helping them increase comfort this winter and save money, which they can redirect into the community outreach programs they offer.

If you are or someone you know would like to attend the workshop, please sign up at the link below, or call our office at 859-266-1572. The information is available in both Spanish and English:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/home-energy-workshop-tickets-28891654717?aff=es2

Whether helping a family become more comfortable in their own homes this winter by saving energy, or helping people set up a garden next spring, my main focus through this series is to bring people hope and connect them with the tools and resources they need to take action. It is MY hope that these workshops will empower others to make small changes in their everyday lives that will have a big impact in our local environment.

By: Pattie Stivender
Bluegrass Greensource
Education Director

Another school year has begun!  Our education staff are keeping busy planning and scheduling with schools in our service area, and we have many exciting programs in the works for the 2016-2017 school year!

Recycling
In Fayette County, we will be working hard with the LiveGreenLexington Recycle Challenge. Arlington Elementary, Harrison Elementary and William Wells Brown Elementary will be challenging their communities to increase residential curbside recycling by 50%. Everywhere, we will continue our efforts in waste reduction education in classrooms through such hands on activities as waste audits. Recycling education is a priority in other counties as well— classrooms in Anderson, Boyle, Franklin, Jessamine, and Lincoln Counties will have a waste reduction component to their classroom learning plans.

Water
Water quality education is crucial  in Central Kentucky. Our educators help students understand the effects of nonpoint source pollution and model ways that students and their families can reduce the impact of pollution on water. Whether we are teaching about stormwater runoff in the classroom or taking students to waterways near their schools to perform water quality tests, our curriculum is designed to reach students from kindergarten through high school.

Energy
Each school year, we brings activities to classrooms that instruct students about renewable energy resources, energy conservation, and more specific education about Kentucky’s energy resources. Our educators will be working with School Green Teams to monitor energy usage in schools and determine ways that schools can reduce consumption of energy resources.

Litter
In Garrard, Lincoln, and Jessamine Counties, our educators will work with schools to perform litter cleanups and guide students in creating litter maps that show litter hotspots. Students will learn how litter directly contributes to the quality of local water.

If you are interested in learning more about Bluegrass Greensource education opportunities, please reach out! You can email me directly at pattie@bggreensource.org, or call the office at 859-266-1572.

By Ashley Bryant Cheney
Environmental Educator
Bluegrass Greensource

School gardens are the perfect classroom, a living laboratory full of knowledge. As Environmental Educators, we are always excited about getting out in the school garden. These gardens are a perfect place to teach students about plant life cycles, compost piles, pollinators, soil composition, native and nonnative plants, and a host of other important environmental topics.

An increase in outdoor activity not only improves a student’s understanding of the environment, it has also been show to improve concentration, reduce obesity, improve nutrition, and even raise test scores. In a study conducted among 630 students at an elementary school in Kentucky, among grades 1-6, students’ test scores improved by 25% in science, 21% in reading, and 40% in social studies after integrating a school garden into the curricula (National Wildlife Federation, 2010).

School gardens, like environmental education, aren’t just for science. Gardens can be used to teach writing, math, social skills, and of course nutrition. For example, rain gauges can be used to teach measurement and volume, and students can calculate the amount of space needed for their plants while learning perimeter and area.

In the garden, we are able to connect students with real life examples of the concepts they are learning indoors. Earlier this month, I interviewed Kristi Fehr, Science Lab Teacher at Cassidy Elementary, about the value their school garden has brought to her teaching.

Last year at Cassidy Elementary, I led students on a water quality activity that introduced water runoff and taught them a few of the benefits of rain gardens. The garden at Cassidy Elementary combines a rain garden, raised beds, composting, and even a storm drain. For this activity, some students acted as water droplets while others acted as pollution. The pollution tried to tag the water droplets while travelling through the rain garden. Students were excited to participate in the activity and left with some key knowledge about water quality.

If you do not yet have a school garden or you have a school garden that is being underutilized, please contact Bluegrass Greensource, and an educator will be in touch with you to assist with your school gardening needs!

What it Takes: Installing a Rain Garden at Tates Creek High School

By Kara Sayles
Environmental Educator
Bluegrass Greensource

School Rain Gardens can add a lot to the aesthetics of the campus. They can also become the dreaded weedy spot that no one wants to be responsible for. The latter is not the case when we are talking about the rain garden on Tates Creek’s campus.

Elizabeth Inman, a Tates Creek High School Biology teacher, and  Devan Robinson, a Tates Creek High School Green Team member, are featured in the photo of the initial rain garden construction. The garden was renovated last year, as a project for the High School‘s Green Team. It is in a triangular median between Tates Creek Elementary, Middle and High Schools and is highly visible to anyone coming onto the campus. It is an ideal location for a rain garden because stormwater can easily percolate through the area from the sidewalk and parking lot. Adding the deep rooted native plants in the rain garden can help pull the stormwater into the ground and decrease runoff from the campus.

Over the summer, Mrs. Inman contacted Bluegrass Greensource about working in the garden.  We scheduled a day to weed and check on the newly established plants. Once the garden was weeded, we identified and labeled the native plants that had survived the winter.

Mrs. Inman, along with Green Team members, continually cared for the garden over the summer months. They also added weed cover and mulch. The garden looks wonderful!

She has additional plans for student involvement with the maintenance of garden and even plans on adding some garden art. She is a splendid model for what it takes in making a school garden successful; her determination, dedication and pride in her school’s campus have gone a long way to make this garden great!

If you are interested in installing a rain garden at your school, contact Bluegrass Greensource! We have educational resources available, and staff are happy to answer your questions!

Tips for Caring for your Rain Garden:

– Label plants to help identify young native plants from non-desirable species of weeds
– Use shredded hardwood mulch to prevent weeds and add nutrients to the rain garden
– Until the rain garden is established water the garden at least once per week
– Pull weeds as needed
– Remove dead plants as needed
– Add plants as needed
– Thin the garden to prevent crowding
– Check with local gardening groups to see when a native plant exchange is happening to thin crowding and add diversity to your garden
– Add art, benches, bird baths and more to add extra interest in your garden

Green Waves Radio airs Fridays at 11:00 am on Lexington Community Radio

By: Chris Porter
Development Director
Bluegrass Greensource

The past year has seen the birth of one of Lexington’s newest, most exciting community resources – Lexington Community Radio. Operating two low-power stations (95.7/WLXL/El Pulso Latino and 93.9/WLXU) from the basement of the STEAM Academy, LCR exists for members of the Lexington community to create and broadcast the programs and content that they want to hear.

Bluegrass Greensource was excited to launch its own show on LCR in January. Called Green Waves Radio, this show is a weekly exploration of the people, organizations, and businesses that are working in different ways to strengthen Central Kentucky’s environment and make it more sustainable. None of the staff working on the program had prior experience working in a radio station, and so each person had to learn the basics of conducting a radio show live and in studio, running a sound board, and being on the microphone.

Each Green Waves episode briefly reviews news stories related to environmental issues before diving into a long-form conversation with that week’s guest. The goal of the show is to raise the profile of the many environmental issues facing Central Kentucky while also working to promote the many good people who are making a difference in our community.

Lane Boldman, the Executive Director of the Kentucky Conservation Committee, was the show’s first guest, where she provided an overview of Kentucky’s 2016 Legislative Session from the environment’s perspective. Since then, we’ve had conversations with Tresine Logsdon about Fayette County Public Schools’ commitments to sustainability; Andrea Wilson Mueller from Inside Out Design of Frankfort and Roscoe Klausing and Dan Stever from the Klausing Group about sustainability in landscaping; Tyler Offerman and Will Cripps from a new business offering guided outdoor excursions at Home Place High Adventure; Amy Preske and Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley from Buffalo Trace about their new farm-to-bottle initiative; and Josh Bills from the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development about solar energy and its potential in Kentucky, among many other guests.

This August, GreenWaves is focusing on the practice of environmental education and have been talking with lead practitioners in this field. Our September lineup will focus on Lexington businesses who are leading the way in becoming more sustainable. If you live in Lexington and want to check out the show, tune in to 93.9/WLXU on Friday mornings from 11-12; if you live outside of Lexington, you can stream the show live via LCR’s website. We are also in the process of posting our past episodes as podcasts, so you will be able to stay up-to-date on any conversations you miss. Click here to subscribe to our podcast, and be notified as new episodes are available!

See you on airwaves!

By: Chris Porter
Bluegrass Greensource
Development Director

On Wednesday, July 13th, Bluegrass Greensource was the nonprofit benefiting from Lucky’s Impact Day, a community program pioneered by one of the Lexington’s great new retailers, Lucky’s Market. In addition to providing access to affordable, organic food options, Lucky’s also invests heavily in the communities in which it operates. Bluegrass Greensource was excited and fortunate to benefit from Impact Day, and we will use the proceeds from this event to support our efforts to bring the science of water conservation, waste reduction, and energy efficiency to life in Central Kentucky classrooms.

In addition to receiving the funding from Impact Day, Bluegrass Greensource staff also had the opportunity to hang out at Lucky’s. This was a wonderful opportunity for us to meet new friends and introduce our work to those who don’t already know us, as well as reconnect with old friends who came out to say “hi” and take advantage of the store’s daily discounts and July’s local vendor fair. Throughout the day, we had staff on hand to share their expertise on sustainability, share resources, and connect with folks who were visiting from as far away as California or as close by as the University of Kentucky campus.

We also brought a beautiful rain barrel painted by Lexington artist Enrique Gonzalez to Lucky’s Impact Day and held a raffle. Huge congratulations to our lucky winner, Cibina Harris! During the evening hours, Pattie Stivender, our Education Director, led interested folks through a wonderful activity to make reusable shopping bags out of old t-shirts. We want to be sure to say a huge thank you to our friends at Lexington’s Habitat ReStore for donating the t-shirts that we used to make the reusable bags!

Thanks to everyone who came out to support Bluegrass Greensource on Impact Day, discuss their ideas for becoming more sustainable, pick up a t-shirt bag, or just to say hello. The day was a huge success and a reminder about how fortunate we are to live in and serve Central Kentucky. And, of course, our biggest thanks goes to Lucky’s Market for investing in our efforts to empower Central Kentucky to create a more sustainable environment through education and outreach – thank you for being such a wonderful community partner!