TPCHD to Offer Natural Yard Care Classes
Continuing on our environmental theme for the day, the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department is offering a series of fun, informative and free natural yard care workshops.
What does yard care have to do with the Health Department? Well, many people put lots on chemicals on their yards which are inhaled, absorbed and often run off into the surrounding areas. Fewer chemicals means less of that icky stuff, which, in theory, means healthier communities.
The series of three workshops will cover different topics each evening, including natural lawn care, garden pest management, soil basics, backyard composting, sustainable landscape design, and lawn and landscape water management.
Details
Workshops will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, 5400 N. Pearl, on the following dates:
- Wednesday, April 16: Natural Lawn Care & Sustainable Garden Design
- Wednesday, April 30: Soil Basics & Backyard Composting
- Wednesday, May 14: Garden Pest Management & Smart Watering
The workshops are free, but space is limited. To register, or for more information, contact Geoff Rinehart at (253) 798-4587 or <txp:dtj_obfuscated_email email="grinehart@tpchd.org" />.
Filed under: General
1 comments
D drizell April 2, 2008
This sounds like a good workshop to be having, and at just the right time. It’s just barely starting to enter the public consciousness that Puget Sound is suffering partly as a result of using chemicals on our lawns. Of course, most people have no problem doing this because it makes the grass greener and more aesthetically pleasing.
Some of the biggest contributors to groundwater and waterway pollution are golf courses. Imagine: expansive green spaces covered with specialized types of grass, that are meticulously maintained (which includes dumping tons of chemicals on them each year).
Save NE Tacoma conveniently forgot about this fact when they so vehemently opposed development of the North Shore golf course. Their argument was, “we’d rather have a huge chemical dumping ground on which to walk than new houses.”
Thank you, TPCHD, for offering workshops that may help us curb our destructive habits.