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Earth Week Events at EvCC

“The earth has music for those who listen.”

– William Shakespeare

Greetings from the Everett Community College Sustainability team,

Everett Community College has been dedicated to create a green campus for students and employees with Go Green, See Green, and Do Green. Partnering with local community and approval from the college, EvCC Sustainability Office has managed so many sustainability events and activities every year as well as providing free sustainability information. It’s the time of year where the Sustainability team begins Earth Week Event Series! The EvCC celebrate Earth Week events this year from April 19-22, 2021. We are so happy to announce that the annual plant swap is back as well as do-it-yourself recycled container planting kits and several virtual events are also included. Visit Earth Week for more information.

Everyone loves recycling stuff. Clemens Miersch , Transportation Coordinator of the Sustainability Office,  shares his video about how to upcycle candle. Check out his video and comment if you have done any recycled project.

Live green for a sustainable future!

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P Patch Gardening

A p patch is a parcel of property that people can acquire and use to garden and grow food/plants. Groups of p patches are gathered together in community gardens. The P patch term is actually unique to the Seattle area. It is named after the Picardo family who pioneered this kind of collaborative gardening style. P patches a great way to garden away from home and help out the community.

Bayside P Patch is a lovely example of a community garden in Everett. Bayside offers great views of Possession Sound and an interesting juxtaposition of beautiful plants on the terraced hill overlooking old Everett Factories. Visit their website to learn more: http://baysidena.yolasite.com/p-patch.php. Also check out this great article written by a local gardener about their experience growing food at Bayside P Patch: https://salishmagazine.org/community-gardens/.

Photo taken at the Beacon Hill Food Forest community garden in Seattle

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Sustainable Podcasts!

Everyone loves a good podcast. Here are some good ones themed around sustainable topics.

Treehugger’s podcast: https://treehugger.libsyn.com/. This is a podcast about ecological restoration

Gravy Podcast: https://www.southernfoodways.org/gravy-format/gravy-podcast/. A podcast from the Southern Foodways Alliance about foodways in the American south and sustainable food topics.

One to Grow on Podcast: https://www.onetogrowonpod.com/. This is a podcast about how food production impacts us and our world as well as agriculture. Topics like Navajo food sovereignty are covered.

Beyond Waste Podcast: https://www.postlandfill.org/beyond-waste-podcast-episode-1/?doing_wp_cron=1614284782.6526749134063720703125 This podcast is made by Post Action Landfill Network about the systemic impacts of various kinds of waste and what we can do about it.

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CRT Television Preservation

CRT Televisions should be donated instead of being thrown away or recycled. They are extremely difficult to recycle because the leaded glass they contain has essentially no profit value and it can cause environmental contamination. They should be donated instead because many people still love CRTs and there are many communities that like to preserve these old technologies for use with old video games, VHS, LaserDisc, and more. A video game’s look and feel can be highly dependent on specific hardware setups like CRTs. Old video games often perform better on CRTs and even some games like the original Duck Hunt only work on CRTs. So instead of throwing away an old television, give it a new home! Read more about CRT preservation here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2018/2/6/16973914/tvs-crt-restoration-led-gaming-vintage

CRTs are the main way to play Super Smash Bros Melee competitively. You will find lots of them at esports tournaments



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Ways to Reduce Stormwater Runoff

What is stormwater runoff? On a forest floor, the rain is absorbed by the soil, but when rainwater falls on the mainly non-permeable surfaces we use like asphalt, gravel and concrete; this rain can mix with harmful substances on the ground like oil. This runoff ends up polluting our waterways and hurting wildlife.

There are many ways to reduce and combat stormwater runoff such as never dumping anything down a storm drain, avoiding pesticides, picking up pet waste, rerouting water from a downspout to help rain soak into the soil, repairing leaky side sewers, and much more. Check out a local stormwater or stream group like SnoKing Watershed Council (http://snokingwatershedcouncil.org/) to learn more and find stream and habitat restoration volunteer opportunities.

Visit this link to learn more about ways to reduce stormwater: https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/environment/water-and-land/stormwater/introduction/stormwater-runoff.aspx

See if you can get a rebate for installing a rain garden or cistern: https://www.700milliongallons.org/

Check out the Tulalip Tribes resources and virtual library about climate change, salmon, stormwater, and much more here: https://nr.tulaliptribes.com/Topics/ClimateChange

North Creek Park is not just a fun trail to visit, but also is a storm water retention facility. Wetlands like the one in this park act as filters for urban environments. When water reaches the wetland, gravity slowly pulls the water through the soil and plants, which removes fine pollutants like fertilizers and oil.

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Hydroponics and Aquaponics

Hydroponics is a way of cultivating plants in nutrient-rich water instead of soil. Aquaponics is a combination of hydroponics with aquaculture( raising fish and other aquatic animals). These create self-sustainable and symbiotic systems which are capable of producing a wide variety of crops from lettuce, herbs, melons, berries, beans, peas, and much more.

This graph briefly explains the symbiotic and self sustaining aquaponics system.

Farmer Frog in Woodinville has a great aquaponics system. There are lots of kinds of fish used such as trout but the main fish are koi. To learn more about Farmer Frog and their aquaponics system, visit their website: https://farmerfrog.org/

To learn more about hydroponics and aquaponics check out these resources: https://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/hydroponics and https://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/aquaponics. Also make sure to check out the Everett Clippers Aquaponics article by Crystin Clouser: https://everettclipper.com/13156/showcase/aquaponics-a-solution-for-self-sustainability/

Peppers growing in the Farmer Frog Aquaponics System
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Eat Local First and WA Farm Finder

Visit the WA Farm Finder on https://eatlocalfirst.org/. This is a great application that can be used to find local farms, growers, and producers in Washington State to support. They have online portals for other kinds of farms as well, such as CSA’s. A CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is a style of farming where customers can buy a plot of farmland or shares of a farm’s harvest in advance.

The Snohomish Beet Field during a Food Bank Farm volunteer beet harvest

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Green Cleaning Resources

Included in the PDF file and PowerPoint slides are many recipes for great sustainable cleaning products that can be made at home with simple ingredients such as baking soda and olive oil. The products include toilet bowl cleaner, glass cleaner, lemon disinfectant, and many more. Thanks to Washington State University and Snohomish County for crafting the green cleaner booklet and Nancy Vandenberg for the PowerPoint slides.

Green Cleaning It’s in Your Cupboard!Download
Green Cleaner Recipe SlidesDownload
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Sustainable Gardening Classes

On Saturday, February 6th from 10:30-11:30 am PST, Snohomish Conservation District and King County Waste Treatment Division will be hosting a free webinar about easy ways to start a sustainable food garden. Learn the benefits of sustainable gardening and discover a wide variety of resources to help get started in the spring. To learn more about this event and register visit this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sustainable-gardening-growing-food-with-ease-and-minimal-impact-tickets-134430550395. Stay tuned for more sustainable landscaping and gardening classes from the Sustainable Yard Care series. You can find the course list on the King County Events Page: https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/environment/wastewater/education/events.aspx