Ecology Action

Ecology Action is a Santa Cruz, CA nonprofit environmental consultancy delivering cutting edge education services, technical assistance, and program implementation for initiatives that assist individuals, business and government to maximize environmental quality and community well being.

Since 1970 Ecology Action has combined municipal, foundation, and private funding to establish cutting-edge conservation programs, prove their effectiveness financially and operationally, and establish each program as a permanent community resource.

They seek innovative ways to instill environmental awareness, promote pragmatic change, and create opportunities for individuals, businesses, and community agencies to save money, create jobs, and contribute to a sustainable local economy.

Browse some of their current programs:

Bike Smart! Promotes safe bicycling through fun, hands-on education programs at Santa Cruz County schools.   Bike to Work Provides incentives, free breakfast, and support to get you hooked on bicycling as transportation.

Business Waste Assessment Waste assessment software to help government and businesses reduce waste, save money, and promote resource conservation.   Clean Beaches Coalition Ongoing beach cleanups including the Annual Coastal Cleanup

Climate Solutions Program A leadership initiative to mobilize the entire Monterey Bay Area to radically reduce our carbon footprint.   Electric Bike Information Providing reduced prices, safety and skill training, and increased service for Santa Cruz County residents.

Folding Bikes in Buses Providing reduced prices on folding bikes and bus passes to promote bike with bus transportation for Santa Cruz County residents.

Cabrillo College Go Green Choose an alternative to driving alone and you can make a difference in reducing traffic congestion and greenhouse gases. For Cabrillo College students, staff and faculty members.

Green Building Information about the design and construction of healthy, sustainable places to live and work.

Green Business Program Offers free technical and promotional assistance to help you become a certified green business.

Green Gardener Program Provides professional training and certification in ecological landscaping and helps customers find certified Green Gardeners.

Home Composting Program Offers a wealth of home composting resources and opportunities for the residents of Santa Cruz County.

Household Hazardous Waste Provides information about local and regional drop-off facilities and alternatives to traditionally used chemicals.

Integrated Pest Managment Provides information and technical assistance about less-toxic alternatives to traditional pest management.

Livestock and Land Provides technical assistance and cost share dollars for manure and land management approaches that protect water quality.

LodgingSavers Program Delivers a comprehensive suite of rebated energy efficiency retrofits to Lodging Properties in PG&E service territory.

Model Schools Program Reduces pest problems, flooding and erosion, and the use of toxic chemicals in schools.

Multifamily Recycling A partnership with twelve local agencies and haulers, implementing comprehensive recycling and waste reduction programs at low income multifamily housing complexes.

Oil Recycling Provides information about local and regional used oil and filter drop-off facilities for cars, boats, and farm equipment.

Our Water Our World Raises public awareness about alternatives to using hazardous pesticide and fertilizer products in and around the home.

Santa Cruz County Recycles Provides information that enables people and businesses to reuse, recycle, and buy recycled in Santa Cruz County.

Special Event Recycling Offers recycling and waste reduction programs at events through technical assistance, outreach and education.

RightLights Program Provides subsidized lighting upgrades and free professional assistance to help businesses lower energy bills and boost cash flow.

Tourism Recycling Offers recycling and waste reduction programs at events through technical assistance, outreach and education.

Transportation Membership Services Encourages member employees to use other ways than driving alone to commute to and from work.

Waste Free Schools Program Assists Santa Cruz County schools in institutionalizing campus recycling, composting and reduce / reuse programs.

South Maui Tour de Trash big success

Saturday May 9, 2009.

Wonder what happens to your recycled items? The Tour de Trash, is an inspiring and educational voyage by bus to major recycling facilities across Maui. The tour includes some walking and even some smelly places.

At the request of South Maui Sustainability, the County of Maui Solid Waste Division created a Tour de Trash starting in South Maui and including new locations not on the Central Maui based Tour. Included were Central Maui Landfill, Pacific Biodiesel, Maui Earth Compost and SOS Metals Recycling, among others.

A group of us spent a most enjoyable day learning a lot about what happens with the things in our waste stream. We ended up being shown around the Fairmont Kea Lani by the head of their Green Team and being impressed by some of the things they are doing. Find out more about their program here.

All in all, it was a very inspiring day and a lot of good ideas leading to new projects for South Maui Sustainability should come out of the experience.

See photos of the tour.

Sierra Club Green Tip Videos

COMPOSTING

WRAPPING A HOT WATER HEATER

INSTALLING A PROGRAMMABLE THERMOSTAT

HOLIDAY GREEN TIPS

No-dig Gardening

A productive vegetable garden that only needs watering every 10 days!

The technique has been used since the 1977 paperback, “Esther Deans’ Gardening Book: Growing Without Digging,” promoted it as a solution to poor soil, rampant weeds, water shortages and costly food

No-dig is more efficient, water wise, because once a plant has a 10- to 12-inch root system, the layers of compost and straw keep moisture around the roots. And you can keep layering it over and over again as the organic matter breaks down.

• Click here to read the Los Angeles Times article, How Do His Veggies Grow? The No-dig Way.

• Click here to see photos of the no-dig gardening process.

• Here’s an interesting blog post on no-dig gardening.

Maui Earth Compost article

The Haleakala Times featured one of our January 8 panelists, Tim Gunter, and his Maui Earth Compost.

Biodynamic Farming and Gardening

Biodynamic Gardening is a unified approach to agriculture that relates the ecology of the earth-organism to that of the entire cosmos. Essentially, biodynamic farming and gardening looks upon the soil and the farm as living organisms. It regards maintenance and furtherance of soil life as a basic necessity if the soil is to be preserved for generations, and it regards the farm as being true to its essential nature if it can be conceived of as a kind of individual entity in itself — a self-contained individuality. It begins with the ideal concept of the necessary self-containedness of the farm and works with furthering the life of the soil as a primary means by which a farm can become a kind of individuality that progresses and evolves.

Soil improvement is obtained by proper humus management — e.g., by the application of sufficient organic manure and compost in the best possible state of fermentation; by proper crop rotation; by proper working of the soil; by protective measures such as wind protection; cover crops, green manure, and diversified crops rather than monocultures; and by mixed cropping so that plants can aid and support each other.

Biodynamic Farming Association
Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association was founded in 1938.

Hawai’i Biodynamic Organization: Patrick Moser, 845 Pe’ahi Road, Ha’iku, HI 96708; (808) 572-1766; Email.

Google search for biodynamic gardening.

Composting: Is Oleander Safe to Use as Compost in Vegetable Gardens?

I have a long hedge of pink Oleander along my driveway in South Kihei that I began pruning this weekend, after our nice rain. I’d been waiting to prune until after a rainstorm, because Oleander (Nerium oleander, a Mediterranean shrub) is highly poisonous, and dust that has settled on its leaves can irritate a gardener’s eyes and lungs. I know this from experience, as my father once pruned and chipped an Oleander hedge mid-summer and ended up in the hospital for his efforts.

Though the rain took care of my concerns about breathing posionous Oleander dust, I wondered if Oleander leaves and limbs were something that I wanted to add to the compost that I’ve been stockpiling for my backyard vegetable garden. Oleander hedges are common in South Kihei, and this seems a question that others might ask as well.

Here’s what is known:

All parts of the Oleander plant are poisonous, but especially the milky sap. It’s toxic enough that ingesting only a few leaves can kill a small child, and getting the sap on your skin can cause irritation and rash. There are anecdotal stories of people getting sick by using oleander spears for roasting foods over campfires. Even dry oleander leaves can be poisonous to pets and livestock, so never leave Oleander prunings where animals might eat them.

The good news is that the toxin in Oleander–a glycosoide called “oleandrin”–will deteriorate within about 50 days in an effective compost pile. Moreover, on tests conducted by UC Davis researchers, the toxin was not taken up by vegetables such as lettuce (which grow quickly) and tomatoes (which take longer to mature). The only possible danger the researchers noted could come from accidentally ingesting some not-fully deteriorated Oleander compost when harvesting leafy vegetables such as lettuce.

The safest solution would be to compost the Oleander leaves and twigs (taking care not to breathe the dust or getting the sap on your skin) and use them only as mulch for ornamental areas of your yard. But if you have a lot of Oleander, and want to use it for your garden, then make sure that you let it fully rot in the compost pile first, and be sure to wash your vegetables of all mulch and dirt before eating (a good practice in any case).