When it rains, it pours … carrying everything with it into our streams

July 11, 2013By 0 comment

If you are reading this, you have obviously survived the Fourth of July deluge. As you probably know, we received the same amount of rain in a few days that we usually do in the whole month of July. This, of course, ruined many Independence Day barbecues and rained on our beloved parade and downtown festivities. I say beloved, because to me, they really are.

I love the Fourth of July. I mostly love the parade and everything that surrounds it. I love that I have been going to downtown Lexington on July 4 since I was in college, and I still find it as entertaining as ever, even with two kids in tow. I love that even though I lived for a while in Seattle and Scotland, there was nothing to compare to my memories of the Fourth in Lexington (OK, so I guess Scotland does not really count). This year was the first that I stayed indoors, and I definitely did not love that.
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One of the hazards of my job is seeing everything in terms of how it affects our environment. So, while I was at a friend’s house who was managing to entertain 20-plus adults and 10-plus antsy kids who were unable to watch fireworks, I spent some of the time thinking about the rivers of water going down our streets.
As many of you know (but not enough according to a survey done by the city of Lexington), everything that is on the ground ends up in our water. The water that our kids play in (if lucky enough to live by a creek), the water we drink and the water that gives a home to many different fish and animal species. So that means that litter, cigarette butts, pet waste, oil from leaky cars, and excess lawn chemicals all end up, untreated, in our local streams.
Everything we do affects water quality. That is a pretty powerful statement, but there is a lot of good that can come from that power. Some of the things that we can do to positively affect our local streams are to NOT do things. Do NOT litter, do NOT throw cigarette butts on the ground and do NOT pour anything down storm drains. But, because Bluegrass Greensource aims to be a positive organization, let’s mention some of the things you CAN do!
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Catch the rain
Rain barrels (find out more here) hold 55 gallons of water from rain on your property. That means that those 55 gallons will not pick up the extra pet waste or lawn chemicals and bring them to your neighborhood creek. Rain barrels are easy to install, easy to maintain and easy to buy (or make.Contact Greensource to find out about the next rain barrel workshop or for information about buying rain barrels).

 

Spread the word
You may have noticed the various kinds of storm drain paintings around your community. Some are simple stencils that say “Dump no waste, Drains to Stream,” and some are the more elaborate and beautifully decorated storm drains done by the talented Blake Eames. Stay tuned, because Bluegrass Greensource will soon announce the winner of our very own storm drain stencil design competition. We have a handful of design firms competing to have their stencil chosen to be placed throughout Central Kentucky and to potentially become the new icon for water quality. However, it is done, if you know a group who is interested in painting on city streets in the name of water quality, let me know!
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Plant it
Water that falls on your property can also run off with some of your soil. Erosion is one of the major causes of pollution in Kentucky and throughout the United States. Bare spots in your yard, as well as improperly maintained construction sites, can be major contributors to sediment in water.
In addition, don’t forget the benefits of rain gardens. Rain gardens (find out more here) are planted, usually with native plants, in depressions in your yard and are designed to hold water for 24 for 48 hours after a rain event. This allows the water to soak in instead of running off with the pollutants.
What other way to celebrate our great country than by protecting our waterways, especially now that you have the resources to implement small changes that can make a big impact. I won’t miss the parade again, but maybe I will take my girls to the creek to celebrate before heading downtown next year.
Amy 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 July 11, 2013.

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New name, new look, but same mission – to teach and encourage green living

July 9, 2013By 0 comment

Bluegrass PRIDE is now Bluegrass Greensource. We’ve updated our social media accounts, launched our new website and got new business cards and email addresses. But now what?

Amy Sohner, executive director of Bluegrass Greensource, took a moment to reflect on our accomplishments in the last 12 years and expressed her desires for the future.

“Since I’ve been around from the beginning, I have really enjoyed seeing a shift in the understanding of what it means to be green. And with our new name, new brand, we want to continue this momentum,” she said.

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Our environmental educators have worked with students in over 230 schools. “On any given day, they may be knee-deep in a stream showing kids how to test water quality or up to their elbows in classroom trash as they complete a dumpster dive.” Amy reminisced.

We also work with teachers on how they can use the environment to teach across all disciplines. We have taken science, social studies and English teachers in a coal mine and to solar farms to help them teach about energy.

PRIDE’s outreach specialists stay busy reaching out to Central Kentucky’s adult population and educating them on waste reduction, water quality and energy efficiency issues. This year alone, our staff assisted with home energy audits, partnered with community organizations to stencil storm drains and completed waste analyses for area businesses helping them recycle almost 1500 tons each year.

Our grant programs have helped Lower Howard’s Creek Nature and Heritage Preserve remove invasive plants and open its first public hiking trail. Eastern Kentucky University installed five reusable water bottle filling stations in campus buildings, saving tens of thousands of plastic water bottles from the landfill. Madison County Conservation District developed a fallen animal composting pad to use for education and demonstration purposes. Herrington Lake Conservation League cleaned up the lake, filling 19 commercial dumpsters with litter and manmade debris from the lake, while establishing a recycling and litter reduction program at several marinas.

We also provide resources to community groups for litter removal along roads and streams and have removed more than 150,000 bags of trash from local roadways and stream banks. To help promote our message across the region, we have assisted in making events throughout Central Kentucky both litter and waste free!

Over time, we became THE SOURCE for green education in Central Kentucky. With that said, we wanted our name to better reflect our mission and the fact that we are the green source for this area. As we begin this new chapter, we want to continue our outreach in the schools, building on the programs we provide in our region.

We want to continue our outreach in homes, encouraging small changes that make a big impact not only to our local environment, but also to our wallets and our health.

We want to continue building our partnerships with more than 600 business and apartment complexes, assisting them in all of their green needs and helping them get recognition for being environmentally responsible.

With this said, we need your help spreading the word. Same important mission, just a new name. Please share with your friends and your community.
Chris Clabes photo

Chris Clabes is the Development and PR Coordinator at Bluegrass Greensource.  Before joining BG Greensource, Chris worked as a consultant for numerous nonprofit organizations across the state, including the formation of Kentucky Philanthropy Initiative and Governor Beshear’s Commission on Philanthropy.  She was KY 4-H Foundation’s executive director and served as the Director of Finance for the National Association of Home Builders’ Political Action Committee in DC. She received her BA at the University of Kentucky.

This article appeared in KY Forward on July 4, 2013.

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What’s in our new name? A lot! Bluegrass PRIDE now Bluegrass Greensource

June 28, 2013By 0 comment

I know one of those people who did not know she was pregnant until she gave birth to a full-term, healthy little girl. The thing that horrified me most when I found out was not how difficult it was going to be for her and her husband to prepare to be parents (i.e., arranging day care, getting car seats, adjusting to the idea, etc.), but how difficult it would be to pick a name. When our first daughter was born, we had to be forced to pick a middle name or they threatened to not let us out of the hospital. Our second daughter’s name came a bit more easily, but to be honest, after 11 months, sometimes we still agonize over her middle name.

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Last week I launched the new name for my other baby, and though very exciting, it seemed just as heart-wrenching and almost as emotional as picking the name for my daughters. Bluegrass PRIDE is now Bluegrass Greensource. After 12 years, we took the plunge and did something we probably should have done years ago.

In 2001, our founders named us after the very successful East Kentucky PRIDE (Personal Responsibility In a Desirable Environment), and for a short time we modeled our fledgling group after them. We quickly realized that the needs were very different in the Bluegrass region, and went a different direction from our sister organization. That did not stop us from having visions of a statewide PRIDE network with regional organizations providing resources across the Commonwealth.

As the years went by, we realized that our name, unless the acronym was spelled out, was not descriptive of who we are. Even our logo – a horse with a Lexington skyline in the background — did not help anyone understand what we do. I felt, for a long time, that this was just the way it was going to be, and that we would always have to explain what we did without the crutch of having a descriptive name.

Then last year, during our first-ever strategic planning meetings, our board and county liaisons had the audacity to suggest we change our name! I was totally against it, but they convinced me to look into it. I think that by “looking into it,” I essentially agreed to change our name. I have been director for seven years, but I can still be naive sometimes.

The process of changing our name started very slowly and, therefore, kind of snuck up on me. All of a sudden, we had chosen a company to help in the process and they were about to present to our staff and a committee from the board. That was by no means the end of the process, but it sure was the tipping point. At that point, there was no turning back.

After a much longer than anticipated process, we decided on a logo, and a new name, Bluegrass Greensource. I am thrilled. For our entire 12 years, we have always been THE SOURCE for environmental education throughout Central Kentucky. I could not have asked for a better, more descriptive name.

We have developed a brand new website, too – bgGreensource.org – updated some brochures and given all of the staff new email addresses, business cards and nametags.* It has been a lot of work, but I am so excited about the possibilities we have with our new name.

We launched the new name last week with our 10th annual Rain Barrel Reception, and I have since received countless emails and comments commending us on our choice and expressing happiness about the new brand. I can’t say that it was easy for me, even though I love everything about the logo and name. I managed to keep it together while making the announcement, but it was definitely difficult.

As my husband and family can tell you, Bluegrass Greensource is like my third child, and as a parent, there are many things you do for your children that can be hard but are in their best interests. I know that this is one of those things, and as soon as I can get used to answering the phone, “Bluegrass Greensource,” I will be ready to say goodbye to Bluegrass PRIDE. I know I am ready to stop being mad at people who do not capitalize all of the letters in PRIDE!

*Because we are an environmental organization, we have recycled all of our old brochures, are using old business cards to write notes, have given old envelopes to staff to use personally and are using the back side of all old stationary. If anyone is interested in a limited edition Bluegrass PRIDE t-shirt, please let me know!

amy sohner

Amy Sohner is executive director of Bluegrass 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 June 27, 2013.

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Move toward zero waste means changing the way we look at waste

June 21, 2013By 0 comment

Lately, there’s been a lot of discussion about the possibility of making Lexington a zero-waste city. But what does that mean? Are we talking about never throwing anything away? Recycling every ounce of material that we use?

Actually, it means neither.

Instead, zero waste is the idea of significantly reducing the amount of waste produced by changing the way we look at waste. It includes rethinking before purchasing, reducing packaging, reusing materials to get the most use from them, looking at the waste we produce as a resource, recycling as much as possible, and composting our food waste and organics; thereby throwing very little material into the landfill.

Read this full article today on KYForward

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Outdoor spaces offer opportunities for fun and learning alike

June 21, 2013By 0 comment

As the Kentucky summer starts to ramp up, I enjoy spending more and more time outside. Being someone who struggles with the gloom and gray of winter, the changing seasons and warm temperatures mean more time spent out in the sun, enjoying all that the outdoors have to offer.

That said, as an apartment dweller, it is difficult at times to really capitalize on what summer offers nature-wise. I struggle with the fact that I don’t have a backyard to raise a vegetable garden or the ability to take a dog (none allowed in my apartment complex) on a walk through a neighborhood. Instead, I have to be a little more creative in finding ways to enjoy the season and being outside.

For those of us in apartments without any real outdoor space, a local park is the perfect place to capitalize on the season. Not only can parks offer spaces for recreational sports such as Frisbee golf, basketball, tennis and others, but they are a great classroom as well.

Read this full article today on KYForward

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Having a ‘green’ green lawn is possible when grass is healthy and happy

June 21, 2013By 0 comment

It is almost mid-June and I have not touched my lawn. What I mean is that I have not paid one bit of attention to making it lush and soft and green. Not “green” like environmentally responsible, but “green” like the color.

This is not abnormal for me. I do not mow, I do not fertilize and I do not worry about weeds in my lawn. However, now that my 10-month-old is crawling around and all but refuses to put one bare knee in our lawn, I am starting to reconsider.

There are many ways that the gender roles in my house are reversed. For the time being, I am the breadwinner, and my husband is in charge of kids, cleaning and cooking. The one thing that remains gender-typical is yard work. My husband bought a gas-guzzling riding lawn mower (used!) when we first moved to our eight-plus acres of paradise, and he has been in charge of mowing ever since. I do have to point out that 95 percent of our land is covered in trees, so mowing is not an insurmountable task.

Read this full article today on KYForward

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