Canceled: Sustainability Interest Group
Lucy, Burke@CalRecycle
No meeting next week due to scheduling conflicts.
Look for next meeting April 15th
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Grass Roots Circular Economy and Climate Action
Join the Sustainability Interest Group at CalEPA to discuss sustainable gardening,1 composting,2 and eco tips at our next Tuesday biweekly meeting:
Or call in (audio only) +1 916-619-7284, 955660965# United States, Sacramento Phone Conference ID: 955 660 965# Find a local number | Reset PIN
Tuesday April 18, 2023 12pm - How can we eat without all the plastic packaging? Very few of the plastic packages and containers we use once get recycled and there's growing concern about the harmful health effects. Some research suggests that ingesting microplastics could disrupt hormone production or be associated with problems like asthma and learning disorders. Though scientists have not confirmed the link, we may benefit from avoiding consuming a credit card's worth of plastic each week as much as possible.
Burke will share his experience finding plastic-free food and outline the laws currently addressing the issue. Have you actively sought out plastic-free food? Come share your experiences and thoughts on the topic in a roundtable discussion.
A member of our group suggested this topic. If you have other topic ideas you’d like to see discussed, feel free to contact burke...@calrecycle.ca.gov at any time.
From our discussion in a recent meeting, because getting your entire garden to where you want it can be such a challenge, we set the challenge to complete at least one task in your garden in time to share your progress with the group on April 18. Whether you want to build a garden box, to “espalier” your fruit tree, or finally start your summer garden from seed instead of transplants, share photos of your progress.
Save the Date Tuesday, May 16, 2023 Refill Madness is a Soap Refillery and Zero Waste Shop run by a family of three and a staff of five dedicated to the health of their customers and the planet, doing more than removing tons of plastic from our waste stream, they also educate our community. Our current and past consumer habits are not, nor ever have been, sustainable. Refill Madness is a retail store based on the concept, opposite of the throw-away culture, where everyday products are purchased by weight and packaged in reusable containers. Refill Madness offers locally-made products that are biodegradable and eco-friendly, decreasing our carbon and plastic footprint.
Sloane Read started her Refill Madness business in 2016 when there were a handful of soap refilleries in the United States. Now, only 7 years later, there are about 300 or more! In 2021, she opened a second location in Sonoma during the pandemic. Sloane will share her experience making her dream come true opening Refill Madness and why she enjoys sharing plastic pollution awareness and being part of the solution.
In our last meeting… In our last meeting, Craig McNamara shared his experience with regenerative agriculture and encouraged using drip systems to save water, which he recognized is expensive, “But everything is expensive.” He noted it takes three acre-feet of water to grow almonds, walnuts, and tomatoes, and California almonds are exported throughout the world. As he put it, “Is it right to be exporting ‘water’?” He encouraged using rain barrels and had a lively discussion with CalEPA staff and their experience in these types of sustainability efforts. Craig McNamara served as president of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture from 2011 to 2017; he served on the American Farmland Trust, Menus of Change, Roots of Change, and many other organizations. He has practiced sustainable farming since cofounding Sierra Orchards in 1980, which is now a 450-acre farm primarily producing organic walnuts in Winters, CA. Craig is also the founder of the Center for Land-Based Learning, a nonprofit whose mission is to inspire, educate, and cultivate future generations of farmers, agricultural leaders, and natural resource stewards. In his 2022 memoir, Because Our Fathers Lied: A Memoir of Truth and Family, from Vietnam to Today Craig writes about reconciling with his father’s role as Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War; life and death issues reflected in his passion for sustainable farming.
Kim Glazzard - Catastrophic Leave Request Kim Glazzard is CalEPA’s Sustainability Coordinator and a co-founder of this Sustainability Interest Group. You may recognize her as the organizer for the monthly movies presented within the headquarters building (pre-Pandemic) for the CalEPA environmental film series, and an organizer for events including America Recycles Day and Earth Day.
If you are interested in donating leave credits to Kim, please complete the “Catastrophic Leave Donation Form, ASD-166” and email a signed copy to Laleta....@arb.ca.gov. You can also send a signed hard copy via interagency mail to: Leta Tarrant Senior Personnel Specialist Administrative Services Division, P.O. Box 2815, Sacramento, California 95812 (email Laleta....@arb.ca.gov if you have any questions). Required information for the form includes: Department is CalEPA, Bargaining Unit is 10, Management Designation is Staff, and she is Represented. The deadline is Friday, April 14, 2023. Kim’s salary will be reduced to 75% if she does not receive any help. You may want to compare your available vacation/leave to the Vacation excluded max of 640 hours or Annual Leave max of 640 hours (PLP through June 30, 2025).
6 Reasons NOT to Buy an Electric Kitchen Composter Honestly Modern, September 27, 2022 Wondering if you should buy a Lomi kitchen composter, a Vitamix FoodCycler electric composter or any other kitchen composting appliance to compost your food scraps at home? Short answer - no. Read on for six reasons not to buy a kitchen composter based on our experience using them.
Three Ways to Solve the Plastics Pollution Crisis Nature, April 11, 2023 Two decades ago, Germany set up a simple scheme to reduce plastic waste. When people buy drinks in a disposable plastic bottle, they pay a small extra fee and get that back by depositing the used bottle at a return center. Many other countries have similar incentives. But has the intervention actually cut Germany’s use of single-use plastics? There’s little evidence for that, says Antaya March, a researcher at the Global Plastics Policy Centre, which was set up in 2022 at the University of Portsmouth, UK, to conduct independent assessments of plastic-waste management around the world. Plastic Recycling Volumes Increase in 2021 Recycling Today, April 11, 2023 Plastic recycling volumes in the U.S. increased by 280.3 million pounds in 2021 compared with the previous year, with recyclers acquiring more than 5 billion pounds of postconsumer plastic for recycling, according to the “2021 U.S. Post-consumer Plastic Recycling Data Report.” All major categories of plastic recovered for recycling had a net increase in total pounds reported in 2021 compared with 2020, specifically bottles, nonbottle rigids and film, according to the report. Within those broader categories, however, declines were seen for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles and polypropylene (PP) recovery.
Sacramento Area 2023 Garden Tours
10th Annual Gardens Gone Native Plant Tour Saturday, April 29, 9:30-4pm Click Here to register for free. The 10th Annual Gardens Gone Native plant tour features 25 California gardens in the Sacramento and Yolo county areas will be held on April 29, 9:30-4pm. Gardens are overall focused on California native plants and exemplify urban native plant landscaping. Professionally landscaped gardens, homeowner designs, as well as a school demo garden will be featured. Attendees can speak with garden hosts about their landscape design choices and challenges. Free registration will begin February 12 through eventbrite. Once registered the week before the tour day a map and garden description brochure will be emailed to all registrants. Hope to see you at this years spring tour!
Davis-Wide Self-Guided Tour of 7-10 Art Gardens Sunday, May 7, 2023 Enjoy a self-guided tour through private gardens in Davis on the Pence’s annual Garden Tour. This fundraising event provides essentials fund to support the mission of the Pence Gallery as a nonprofit art organization.
Saturday-Sunday, May 13-14, 2023 The East Sacramento Garden Tour is Sacramento’s favorite Mother’s Day tradition. This two-day event produced by David Lubin Elementary parents and volunteers is an incredible opportunity for the Sacramento community to tour stunning Homes & Gardens in East Sacramento, visit our on-campus boutique, cafe, & art show and participate in unique raffles and silent auctions. All proceeds raised from the East Sacramento Garden Tour directly support David Lubin Elementary’s students with programs like Art, Music, STEAM and more. May 20, 2023 The Tahoe Park Garden Tour, happening on May 20, 2023, provides an opportunity to bring neighbors together to share in the beauty of gardens. From drought tolerant gardens to unique backyards, each garden provides inspiration and reflection. Tickets can be purchased online or in person. For those who purchase online tickets you can pickup your program and map of all gardens at the Garden Headquarters, in Sacramento starting at 10AM on May 20th. Then you can wander the gardens from 10AM-3PM in whatever order you please at your leisure.
Edible Low Water Use Plant Profile The City of Sacramento’s River-Friendly Landscape rebates cover a maximum of:
The City of Sacramento’s River Friendly Landscape Plant List includes this edible option:
Judas Tree Photo credit: מאוסף התמונות של אורנה לוטן Size: 39 ft. x 32 ft. Water Requirement: Medium Type: Shrub/Tree
Edible Uses: Flowers - raw. A sweetish-acid taste, they are a nice addition to the salad bowl. The flower buds are pickled and used as a condiment. Seedpods – raw.
Physical Characteristics: This a deciduous tree is in flower in May, and the seeds ripen in September. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by bees. It can fix nitrogen. It is noted for attracting wildlife. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral, and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.
Known Hazards: None known.
April is a good time to:
Plant Tomatoes The unofficial "official" tomato planting day in the Sacramento area is April 28th. If transplants are growing well (stocky, not root bound, and no flowers or fruit) and soil temperatures are around 65°F (usually late April or early May in the Sacramento area), plant them in well-amended beds. Because the weather can be unpredictable this time of year, take precautions to protect plants if nighttime temperatures get cold. It is not unusual to get rain with hail in early spring.
Monitor soil temperature Check your soil temperature with a soil thermometer or compost thermometer before planting warm season vegetables. If the soil temperature is around 65°F and the nighttime air temperatures are consistently above 50°F, it is time to plant tomato and pepper transplants. Wait until the soil has warmed to 70°F before planting squash and melons. Be sure to provide protection for the plants if the weather turns cold.
Plant Lettuce Plant loose-leaf lettuce seeds now before it gets too hot. Plant them to the north of taller growing vegetables like tomatoes for summer shade.
Plant Your Summer Garden The last weekend of April is a great time to plant your outdoor summer vegetable garden.
Look for Caterpillars Redhumped caterpillars will soon start chewing several varieties of tree leaves. Look for them under the foliage. Clip off and discard those leaves.
Look for Snails Chewed plant leaves indicate snail damage. Look for them in damp, dark areas under boards, flowerpots, and beneath green plant foliage (e.g., hostas and agapanthus). Safer, effective snail control products contain iron phosphate as the active ingredient.
Grapevine thinning One way to increase berry size is to remove a portion of the clusters in April, before May flowering, leaving one cluster on each shoot. Otherwise, using experience from the wine industry, once your grapes grow, the idea is to thin your grapes and produce a delicious grape from young vines, not "a lot" of grapes. Grapes should have about 60% exposure to the sun to prevent fungus and improve flavor.
Companion Planting Check out the companion plants along with the harvest and plant guide below for plants to plant by seed or transplant. Consider companion planting caveats when compared to intercropping.
Sacramento Area Planting and Harvest Guide (also see the UC Sacramento Vegetable Planting Schedule)
Super Trees! Consider planting any of these Super Trees! They’re water-wise for the Sacramento area—all but the Loquat tree are on the City of Sacramento’s River Friendly Landscape Plant List, they have edible fruit or flavorful leaves, they attract beneficial wildlife, provide cooling shade in the summer, most let warming light through in the winter, and they’re free to SMUD customers (subject to availability). Check out SMUD’s Free Shade Tree Program and Free Tree List.
Free Wood Chips Adding wood chips to your yard each year will lead to healthier plant growth by reducing weeds, cooling the soil in the summer, conserving water, and slowly adding organic matter as it breaks down. You can get free wood chips by signing up for ChipDrop or you can search for tree trimmers in your area, then call or complete their website form to request free wood chips the next time they cut down and shred a tree in your neighborhood. SMUD customers can also pick up wood chips. ChipDrop may give you up to 20 cubic yards, which could cover 9 inches of a standard ranch-style home/property; more than the recommended 4 to 6 inches. To prevent nitrogen depletion or spreading diseases, only apply as ground cover in shrub beds, natural areas, and around trees while keeping the mulch away from the tree trunks and vegetables or annual flower beds.
Sacramento Digs Gardening Articles Debbie Arrington is a master rosarian. Kathy Morrison Hellesen is a UCCE master gardener. Together they have more than 60 years of gardening experience in California, most of that in Sacramento's grower-friendly climate. They believe all gardening is local. They both love to cook what they grow. They also are longtime journalists (at the Sacramento Bee and elsewhere) who believe Sacramento deserves local gardening coverage.
Consider donating or volunteering for Harvest Sacramento
ReSoil Sacramento advocates for three things that we can do to address our changing climate: 1) compost, 2) grow our own food, and 3) build regenerative, climate-resilient landscapes. Check out the latest and get involved.
Consider Donating Extra Produce at any area food pantry
Have You Committed Crape Murder?
Join the Climate Victory Garden movement
Join the Million Gardens Movement
Invite a friend Consider forwarding this email to invite a friend or colleague to:
Note: 1) Every pound of homegrown vegetables you grow can cut 2 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions when compared to the store-bought counterpart, although what you eat matters more (e.g., fruits, nuts, and vegetables) than how it’s transported. 2) A single home compost bin diverts approximately 646 pounds of waste from landfill each year. |