Posted on: July 29th, 2010
Five Simple Summer Gardening Tips
As the weather starts to heat up, families are venturing outside to spend sometime in the sun. For those families that do not want to deal with the hassle of driving to the park or to the beach, their very own backyard is a wonderful destination.
With the current water crisis it has become increasingly difficult to stay cool on these hot summer days and keep backyards and gardens looking full and vibrant. There are several eco-friendly solutions and resources to these problems that can help you conserve water, save money and improve the look of your backyard.
Here are a few tips that can aid you in achieving an eco-friendly and wallet friendly garden and lawn:
- Trickle irrigation and drip irrigation systems help reduce water use and meet the needs of plants. With these methods, very small amounts of water are supplied to the base of the plants and not wasted at the top of the plants.
- Drought resistant plants like the Moonbeam, the Salvia Pozo Blue and the Western Redbud are low maintenance and require little water. These plants can save water and decrease your water bill
- Artificial Turf is a great replacement for your backyard. Turf will always stay looking green and requires absolutely no water, no maintenance and no mowing. These turfs can save thousands of gallons of water and save you time, money and energy.
- Catch all the rain you can by fixing water butts to your down pipes from the roof. Make sure a water butt is raised above the ground so it’s easy to fill a watering can from and keep it covered so the water stays clean. This water can be used for all plants except tiny little seedlings which do need a drop of cleaner water from the mains
- Water in the early morning, before 9 a.m., to reduce evaporation and scorching of leaves from the sun. Water on calm days to prevent wind drift and evaporation.
www.conservingyourwater.com
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Posted on: July 9th, 2010
The San Diego County Water Authority has challenged everyone to take the pledge and only use 20 gallons of water a day. California’s water drought has grown increasingly worse, and we need to do anything and everything to save water. San Diego wants you to join and make the effort with small everyday tasks. This is an excellent activity for the whole family to take part in, and then see who can save the most water each week or each day. Which ever way you bring this into your life, do your part!
Every Drop Counts! Their count as of now:
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Total pledges: 6306
Total savings pledged: 1,300,852.4 gallons per day
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For more information about the challenge and to pledge visit: http://20gallonchallenge.com/mypledge.html
Take the 20-gallon challenge!
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Posted on: June 29th, 2010
While looking around on socalwatersmart.com, I found that there is new rebate money available for Southern California home owners who do one of four things to conserve water. The options are if you purchase a new washing machine, install high-efficiency toilets, install rotating nozzels, or install weather-based irrigation controllers. The website also lists specifically which products are available for rebates. This is great news for Southern Californians to spruce up the house a little, while saving money and water at the same time! The rebates only last until the money is all gone. Luckily this rebate just opened up June 1, 2010 and will be available until April 30, 2011 or until the money runs out. That means act quickly everyone, and let Waterwise Landscape & Turf help you install rotating nozzels and water-based irrigation systems!
Here’s the link for any more info and to get your own rebate started:
socalwatersmart.com
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Posted on: June 21st, 2010
I’m sure you all have heard about the BP oil spill, and how it has turned into one of the most horrible environmental events in recent times. To further explain how drastic the situation is, a website has been started called “If it was my Home”. On this site you can see the oil spill on a map, and then you are able to type in a location and the oil spill moves. For example, when we typed in San Diego, it shows how the oil spill would cover the entire San Diego county (from Orange County down to Tijuana!) It really opened my eyes to see how large the spill is. This oil spill is no joke, and we need to clean it up ASAP!
Here is the site if you want to check out the oil spill around the world: http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/
Here is the oil spill covering San Diego County.
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Posted on: June 15th, 2010
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and The Family of Southern California Water Agencies has teamed up to create www.bewaterwise.com. This useful website helps home owners and other entities to conserve water. It educates people about water conservation by giving them tips about gardening, irrigation, as well as governmental laws that could potentially help them save money and save water.
The website also provides online and in-person classes about the basics of landscaping, in-depth tutorials for home gardeners, and professional landscaper seminars.
For more information about seminars and tutorials, visit http://www.bewaterwise.com/training01.html .
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Posted on: June 7th, 2010
Tomorrow is the World Ocean’s Day, we hope you guys enjoy the day surfing or at the beach.
Here is some information about how the ocean affects your daily life.
http://bit.ly/cxTDAV
Please conserve the oceans wildlife by not contaminating it.
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Posted on: June 4th, 2010
New legislations for better eco-friendly alternatives arise in California. According to an article by www.nbcsandiego.com, ”The California Assembly passed legislation Wednesday to ban grocery stores, pharmacies, liquor stores and convenience stores from giving out plastic bags. It would also call for customers to be charged at least 5-cents for using store-issued paper bags.”
If the ban passes, California would be the first state in the United States to have this Bill.
Some readers of this article commented by saying, “If they are going to ban plastic bags, why stop at store bags only? Why not include department store bags, garbage bags, vegetable bags, bubble wrap, packing peanuts, etc?” This is a good point, especially when the governement just acts in a crisis instead of thinking ahead.
Source: Plastic Bag Ban Clears Calif. Assembly | NBC San Diego
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Posted on: April 26th, 2010
Contractual Assessments: energy efficiency improvements, Assembly Bill 811 (AB 811), is an environmental law in California, signed into law by Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger on July 21, 2008. AB 811 was authored by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine.
AB 811 would authorize all cities and counties in California to designate areas within which willing property owners could enter into contractual assessments to finance the installation of distributed renewable energy generation. Also energy efficient improvements in ones property, that are permanently fixed to the property owner’s residential,commercial, industrial, or other real property. These financing arrangements would allow property owners to finance renewable generation and energy efficiency improvements through low-interest loans that would be repaid as an item on the property owner’s property tax bill. The contractual assessments could not be used to finance the purchase or installation of appliances that are not permanently fixed to the real property.
Assembly Bill 811 helps California municipalities accomplish the goals outlined by Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.
The passage of AB 811 makes it more imperative to provide an energy efficiency community program. AB 811 states: “This act is an urgency statute…”[1]. Cities and counties can now: (1)Make energy-efficiency and renewable energy affordable for California citizens (2)Increase property values (3)Improve the efficiency and indoor air quality of residential & commercial properties (4)Reduce the burning of dirty fuels and hence, pollution (5)Lower greenhouse gas emissions (6)Empower constituents with the fiscal security of distributed energy.[3]
1. http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_0801-0850/ab_811_bill_20080721_chaptered.pdf
2. http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/published/Report/80173.htm
3. http://powerhouseservice.com/ab811
4. http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_0801-0850/ab_811_bill_20080721_history.html
5.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_Bill_811
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Posted on: April 15th, 2010
Hello folks! We promised to keep you updated about our next show and here it is coming up, the Del Mar Home Decorating and Remodeling Show. The show will take place April 23-25, 2010, Friday and Saturday they are open 10 am-7 pm and Sunday 10 am – 5 pm. Free admission for everyone! You can find them in O’Brien Hall and Bing Crosby Hall. Stop by our Waterwise Landscape and Turf booth to learn more about how you can get turf in your yard. Come see and feel how our turf can outlast the rest!
Check out this video about the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpHhd1yZczA
For information and directions: http://www.sdfair.com/index.php?fuseaction=maps.home
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