 This is John C. and I want to tell you about my roles with Sustain Greenville. I conduct the search and procurement of barrels that are then converted to rain barrels and made available to Village residents. I also coordinate the annual Electronic Recycling event that is held the first Wednesday of August at the Farm Market in Greenville. I am the Greenville representative on the Sustainable Community Network (SCN) of the Fox Cities. This group includes representatives from area Municipalities and organizations to share ideas, learn from other sustainablists, and spread news about sustainable practices. I have researched and procured bike repair stations for the local trails and am coordinating their installation with the Village. I have also participated in the light bulb collection drives, holiday light & wire collection event, and the farm market. I enjoy being a part of Sustain Greenville because I feel I am making a local impact--we are applying the "small steps" concept to the broader issue. I also enjoy being a part of this team because we respect that all are busy and are conscious of conducting events that fit our lives.
0 Comments
Hello. My name is John Conrad, and I have been a member of Sustain Greenville for approximately 14 years. I joined this volunteer organization with the objective to influence Village leadership to adopt and recommend improved environmental stewardship practices, and to inform residents of small steps that individuals can implement to improve the health of the environment for future generations. I have always enjoyed being outside rather than inside; everything from watching a thunderstorm, to seeing the renewal of "green growth" every spring, to watching the beauty of fall. Spending summers on my grandparents' farm taught me the power and beauty of Mother Nature, and occasionally how quickly humans can negatively impact that beauty. And I have always had a passion for trees--their size, color, variety, durability, shade, leaf piles (for jumping in the fall). My internal drive is that I strongly feel it is my responsibility to "leave things a little better than when I came." I want my kids and grandkids to see and appreciate the beauty that I have seen. It takes more effort, but future generations deserve what I have enjoyed. More about me in the coming weeks!  Rain barrels are vessels to collect water that runs off your roof into the gutters and away from your house. An average roof has over 600 gallons of water runoff for every inch of rain! They are easy to care for and are wonderful for watering your indoor and outdoor plants. We have 3 at this time - 2 attached to the gutters in the back of the house (where most of the watering occurs) and one very large one attached to the gutters on our tool shed. We have painted to match the color of our house which has held up quite well. We have had ours for quite some time and they work very well. Last year we enjoyed fresh rainwater for our garden even with the lack of rain we had. We have a device that works to send the water into the barrel when it is not full and to bypass and send down the gutter when the barrel is full (and into our rain garden). The large one off of our shed manages to keep our veggie garden watered all year long mostly by gravity into drip irrigation but we do have a pump powered by solar panels if needed. What I have found: Easy to care for with minimal work with immense returns! After we placed the barrels, we just close the spigot in the spring once we are sure the entire barrel will not freeze. In the fall, we open the spigot so that the barrel does not split. That easy. The indoor plants do so much better when I switch back to the rain barrel water in the spring. We also have to hook up the drip irrigation every spring but still easy and better for the plants than overhead watering.  Why they are good for the environment: The most obvious benefit to giving your plants rainwater and not the water that has been through the water softener or processed with chlorine is it is so much better for your plants. Many people use it to wash windows or vehicles. You’ll save money on your water bill. Even if you have a well, you are not paying for the electricity to pump that water up and risk drying up your well. Something that you may not think of, however, is that it prevents downstream runoff and flooding. We tend to think, “Not on my property, not my problem” but when water runs off our property it can pick up that fertilizer you or your neighbor downstream put on the grass, the bacteria from dog poop, road salts that build up, and other hazardous debris and it becomes the village’s problem which in the end costs the taxpayers money. These pollutants get into our waterways and can affect aquatic animal life which can then affect humans. It may not seem like a lot having 1 or 2 barrels on your property, but even if half of the residents participate in this, it will make a huge difference!
Where to find: One can find them all over the place. Even Sustain Greenville sells them! The diverters for the gutters are readily available at local retailers and online. They can be painted with paint you can also get where you found the diverters. Other: I love my rain barrels and each year in the latter part of winter I am always wondering when I can close the spigot and start collecting again. We have a closed system so no worries about mosquitos. You can paint to match your house or get creative and get the kids involved! Pictures of our rain barrels. We have since changed the color of our house and one of our projects is to repaint them! The large one we do not paint - not needed! Thanks for joining me and learning all about my favorite sustainable things. Next up is Leanne! She has been a member of Sustain Greenville since its inception and has pretty much done every role. She will share her favorite sustainable activities! Stay tuned for Leanne!  This week I am going to discuss our family’s electric car. We chose a Volvo electric vehicle. Deciding on an electric car was a long process with a significant amount of research. We wanted a vehicle that was reasonably priced, had good distance, and had great reviews. I used several different websites to read reviews and make comparisons. What I found: All electric cars have the benefit of producing significantly lower emissions than gas-powered vehicles not just daily but for the lifetime of the vehicle. This means that they are emitting much less carbon and no pollution. I also don’t have to worry about changing the oil in my vehicle which saves me time and money. The car is amazingly quiet which helps to reduce noise pollution. Because we have a charger at home and we have solar, I not only do not have to pump gas in the rain or snow, but also I am using the power of the sun to power my car without the extra pollution from coal-burning electric plants. We like to travel to visit family from out of town. Sometimes we travel 4-5 hours. In order to do this with our electric car, we do have to plan ahead but it is not as hard as we had initially thought to find charging stations. Plus, when we stop, we can charge in about 20 minutes. This is about the same time as we would stop to get gas, get snacks/meals, and a bathroom break. We found that Volvo had some great deals and with me working in healthcare we had even more deals. Sweden is a country that is ahead of the game when it comes to preventing climate change and this is no different in their cars.  Why it is good for the environment: Less carbon, less pollution (both noise and smog), and no oil changes. There are some obvious downsides but for driving locally most are great and depending on where you are traveling you may be able to easily charge.
Other: I have driven the car in the snow and found that by having a dual motor, my car went through the snow without any problems. Where to find: We looked at several different models at several dealerships in the Fox Valley. We purchased off the lot at Bergstrom, but ordering was looking to be easy. The Nissan Aryia was merely a 6-week wait.  Hello! My name is Lisa, and I am the current president of the 100% volunteer-led Sustain Greenville. We are more than the Greenville Farmer’s Market and would like to show you. Over the next few months, we invite you to visit our website to learn more about the team AND to discover a new favorite sustainable activity each week. Each month, a different member will share their environmental aha’s. We’d love to hear what you think! April: Lisa - current president Hello, I am the current president of Sustain Greenville. During the day, I work in health care. I am married and we have several children. I have been a resident of Greenville for over 20 years and a Sustain Greenville (SGV) member for over 10 years. I enjoy being a part of SGV as I have learned so much about improving the environment and making changes that make a difference. One of my pet projects is the Christmas light and wire recycling program. I am proud that we have partnered with a recycling company that recycles every part of the wires. We collect from businesses all over our area to prevent these tons of material from ending in our landfills. Watch our website to see how we do each year!  My second topic is all about my family’s new rain garden! We planted this in the spring of 2023. Then we had a terrible drought! We worked with Emily Henrigillis AKA The Plant Gal LLC (wiplantgal.com) who helped us design a rain garden. She came to our house and did some calculations on what size garden we would need for the area we were planning on feeding with our gutters. We ordered most of our plants through the Wild Ones spring plant sale (https://foxvalleyarea.wildones.org) and some through Prairie Moon Nursery (Prairiemoon.com) for what we couldn’t get locally. When the plants arrived we had to get them into the ground quickly because it was such a warm and dry spring! My husband prepped the area by manually removing the sod and making some areas deeper. Planting was crazy! We have pure clay in our yard. There was not a bit of topsoil brought in when the house was built so digging was very difficult. We ended up purchasing a large drill bit to make the holes. My husband would dig the holes and our youngest daughter and I would plant the natives according to the plan. We had a lot of plants so the digging/planting process did take a few days. We planted over 100 plants! Good thing we have a well and solar to power the well because we had to water a lot at first but once they got established they started to look good. Surprisingly, we had many blooms the first year! What I found: The rain garden was quite a bit of work the first year but already was looking very nice by the end of the season. We had blooms early in the year and very late into the fall. I could not believe how many native bees and butterflies we would have at any given time. They never bother us either. Even the hummingbirds flocked to our garden. I am excited to pet a native bumble bee - I heard it’s a wonderful experience! The winter look of the garden was surprisingly beautiful. Why it is good for the environment: Natives are important to protect our native insects and birds. As we learned in our book club this year when we discussed “Nature’s Best Hope” by Douglas Tallamy, natives are a very important step in the food chain that if lost could affect humans in the way we live. Many of us understand that the Monarch butterflies need milkweed, but did you know that many birds, bees, butterflies, and even plants need each other to continue to survive as well? A rain garden takes the water from part of our roof and allows it to naturally filter down into the groundwater which prevents runoff and flooding. The plants have deep roots that purify the water. The plants also improve the soil in many ways which our soil needs! The plants are chosen because they have been here for many thousands of years and have evolved with the rest of the native creatures.  Other: I am excited to see how these plants develop over time and fill in the space. Native plants are billed as “maintenance free”, however, I feel there will still be some work to be done, but so much less than the annuals and non-native plants I have worked with in the past. I am looking forward to getting out to enjoy all the flying creatures who will hopefully make our yard their home because we have planted some natives. Also, I am looking forward to saving money on less mowing, less weed and feed, and saving time from a lot of mowing!
Our rain garden is not the end either! We have planted some other native gardens and some are hidden in plain sight. If you didn’t know it, you may not realize how much of our yard is native grasses, flowers, bushes, and trees. We are working on another native area in our backyard since most of our front yard is already native. We are slowly removing non-native turf grass so we will have much less area to mow - more time for ourselves! Don’t get me wrong - we are not 100% native nor probably ever will be! We have our vegetable garden and we fiercely fight with the rabbits to keep them out. I also enjoy the spring bulbs that I interplanted around the natives. But, with each area we plant more natives, we are seeing more birds and butterflies. I can’t wait to get the lightning bugs back! Where to find: I try to shop locally whenever I can! The Wild Ones plant sales are amazing! I also liked Prairie Moon. There are some native nursery stores in the area as well. It is hard to pick out natives from non-native plants. Even worse - the invasive plants! Do your homework and ask questions. We are happy to help with our limited knowledge. I’d love to hear where you find your natives! My garden is sleeping because as I write this it is snowing out. Hopefully, spring will be here soon and I will have some pictures to share. Know that you do not have to hire someone, nor does your native garden have to be large, any little bit helps! We would love to see your native plantings!  This first week I am discussing removing plastics from my shower. I have long, fine hair and sensitive skin. I have fallen in love with shampoo and conditioner bars. They clean and condition well without all the chemicals and extra weight that comes with standard bottles of shampoo and conditioner. They are a bit more expensive than the bottles, but since they last much longer, I am saving money. I have tried a few different brands and so far my favorite is The Earthling Co. No chemical ingredients, natural fragrance, sulfate-free, and climate neutral. There are many brands and many of them worked very well. What I have found: Great lather, clean hair without any residue, and lightly scented. I appreciate there is no plastic in the packing or the product. I also noted when I got some in my eyes, it was barely noticeable. Due to my fine hair, I needed something that would not weigh down my hair nor dry it out. I found this product worked! I had no skin irritation either. Because my hair is long, I avoid washing daily and found that between washes I don’t need to worry about oiliness! I no longer need a bottle of shampoo, conditioner, and co-wash. It is a good deal without any hype. Why is this good for the environment: When you buy bottles of shampoo and conditioner, you are purchasing the water and the plastic. Those items make the product heavier which contributes to increased carbon use to get from the manufacturer to your home. Things that weigh more use more fuel. Then when you finish the bottle, you have to rinse it to make it recyclable, wasting water. Next, you place it in your bin and a truck picks it up to bring it to the recycling plant. In addition, some plastics cannot be recycled and therefore add to our burden in the landfill. Landfill items take an extremely long time to decompose. Plastic is potentially shed from the bottles when you use them and added to the microplastics in our environment. Other products: I have switched out standard bars of soap or liquid body washes to a natural bar soap for the same reasons as above and found my skin to dry out less frequently and clean just as well if not better. While The Earthling Co. has a body bar which I liked, I usually purchase soaps made locally - even purchased at our farmer’s market! I am planning to switch to a shaving bar or just use my body bar. I’ve already found a good face bar from Spinster Sisters Co., although I could probably use my body bar here too. We’ve switched out our hand soap to a reusable glass bottle to make foaming hand soap. We purchase plastic-free tablets, add water from the tap and we are good to go! And, most recently, we purchased bamboo toilet paper from Who Gives a Crap. We just got it so we haven't tried it yet!
Where to find: I tried The Earthling Co, The Free Market (on WI Ave in Appleton), Lush (inside the Fox Cities Mall in Grand Chute but did not like the conditioner and that was the only thing I tried), local farmer’s markets, Target online, and Spinster Sisters Co. Of course, I am sure Amazon would be a good place too but be sure you are not getting something that has chemicals or is made in a country like China where things are not as regulated. Have fun! We would love to hear from those of you who have their plastic-free favorites for the bathroom or other rooms! |
|
Based in Greenville Wisconsin, Sustain Greenville is a volunteer organization that promotes eco-friendly activities that support a sustainable environment. We sponsor the Sustain Greenville Farmers’ Market and several recycling and educational events. You are invited and encouraged to get involved and participate!
|