The 2022 Gardening Series schedule for July to November is now available. Gardening class topics include water conservation, graywater recycling, and composting at home. While all classes are free to attend, classes do require pre-registration.  

Here are some summer gardening tips to save water and save money:  

• Reduce or eliminate your lawn. It takes over a half a gallon of water per square foot to keep a lawn green and healthy. Reduce the size of your lawn, or better yet, replace it with drought-tolerant plants.
• Add native plants to your garden that require little or no water. Once established, native plants can often get by with as much rainfall as Mother Nature provides. 
• Use a drip irrigation system instead of overhead watering. A drip irrigation system delivers water directly to the plant root system without the waste.
• Add mulch around plants and trees. Mulch keeps the soil cool, reduces weeds and best of all, traps moisture in the soil so less watering is needed. Register for our the Mulch and Compost Giveaway on Saturday, August 13. 
• Add rain barrels. Purchase rain barrels through the rebate program and collect rain water to water your plants. 

For more water-saving tips, join us at our next Gardening Series class on July 9: Planting and Growing Drought Tolerant Gardens.  

Storing food properly is a great way to reduce waste. Extend the life of fresh herbs and leafy greens by chopping off the bottom stems, placing them in fresh water, and storing in the refrigerator.  

Visit savethefood.com to view an interactive storage guide with tips, tricks, and info to keep your food fresh and tasty for as long as possible. 

Are you wasting water by rinsing your recycling? Save water, and opt to scrape recyclable materials, like metal cans, glass jars, or hard plastic containers, with a utensil to remove excess food residue.

Excess food residue in the recycle bin can contaminate other clean material. If there’s too much food residue, place that item in the trash.

Upcoming Events

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Wasting Food is Wasting Water: Unveiling Food’s Water Footprint