Terra Nova Ecological Landscaping blog

I try to keep a level head and my language clean when I’m writing but when it comes to leaf blowers all bets are off, because leaf blowers blow, or that is they suck, if you know what I mean. My favorite descriptive term for these devices is “Polluting-Noise-Bazookas”.  Need I say more?

Here at Terra Nova Ecological Landscaping we support a leaf blower ban and we recognize that we are in the minority within our industry on this subject. We must be an oxymoron. I mean, how can we be a landscape business and not be completely enamored with the omnipresent labor-saving device known as the leaf blower? This is a touchy subject or should I say a noisy one? Everyone has an opinion about gas powered leaf blowers, from the folks like myself who refer to them as Polluting Noise Bazookas, to those who think of them as indispensable and use them as a primary tool in outdoor janitorial work. I thought it would be helpful to lay out the issue blow by blow if you will.

It is good to understand both sides of the story. Believe me, I know, I’ve been there. “My Escape from the Land of the Two-stroke Back-pack Bowers” is an article I wrote a few years ago to tell my story. While I do address electric leaf blowers, what follows primarily discusses the use of gas-powered leaf blowers because they are the main offenders in this story.

My friend Steve Zien is Executive Director of Biological Urban Gardening Services (BUGS), an international membership organization of professional landscapers. He states, “BUGS has opposed the use of leaf blowers for many years for a variety of reasons. There are many hidden costs when utilizing blowers regularly. The leaf blower is perhaps the most over-used and inappropriately used landscape tool. Autumn’s tremendous amount of organic debris that requires collection might be considered appropriate use of this tool. However, the weekly routine of blowing abuses the soil and damages landscape plants while the noise creates ill will from neighbors and clients alike.”

A conservative estimate is that there are four million leaf blowers in California to date. The majority are gas-powered. Everyday these blowers spew over 1.5 million gallons of raw, unburned, two-stroke fuel into California air for a total of over 540 million gallons per year. This dumps over 48,000 tons of carbon dioxide into California air, totaling over 18 million tons per year. This is a significant contributor to climate change.

*A Grand Jury convened on the subject of leaf blowers in San Luis Obispo County, CA, concluding that, “Considering the evidence…the health hazards citizens are exposed to from two-cycle leaf blowers outweigh the possible benefit they provide.” The Grand Jury went on to recommend that all cities within that county initiate a phase out of leaf blowers.

*From Citizens for a Quieter Sacramento

What are the ecological, health and social impacts of gas-powered leaf blowers?

Most professional gas leaf blowers are two-stroke. The two-stroke engine is a major polluter because it burns oil in addition to gas. The exhaust, along with the particulate matter that is blown into the air, lowers air quality, and foists noise pollution upon anyone within a few blocks’ radius.

1. Air Pollution

*According to the California Air Resources Board the types of air pollutants emitted when using a gasoline-powered leaf blower for half an hour are equivalent to those emitted from 440 miles of automobile travel at 30mph average speed. Compared to an average large car, one hour of operation of a leaf blower emits 498 times as many hydrocarbons, 49 times as much particulate matter, and 26 times as much carbon monoxide.

*Data found at Greenwich Citizens Against Leaf Blower Mania

Here are the results of an emissions test by Edmunds Video Productions titled Car vs. Truck vs. Leaf Blower  (December 2, 2011). Note that cars emit pollution over a long stretch of road, dispersing it, while leaf blowers deposit it all in one small area. The tongue in cheek conclusion of this video? It would cause less pollution to use the Ford Raptor Pick-Up to blow leaves than the two-stroke leaf blower.

2. Dust

According to Ask Green America  the high-velocity air jets from leaf blowers suspend dust and pollutants. The particulate matter (PM) swept into the air is composed of dust, fecal matter, pesticides, fungi, chemicals, fertilizers, spores, and street dirt which may contain lead, cadmium and organic and elemental carbon. Roughly five pounds of PM per leaf blower per hour are swept into the air and take hours to settle.

3. Noise

In many places today, the soundscape is sacrificed in the quest for the perfect landscape. Many people and organizations say this is not an equitable exchange.*

• The World Health Organization recommends noise levels of 55 decibels or less, and 45 decibels to meet sleep criteria. Gas leaf blowers generally measure at least 65-75 decibels at 50 feet away, and much higher at close range.

• The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that noise levels over 75 decibels can cause hearing loss and are harmful to human health.

*Data is from Citizens for a Quieter Sacramento  and  Greenwich Citizens Against Leaf Blower Mania

Leaf blowers may be one of the most egregious noise offenders but when you add lawn mowers, weed whackers and hedge trimmers it is truly crazy making. It is time to find a way to turn the noise off.

4. Denuding the soil

As its name implies the leaf blower’s primary benefit is gathering leaves for disposal. This is all well and fine from the standpoint of risk management – in particular, reducing the liability of people slipping on leaves on walkways, a concern of homeowners associations and businesses alike. Unfortunately, what goes along with this is the propensity of operators to use blowers to remove leaves from soil areas. When leaves are removed, soil is denuded of this natural mulch. Leaf litter benefits the soil by increasing organic matter, preventing erosion caused by wind and rain, and by keeping the soil cool in the summer months. It also saves water and reduces the need for irrigation. For these reasons, blowing leaves off soil areas is now considered a poor management practice, and should be avoided.

How necessary are leaf blowers really?

According to the California Landscape Contractors Association’s (CLCA) website, leaf blowers are an “extremely efficient and safe tool.” The CLCA further asserts that, “Most landscape industry estimates suggest that it takes at least five times as long to clean a typical landscape site with a broom and rake than it does with a power leaf blower.” CLCA believes many clients can’t afford or are not willing to pay for the additional cost of landscape maintenance without the leaf blower. CLCA does not consider electric leaf blowers to be a viable alternative to gas powered leaf blowers. To sum it up, says CLCA, “…while we recognize public concerns with (gas) leaf blower noise and air emissions, these devices are absolutely essential for the economic well being of our industry.”

Then I say, consider this excerpt from an article by Zero Air Pollution, an L.A.-based organization that ran the headline:

*Grandmother Proves Rake and Broom as Fast as Leaf Blowers (January 8, 1998 press release from Zero Air Pollution, Los Angeles)

In fighting the ban on gas-powered maintenance gardeners have argued that it would take them twice as long to do jobs if they had to use rakes and brooms. But Diane Wolfberg, a Palisadian grandmother in her late 50s, proved them wrong in tests conducted by the Department of Water & Power Leafblower Task Force last Thursday.

In three tests involving gas powered leaf blowers and battery powered leaf blowers, Diane cleaned the areas using rakes or brooms faster than any of the battery powered blowers and almost as fast as the gas powered leaf blowers and she did a better job in cleaning up the areas.

The full article can be found here… Leaf Blowers Slower than Rakes and Brooms 

When CLCA says, “leaf blowers are absolutely essential for the economic well being of our industry’, I reply, the whole calculation of the necessity of the leaf blower should take into account the value of peace and quiet. If the job can be accomplished by other quieter means (like rakes and brooms) then the argument becomes, must we allow leaf blowers solely for the sake of Mow, Blow and Go businesses? That is a different argument altogether because if I don’t like leaf blowers in the first place then why would I give a hoot for businesses that are largely dependent on them? I used to think gas leaf blowers where a necessary evil until I saw their larger impacts.

Electric leaf blower vs. a rake and a broom. A Terra Nova comparison test.

We believe the grandmother story but for the sake of integrity, we conducted our own comparison test between a leaf blower and a rake and broom.

In the interest of full disclosure it should be known that we used an electric leaf blower, which we do employ from time to time in our landscape maintenance service. (Electric blowers are not as loud as gas blowers but they still make noise and cause particulate matter pollution, and we believe they should be used very sparingly.)

We performed our test at a client’s property, cleaning the exact same concrete walkway area with the exact same volume of leaves and dirt spread out (one trash can full). And we got the same results as the grandma from Southnern Cal. The electric blower took 11 minutes and 56 seconds and the rake and broom took 9 minutes and 17 seconds!

This confirmed our commitment to use a rake and broom as the first option.

This test was conducted in an area that is fairly easy to clean and, because there are places that the electric blower is indeed faster than a broom, our leaf blower position is this: We do not use gas leaf blowers ever. We commit to using a rake and broom first and an electric leaf blower as the last option after all impacts are considered.

We support a gas leaf blower ban because we believe we would have a healthier more peaceful world without them.

Can we reduce gas leaf blower impacts?

There are numerous ways that leaf blowers are misused and abused. If leaf blower operators modified their practices it might ease the perception that a ban is the only solution. Indeed, CLCA says, “A leaf blower ban should be a last resort and enacted only after exhausting (ironic word choice) all other alternatives.”

Currently there are twenty California cities that have banned gas (not electric) leaf blowers. The problem is that no one is presenting the alternatives to this pervasive and vexing problem. Whose role is it to educate leaf blower operators? If contractors do not deal with the problem, by default it is left up to citizens who are already fed up. Mow, Blow and Go landscape companies don’t seem to care and in this void a ban starts to seem attractive. To their credit, CLCA has published the following guidelines addressing leaf blower abuse:

“Educational programs should include the following information:

• Generally speaking, leaf blowers should be run at half throttle most of the time. Low throttle speeds not only significantly reduce sound, but they also provide the operator with maximum control. Full throttle is seldom necessary.
• Leaf blowers should not be used in residential areas at unreasonable hours — early in the morning or late at night when people are likely to be disturbed.
• Debris should never be blown onto adjacent property, the street, vehicles, people, or pets.
• Crews should operate only one leaf blower at a time on small residential sites.
• Rakes or brooms should be used to loosen heavier debris.
• The full nozzle extension should be used so the air stream can work close to the ground.
• The muffler, air intakes, and air filters should be routinely checked to make sure they are working properly.
• Leaf blowers should not be used to move large debris piles from one spot to another.
• If conditions are very dry, mister attachments should be used. They suppress dust.”

To this I would add another bullet point:

• Outdated equipment should be replaced.

Further, landscape professionals and homeowners should be informed about the noise levels of leaf-blower equipment before purchasing. Most buyers, if properly informed, will opt for the quietest equipment, all other factors being equal. Unfortunately, some manufacturers do not disclose this information. To this end manufacturers should comply with the provisions of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) B 175.2 Standard for Hand-Held and Backpack Gasoline-Engine-Powered Blowers.

ANSI recommends that manufacturers do the following:

• Adhere to the ANSI 175.2 sound-level test procedure.
• Ensure that all equipment and packaging are clearly and durably marked with the decibel rating.
• Establish a certification program to identify products that comply with the ANSI 175.2 standard.

Furthermore, we encourage manufacturers to amend the standard to establish maximum sound levels.

*Information found at …Land Care Network

What are the alternatives?

There may not be an alternative to leaf blowers that does not require a different mindset.

My broom runs on orange juice and toast. – *Rakes and brooms are, by far, the safest, easiest to use and most inexpensive of all methods. They are also lightweight, easy to store, emissions-free, very quiet, require little maintenance and are not a target for thieves as a leaf blower is.

I once saw a poster for a landscaper that boasted that they used pollution-free blowers. It turns out their leaf blower was an old hand crank seed spreader with a drainage pipe attached to the end of it. I gave it a whirl and it seemed to be a little less effective than a broom. Oh well, nice try. At Terra Nova we have made a viable business out of offering alternatives to conventional landscaping that do work. This is a service that strikes a cord in people, they see the value in landscaping that respects the soundscape and that leaves a lighter footprint. The message from this experience is that alternatives exist that can restore landscaping to an enjoyable endeavor for all concerned.

* Information found at the Clean Houston website

Stopping leaf blower abuse.

When neighborhoods and the people in them are left in the dust of leaf blower abuse, there is a vacuum. The inaction of the ‘Green industry’ to address these problems is a call to action by the citizenry. The leaf blower bans that have been enacted fill this void. Education is essential and this blow by blow account of the issue is an attempt at that. If it falls on deaf, or rather ‘protected’ ears then I believe a ban may be the last best way to defend the basic human right to peace and quiet. According to a study by Palo Alto, CA. some cities do not regulate leaf blowers at all, and regulatory strategies in other cities “fall into six basic categories:  1) time of day/day of week, 2) noise levels, 3) area specific, 4) bans, 5) educational approach, or 6) a combination of the five.” I vote for number 6. I believe a combination of efforts would be the most effective way to reduce leaf blower abuse.

The Mow, Blow and Go approach makes a mockery of the art of landscape gardening. It is a sad state of affairs when you know the gardeners have arrived by how much noise they make. It is time to take the noise out of the landscape. As a concerned member of my community and as a landscape business owner I am willing to stand up and say: “I am a landscape contractor and I am opposed to leaf blower abuse. I support a ban.” I am available to join in efforts for appropriate action in my area of Santa Cruz, Ca. such as a Leaf Blower Task Force. Citizens everywhere must organize to take back their right to peace and quiet by drafting a plan that meets the needs of the local community. I can be reached at Ken@terranovalandscaping.com. Please join us in finding a solution to leaf blower abuse.

- Ken Foster

Many recycled and repurposed materials can be sourced from the urban waste stream and used to create planting containers and raised garden beds. Which materials are safe and non-toxic? Which materials are the most durable? I have unpacked the options with this investigation on the pros and cons of a variety of potential materials.

Labyrinth garden bed

Here is a set of criteria that can be used as a guide. First, lets consider the toxicity of different available building materials on a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being completely non toxic and 4 being relatively toxic. Which end of the toxicity scale you choose depends on whether you are growing food crops or ornamentals? This is an important determining factor for obvious reasons.

The second criteria is longevity. This I rate from A to C, where A is for materials that are short lived and C for materials that can last over 20 years. I have combined these two criteria in the table below. They will help you determine the most appropriate building materials for your garden project. I have populated this table with different materials that I have used over two decades, with a description of their merits.

Toxicity and longevity table for repurposed and recycled building materials.

You may see things on the table that make you wonder, “What? planting container?” Don’t worry I’m just pushing the envelope on possibilities. Our cities’ rubbish bins are teaming with items and materials that can be used to contain plants. So consider this a fishing license for the urban waste stream. One man’s trash is another man’s planter.

For instance, my old food blender recently gave up the ghost. Instead of just tossing it in the trash I filled the blender “container” with soil and planted it with succulents.

Blender planter

Of course I have inserted into the table many of the conventional building materials used for raised garden beds. Here they are with a description of their merits. In another instance someone had a “Jimi Hendrix moment” with their guitar and threw away the smashed instrument. I pulled it out of the trash, put soil in it and planted it with succulents. People are delighted when they see it, especially when they hear the story behind it. As you can see I cast a wide net in the search for building materials for the garden. While I’m on the subject…I’ve been on the lookout for a tuba that maybe was run over by a school bus. I want that tuba for a planter and I am going to call it garden art.

I) + A) Straw bales

Straw bales are inexpensive and if you are resourceful even free.  Tomato starts can be planted right in the bale just by replacing a handful of straw with a pocketful of soil. As the photo shows, straw bales can be configured as raised garden beds, filled with soil and planted. Of course the bales will only last for a season and then become compost. A short-term, cheap, non-toxic and fun way to build a temporary garden bed and soil at the same time.

Straw bale planter

Raised bed made from straw bales

Growing tomatoes in straw bales.

1) + B) Old tea pot, old saxophone, old tuba, wine bottles, wine barrels, driftwood, logs, salvaged lumber, redwood. The teapot, saxophone and tuba used as planters are all examples of playful, whimsical garden art. Metal, ceramic or porcelain items will all be long lasting, non-toxic plant containers, (Hint: dril a hole at the bottom for drainage.) Wine bottles planted upside-down and side-by-side can make an attractive garden border. An up cycled creative re-invention of a common household item. Wine barrels have been used as planting containers ever since vintners started casting them off. They last up to 10 years and are pleasing to look at, brimming with herbs or flowers.

Wine bottles for edge

Wine barrel planter

Driftwood and logs are often available for free, and can make fine raised garden beds that last 10 years or more. These materials can be simply laid in place without much more to do.

Salvaged and redwood lumber: With a little surfing on the internet at FreeCycle or CraigsList, can located. New redwood and other hardwood lumber that has been sustainably harvested can be found if you trust the Forest Stewardship Councils’ “FSC” label. It is nice to think that sustainably harvested lumber is available, I have found small scale local mills to be trustworthy. Redwood can last ten years with soil up against it. With a little carpentry these lumbers make fine garden beds.

Salvaged lumber

Sustainably harvested redwood

1) + C) Horse trough, reclaimed metal, old toilets, old bathtubs, urbanite, brick, stone

For horse trough, reclaimed metal, old toilets and old bathtubs: The size of troughs and bathtubs make them viable as raised garden beds. Reclaimed metal and old toilets require some artistic license but can be turned into long-term plant containers.

Re-purposed horse trough

Salvaged iron metal

Toilet planter

Bathtub bed

1) + C) Urbanite, Brick & Stone

Urbanite is the funny made-up non-brand name for repurposed concrete pieces. A surprisingly available, long-lasting, non-toxic building material sourced from the urban waste stream. Earns high marks for environmental friendliness. Brick is laborsome to manufacture; however when installed correctly it gets high marks for longevity and being non-toxic, especially when used without mortar. It’s fairly easy to repurpose again and again. Often found available used on Craigslist.Stone, (flagstone, granite, field stone, river cobble, pea gravel, etc.) is without question the quintessential non-toxic building material. However, questions do arise regarding its source. It is a mined product that carries a heavy environmental cost but makes up for it in longevity, especially if it is salvaged and re-used. Unparalleled aesthetics in the landscape earn it high marks.

Raised Garden beds using 'urbanite'.

Sonoma field stone

2)+ A) Old guitar

Okay, okay…short term garden art. Mine is about four years old and it’s falling apart. But it sure has a good story behind it.

Blog author Ken Foster and his 'Jimi Hendrix moment'

A crafty guitar

2) + B)  Old boots and Old shoes, These bootswere made for walking…but now they’re retired and growing strawberries. Good thing there is a hole at the bottom for drainage.

Growing strawberries for Nancy Sinatra...These boots where made...

   

What are these planters doing in the trash?

Comes with drainage.

2)+ C) Recycled plastic lumber, I like that there is plastic . I have seen raised garden beds made from old doors. Old doors, as well as old boats and old dressers they may have paint and/or glues to wonder about. Still, I’ve dreamed about getting an old (small size) fishing boat, filling it with soil and growing food in it.

Open door policy in the garden

4)+ C) Pressure-treated wood, copper pressure-treated wood, vinyl, old tires

Fun but toxic.

Now we’re getting toxic. In the old days as late as the nineteen nineties, pressure treated lumber was impregnated with arsenic. Then children started showing up with cancer from playing on structures made with it. That product was taken off the market and while copper tressure-treated wood is much better, I still don’t like growing food in it. The jury is out on using it for garden beds. Virgin vinyl is an extremely toxic product and I don’t like the idea of growing food in it. Then there’s old tires. Recycling this huge waste problem in the garden? Tires are chock full of heavy metals like lead and cadmium and simply are not appropriate to grow food in.

Now that you have learned a little about the dirt on raised garden beds, build some and put the dirt in them where it belongs. -Ken Foster

Terra Nova owner Ken Foster standing in center next to mother Ellie and surrounded by family next to the first Terra Nova bicycle trailer in December 1991. Ellie was Terra Nova’s greatest cheer leader and supporter. She passed away just after Easter 2011. She and Ken’s father Herb on far right helped Ken buy the first Terra Nova truck in 1988. Ellie’s support and enthusiasm for the work Terra Nova does was instrumental in its success. A big heart felt thank you goes out to Ken’s late mother Ellie Foster.

From left to right: Onawa Tannheimer-Foster, Joan Tannheimer, Margo McBane, Ken Foster, Ellie Foster, David Foster, Bard Foster and Herb Foster

The one of a kind ‘Chai Mulch’ at an end ? Sun Chai who has supplied Chai Mulch to Terra Nova customers for the past seven years is moving their production out of town.

Chai Mulch may still be available and we will keep you posted as soon as we know when.

Chai Mulch bags laid out.

Chai it, you'll like it!

Chai Mulch is made from chai waste including Cinnamon, Ginger, Allspice, Nutmeg, Star Anise, Cloves and Pepper

The best smelling mulch out there!

Terra Nova was recently honored with the 2011 Gold Award in the Santa Cruz Weekly’s readers survey. We also won this award in 2007 and 2009—so 2011 is a charm! Our long history of providing not only excellent landscaping services but also doing so in harmony with nature is truly recognized in our community. It continues to be the driving force behind what we do for our clients every day.

Funny thing is I forgot about voting for the winners in the readers survey or even to tell anyone about it, so it was an extra fun surprise to learn that we won.

Thank you Santa Cruz Weekly readers!

We appreciate it and we will do our best to earn your votes for the 2012 Gold Awards.

—Ken Foster and all of us at Terra Nova

By Owen Dell

From The Earthworm’s Lair: Owen Dell’s Sustainable Landscaping Blog

Rain barrels are the de rigueur item for urban eco-hipsters these days. They’re sold in every garden catalog, subsidized or given away by water districts, and touted by virtually every garden expert in creation as a way to reduce garden water use and be more “green.” There are rain barrel community workshops, rain barrel seminars, Web sites devoted to the emerging rain barrel culture, rain barrel discussion groups, rain barrel tweets, and, for all I know, rain barrel users dating services. Progressive gardeners who haven’t yet bought their barrel are made to feel wasteful and negligent for failing to acquire the latest in an endless series of products designed to save the planet. Thanks to relentless marketing, rain barrels are enjoying a potent dose of moral buzz that is fast turning them into a 21st Century version of the Great Tulip ^[1] Mania.

Photo by Eric Schmuttenmaer. Used by permission.

HOW RAIN BARRELS WORK. The rain barrel idea is simple: Stick a drum under your downspout to catch rainwater and store it for later use. This is supposed to help the environment, lower your water bill, and make your garden thrive in dry times. And to be sure, there’s no point in throwing away rainwater if you can make use of it. After all, once rainwater hits the street, thanks to the highly efficient drainage systems that landscapers put in, it causes urban flooding and washes all kinds of nasty pollutants into the storm drains and thence into our creeks and finally to the ocean. Using rain is smart; whisking it off the property is stupid. So there’s a good idea behind this, but how does it play out?

In the name of water harvesting, intrepid companies have developed a truly impressive array of rain barrels, some of them repurposed from previously-used containers, and most of them made new from fresh, modern plastic. They parade across the pages of garden catalogs and Web sites in a happy fashion show of forms: Spartan repurposed, faux Grecian Urn, faux wood, faux stone, faux ceramic, concealed plant stand, bogus whiskey barrel, real whiskey barrel, collapsible, roll-away, pop-up, knock-down, “mega” rain barrels, “eco” rain barrels, rain barrel “systems.” They come in various shades of green, earth tones, terracotta, robin’s egg blue (seriously), and basic black. Amazon.com alone delivers 897 listings ^[2] for rain barrels and rain barrel-related items. By and large they’re a homely bunch: Fanciful shapes and ersatz wood grain concealing the humdrum function of holding 50 to 65 gallons of rainwater. But if they really would help save the Earth, then who cares what they look like? After all, we’re in dire straits and can’t be troubling ourselves over matters of aesthetics, right?

YES, BUT DO THEY MAKE SENSE? Rain barrel proponents claim that barrels conserve water, reduce urban runoff, and save money. But is it true? Suspecting that a small flagon of rain wouldn’t begin to meet the water needs of the garden, and wondering if there was even a net positive outcome when the environmental impacts of making and shipping the product are balanced against the value of the water saved, I set out to get to the bottom of the barrel business.

Let’s begin with how much water is needed to run a typical garden. It’s a number that shocks most people, even experienced gardeners. According to the Metropolitan Water District ^[3], the average Southern California family uses about 234,000 gallons of water each year. Sixty percent of that, over 140,000 gallons, is used to water the yard. Using commonly available data on evapotranspiration ^[4]rates in coastal Southern California, the Green Gardens Group ^[5] calculated that a typical 1,500 square foot front yard on the South Coast with a lawn and some foundation plantings requires around 43,000 gallons of water per year. Looking further into the matter they found that, thanks to poor water management practices, typical water use is 2 to 3 times what is needed, with actual applied water often clocking in at over 100,000 gallons for the same small front yard.

So here’s a question: Which is better, to save 60 gallons of rain water by installing a rain barrel or to save over 1,000 times that amount simply by dialing back the watering to a reasonable level? Keep in mind that changing watering behavior costs nothing and delivers immediate and long-lasting results. In this instance, the mid-tier price of water in Santa Barbara is $4.90 per hundred cubic feet ^[6] (HCF, equal to 748 gallons), which means that saving 60,000 gallons of water will reduce the water bill by $393 per year. By comparison, that smidgeon of water in the rain barrel is worth just over 39 cents.

What about the practicalities of watering your garden with rain barrels? It’s easy to see that it would take a heck of a lot of barrels to meet the water needs of a typical garden. Going back to that 140,000 gallons of water used by the average suburban landscape, one barrel will supply .00043 of the annual water need, or as landscape professionals say, a drop in the bucket. It would take 2,333 60-gallon barrels of water to meet the annual needs for irrigation. Each barrel takes up about 12 cubic feet, so 2,333 barrels require 28,000 cubic feet of space. The interior space of a 2,000 square foot house with 8 foot ceilings measures around 16,000 cubic feet. If you were to stack your rain barrels to the ceiling, you would need a volume equal to 1.75 additional houses to store this much water.

If you were to place the barrels on the ground one layer deep, they would require 9,332 sq. ft. of land, which is just under a quarter of an acre. Since the average suburban lot size in our area is around .17 acre, you would need 1.47 more lots just to store the water. Oh-oh, it’s time to buy out the neighbors and tear down their houses so you can water your garden. This must be the reason that none of the respected experts on rain water harvesting advocate or even mention rain barrels in their books and publications.

BULLYRAGGING THE BARREL BARONS. Just for fun, I submitted the following good-natured inquiry to a couple of Internet rain barrel vendors:

Hello,

I have a 7,500 square foot lot, and I use about 140,000 gallons of water per year for landscape irrigation. A single 60-gallon rain barrel will supply 0.00043 of my annual water needs, making it necessary for me to have 2,333 barrels to meet those needs. They will fill almost a quarter of an acre of land if placed side-by-side. My lot is only about .17 acres, and the house and garden take it all up. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you.

Rodger C. “Rod” Buck, Customer Care Variety Specialist at Hayneedle ^[7]wrote back, “Unfortunately, we are strictly a retail on-line web site that does not get into anything as heavy-duty as you are describing. May I suggest that you check with a local company that specializes in wells and/or in rural cistern tanks?” I guess the point was kind of lost on Rod. The folks at Gardener’s Supply ^[8] did a little better, and even played along with me: “Thank you for writing.  Our rain barrels are a great way to collect the free water from the sky, but as you have so eloquently pointed out, will not be a complete watering source for your garden. For small gardens, when rain is intermittent, they can be very helpful in aiding your watering needs.  They are intended to augment your watering, not take it over completely…we’d like to offer you a 10% discount. This is valid even if you want to order 2,333 barrels.” Sweet. I’ll keep that in mind if I ever take leave of my senses.

OTHER CONCERNS. Even if you had a one square-foot garden, which is what a barrel full of water will serve for the year, there are some additional issues that have to be looked at.

Suppose there isn’t enough rain to fill up the barrel? Just when you really need water most, your barrel is busy collecting dust and spiders. Not helpful. Not helpful at all.

If the barrel is located in the sun, you’ll be delivering potentially damaging hot water to your plants. Unless you like to cook your carrots while they’re still in the ground, this could very well be a problem.

How clean is the water? The first element in a real water harvesting system is what’s called a “first flush filter” that keeps contaminated water out of the system. You see, all sorts of guck collects on rooftops during our months-long dry season, and the first storm dissolves it all into a toxic soup that’s best sent down the drain. It’s not something you’d want to put on your plants. But the typical rain barrel, lacking a first flush filter, collects and stores the very most contaminated first part of the first flush. Please don’t invite me over for a taste of your rain barrel-irrigated spinach, OK?

Most barrels come with fine-mesh screens to keep mosquitoes from breeding in the water and prevent errant vermin from drowning in it. But of course the fragile screen will be the first part of the system to fail, and few owners will bother to replace it. How environmental is dead rat soup?

Is there a reasonable financial payback for the investment in a rain barrel? If the barrel fills 5 times a year, the annual value of the captured water is a little under two dollars. The cheapest available rain barrels cost around a hundred bucks, which means that the payback time for Santa Barbarans is at least half a century. It’s even longer where water rates are cheaper. In most cases, neither the barrel nor its owner can reasonably be expected to last long enough to see a return on the investment.

And what about the environmental impacts of making and disposing of the barrel itself? How much embodied energy is there in a rain barrel? Where do the materials come from? Is it recyclable at the end of its useful life? And how long could a barrel be expected to last anyway? Unfortunately, hard answers to these questions are not so easy to come by. Plastic is made from oil; we know that much. Although it’s often not spelled out, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) seems to be the material that most rain barrels are made from. HDPE is one of the least toxic plastics on the market, it will probably last at least ten years and possibly much longer, and it’s a #2 recyclable material. Beyond that, not much can be ascertained without fairly strenuous research beyond the capabilities of this poor writer.

GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL. Is it possible to do a full life-cycle analysis on a rain barrel, to determine in hard numbers whether it’s a net environmental good or bad thing? Not easily, given the difficulty of obtaining some of the key data such as embodied energy, lifespan, and the impacts of oil drilling, and then putting it all together in a definitive bottom-line formula. But it should be pretty obvious that whatever the other variables, rain barrels don’t solve the problem of water conservation.

All in all, rain barrels are a washout, another delusional, greenwashed, pernicious consumer scam. Maybe the next rain barrel group should be Rain Barrel Abusers Anonymous. “Hi, I’m Darlene and I have 2,333 rain barrels.” “Hi Darlene!”

REAL SOLUTIONS. What’s a better use of resources? How can you really save water? Well, rainwater harvesting, done properly, is an essential element in a sustainable landscape. And yes, the amount of water you can capture can be impressive. A typical roof will deliver 600 gallons per 1,000 square feet of surface area per inch of rain falling on it. In real-world terms that means that an average Santa Barbara rainfall year’s 18 inches of rain landing on a 2,000 square feet roof will generate 21,600 gallons of water, which (in case you were wondering) is worth $141.00. In a nutshell, there are two basic approaches to water harvesting, both involving the canny capture of roof water.

Photo by Owen Dell. Used by permission.

NON-STORAGE STRATEGIES. One is to let rainfall flow across and sink into the soil, deep watering plants as it goes. This can be accomplished by changing the contours of your land to create low spots, soak zones, dry streambeds, and other concavities that will allow the water to pool and seep into the soil. (IMPORTANT ADVICE: Don’t try this on hillsides or where there is any potential for landslides, flooding of structures, or other untoward outcomes. And keep the water at least five feet away from the house. In fact, check with a geologist, landscape architect, water harvesting professional or other qualified expert before changing the grade on your property.) Concave, water-slurping landscapes are now required in some progressive communities, and properly done they make a lot of sense. Water stays on the land where it belongs, and the larger environment doesn’t suffer from the effects of dumping excess quantities of rainfall into the street. Creating a concave landscape is relatively easy and inexpensive if done at the time the landscape is created, but even an established landscape can often accommodate a swale, dry streambed, rain garden, or other absorbent zone. These are also very attractive additions to the landscape.

Photo by bloomsberries. Used by permission.

STORAGE STRATEGIES. Of course just moving and slowing water only works during the rainy season. Summer is another matter, and the rain barrel idea is a stab at addressing the issue of how to get access to water during the dry months of the year. Storing water does work, but only if you have the space and capital to create a fully-fledged system of one or more cisterns, which are above-ground or buried tanks. Do keep in mind, though, that rainwater takes up just as much room in a big tank as it does in hundreds of small barrels, so one of the big questions is where do you put the stuff? Unlike dry streambeds, cisterns are usually ugly, and they’re expensive, running between fifty cents and two dollars per gallon of storage capacity. That means that storing even 10,000 gallons of rainwater, a small fraction of what your garden probably needs, could easily run you ten or twenty grand ^[9]. You can buy a lot of water for that amount of money. Back to the question of where to put the cistern, well, you can tuck a lot of water under a deck, or put a tank out on the back forty (if you’re lucky enough to have a back forty), or dig a giant hole and bury the thing. Still, this is clearly not for everybody. But if you have the resources, a big slug of water on site is like money in the bank, keeping you soothed and safe. By the way, with the addition of a pump, a cistern can be used to fight wildfires too, which is never a bad idea in our flammable communities.

For more information on water harvesting, turn to the real experts. Brad Lancaster ^[10] and our own local genius Art Ludwig ^[11] both offer great, detailed advice on this surprisingly complex subject. Check out their Web sites for information, books, and other resources.

Oh, by the way, if you know of anyone who’s in the market for a couple thousand barrels, cheap, have them give me a call.

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By Jillian Steinberger
Contra Costa Times correspondent

When it comes to gray water systems, there are lots of questions. The most important ones to answer are what system do you need, and what can be done with it.

As gray water systems gain acceptance, we’re learning that they can easily and successfully irrigate Bay Area gardens. Both “simple systems” popular among do-it-yourselfers and high-tech installations making inroads into the public, commercial and high-end residential sectors can produce amazing results.

Lush, beautiful landscapes are more than possible with greywater. Image: John Russell

But each type presents a unique set of issues.

Keep in mind that with the newly legal low-tech systems, gray water is applied to the landscape as it is produced. There is little control over the timing and duration of irrigation. When you wash clothes or take a shower, the water is diverted to the landscape.

A picture of a valve/switcher above laundry, that is clearly marked for safety. Label shows how to turn handle to direct gray water to landscape or sewer. Image: Laura Allen

This is fine in simple landscapes with sturdy plants that can take irregular watering, but not for more complex garden designs.

A favorite strategy among permaculturalists and green gardeners is to irrigate fruit trees and fruiting vines such as kiwi with gray water, which yields excellent results.

On the other hand, says landscape contractor John Russell, high-tech systems that use a sand filter to clean gray water operate about the same as a traditional automated drip irrigation system with controllers and valves. The timing and duration of watering is set by the irrigation controller, and gray water is applied through subsurface irrigation.

Russell, who installed the Sunset Idea House’s gray water-integrated garden in San Francisco, says some landscapes may not like any form of gray water.

“Gray water tends to be alkaline so plants that like acidic soils will generally not like being irrigated with gray water,” he says. “But most plants are accustomed to or tolerant of alkaline soils and will be fine with gray water irrigation.”

Gardeners concerned about the alkaline can consistently add organic matter to the soil, which adds acidity and can help neutralize the alkaline nature of gray water. Acid-loving plants such as rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias will not tolerate gray water, but an abundance of California natives and other plants thrive in alkaline conditions.

What branch drain looks like in the ground. Pipes for a branched drain system. Image: Laura Allen

Plumbing Contractor Christina Bertea, who teaches installation classes around the state as a member of Greywater Action, says the question of what system is right for you boils down to money.

“How much,” she asks, “do you want to spend? If you have an unlimited budget, you can do anything with gray water. If not, the simple low-tech systems we teach are best suited for larger plants like trees, shrubs, perennials and vines.”

The systems also are well-suited to bioswale plantings, with plants that easily adapt to wet or dry conditions.

Although relatively few landscape professionals have the skill set to install gray water-irrigated gardens, the niche is rife with innovation. Some of California’s most forward-looking environmental engineers, landscape architects and ecological designers are creating plans specifically for gray-water integrated gardens.

One lush design strategy called “constructed wetlands” uses water-loving plants such as taros, reeds, rushes and cannas that can digest the high nutrient load of gray water, thereby providing a cleansing function. Some plants even can process heavy metals.

Nik Bertulis, an ecological designer with the Dig Cooperative who teaches a class called From Dams to Greywater at Oakland’s Merritt College, says constructed wetlands can have “a tremendous capacity to bioremediate neo-chemicals and pathogens.”

For this reason, constructed wetlands are a great landscaping option for a yard with toxic soils — contaminated with heavy metals or pesticides.

Beyond sustainability, constructed wetlands are an aesthetic option for people who want to play with water-loving plants. Different types of wetlands work well in California gardens; they are all lush, and range from mini-estuaries and wet meadows to the tropics. Although conventional wisdom recommends drought-tolerant plantings in California’s summer-dry, winter-wet climate, gray water allows designers to use a plant palette that otherwise is difficult to justify here.

Constructed wetlands done right are safe and provide rich wildlife habitat, ecological landscape designers say. They range in size from container plantings in recycled bathtubs to estuaries and ponds of virtually any size. They fit into small and large yards, and budgets of any size. In Europe, designers are actually constructing wetlands of scale that look identical to lakes, sometimes integrated with “natural” swimming pools. These make a grand impression, although swimming areas should never use untreated gray water.

Such projects are not yet permitted in the United States, but experts say we’re slowly moving in that direction. The Bay Area seems to be at the center of the gray water movement.

You can see examples of how gray water systems work in public sector projects. Russell designed the systems in use at the Academy of Sciences, Crissy Field Center and Alcatraz Island. Geoff Hall of Sentient Landscape in Sebastopol recently designed and installed landscapes for two Gold LEED-rated hotels: the 9-acre Atman in the Anderson Valley and the 4-acre Gaia Hotel in Napa Valley.

Brent Bucknum, founder of the Oakland ecological engineering firm Hyphae Design Laboratory and the community-based nonprofit the Urban Biofilter, also has created a number of advanced gray water systems, including a 70,000-gallon-a-day system at a new UC San Diego dormitory that provides irrigation to the landscape and living roofs and an off-the-grid home in Sonoma that uses constructed wetlands to treat both gray and black water.

“We are developing extremely low cost solutions to gray water and black water reuse in Haiti and Tijuana,” Bucknum says, “and we are developing high tech smart phone controlled systems.

While some gray water and permaculture designers question the high-tech systems, Bucknum sees hope in the blending of ecology and technology.

“I think there’s a sweet spot,” he says, “where they come together.”

Planting Tips

Fruit trees and edibles: Gray water is a popular way to irrigate fruit trees. It is also fine on edible plants in which the gray water does not touch the parts you eat. So, never use gray water on root crops such as carrots, potatoes and beets, or on leafy greens such as lettuce, spinach or kale.

Lawns: Unfortunately for lawn-lovers, gray water is not a sustainable solution for lawns. “Lawns are the hardest type of plant to water with gray water,” says Greywater Action founder Laura Allen. “I don’t recommend it.”

Native plants: Many California natives can take alkaline soils. In fact, our official state soil is Serpentine, which in extreme cases can be up to 100 percent mineral, free of organic matter. So natives can be highly compatible with gray water.

Constructed wetlands: Whether in a container or your whole backyard, constructed wetlands are the ultimate new landscaping challenge, offering tremendous sustainability benefits plus a whole new realm of water-loving plants to play with. Check online for appropriate plant lists and information from state and federal government agencies, universities, environmental engineers and landscapers. Hydrozone: When incorporating gray water, it helps to keep plants with similar water needs together within a zone. “If people place their water loving plants in an area accessible with gray water, and then plant their drought tolerant plants in other areas of the yard, they can eliminate the need for potable water irrigation completely,” Allen says.

Reading material

The New Create an Oasis with Greywater: Choosing, Building and Using Greywater Systems by Art Ludwig (Oasis Design, $20.95)

Builder’s Greywater Guide: Installation of Greywater Systems in New Construction & Remodeling by Art Ludwig (Oasis Design, $14.95)

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster (Rainsource Press, $24.95); http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/greywater-harvesting

Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway (Chelsea Green Publishing, $29.95); http://patternliteracy.com

Vendors and Products

Clean Water Components, cleanwatercomponents.com — Gray water kits and plans for simple systems, and a large selection of parts and fittings

Aqua2Use, http://aqua2use.com — State-of-the-art packaged systems that collect, treat, and store water, with options for indoor and outdoor reuse.

ReWater Systems, http://rewater.com — High-end automated packaged systems that filter, store and irrigate. All packages come with a unique 21-station gray water-compatible controller.

Nubian Water Systems, http://www.nubian.com.au/ — Manufactures technically advanced water treatment and recycling products for the domestic, commercial, industrial and mining markets

Education

The Water Institute at Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, Occidental, www.oaec.org

Regenerative Design Institute, Bolinas, http://www.regenerativedesign.org

Sonoma State University’s Sustainable Landscaping Certification Program, Rohnert Park, http://www.sonoma.edu/exed/sustainable-landscape

Merritt College’s Landscape Horticulture Department, Oakland, http://www.merrittlandhort.com

Ecology Center’s EcoHouse, Berkeley, http://www.ecologycenter.org

What do Cupid, a local surfing legend, peak oil, and ecological landscaping have in common? Well, more than anyone in their wildest dreams could have imagined. An unlikely union of local organizations and businesses are collaborating in a one-of-a-kind benefit to help Santa Cruzans heal their addictions while literally showering a bed of roses on the lucky raffle winner.

On Monday, February 14, 2011 a raffle will be held at noon inside Greenspace in Santa Cruz. Darryl Virostko, three-time Mavericks competition winner, film star and founder of FleaHab, a surfing program for recovering addicts will draw the winning ticket at the store. The prize from Terra Nova Ecological Landscaping is the complete garden bed mulching using reclaimed, food-grade and kosher rose petals created for tea making but narrowly rescued from being sent to the landfill. The raffle proceeds will be donated to Transition Santa Cruz, a local nonprofit dedicated to, among other things, reducing our addiction to fossil fuels. Cupid has never been so socially and environmentally aware.

The raffle tickets for the Valentine’s Day drawing are $3.00 and can be purchased in advance at Greenspace, 1122 Soquel Avenue, Santa Cruz, 831-423-7200 or by calling Ken Foster of Terra Nova at 831-359-5717.

Transition Santa Cruz seeks to be a catalyst for relocalization—the development of local self-reliance in food, energy, transportation, media, systems of care, economy and the arts—through a broadly inclusive community-building process. In response to the challenges of climate change and the decline of inexpensive fossil fuel energy, Transition Santa Cruz proposes that we tap the creative genius of the people of Santa Cruz, to facilitate an intentional transition to a resilient, equitable local economy and community. For more information, contact Michael Levy, 831-427-9916 or visit www.transitionsc.org.

Darryl Virostko, AKA Flea, is a recovering meth addict, and runs a program, “FleaHab,” to teach other recovering addicts how to surf. For more information visit www.fleahab.com.

Terra Nova Ecological Landscaping has been designing, building and maintaining ecological landscapes and gardens in harmony with nature for 23 years in Santa Cruz County. Known for innovative practices such as bicycle-powered landscape maintenance, applying Permaculture principles, and using locally brewed Chai grounds for mulch, Terra Nova is recognized as the local leader in ecological landscaping. For more information contact Ken Foster, 831-359-5717