Reducing our Impact on the Environment: House and Garden Audit Workshop

by Karen Paulsell

As part of the State Water Board Grant for the Friends of Sausal Creek's (FOSC) Watershed Assessment Project, I have been bringing a PowerPoint presentation to local organizations. This PowerPoint serves as an introduction to a book by Laurel Marcus entitled The House and Garden Audit: Protecting your Family's Health and Improving the Environment.

'The House and Garden Audit and the related presentation offer some solutions to the natural processes and human actions that cause many of the Bay Area's environmental problems. Issues such as development in East Bay watersheds and the role of invasive non-natives in creek-bank failures and gullying are discussed. At the community level, the presentation offers tips on how to keep pollutants and silt out of creeks and explains how creek restoration in urban watersheds helps protect our ecosystems.

'On a household level, the talk describes how to manage some typical household pests without toxic substances, how to reduce water use (e.g., remove your conventional lawn), what garden practices eliminate the need for pesticides, what nontoxic methods help handle common garden pests, how to attract beneficial wildlife such as butterflies and other pollinators to your garden, and options for reducing runoff around your home.'

'Of course, no conversation that discusses reducing water and pesticide use and attracting beneficial wildlife would be complete without an endorsement for native plants. (And what better place to purchase local native plants than at FOSC's Joaquin Miller Native Plant Nursery's fall plant sale, to be held at the nursery on Sunday, October 26, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, check out www.sausalcreek.org.)

So far, five presentations have been completed, and three more are scheduled. The venues include other creek groups, neighborhood associations, the Glenview PTA, the Upward Bound program, and a garden club. The grant also paid for copies of the House and Garden Audit to be distributed to all workshop attendees. Even though the grant requirement will soon be met, we have additional books available and would like to keep scheduling presentations, particularly for groups in the Sausal Creek watershed. If you're interested, please contact me at kpaulsell\@pacbell.net or 655-0818.