Green Spaces Competition

This year, the James River Green Building Council held their annual green spaces competition for the design of 34 acres of a 44 acre plot of land just East of Shockoe bottom and South of Church Hill. The competition event kicked off May 27th with a competition community forum, and will continue for the entire month of June as the entries will be on display at Gallery 5, starting this Friday, June 4th for Art Walk.

The vision for the Accessible Sustainable Integrated Community (ASIC) designed by myself, Jordan Starbuck, Leyla Peachy, and Jia Yan was a mix of recreational, retail, and mixed-income housing space. The focus was on a space that would be accessible and usable to all regardless of physical ability, income, ethnicity, or age. Key features include LEED certified buildings, with rain water and compost collection that would feed and water the surrounding urban farm and community gardens. The space would be an attraction for all ages, with many outdoor gathering spaces, nature trails, outdoor exercise equipment and activities, a community center, skateboard park, and bike rental/repair/storage/showers. We wanted to leave as much in-tact natural forest as possible, taking care to build structures in areas already open and cleared of trees. We wanted a space that people could feel proud to call home, which would be accomplished by involving them in the building of their own homes (through organizations like habitat for humanity) and community gardens. This would foster a sense of belonging and self-ownership of the space, which would help to improve space maintenance, reduce litter and graffiti, and reduce crime in general.

Bayscaping at VCU this Saturday!

This Saturday, April 24, 2010, volunteer gardeners like you will be completing the first of three projects designed to improve water quality of the James River and Chesapeak Bay in Richmond, Virginia. Every time it rains in Richmond, VA (and many other cities worldwide) the storm water treatment system is overwhelmed, discarding untreated waste water into nearby rivers, lakes, and bays. This means that every cigarette butt, every piece of litter, all of the oil slick and asphalt chemicals, and all the pesticides and fertilizers used in yards citywide are being dumped into the James River and Chesapeake Bay.

Bayscaping (Chesapeake Bay + Landscaping) helps reduce, slow, and treat storm water run-off being discarded into local waterways. The idea is to replace select areas of turf, ivy, cement, asphalt, etc. with native plants, which are able to absorb a significant amount of the runoff, reduce the flow rate of waste water, and filter the waste water before the water makes it into the storm drains. Native plants are adapted to their specific climate and environment, making them tolerant to the water conditions or droughts of the local area. Besides less watering, they require less maintenance, little to no fertilizer, and little to no pesticides, making them an ideal choice for economical and chemical-free landscaping.

You can be a volunteer gardener at VCU! Come out for an hour or two, or stay the whole day.

Day: Saturday, April 17, 2010
Time: 9:00am - 3:00pm
Location: Trani Life Science Building
Street: 1000 W. Cary St.
City/Town: Richmond, VA

MCV Green Unity Makes It's Debut

Tomorrow, April 21st from 11AM-3PM is the 1st annual Earth Day celebration on MCV campus at VCU, and I hope you will all come by to say hello! My friends and colleagues Jia, Leyla, and I will have a table at the event promoting the new MCV chapter of Green Unity, a student sustainability club. We are looking for students, staff, faculty, and community members who want to improve sustainability practices at VCU and the community to put their thoughts and ideas of a sustainable future into action. Whether you have been a long time environmental advocate, or are new to sustainability, MCV Green Unity is the place for us to dream and scheme together to make our world a little better one step at a time. We are giving out one free vegetable plant: tomato, pepper, or cucumber, to the first 200 individuals to sign up for our email list and fill out a bicycle survey.

Special thanks to Strange's Garden Centers for their generous donation of vegetable plants!!!

We will also be doing free face painting for anyone who signs up and fills out a survey. You can also enter for the chance to win one of four Green Unity T-shirts, made of recycled cotton!

MCV Green Unity wants to follow in the footsteps of the Monroe Park campus club, and take on exciting projects like Bayscaping (more on this later), rain gardens. green roofs, and increasing access to recycling on campus. We also hope to partner with the other club to establish a Green Mile between the two campuses, which would be a trash-free corridor with a bike path and Bayscaping. Email me or ask me in person about the Green Mile project to learn more! Have a great idea of your own? Now's the time to put it into action by joining Green Unity.