Home developers take a step in the right direction

"Home project takes green to another level" - by Onell Soto, Union Tribune

At a new home development now going up in Carlsbad, the gutters run into big plastic buckets shaped to look like terra cotta vases.
Homeowners will be expected to use a hose attached to the buckets to water the drought-tolerant landscaping — which is included in the purchase price.
It’s a little thing, collecting rainwater, but it’s a sign of the steps that Brookfield Homes has taken to build homes that use less water and less energy. The company has spent the last two years coming up with ways to green up its first development since last decade’s housing boom.
The goal is to tap into a growing ecological mindset in the marketplace, said Stephen Doyle, who oversees Brookfield’s operations in San Diego and Riverside counties.

Read the rest of the article here: LINK

Oh the Insanity!!!

World Water Day marked the premiere of Surfrider's new short film, the Cycle of Insanity, as well as the official kickoff of the Know Your H2O and Ocean Friendly Gardens Programs.

The animated 20 minute film addressed with humor and clarity the differences between the water cycle as we learn it in elementary school and the much darker and more complicated water cycle that really brings water into our homes and landscapes.

Funny and sometimes scary the film easily slides from runoff pollution to desalination to rain barrels and, in SchoolHouse Rock style, presents in layman's terms all of the problems and solutions that must be addressed with our current water cycle.

Click here to view this must see film: http://vimeo.com/10328536

Or you can access it through Surfrider San Diego's website at: http://www.surfridersd.org/

ALSO: Stay tuned for more info on OFG's NEW series of garden workshops starting April 7th or click here for more info and to sign up!! http://www.surfridersd.org/ofg.php

World Water Day Events

Since the major driving influence behind the OFG campaign is water conservation (which in turn leads to less polluted runoff running into our oceans) we wanted to share with you some of the upcoming events related to World Water Day (03.22.10)

• Saturday the 20th the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation will host their 4th annual WWD Festival which will include native plant giveaways and a garden tour, Wetlands and Watersheds models, and other water and waterconservation related exhibits. The Festival runs from 10am-4pm at the Lagoon Discovery Center in Carlsbad.Check here for more info: http://www.aguahedionda.org
• Monday the 22nd (World Water Day!) Surfrider's new short film THE CYCLE OF INSANITY will premiere at The Loft at UCSD. The premise of the film is that the water cycle we all learned about in the 4th grade has been dramatically altered over time, leaving us with a broken system that wastes water and energy, pollutes our natural waterways, harms critical marine life, and poorly deals with flooding and other water management problems. There will be three showings (4pm, 6pm, and 7:30 pm) and you are encouraged to attend any or all three! For more info and directions go to: http://www.surfridersd.org/water.php