Wales

Tom and Peggy took a trip to London and Wales to visit a number of centers/organizations for sustainability: Bioregional in London, Centre for Alternative Technology in in Machynlleth, Wales, and Sustainable Wales in Porthcawl, Wales. Here are our notes: Wales Trip. Take a photo tour on our Great Lakes Green Initiative Flickr page.

The Rain Garden

I wanted to take this picture to show how big our rain garden plants are. We planted them last year as tiny plugs, and this year they are....well, you can see these milkweed plants are just about the same size as Tom. The monarch butterflies are loving it. We got our plants from the Native Plant Nursery in Ann Arbor.

Watering Can

I received a new watering can for Mother's Day, and it's great for the rain barrel. It's hard to see in this picture, but it has a nice wide opening at the top for the water to pour into, and a great spout for sprinkling flowers. It came from Bordines.

Rain Barrel BBQ

On Saturday, June 16th, we gathered in the Bradleys' garage for the 2nd annual rain barrel bbq. We made 14 barrels, and have orders for 4 more. Take a look at the Rain Barrel Barbecue - June 16th page for more pictures from the day.

Stenciled rain barrel

Our first experiment with stencil... please look at it and give me some feedback. (Thanks to Toni for let me use her rainbarrel)-- Erica
- Very artistic! tom.

Bulbs

Recently it came to our attention that the newer compact fluorescent bulbs were perhaps more trouble than they were worth, given the fact that they contain mercury and could pose a hazard if they broke in your home (mercury is a toxic substance). Helen did a little research on this, and found that they contain only a tiny fraction of the amount of mercury found in an old-fashioned thermometer. That was good news. In a bit of serendipity, Tom received an e-mail from his favorite bulb supplier, 1000 Bulbs, and they were promoting a new Neolite Compact Fluorescent that has the smallest amounts of mercury available (1 mil. vs. 5 mls.). This is very encouraging. These bulbs still have to be recycled, not in your recycling bin, but they need to be taken to SOCCRA and disposed of as hazardous waste.

Storm Drains Project

On Saturday, June 2, a group of us traveled to 3 neighborhoods in Troy and marked their drains to remind residents not to dump any foreign material into their storm sewers. We had 3 kids helping us, Caroline, Anna and Miyo, and they placed door hangers on doors with information and links to our 7 Simple Steps to Clean Water page. After we were done, we joined the River Day Project in Troy for lunch. It was a great time, and we decided that we'd love to do another storm-drain-marking day in the fall. Click here for more pictures: Storm Drain Marking Pictures.