Last night Team LEAF submitted their final challenge. It was a long and busy time and we only expect to be busier as we continue to promote our website and encourage others to plant rain gardens.
Having the opportunity to compete in this challenge was amazing. Team LEAF owes everyone a big thank you for their support, loyalty, and interest. We hope to continue addressing environmental issues. Even though our project is submitted, we still want to remain advocates of beneficial change.
Please check back often to see more updates!
Speaking of updates....
Yesterday we got an e-mail from another nursery who said that they would link our site to theirs. That makes three links we have so far.
Also, we were invited to a ShowMe Rain Garden meeting this Tuesday at Alberici headquarters. We hope to be able to attend upcoming events and continue our work with rain gardens.
We'll keep you posted. Thanks again!
-TeamLEAF
P.S. - Website has been updated!!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Quick Update
Team LEAF just joined twitter!
We are under the user names TeamLEAF and TeamLEAF1. Come join us!
The website has also been updated a bunch today and more are coming tomorrow!
www.teamleaf.org
Thanks to all of our supporters!
We are under the user names TeamLEAF and TeamLEAF1. Come join us!
The website has also been updated a bunch today and more are coming tomorrow!
www.teamleaf.org
Thanks to all of our supporters!
The Final Days
Team LEAF is preparing for the final days of the Lexus Eco Challenge competition. Here's what we've been up to:
We completed and posted our PowerPoint for the Missouri Department of Conservation. We included this PowerPoint on our website as well. Please go to http://www.teamleaf.org/aqua/downloads.html and click on Rain Garden PowerPoint to download it and use it as an easy tool to build a rain garden of your own.
We also have continued to spread the word. Our global count is up, which is always exciting and more mass e-mails have been sent out. We have also contacted local nurseries in Missouri and hope to contact more on a national level soon.
Also, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources got back to us and they put up a link to our site on their website! We were really excited about this and hope that our message will reach out farther.
Remember, any questions or comments are always welcome!
-Team LEAF
We completed and posted our PowerPoint for the Missouri Department of Conservation. We included this PowerPoint on our website as well. Please go to http://www.teamleaf.org/aqua/downloads.html and click on Rain Garden PowerPoint to download it and use it as an easy tool to build a rain garden of your own.
We also have continued to spread the word. Our global count is up, which is always exciting and more mass e-mails have been sent out. We have also contacted local nurseries in Missouri and hope to contact more on a national level soon.
Also, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources got back to us and they put up a link to our site on their website! We were really excited about this and hope that our message will reach out farther.
Remember, any questions or comments are always welcome!
-Team LEAF
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Today was full of adventures.
Team LEAF went down to Wentzville, about 45 minutes out from Saint Louis, and gave a presentation to the Wentzville city council. About ten board members were present there, all with a background in storm water runoff. The meeting went well - all of the board members were very interested, and we got great questions. One of the board members who does a lot of work with landscaping, and recently with rain gardens, offered for us to help plan and design rain gardens for current and future projects! That was definitely the highlight of the meeting. Also, Flora from SciFri got back to us and said she would check out the site. We hope that our e-mails are working their way around. Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive in spreading the word! More later. TL
Team LEAF went down to Wentzville, about 45 minutes out from Saint Louis, and gave a presentation to the Wentzville city council. About ten board members were present there, all with a background in storm water runoff. The meeting went well - all of the board members were very interested, and we got great questions. One of the board members who does a lot of work with landscaping, and recently with rain gardens, offered for us to help plan and design rain gardens for current and future projects! That was definitely the highlight of the meeting. Also, Flora from SciFri got back to us and said she would check out the site. We hope that our e-mails are working their way around. Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive in spreading the word! More later. TL
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Time for an Update!
Today was really exciting. A local community member pledged to plant two rain gardens next year to help with runoff. In addition, he mentioned that many of his neighbors were going to do the same, and that neighboring lanes are even looking toward rain gardens as a solution! We also got positive feedback on the website.
A different community member also pledged to plant a rain garden this season. After viewing the site and doing some research, they began drawing up their plans and enlisted the help of Team LEAF.
It is currently raining outside. This should help establish our newly planted rain garden. A couple team members checked out the site after school and noticed already that the area was not as wet. This is logical, since the majority of the new plants are 2-3 years of age.
Mass e-mails and Facebook messages were continually sent out today as well. Some responses have already been sent, and it has been confirmed that many are forwarding the e-mail to their contacts. Also good news.
Team members noticed that signs around the school are drawing attention. Frequently in class we find ourselves answering our peers questions. Mostly "what is a rain garden?"
More updates later. Feel free to comment!
Team LEAF
Today was really exciting. A local community member pledged to plant two rain gardens next year to help with runoff. In addition, he mentioned that many of his neighbors were going to do the same, and that neighboring lanes are even looking toward rain gardens as a solution! We also got positive feedback on the website.
A different community member also pledged to plant a rain garden this season. After viewing the site and doing some research, they began drawing up their plans and enlisted the help of Team LEAF.
It is currently raining outside. This should help establish our newly planted rain garden. A couple team members checked out the site after school and noticed already that the area was not as wet. This is logical, since the majority of the new plants are 2-3 years of age.
Mass e-mails and Facebook messages were continually sent out today as well. Some responses have already been sent, and it has been confirmed that many are forwarding the e-mail to their contacts. Also good news.
Team members noticed that signs around the school are drawing attention. Frequently in class we find ourselves answering our peers questions. Mostly "what is a rain garden?"
More updates later. Feel free to comment!
Team LEAF
Monday, March 16, 2009
Hey Guys!
We wanted to create a medium easier to update where we could get you information faster.
Here's what's been going on:
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
4:00 PM
Gina and Natalie attended the Interschool Ecological Council meeting at Villa Duschene High School. After sitting in on a guest lecturer speak about her work with water, Gina and Natalie spoke about the importance of rain gardens and discussed the rain garden at Ladue High School. The presentation covered the purpose, benefits, and installation of rain gardens. Twenty brochures were passed out to the members of the council, which included students and teachers of various private girls schools in the area. The group asked several great questions, expressed interest in installing rain gardens at their own schools, and even asked if Team LEAF would be available for consultation if and when they put in a rain garden.
7:00 PM
Gina, Mark, Max, and Natalie drove out to August A. Busch Conservation Nature Center (also called Busch Wildlife) to present their work on rain gardens to the Master Naturalist meeting (Confluence Chapter, St. Charles, MO). Team LEAF spoke to this chapter of the Master Naturalists about the importance of rain gardens, again covering the purpose, benefits, and installation of rain gardens. The Naturalists asked a number of questions, and seemed most interested in Team LEAF”s progress with the rain garden at Ladue High School. About 40 attended the meeting, and brochures were passed out as well.
After presenting to roughly 60 different people, http://www.teamleaf.org/ showed 64 hits from Tuesday, March 10.
Saturday March 14, 2009
9:00 AM
Rivi and Natalie presented at a Project WET event at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO. Project WET is a “supplementary environmental education program” with emphasis on water. Educators who work with students ranging from kindergarten to 12th grade attended the workshop. Rivi and Natalie spoke about the importance of rain gardens, including purpose, benefit, and installation. After presenting and passing out 60 brochures, the group asked questions. One woman even asked if a rain garden would be suitable for a specific location in her yard that was eternally collecting storm water, and was relieved to learn that there was a simple and inexpensive answer to the problem.
9:00 AM
Team LEAF finally began planting the rain garden at Ladue High School. Max, Mark, and teacher sponsor Sarah Barton began by arranging purchased potted plants according to the plan. To see the design for the rain garden, click here. Earlier in the week, the plot for the garden was prepared by spraying the grass with the common herbicide, Roundup. After presenting at Project WET, Rivi and Natalie met up with Team LEAF to plant. Various members of Elements, Ladue’s environmental club, also joined Team LEAF throughout the day to help. When planting the already established natives, the students dug holes roughly twice the diameter of the pot and mixed in a small amount of topsoil. The plants were placed level with or in the wetter areas of the plot, slightly above the ground, in order to prevent sinking. For a full list of the native species Team LEAF included in the rain garden, click here. After all of the natives were planted, the students shoveled gravel, carefully spreading the rocks in a two-inch layer across the plot. The gravel will prevent weeds from growing, protect the plants, and keep the dirt of the garden from eroding during rainfall and storm water run off. Since mulch in rain gardens has a tendency to sink into the mud and disappear, Team LEAF used gravel instead. A few specific plants were not available yet, including copper iris and spicebush, and the seeds Team LEAF has been prepping for the garden were not included in this planting both will be incorporated in the rain garden as soon as possible.
Here's what's been going on:
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
4:00 PM
Gina and Natalie attended the Interschool Ecological Council meeting at Villa Duschene High School. After sitting in on a guest lecturer speak about her work with water, Gina and Natalie spoke about the importance of rain gardens and discussed the rain garden at Ladue High School. The presentation covered the purpose, benefits, and installation of rain gardens. Twenty brochures were passed out to the members of the council, which included students and teachers of various private girls schools in the area. The group asked several great questions, expressed interest in installing rain gardens at their own schools, and even asked if Team LEAF would be available for consultation if and when they put in a rain garden.
7:00 PM
Gina, Mark, Max, and Natalie drove out to August A. Busch Conservation Nature Center (also called Busch Wildlife) to present their work on rain gardens to the Master Naturalist meeting (Confluence Chapter, St. Charles, MO). Team LEAF spoke to this chapter of the Master Naturalists about the importance of rain gardens, again covering the purpose, benefits, and installation of rain gardens. The Naturalists asked a number of questions, and seemed most interested in Team LEAF”s progress with the rain garden at Ladue High School. About 40 attended the meeting, and brochures were passed out as well.
After presenting to roughly 60 different people, http://www.teamleaf.org/ showed 64 hits from Tuesday, March 10.
Saturday March 14, 2009
9:00 AM
Rivi and Natalie presented at a Project WET event at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO. Project WET is a “supplementary environmental education program” with emphasis on water. Educators who work with students ranging from kindergarten to 12th grade attended the workshop. Rivi and Natalie spoke about the importance of rain gardens, including purpose, benefit, and installation. After presenting and passing out 60 brochures, the group asked questions. One woman even asked if a rain garden would be suitable for a specific location in her yard that was eternally collecting storm water, and was relieved to learn that there was a simple and inexpensive answer to the problem.
9:00 AM
Team LEAF finally began planting the rain garden at Ladue High School. Max, Mark, and teacher sponsor Sarah Barton began by arranging purchased potted plants according to the plan. To see the design for the rain garden, click here. Earlier in the week, the plot for the garden was prepared by spraying the grass with the common herbicide, Roundup. After presenting at Project WET, Rivi and Natalie met up with Team LEAF to plant. Various members of Elements, Ladue’s environmental club, also joined Team LEAF throughout the day to help. When planting the already established natives, the students dug holes roughly twice the diameter of the pot and mixed in a small amount of topsoil. The plants were placed level with or in the wetter areas of the plot, slightly above the ground, in order to prevent sinking. For a full list of the native species Team LEAF included in the rain garden, click here. After all of the natives were planted, the students shoveled gravel, carefully spreading the rocks in a two-inch layer across the plot. The gravel will prevent weeds from growing, protect the plants, and keep the dirt of the garden from eroding during rainfall and storm water run off. Since mulch in rain gardens has a tendency to sink into the mud and disappear, Team LEAF used gravel instead. A few specific plants were not available yet, including copper iris and spicebush, and the seeds Team LEAF has been prepping for the garden were not included in this planting both will be incorporated in the rain garden as soon as possible.
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