Comments on Sustainable Dunwoody: Music to My Ears

I took a class at a nearby community garden to lea...

2009-08-13T01:32:03.287-07:00

I took a class at a nearby community garden to learn how to build my rain barrel. It was pretty easy, but I'm afraid I'll screw up a detail if I try to tell you exactly how! I'm sure you can find a class near you, especially in the SF area!

Let us know how it goes!

The family and I just moved to a smaller city 40+ ...

2009-08-12T21:14:21.018-07:00

The family and I just moved to a smaller city 40+ north of San Francisco. Summers aren't that bad, but I want to conserve as much water as possible, especially since the prices for water around here tend to be on the high side. Plus, they're big on water conservation here...

Anyway, would you be able to provide a tutorial on how to make a rain barrel?

Thanks!

I remember some tuff rows to hoe, I feel for your ...

2009-04-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

I remember some tuff rows to hoe, I feel for your community. Best of luck to the stormwater management.

Thanks, Kenna. I'd love to see more about the gre...

2009-04-13T04:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Kenna. I'd love to see more about the green infrastructure policy, and thanks for reminding me about green roofs! That just feels an awful long way away for Dunwoody.

Thank you so much for this post, Pattie. Until I s...

2009-04-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much for this post, Pattie. Until I started working in the Bureau of Watershed Protection for the City of Atlanta, I had no idea how much infrastructure and effort goes into stormwater management, nor did I have any idea that my own behavior (like washing my car in the driveway) was contributing to pollution in our streams. Our bureau is working on implementing green infrastructure policy (using infrastructure that mimics the natural hydrology of the land) and hopefully this will ultimately lead to a more sustainable Atlanta! Thanks again for this post!

PS- in your list of green infrastructure methods, you forgot green roofs! They are by far the coolest form of green infrastructure. Green Roofs for Healthy Cities is coming to Atlanta for their annual conference. I believe it is June 3-6 at the Hyatt in Downtown Atlanta. I'll be there! More information is available at http://www.greenroofs.org/

Thanks!

It entirely escaped my notice that the letter was ...

2009-04-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

It entirely escaped my notice that the letter was a prank. Such is life. I am glad to hear it as the reliance on our modern sewer systems is heavy.

Mark: So glad you had such a positive experience....

2009-04-02T06:34:00.000-07:00

Mark: So glad you had such a positive experience.

And, by the way, perhaps it wasn't clear--but that letter was an April Fool's joke from our HOA prez! I think it's one of the best I've seen on a while! of course, what made it work is that it could be reaility at any time!

You and your neighbors have my sympathy. If any s...

2009-04-02T06:22:00.000-07:00

You and your neighbors have my sympathy. If any should have need of a bathroom, please give them my email address and have them contact me.

I am reminded of a sewer related problem I had here several years ago. My ranch house has a four or six, I forget which, inch drain pipe that runs from the kitchen, past two bathrooms, and then down to the basement, picking up another bathroom and laundry room on its way to the old septic tank, then u-turning out to the sewer pipe under the street. I'd had my plumber out a few times to snake the pipe because of backing up when I'd use a lot of water in the kitchen. Eventually, it got to the point where flushing one of my low flow toilets would cause backing up, and we couldn't use water at all if there would be any going down a drain. He came out and tried to get into the drain line with his snake and called me to the crawl space to see something. This big pipe only had enough space that I could force my thumb part way into it. The rest was clogged with rust, and the remnants of everything that had gone down the drains. I'll grant you I got nearly fifty years from that pipe. It was cut down in place and still rests under the new PVC drain line. I ran a bunch of water at the plumber's direction and it flowed beautifully for about five minutes. Then it backed up. He went outside, found the pipe, and built a clean-out access, inserting his snake and hitting a big block at the street. I called the county and they were out within two hours, diagnosed the problem, showed me the work order they'd written, and explained it might be a week or more before they could start. I was able to limp along until they finished work. They dug down nearly twenty feet into my front yard and dug up all the pipe there and out into the street. I was without water at all for a full day. They were very impressive, staying until they were sure things were sufficiently secure that I could have water and sewer again. The put in their own clean-out access in the front yard and used it to spray high pressure water down their big sewer pipe to break up blockages downstream. That was perhaps seven years ago and I've not had a bit of trouble since. When they returned the next day, they did a beautiful job of landscaping the area they'd dug up, and it remains the nicest part of the front yard.