Green Tips

Want to see how you can make your home more efficient?  Green Iowa AmeriCorps is currently doing free energy audits in Polk, Dallas, and Jasper counties.  We reached out to the staff, which is based out of the Center for Environmental Education at the University of Northern Iowa.  They are operating and trying to do as many audits as they can before summer, so contact them soon if you are interested.

The information below is from their website:

“A Home Energy Audit is the first step in assessing how much energy a home consumes and evaluating what measures can be taken to make the home more efficient. These are always free to everyone and open to the public.

Through our energy audit process, we focus on the three C’s of weatherization: Cost, Comfort, and Conservation. Whether you’re interested in reducing utility costs, creating more comfortable living spaces, or conserving our natural resources, our weatherization services can help! Members of Green Iowa AmeriCorps undergo training and earn Building Analyst Professional certification from the Building Performance Institute (BPI). Armed with this training, our service teams assess a home’s efficiency, evaluates problem areas, and seeks potential solutions.”

How can I move away from pesticide use on my lawn? Check out the Good Neighbor Iowa website.  You will find helpful information such as a natural lawn care calendar that has tips like these for April:

· Apply corn gluten, a natural herbicide, to prevent weed seeds from germinating

· Fill in bare spots with a 50/50 mix of compost and soil, before you add grass seed

· Apply compost tea Another helpful website is Midwest Grows Green which is based out of Madison, Wisconsin.

You can purchase inexpensive yard signs indicating your choice to be pesticide free, such as these at Good Neighbor Iowa.

Did you know that your city may offer you up to $1500 in a grant match for initiatives at your residence that reduce stormwater run-off?  Possible examples are rain barrels, soil restoration, rain gardens, native landscaping, permeable pavement, and downspout redirecting.  This initiative is called The Rain Campaign, and you can get more information at raincampaign.org  Once you are on the website, scroll down and you will see that twelve metro Des Moines cities participate, in addition to the Polk County Soil and Water Conservation District.

SAVE the DATE for a talk on water quality in Iowa given by Chris Jones, on the evening of AUGUST 26^th right here at First Unitarian.  This event is being co-sponsored by Green Sanctuary Team and Central Iowa Sierra Club.  Dr. Jones is a retired research engineer with expertise in agriculture, the environment, and water.  He is also the author of The Swine Republic: Struggles with the Truth about Agriculture and Water Quality.  In addition to the talk by Dr. Jones, there will be a silent auction to benefit a central Iowa non-profit working on water quality; the recipient will be announced in a later installment of Green Tips.  If you would like to assist with this event by working in the kitchen or at the silent auction tables, soliciting businesses for donations, or providing a donation yourself, please contact us! Green Sanctuary is excited about this event, and hope that you are, too!