“If you see a problem and feel that something should be done about it, and you look around and you see that no one else is doing anything - you’re elected.”-Nick Carter, 1997 Goldman Prize winner, Zambia Two years ago, neighbors across Contra Costa County saw a problem: there was no standardized method to test and share the water quality data in the County’s creeks. They decided to do something about it. I joined a small group of volunteers began meeting monthly to share experience, methods and equipment, with the goal of standardizing volunteer monitoring throughout the county. This …
Ebb & Flow
The Newsletter of The Watershed Project
Help us celebrate a new bioswale and cleaner, healthier watersheds!
When I moved to the Bay Area 25 years ago, every school campus that I saw had playgrounds that were completely paved. I was struck by how stark these playgrounds looked with no natural places for kids to play on and the rainwater pooling on the pavement. There had to be another way to design our schools. I became committed to learning about rain gardens and rainwater catchment, and the potential for these projects to serve as examples to the larger community. We need to start to unpave our playgrounds and sidewalks so we can bring back nature to our cities. Help us reach our 20th …
Bubbles & Bivalves: Thank you for celebrating with us!
By Lauren Woodfill Surrounded by our incredible community of friends, partners, alumni, funders, volunteers and fellow watershed enthusiasts, we toasted our 20th year with Bubbles & Bivalves at the David Brower Center! It was truly special to celebrate with the people who have been part of our watershed movement for the past 20 years, and we hope for many more to come. We raised $20,000 at the event, thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, donors and silent auction winners. Many thanks to sponsors Franklin and Michal Crawford-Zimring and Recurrent Energy, LLC, without whom the …
Little Changes Make Big Impacts: The Power of Choice
By Calvin Abbott After a long day of working outside or maybe just a walk in the park you may swing by a store and buy a plastic water bottle. After drinking it you drop it in a recycling bin, pat yourself on the back and continue on with your life. But what happens to the plastic you just used? Fortunately the bottle is #1 plastic, so it is recycled, but the cap is # 5, which is not recyclable in the US. Out of the 7 kinds of plastic we produce, only #1 and 2 are recycled in this country. This isn’t because the technology for this doesn’t exist, but because the technology used in the US is …
Internship Opening: Wild Oysters Spring 2018
Have you ever wanted to explore our Bay ecosystems? Dive into environmental education? Don waders and engage in citizen science and oyster restoration? Our Wild Oyster internship is an incredible opportunity to get your feet wet and learn about exciting environmental careers, working alongside talented environmental professionals. Wild Oysters interns will have the opportunity to support both the The Watershed Project’s successful Wild Oysters education program and our Wild Shorelines restoration project. Interns will participate in: Citizen science during oyster monitoring events …
What’s in Your Watershed: Magnificent Maples
By Lauren Woodfill With autumn in full swing and cool, rainy weather beginning, we are blessed to see the transformation of foliage from spring greens to sun kissed yellow to deep oranges and reds. Some of the most colorful and vibrant autumn leaves comes from the bigleaf maples (Acer macrophyllum). Found in parks, backyards and even sidewalks, chances are, you have enjoyed their shade and crunched through their leaves this autumn. The Bay Area, and California in general, is not known for fall foliage, but while our autumn colors might not rival those on the East Coast, don’t tell that …
Bubbles & Bivalves: Celebrate 20 years on November 8th
By Lauren Woodfill Oysters, sustainable hor d’oeuvres, live music, silent auction, wine? Sounds like a great night out! Join us at Berkeley’s David Brower Center on November 8th for Bubbles & Bivalves and help us celebrate our 20th Anniversary! We are so thrilled to have the opportunity to come together with friends, supporters, and fellow environmental leaders who are passionate about making our Bay more resilient, and who know how to have a great time while doing so! Bubbles & Bivalves is a fun event that gives back to our community, making our incredible programming possible …
Creative Placemaking on the Richmond Greenway
By Sharon Gibbons and Lauren Woodfill The Richmond Greenway is blooming - not only with new growth of plants and trees, but with vibrant and place-based art, depicting love for this special space and inspired by the community activism nurturing this park. We are honored to collaborate with such creative artists on the Greenway, and to hear about their emerging projects: My name is Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez and the title of my Unity Park mural is "Richmond Dances and Grows." I am a Richmond working artist, who has lived in Richmond for 12 years. In my Unity Park mural, I was assisted by …