November 19, 2008 at 11:23 am (LC, Sustainable Solutions, Water)
The issue that really hits home for me is water conservation. I am from New Mexico so we don’t get very much rain, ever! Yes I have seen snow (although most people are very surprised by this) but as a whole the southwestern region of the United States is drying up. The average rainfall in New Mexico is around 12 inches or less per year.
In New Mexico we conserve water, but places like Kansas and really wet (or rich) places seem to take water conservation for granted. Something that the University of Kansas can do is to have more efficient toilets, showerheads, and faucets in all of the dormitories and Greek housing. I personally love the beautiful landscaping and gardens that we have around campus, but I am sure we can have more efficient water use when it comes to lawn care and gardening. We don’t have to go as far as xeriscape, like we have in New Mexico, but just conserving even a little can help in the long run. We can still have the nice landscape but instead filled with many beautiful shrubs and plants that thrive with far less water than other species. Also I always see the lawns being watered when it’s really windy, or being watered too much and the water is running down the street. Shorter and better-watched watering times would help a lot too.
I know it is not a huge issue in Kansas, but it could be one day, so maybe the University of Kansas could start headstrong on this and lead our way to a brighter, wetter future.
- Julie
Editor’s Note: This post is one in a series published by students in the Sustainability Learning Community at KU. Additional posts from this series can be found under “LC” on the Categories list.
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November 19, 2008 at 11:09 am (Green Building, LC, Sustainable Solutions, Water)
Campus gardens are beautiful. There is no argument there. It seems as though some kind of flowering plant is always in bloom, no matter what season. It’s here that the problem arises. Sustainable gardens incorporate plants and flowers native to the area. They flourish in their native environments, requiring little if no maintenance, fertilizer, and extra water. Sustainable gardens also include perennial flowers that do not need to be reseeded.
Looking around KU, I have seen many people working hard in the various gardens, shoveling fertilizers and compost into gardens, digging up dead annual flowers, and watering existing plants. With the size of campus, and the number of gardens that can be found, I really wonder how much time and money are wasted on these not so “green” gardens. Furthermore, I am also curious about the affects of the fertilizer on campus. Could this be contributing to the nasty surface scum on Potter Lake? I think so. If you are familiar with the Potter Lake Project, students working to make it less of an eyesore also reported it to be polluted last year. Or even just how much water we are wasting irrigating those flowers.
I can turn the water off while I brush my teeth for the rest of my life and it won’t even come close to the gallons of water KU would save with sustainable gardens. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that KU has taken steps for a more sustainable existence. But I think that we can do more. If we convert the unsustainable gardens as KU to gardens that integrate native plants, perennial flowers, and plants that attract insects beneficial to the environment, KU could save time, money, and most of all, the environment.
- Taylor
Editor’s Note: This post is one in a series published by students in the Sustainability Learning Community at KU. Additional posts from this series can be found under “LC” on the Categories list.
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November 19, 2008 at 10:56 am (Green Building, LC, Sustainable Solutions, Waste Reduction & Recycling, Water)
I am a huge proponent of xeriscaping. Many people don’t know what it is, so I’ll define it as Webster does: xeriscape is defined as a landscaping method developed especially for arid and semiarid climates that utilizes water-conserving techniques (as the use of drought-tolerant plants, mulch, and efficient irrigation). Basically, its returning the environment in your front lawn to what the environment would have been like before your house was there. I have been in the landscaping business for about four years, and have had enough experience to completely verify all of these statements. The basis of the argument for the use of xeriscape is that “turf” lawns require fertilizer, extra irrigation, and gas extensive maintenance. With the use of native plants, it eliminates the need for fertilizer and irrigation, and drastically reduces the need for maintenance. In southern Florida, there was a law put into place that made a lenient form of xeriscape mandatory. They found that this simple form of xeriscape reduced the water use for irrigation by half. The other benefits, of course, being less water pollution due to the negated need for fertilizer. The air will also be much cleaner, due not only to reduced gas consumption, but also because bushes and trees produce much more oxygen than turf grass. Here in Lawrence, I see many houses that run irrigation systems every day. They are being run to support these really thirsty lawns of fescue grass that, in reality, should not be used as a turf grass in any other place than Seattle. The use of xeriscaping in Lawrence could improve the water and fertilizer consumption greatly. In short, xeriscaping will provide a better local ecosystem and will be more naturally beautiful.
- Dan
Editor’s Note: This post is one in a series published by students in the Sustainability Learning Community at KU. Additional posts from this series can be found under “LC” on the Categories list.
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