Promoting Native Bee Abundance

What: Promoting Native Bee Abundance and Diversity with Native Plants

When: Thursday, November 10, 2011, 7:30 pm  

Where: Green Spring Gardens, 4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria, Virginia 

Join Maria Van Dyke, the Program Coordinator for Virginia Working Landscapes for a slide lecture about the importance and habitat requirements of native bees. Maria will discuss ongoing academic research which is identifying which native plants best support healthy and diverse native bee populations. Learn how you can best use native plants in your garden for this important part of our ecosystem.
Maria Van Dyke is the Program Coordinator for Virginia Working Landscapes and is also the Secretariay for Virginia Food System Council. She holds an MS in Ecology and Environment Sciences from UVA with work at Blandy Experimental Farm. Her talk will draw on native plant research she has participated in through Rutgers University, the NRCS Plant Research Center in Cape May and the Xerces Society.

Virginia Native Plant Society Programs are free and open to the public. No reservations are necessary.

For more information related to this press release please contact Alan Ford, VNPS Potowmack Chapter President at 703-732-5291.

Information received from: Kathy Jentz , Editor/Publisher , Washington Gardener Magazine

Rainscaping at the Coolidge High School Garden

What: Rainscaping at Coolidge Highschool Garden

When: Saturday, November 12 , 8:30 am to noon

Where: Calvin Coolidge Garden 6315 5th St NW, Washington DC

Please join the Friends of the Garden and Coolidge High School students in restoring 3600 sq ft of beds after last summer's drought. Gardening experts from the area's Watershed Stewards Academy and the American Society of Landscape Architects will explain how and why rainscaping (also known as riverscaping) helps local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay stay healthy, while making neighborhoods more attractive. The Native Species you will plant are drought resistant and hardy, and will attract birds and desirable insects like butterflies for years to come.

Tools and Gloves: Provided but bring along your favorite weeding tool if you have one. 

Coffee, tea, juice and snacks provided.
RSVP by Wednesday, November 9 to James Proctor at jproctor@cchs-aa.org or 202-652-9423

Information provided by Kathy Jentz, editor of Washington Gardener Magazine

Are you tired of the rich getting all of the gold? It's time to occupy "fall" street

Are you tired of the tree-rich landscapes hoarding all of the gold (and red, and yellow) of autumn’s splendor while your plant-devoid landscape does without? Well, be part of the 99% who appreciate Autumn color! Get outside and go occupy “fall” street.

There is plenty of fall foliage in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia to go around. So take some time this weekend to “go for the gold”. Take a tour around DC, visit a park or take a little drive to one of the other great locations for Fall Foliage in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia that I found on dc.about.com

Before you head out, I encourage you to read the post (with gorgeous photos) on Casey Trees blog, which lists some trees to look out for, including:

• American beech trees (Fagus grandifolia) - at the U.S. Capitol grounds, Dumbarton Oaks and along the Capital Crescent trail.

• Red maples (Acer rubrum) - in front of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and on the White House grounds.

• Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) - Check it out near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, at the National Zoo and in West Potomac Park.

• White oak (Quercus alba) - The white oak can be found all over D.C., including at Dumbarton Oaks, Tudor Place, Logan Circle, Cedar Hill and the Capital Crescent Trail. Most white oak leaves turn red, but some turn a gorgeously rare deep-wine.

• Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) - Find these simple oval-leafed trees at Glenwood Cemetery and the U.S. Botanic Garden on Maryland Ave SW.

Now don’t despair. You, too, can grow your own gold! October – December are great times to plant trees, since they enter their dormancy during this period. And best of all, there are rebate and incentive programs to help cover the costs of tree planting in your Metro DC yard.

Casey Trees and the DDOE now offer rebates of up to $100 for having qualified trees planted in your landscape.

Montgomery County Maryland’s website lists rebates of up to $150 per tree ($600 per lot) for residents who plant trees.

There is a coupon for $25.00 off the purchase price of a tree on the Marylanders Plant Trees website.

So get started on your own tree-rich landscape. Just make sure that you are committed to the regular investments of time and care needed to watch your new treasure grow!

Here's the scoop on worm poop

Every now and then, the rugs in my house look like this:

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That’s because my yard is often covered with piles of this:

I don’t really LIKE having a messy home and I sure wish I could learn to wipe my feet a little better before I come inside. But I’m definitely not complaining. As an eco-friendly gardener, I know that having piles of worm poop in my yard is a very good thing.

Earthworms help aerate the soil by crawling around creating little tunnels and passageways. And the whole time, they are just eating and pooping, eating and pooping. Aristotle called worms the "intestines of the soil" for their role of converting organic matter to fertilizer. Most of that pooping occurs underground, but during times of extreme moisture, the worms migrate towards the surface and leave their poop, also called castings, in little piles around your lawn.

The scoop on worm poop is that it is full of nutrients and extremely beneficial to your lawn and plants. Worm castings contain 0.86 percent nitrogen, 0.37 percent phosphorous and 0.25 percent potassium. Other nutrients include 2.3 percent calcium and 0.72 percent iron. The castings provide natural nutrients, often eliminating the need for harmful synthetic fertilizer products. The healthy lawn will then attract more earthworms, which will further improve soil aeration and increase the penetration of rainwater.

Earthworms help in breaking down thatch, increasing decomposition and creating usable nitrogen in the soil. In fact, five or more earthworms per square foot of soil provides the lawn with 25% of its seasonal nitrogen requirements.

Some people, however, don’t see the value in worm poop. They find these tiny piles of poop unsightly, both outside their home and when tracked inside. Weak thin lawns, which have been mowed too low, will certainly make these piles more evident.  

Dealing with Worm Poop

• Rake or sweep castings into the lawn when they are dry. You can also sweep up castings and add them to your compost pile or potting soil mixture.
• Don't overwater. Earthworms will stay near the surface if it's continuously moist.
• Mow high and keep the lawn healthy to hide the poop piles and minimize the unsightliness.
• Some sources recommend using a roller to press down the casts but over time, this can cause compaction of the soil.
• Keep castings outside where they can do some good. Put doormats outside all of your doors and use them!
• If you can’t remember to do that, sweep up worm castings that make it into your home with a hand held vacuum or broom and dump them in your potting mix! (That may sound silly, but worm castings sell for about $3.00 a pound and provide many valuable nutrients to your plants.)

Here are some more posts about the value of earthworms:

Earthworms: Wriggling Wonders of the Garden

Recycled Worm Info

Saving Electricity Helps Save Water - Saving Water Helps Save Electricity

Here's a good reminder for all of us: Saving electricity helps save water.
And saving water helps save electricity.

A recent article on Blue Living Ideas explained why saving electricity helps to save water.

Saving water directly is an important way to conserve, but did you know that electricity uses billions of gallons of water every year? Coal-fired and nuclear power plants use water. LOTS of water. 

In order to keep the power plant from overheating, utility companies pump in water to cool things off. The average coal power plant uses between 3500 and 28,000 gallons of water to produce a megawatt hour of electricity. That adds up to billions of gallons of water every single year! When you use electricity, you’re indirectly using water, and by cutting your energy use, you can help reduce water use at power plants.

But, saving water ALSO saves electricity. Here is some information from the EPA's Drops to Watts campaign:

Although most people understand that heating water requires energy, they don't always consider the energy it takes to treat and deliver the water they use. In 2005, the nation's municipal water infrastructure consumed about 56 billion kilowatt hours of electricity—that's enough energy to power more than 5 million homes for an entire year. Plus, as the demand for water grows, water utilities must pump water from more distant and deeper sources, which, in turn, requires even more energy. 

Conversely, while it takes vast amounts of energy to run our water infrastructure, it also takes vast amounts of water to cool power plants that generate our electricity. About half of the water gathered in the United States from surface and groundwater sources is used to cool power plants. On average, each kilowatt-hour generated requires approximately 0.2 to 0.3 gallons of water.

I think I'm getting pretty good about learning to save water. I use rain barrels around my home and I keep a container in my sink to rinse cans and plates rather than running the water. You can see more ways that I conserve water, especially in my landscape, by reading some of the Water Conservation posts on this blog.

But I know I still have a ways to go when it comes to saving electricity. One way I save is by pre-drying some of my clothes after I wash them. I put them on hangers and let them drip dry in the garage or back yard to get most of the moisture out. Then they need much less time in the dryer to get the job done and to tumble some of the wrinkles out. I think I will head over to EnergySavers.gov to find some more ideas.

But what about you? What are some of the ways that you save electricity and water around your home? I'd love to hear them!

My Garden Mission Statement - First, Do No Harm

"If you don't set your goals based upon a clearly defined mission statement, you may find yourself following a path that doesn't take you where you thought you were going." From leadership-tools.com

Every business seems to have a mission statement these days - a statement that spells out the values and goals the business hopes to achieve. I think mission statements are a great practice, not just for businesses but for most aspects of life. They can help you to keep anything on track - your relationship, your family and even your landscaping.

A mission statement should guide the actions of the people involved, spell out the overall goals, provide a path and guide the decision making.

Back in December of 2008, fellow garden blogger Helen Yoest put out the call, encouraging gardeners to write their own garden mission statement. She said:

For the new year, I suggest you give your garden some deep thought. By doing so, you help to not only identify yourself in relation to your garden, but elevate your garden’s status by naming it and then to concisely describing it by giving it a mission statement. Next time someone asks you to describe your garden, you can do so in a very concise manner.

I love Helen's own garden mission statement.  

Helen Yoest's GARDEN MISSION STATEMENT  

Helen’s Haven is a sustainable wildlife habitat, created to attract and feed birds, bees, butterflies and for the enjoyment of friends, family, and visitors to educate, enjoy, and to understand we are the earth’s caretakers, so let’s take care.

Back in 2008, my garden mission statement probably would have been almost identical to Helen's. Since then, mine has gotten shorter....more succinct.

My garden mission statement now is simply this: First, do no harm.

When taking care of my yard, my mission is to not pollute, not waste water, not displace wildlife and not destroy anything that would probably be here if I wasn't. Of course, there are lots and lots of ways I do that. You can read some of them here in my post about Bare Naked Gardening or learn many more by following this blog.

But I'd love to hear from some of you and hear what your Garden Mission Statement is. Does your garden have a name? Do you have a specific mission or vision for your gardens? Do you garden for food, beauty, exercise or some other reason? Please feel free to add your statement in the comments section below. I'd love to add it to this post, as well as a link to your garden blog, if you have one.

Thanks. And happy gardening.

Be sure and visit Helen Yoest's new and updated garden blog at: GardeningWithConfidence.com

No reason to be junkin' that punkin' - 18 ways to recycle pumpkins

If you love carving Halloween pumpkins, you have GOT to visit extremepumpkins.com and check out the FANSTASTIC carvings on the site. I know we will use that site for some inspiration before we do our carving this weekend.

We rarely get any trick-or-treaters at our home anymore, but my husband and I still always buy a pumpkin or two and carve some jack-o-lanterns. It’s fun, and it gives us something colorful and nutritious to add to our compost pile.

Compost, which is made of decomposed organic matter, makes a nutrient rich natural soil enhancer. Adding pumpkins to a compost pile also keeps them out of local landfills.

To speed along the process of decomposition, it is best to let your inner Halloween imp loose for a little pumpkin smashing.

Once they are smashed and bashed, toss them in your compost pile and layer with other organic materials such as shredded leaves, grass clippings and food scraps. Turn the pile from time to time and keep it moist, and by the time you are ready for your spring planting next year, you'll have some nutrient rich, home-made fertilizer to add to your planting beds.

For more information about creating compost, visit:
Composting 101 for DC Residents
Composting at Home
Composting
EPA Composting Site
Mastercomposter.com

If you haven't yet started your own compost pile, here are 17 other things that can be done with leftover pumpkin, gathered from various sites around the internet. I've provided links to the original content so you can get more info on the ideas that interest you.

1)Feed your old pumpkin to your pet - When cooked and mashed, pumpkin can be a fantastic natural digestive remedy for dogs and cats alike. A little mashed pumpkin can go a long way to treat diarrhea, weight gain, or infections in your pet, and they’ll probably appreciate the taste as well. (Source)

2) Donate it to the zoo - There are also many zoos which accept pumpkin donations and then feed them to their animals as local, seasonal treats (green, sustainable, organic zoo food!). Source: sustainablog (http://s.tt/13xJD)

3) Treat Your Skin - Pumpkin is full of rich vitamins, enzymes and even essential amino acids, all of which can benefit your skin. They also boast alpha-hydroxy acids that are known to decrease the appearance of wrinkles. Pop on over to this post to find out how to make a homemade face treatment. sustainablog (http://s.tt/13xJD)

4) Spice up your home - If you’re craving Thanskgiving already just for the scrumptious smell of fresh pumpkin pie, then you might want to make your own pumpkin pie potpourri. If your pumpkin is already hollowed and carved, you’re halfway there. If not, scoop it out clean and cut some small holes for venting. Rub cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice on the interior and insert cloves into the lid. Place a small tea candle inside and just wait for the delicious scent of warm pumpkin pie to start wafting through your home. Source: sustainablog (http://s.tt/13xJD)

5) Whip up some pumpkin purée - Pumpkin purée is the No. 1 use for the fleshy insides of your pumpkin, and it’s super easy to make. Find out how to make it here: Souce: Earth911  

6) Make a pumpkin planter - A pumpkin can make a beautiful centerpiece or front step adornment when used as a flower pot or vase. The photo on this post will inspire you to make your own: Source: ahamodernliving  

7) Roast the seeds - Roasted pumpkin seeds are a tasty fall favorite, and there are plenty of ways to use them. Reads this post to get the most from these tasty treats: Source: Earth911

8) Grow new pumpkins with the seeds - Source: How to Grow Your Own Pumpkins  

9) Feed the wildlife - Depending on where you live, a pumpkin you’d otherwise throw away could be a tasty snack for a furry or feathery neighbor. Old jack-o-lanterns are perfect food for deer, and any pumpkin seeds you don’t want to toast up for yourself will make a yummy treat for birds. Source: Earth911

10) Make a Pumpkin Bird Feeder Making a pumpkin bird feeder is a fun way to keep your backyard songstresses fed when temperatures begin to drop and food becomes a bit more scarce. To make a pumpkin bird feeder, select a pumpkin that is no more than about 5 pounds in weight. Cut it in half width-wise and thoroughly scrape out the goop so that the inside feels relatively dry to the touch. Leave a 1/2 inch wall on the pumpkin. Place the pumpkin seeds into this wall so that they stick up and form a ledge around the outside of the feeder.For more info: Source: ahamodernliving  

11) Make pumpkin candy - Pumpkin candy is a Mexican tradition, but when you discover just how tasty they are, you’ll likely make it one of yours, too. Find the recipe here: Source: Earth911  

12) Mix up a pumpkin cocktail- Thanks to the ever-widening selection of flavored vodkas on the market, you can make a tasty cocktail out of almost anything – even your Halloween pumpkin. While you enjoy your grown-up dessert drink, you can use some of that pumpkin purée in a tasty milkshake for the kids. Find recipes for both, here: Source: Earth911  

13) Pumpkin as a Cooler Since large, wide pumpkins are naturally bowl-shaped, they make great receptacles for beer, soda, and other bottled drinks. Choose a nice hefty pumpkin and begin by cutting off the top 1/3. Thoroughly scrape out all the goop and seeds. Next, place a glass or plastic bowl inside the pumpkin cavity. This is important to help prevent the pumpkin from getting waterlogged. If you do not have a bowl, smear Vaseline on the inside of the pumpkin, then cover it with plastic wrap. Fill the bowl with ice and bottled beverages of your choice. Source: ahamodernliving  

14) Another take on a beer cooler pumpkin If you’re feeling really ambitious, you can try your hand at this customized pumpkin beer cooler from Extremepumpkins.com. It would definitely make a good conversation topic for any fall party. Just be careful- because a huge pumpkin filled with ice is going to be pretty heavy!  

15) Pumpkin as a Stew - recipe available on ahamodernliving  

16) Make some pumpkin serving bowls - Instead of hitting the trash can, those pumpkin shells could be hitting the dinner table and impressing all of your guests. Turning your pumpkin shells into festive serving bowls is easy. Source: Earth911  

17) Have pumpkin butter with breakfast - Fruit butters are delectable additions to a fall breakfast, and pumpkin butter is one of the easiest to make. Recipe on Source: Earth911

There are many more recipes for cooking with pumpkin on the page on OpenSalon.com

Have fun! And have a safe, happy and FUN Halloween.

Nightmares for Nature Nerds

I woke up in the middle of the night the other evening having a nightmare. In it, someone was chasing a hummingbird around my yard with a can of bug spray, trying to kill it. I was yelling and screaming at the person, trying to get them to realize the horrible thing they were doing.

The dream was a pretty good reflection of my life. I spend a lot of time trying to encourage people to be a little more aware of how their actions impact all of the living things in their gardens.

But like most dreams, there was something that had put the thought of dead hummingbirds into my mind, where it found its way into my dreams.

Last week, I found some photos on someone's blog of a hummingbird flying to a feeder where a large praying mantis was sitting. It was on the Birds 'N Such Blog, created by Alan Pulley of Norfolk Virginia.

I began reading the post, about how he was watching the hummingbird fly up towards the mantis, and already my mind was screaming "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

Well, you all probably know how much I love hummingbirds. They are like tiny little flying miracles to me. They bring me joy every time I see one. AND, I knew that praying mantises can eat hummingbirds.

I know it seems hard to believe, but its true. After first reading that statement, years ago, I did some online research and found both photos and videos of praying mantises killing hummingbirds.

That is one reason I never mention Praying Mantises as  beneficial insects, even though they are great at devouring a lot of bad insects in our yards. The unpleasant truth is, they don't stop with insects and will be happy to kill a beautiful little hummingbird if given the opportunity.

The whole thought of it is so sad to me, that I'm not  going to provide any links to  the many gory photos you can on-line. Feel free to search for praying mantis and hummingbirds if you want. But some of the photos are bad enough to cause nightmares for real nature nerds.

It's just another reminder  that you really have to be careful of everything you do in your yard and garden. Alan  made the choice of relocating his feeder. The last time I found a praying mantis, I made the choice of moving the mantis. In any case, no matter how you do it, I encourage you to watch out for the critters! As an eco-friendly gardener, the responsibility comes with the territory.

Now I need to figure out what the nightmare I had about hawks being trapped in my attic was all about. At least it wasn't bats in my belfry.

Related Post: Gardening for Hummingbirds

Weeds Are Like Belly Fat

It's always fun to find a fellow blogger who puts a new, interesting slant on an eco-friendly gardening technique. So I got a kick out of a post that I found on Sprinkler Juice called How to Kill Weeds. In it, the writer compares weeds to belly fat and mentions that getting rid of both of them require time and discipline.

Weeds really are like belly fat. No matter how hard you try (or think you are trying), both of them keep coming back. You work and work for HOURS and they find a way to creep back into your life. 

You try new things, you spend money on new products, and you might see some results for a few days but then suddenly.. 

they're back. 

And you start over. Pretty soon you become depressed and start blaming yourself because surely you must be doing something wrong, right? You start thinking that maybe you are just not good enough. You were never meant to have a flat stomach or a weed-free lawn. 

This leads to you eventually giving up, quitting. Throwing your hands up and saying, "Forget it! I'm not even going to care anymore because nothing I do is good enough!"

Getting Rid of Weeds is Easier than Getting Rid of Stomach Fat

The key is making time and setting up a routine. Just like exercise, you have to do it consistently in order for it to make any difference at all. But the thing about exercise is that it needs it to be a daily ritual. Starting out, it probably won't hurt to work on your lawn a little bit each day but once you get to the point to where you're just keeping it weed-free, you're looking at once, maybe twice a week tops.

Once a Week

Be strict with yourself. The obvious time for yard care is Saturday morning. Tell yourself that every Saturday at 7am, you are going to be out in the yard picking some weeds. Pick and pull until they're all gone. If you are doing it consistently each Saturday, there is no way you are going to find yourself up to your neck in weed problems. 

The best way to kill weeds is doing so with the environment in mind. Here are some Eco-Friendly Options For Weed Control:

• Hand Pulling - More of that in a minute.
• Boiling Water - For weeds in sidewalks, driveways etc, you can pour boiling water directly on the weed.
• Corn Gluten Meal
• Solarization
• Hand Torches
• Mulch

Picking Weeds By Hand 

If you have a few weeds popping up here and there in your flower bed or around your yard, the best thing you can do is take the time to pull the weeds, one by one, by hand. Get down and dirty and make sure you pull up the roots. 

The nice thing about picking weeds by hand is that you see the results instantly. With weed killers you don't really know if it's going to work and even when it does work, it doesn't work right away. 

Pulling weeds can be a relaxing and meditative exercise. Turn on some music that puts you in a good mood and lose yourself in pulling weeds. Don't think about how terrible and nasty they are for ruining your yard. Think about how much joy it brings you to kill them! Click here to read the rest of the post.

Here are some of my previous posts about eco-friendly weed control methods.

Please Don't Poison My Planet

Zen and the Art of Landscape Maintenance

Changing Your Relationship With Weeds

AND, here's one that might help anyone with a belly-fat problem!

Health Benefits of Eco-Friendly Landscaping

Ideas for a Green DC

I saw this article on Paisajismo (a landscape magazine) the other day:

Washington, D.C. leadership has requested input from a range of organizations as it develops a new “unified vision” and “comprehensive framework” for a more sustainable Washington, D.C. The end goal: to connect sustainability with economic development and become the number-one, most sustainable city in North America. Washington, D.C. is currently ranked eighth in a recent Economist Intelligence Unit report sponsored by Siemens.

As part of this process, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) polled members from its Potomac, Northern Virginia, and Southern Maryland chapters and incorporated their input into a set of bold recommendations in the priority areas identified by the city government.

There are a lot of great ideas in the list. My only comment is that, as always, most of the ideas seem to be geared more towards business and government rather than what the average property owner can accomplish from their own homes and yards. However, the report does reiterate many of the ideas that green gardeners follow, such as re-using water, using trees for shade, using native plants and providing spaces for wildlife in our own home landscapes.

Anyway, here are some  of the ideas from the American Society of Landscape Architects for a Sustainable DC.  You can read the full report by following the link, above.

If you want more ideas for how you, personally, can create a more sustainable DC, subscribe to the Metro DC Lawn and Garden Blog!

Energy: Reuse brownfields as solar energy farms. Through revised building codes and local tax incentives, expand use of smart tree placement and green roofs and walls. Reduce building energy use through green infrastructure. Incentivize the use of rooftop solar panels.

Climate Change / Mitigation: Reduce total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by expanding urban park land, further improving bike and pedestrian infrastructure, incentivizing the growth in the number of bicycle and pedestrian commuters, creating highly walkable pedestrian-only areas, and introducing new innovative forms of public space such as parklets and underpass parks.

Climate Change / Adaptation: Increase coverage of street trees for shade and expand use of green and cool (white) roofs in order to adapt to higher average temperatures along with more varied temperature fluctuations within the District. Improve building and landscape water efficiency measures. Develop resiliency plans for Washington, D.C.’s plant and animal life within parks and green spaces, including the introduction of wildlife migration corridors and heat and drought-tolerant plants.

Water:  Use Sustainable Site Initiative™ (SITES™) guidelines to improve water efficiency measures, require the use of appropriate plant species in public and residential landscapes, and enable rainwater capture and filtered or treated greywater (and even blackwater) reuse for landscape irrigation.  In addition, approve the use of rainwater cisterns for irrigation of green roofs and other green infrastructure. Improve the permeability of the District’s park surfaces and their ability to capture and store water. Create multi-use infrastructure, or rain gardens or bio-retention systems in District parks, turning them into green infrastructure and water treatment systems. Continue to expand urban tree canopy and preserve larger trees to manage stormwater runoff.  As part of a public education campaign, parks and public green space should follow the highest water efficiency standards.

Transportation: Expand bike and pedestrian infrastructure. Create safe bicycle infrastructure. Connect the Metro system with bike infrastructure and bikeshare stations.  Incentivize the growth in the number of bicycle and pedestrian commuters. Create highly walkable pedestrian-only areas, and introduce new innovative forms of public space such as parklets and underpass parks.

Waste: Set clear, ambitious targets and deadlines for achieving zero waste in the District and measure progress against targets. Ensure all building materials are reused in new buildings (if the materials are non-hazardous). Use Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) guidelines for park maintenance and eliminate grounds waste generated from Washington, D.C., parks through composting.

Built Environment: Invest in turning more brownfields into parks.  Develop an Internet-accessible inventory of all brownfields in the city to enable easier remediation and redevelopment of derelict sites by local developers. Create a certification program for remediated brownfields to facilitate faster reuse. Invest in retrofitting older school buildings to make them LEED Platinum and also integrate green school redesign activities into school curricula.

Nature: Develop a biodiversity and environmental education action plan based on the concept of biophilia. Recreate wetlands along riverfront edges and reintroduce native wildlife. Reduce the mortality rate of trees and extend their lifespan by enabling them to grow in larger tree pits with structural soils and under permeable pavements. Use appropriate trees grown locally for urban forestry campaigns. Experiment with growing trees in park nurseries.

Food: Develop a comprehensive urban agriculture plan. Evaluate all available empty lots (including brownfield sites) as potential opportunities for commercial and community urban agriculture. Allow local residential food production.  Allow and also increase tax incentives for rooftop food production.

Green Economy: Invest in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure improvement projects to boost job growth. Use green infrastructure systems, including green roofs, to increase number of local, non-exportable green jobs. Launch a comprehensive green jobs program, training chronically unemployed and former convicts in brownfield remediation, green roof installation, and other tasks. Launch a national campaign in an effort to lure the best green talent to the District.

Governance: Organize watershed councils at the local level and appoint ward-level sustainability advocates to help implement and align SustainableDC initiatives. Use Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) guidelines as a management tool for achieving high-performing landscapes across the district.