River Stories Contest

There are only a few more days left to enter this contest. Tom's of Maine is offering a car to those who are caring for their rivers and keeping them healthy. Send a video by October 31st to enter this River Stories Contest and win a Toyota Prius! It's nice that this company is working to offer environmentally-friendly products, and is also sponsoring the Rivers Awareness Partnership, providing the winner with a cool car for a thank-you gift.

Some of the videos already entered are really interesting, too. I was charmed by the riverkeeper of "The Living Blackwater and Nottoway Rivers" and moved by "49 Megawatts" (in photo at right). We know some of you have been working hard to protect the Catawba, Eno, Pee Dee, Saluda, and other Carolina rivers. Enter the contest and let everyone know about it!

Low-Flow Landscaping

With the recent rains, my grass is luxuriant, an emerald carpet! I have neither aerated it nor fertilized it, just watched the free water coming down. But I will not be lulled into complacency. I remember the summers: when my grass was brown and so dry that it crackled when I stepped on it. So I am getting down to business, planning for next year. In my research, I'll look for plants that are native to the Carolinas and drought-resistant. I would like to go for indestructible, if that's not aiming too high.

Here's an attractive North Carolina front yard, shown by H2Ouse Water Saver Homes. Some plants in the picture are clickable, leading us to a larger picture of the plant, along with its identification. You don't have to dig very deeply to find the word "xeriscaping," sometimes spelled "zeriscaping." It combines "xeri," the Greek word for dry, and landscaping. It includes common sense ideas for conserving water, such as mulching, and grouping plants that have similar water needs together.

I am envisioning beds of perennial wild flowers that need very little water. I would like a rock garden, or maybe a path paved with field stones, through the tiny lawn that remains. Something like this - shown in H2Ouse's back yard - with blue star creeper between the stones, would be nice. I have already learned that paving should be done with permeable bricks or paving stones, so that water can soak into the ground, instead of running off.

NC's Division of Water Resources gives a brief summary of xeriscaping. The topic is also included in Clemson University's thorough coverage of Low-Maintenance Landscape Ideas. Like they say, wait till next year!

Solar and Green Building Tour Continuing

Nearly a thousand people attended the Green Building and Solar Tour in six communities in North Carolina last Saturday. The event continues this weekend in other cities. Check out the tours and activities to be held this Saturday, October 11th, in Asheville, Boone/High Country, Chatham County, Fayetteville, Hendersonville, and Raleigh.

The NC Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) sponsors the self-guided tours to show a wide variety of green building solutions installed, in homes and offices in the state. Participants may see ways to implement these practices in their own buildings, both new and renovated.

The Boone tour will begin at the Watauga County Agriculture Conference Center, shown at left, and run from 8 a.m to 4 p.m. For information about the tour in your city, and to purchase tickets, see NCSEA Events. Ticket prices are $5 for members of NCSEA; $5 for students and teachers; $10 for non-members; and $15 for a carload. Children under 16 are free. You might get some great ideas!

Green Building and Solar Tour

We've been exploring the wild areas, and the Green Building and Solar Tour has slipped up on us! This Saturday, October 4th, you can tour a range of commercial and residential buildings that have installed sustainable energy systems. Chapel Hill/Orange County, Charlotte, Durham, Greenville, Wilmington, and Winston-Salem will have tours available this weekend. This photo shows the solar hot water panels on the roof of the home of Darrell and Jo Kay Edgley of Durham, from last year's tour brochure.

The NC Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) sets up open-house tours where we can see the systems working, and see how they fit into the building's energy plan. Last year, we saw some interesting examples of passive solar design, where a house had been designed to capture the sun's warmth in winter, and keep it cooler in the summer. Also, we saw a lovely older home which had been renovated to include rainwater harvesting and many other green energy features.

This is a way to explore options for your own home or business, whether you'd like to improve your existing home, or would like to plan a new design. It's really interesting to see the different systems in action. They have planned the tours to be as gas-efficient (and friendly) as possible. For example, in the Charlotte Tour, the site registration at the Government Center, 600 E. 4th St., offers educational literature and local green building experts for questions and answers, shuttle tours to the Discovery Place Green Roof, free parking, and refreshments.

Their self-guided tours run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. They include vegetative green roofs at the Federal Reserve and Discovery Place, solar photovoltaics (electric), solar hot water, and more. Six residential sites include features like solar electric, hot water, and pool heating; Energy Star, LEED, EarthCraft and HealthyBuilt Homes; and many other green building technologies.

Purchase tickets online at North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association. Ticket prices are $5 for members of NCSEA; $5 for students and teachers; $10 for non-members; and $15 for a carload. Children under 16 are free. For more information, contact Shannon Lingo, Charlotte Tour Volunteer Coordinator, slingo@energywisesolutions.net, or call 704-302-5926.

North Inlet-Winyah Bay Estuary

The recent tropical storm brought us rain, rain, rain! Rivers must have filled this past weekend. The Winyah Bay watershed is about 18,000 square miles, fed by four major rivers that drain into it. Most of the flow is from the Pee Dee-Yadkin river system, beginning in the Blue Ridge Mountains and streaming through the Piedmont to the sea.

In Georgetown County, SC, between Myrtle Beach and Charleston, the water flows into the North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The satellite map view of this at left, with its blue and green colors, makes it easy to see how the rivers, salt marshes, and tidal creeks come together. The North Inlet-Winyah Bay Reserve boundary is encircled by a yellow line. This Reserve actually combines two estuaries: the North Inlet and the Winyah Bay estuary.

North Inlet, a barrier beach estuary, is washed by the tides, and about half of its water returns to the ocean twice a day. Most of its watershed is in its natural forested state. Winyah Bay is a salt wedge estuary, as heavier salt water moves up-estuary along the bottom with the flooding tide, with fresh water on top flowing toward the ocean.

The brackish waters and marshes provide habitat to many threatened and endangered species, including sea turtles, sturgeons, least terns and wood storks. Pumpkinseed Island is an important rookery for white ibis, great and snowy egrets, and herons. The USC Baruch Marine Field Laboratory conducts research at this Reserve, which also offers a link to a Discovery Kit, describing an estuarine environment using an interactive tutorial.

The North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR offers interesting public programs and activities. How about a free boat tour? On its Appreciation Day, Saturday, November 1st, you can explore the Winyah Bay Estuary aboard the SCDNR Education Vessel Discovery. Learn about the biology of plants and animals that live there, and see animals collected in the trawls. This guided tour is free, but space is limited, so call quickly to register for it; (843) 546-6219.