All posts by RainBankAdmin

Sustainability

Student Teams Compete for Sustainability Grants

waterwheel-233527_640According to an article in Water Citizen News, student teams showcased their projects at this year’s National Sustainable Design Expo while competing for the 11th Annual EPA People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) awards.

Through the P3 (People, Prosperity and the Planet) program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offers opportunities to college students to compete for grants for their ideas that promote sustainable solutions that benefit people and the planet.

In April, teams brought bring their projects to the National Sustainable Design Expo for judging by a panel of experts from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

The best student projects have the chance to win funding up to $75,000 to move the project design through to implementation and potentially, the marketplace. This year’s expo (Phase 2) was held from April 11-12 at Oronoco Bay Park in Alexandria, VA.

Several ideas were submitted, covering a range of topics across the spectrum of planet preservation like conversion of food waste into energy and using wastewater for crop fertilization, or ways to save water.

Among this year’s winners, an honorable mention went to the team from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University for Floating Island on a Roof for Rainwater Management.

Their idea addressed 2 issues faced by large cities:

  • Storm water management and
  • Loss of green spaces.

The project focused on urban growth causing a rise in impervious surfaces, which advances the amount of untreated rainwater runoff in rivers and lakes instead of penetrating porous soil; and that urban development also decreases area for vegetation, resulting in loss of biological diversity and also creating an urban heat island.

Students’ design objective was to reduce runoff from roofs, and provide biological diversity in urban areas using a ‘Floating Island on a Roof’, consisting of a pond on a roof with a floating island. The expected results are runoff reduction from roofs and an increase in green space and biodiversity in urban or built environments.

Congratulations to all of the participants for their efforts to preserve our planet through innovative and forward thinking, and to the EPA and American Association for the Advancement of Science for funding ideas that support a sustainable future.

Infrastructure

What is Your Water Consumption Footprint?

tap-357252_1280

The average American has a water consumption footprint of 2,220 gallons per day. What’s yours?

By now, most of us are aware that California is in the midst of a marathon drought. While you may live in an area with an abundant amount of water, we must realize that it is a valuable resource, one that we cannot live without and, evidenced by the drought in California, it is a limited resource.

A recent article in Grist compares the lack of water use consumption reduction in California to the stages of grief. While Californians have been directed by the Governor to reduce water use by 25%, the real numbers only add up to an 8.6 reduction statewide, potentially triggering Stage 2 – Anger.

The point this writer found interesting was that there is a difference between telling folks to conserve and reduce water consumption, than SHOWING them how.

A good place to begin learning how to conserve water is to know how much water you and your family or business consumes daily, weekly, monthly and annually. It’s not a matter of knowing how much water flows from your faucets or goes down the drain when you do laundry. It’s about the food you eat (do you eat meat, or are you vegetarian or vegan?), the appliances you use (low flow faucets and toilets) and whether you take baths or showers.

CityLab offers a calculator which “reminds us that every bite of food, every mile we drive, and every light switch we flip relies on the wet stuff.”

Many of us underestimate how much water we actually use day-to-day, and year-to-year. A good deal of this underestimation stems from our neglect to account for water used to process our food and send electricity to our homes. Take a few minutes to see what your water footprint looks like and learn ways you can help conserve this vital, limited resource. You can choose to share your results with friends on Facebook, Twitter or by email.

We encourage you to answer the survey questions and share your results with us in the comments section below. Also share with your friends; it might encourage them to take the survey, too.

Rainwater Catchment, Residential Rainwater Collection

Utah Launches Rain Harvesting Program        

glen-canyon-139942_1280Utah Launches Rain Harvesting Program

Cheers to Utah, which has been dubbed the second driest state in the country (WaterWise Utah), for recently introducing a new rain harvesting program for homeowners and small businesses.

RainHarvest, initiated by The Utah Rivers Council, hopes to inspire small businesses and homeowners to capture rainwater. Since the collected water is free, homeowners and businesses can save money. Rain harvesting program participants will assist in improving water quality in rivers, lakes and streams by helping to reduce runoff. Another positive outcome is that the program will lower Utah’s per person water use, which is the highest in the US.

Rain harvesting, according to the Utah Rivers Council, “Saving water keeps our rivers and streams healthy which is essential for fish and wildlife species which need water to survive Utah’s dry summers. Saving water is everyone’s responsibility because if we don’t save water now, new water sources will force mandatory increases in water rates in the future.”

Tell us where and how rainwater collection has caught on in your state, city or neighborhood. Feel free to leave a comment or contact RainBank.