Sustainability in Action

Today I had the opportunity to see an innovative company putting sustainable practices to work in their business. Clayton Lane, James Lane Air Conditioning and Plumbing, invited me to see their rainwater harvesting and solar systems.  I hope their practices catch on with other businesses.

3000 gal storage tank

Currently, they have a 3000 gallon water tank, although they have plans to install additional tanks. Just 1/4 inch of rain will fill this tank. This tank provides water to all of their toilets and urinals and also provides water to clean parts and to fill mobile water tanks which are taken to work sites for hydraulic excavation and other applications. If they had 25 or fewer employees, they could purify the water on site for drinking. 

Control area with pump, filter and meter

Wash area with potable and non-potable water hoses

Leo Lane, Vice President,  likes the convenience of being able to fill their mobile tanks on site instead of having to drive elsewhere to fill their tanks with non-potable water. The construction industry cannot use potable water for construction, so must haul water. He feels that for them, the savings in labor costs from having his employees drive to purchase non-potable water more than pays for the system. Leo Lane holds the certification now required to install such systems. He feels other business may also benefit from the convenience of having a rainwater harvesting system. In addition, homeowners who do not have access to city water or other reliable water supply could benefit. This system might also be useful for pool owners.

Only non-potable water is used in toilets and urinals

Next, Clayton showed me their solar power system. James Lane has 4000 sq ft of solar panels installed on their roof. In March, they had a credit on their electric bill. They still pay a distribution charge, but they are actually sending electricity back into the power grid. They also did an upgrade to more efficient lighting. They purchase power at 7.2 cents and sell it at 7.5 cents. If they were producing more electricity in March than they used, it will be interesting to see what happens in August.

Converters for solar power

When their system was installed, they iued a company from the DFW area. However, Clayton reported that local company Davis Electric is now able to do solar installations. 

4000 sq feet of solar panels supply energy

Clayton said that their installation of solar and rainwater systems is about making the company more resilient. In cases of power outages or other natural disasters, they have to remain in operation to get homeowners and businesses back in operation. People need heat, water and air conditioning. Therefore, their business has to remain in operation. These systems are one more way to ensure they can be there when needed.

I would love to hear about what other companies are doing to be more sustainable.

Odds and Ends

I am not blogging about a specific topic today--more just a series of notices about various things.

May 2, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM: Trail Appreciation Day. Sponsored by the City of Wichita Falls. This is an opportunity to see sections of the trail you may not have discovered yet. I'll post more details closer to the date, but put the date on your calendar now.

There is a new interest group on Facebook that may be of interest to some readers: WF Urban Homesteaders. This is a closed group. This group will also meet on the first Friday of each month at noon. The first meeting last month was at Luby's but there hasn't been a decision yet on the meeting location for the April meeting. More to follow.

Wild Bird Rescue is continuing their education programs at their facility on the second weekend of the month. This upcoming weekend your family can enjoy seeing hawks and/or owls up close on Saturday at 10:00 AM or Sunday at 1:00 PM. The handler determines which birds are shown. These programs are free, although donations are always appreciated. The organization's annual Baby Bird Shower will be Saturday, March 28, 11:00 - 1:30. This is the only day each year that the facility is open to the public for tours.

Sustainable Small Farmers Online Event next week. Although focused on small farmers, there are some sessions many many be interested in. I want to watch the mushroom growing session myself. The event is free and the sessions are in the evening. The sessions will be available for a couple of days online for those who may not be able to attend at the time the session is scheduled.

Don't forget River Bend's Science Saturdays.

The Wichita Falls Museum of Art has the Andrea Rich, An Abundance of Riches, woodcuts on display now through April 4. This is a free exhibit.

The Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalist training class "made" and is underway. I'll be doing the class on birds Thursday night.

If you know about events, products, groups, etc. that may interest readers, please send them to me at green.wichitafalls@gmail.com. We can't support what we don't know about. Earth Day is coming up in April. That's not normally a big deal in our community, but if you are aware of events, please let me know! I checked the Choose Wichita Falls website and nothing pops up....bummer!

Texas Master Naturalist Spring Training Starting Soon!

Me, Laura and Tami collecting and
documenting freshwater mussels
for the Texas Master Naturalist

Yes, I know I have been remiss in keeping up with this blog, which is sad, since there really is a lot going on. I have been keeping up a little better with the Facebook page, but not everyone is on Facebook.

If you would like to learn more about the natural resources in our area, get involved with helping us learn more about the flora and fauna, and want to help others learn about nature, the Texas Master Naturalist Spring training course may be for you. Whether you want to become a certified Texas Master Naturalist or just want to learn more for your own enjoyment, the local Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalist program provides a fun way to learn a lot and associate with others with similar interests.

The program starts in March and goes through May. It consists of a number of classroom programs and several field trips. You can get a copy of the application at the Rolling Plains chapter website. The class schedule is still being finalized, but if you are interested in seeing the draft schedule, send me an email at green.wichitafalls@gmail.com, and I'll send you one.

I have been a member of the local chapter since it started. I enjoy the projects and the people. Hope you'll consider the program.

Pollinator Workshop

Penny speaking at the Pollinator Workshop at
River Bend Nature Center

We had a pretty good group for the Pollinator Workshop at River Bend Nature Center tonight.

We even had a couple of young people. One was working on an entomology project for Camp Fire. His proud mom told me he had won a prize in River Bend's photography competition for his photo of a parasitid wasp larvae in a caterpillar.  How cool is that?

Just a summary of a few of the main points of what we can do to help the pollinators.  I realize some of the points may not be clear without the background information in the presentation. All I can say it, "You should have been there!" Seriously...if you have questions, feel free to contact me off line at green.wichitafalls@gmail.com.

As individuals, we can:

• Plant a pollinator friendly yard
• Plant natives
• Put in plants pollinators like
• Plant varied types of flowers with varying flowering periods
• Accept some losses
• Provide nesting areas
• Don't use (or use sparingly) poisons in your yard
• Buy organic when possible
• Use Save the Night practices
• Advocate

As a citizen, we can help our community be more pollinator friendly by:

• Being a smart consumer (money talks)
• Encourage native plants at our workplaces and community areas (medians, for example)
• Educate
• Advocate

Good questions and discussion following.

Jeff Corwin to be at MSU

Some may be interested in attending the MSU Artist-Lecture Series program on Thursday, October 2. Jeff Corwin will be the speaker. Tickets are free for students and faculty. $20 for the public. Tickets will be available 2 weeks before the program.

Book Reviews: Bees, Bees, Bees!

As I noted in my last post, I will be doing a pollinators workshop at River Bend on September 23. I've been doing research to ensure I have the most current and accurate information possible, and I happened to receive two books about bees to review for Princeton University Press. I must be living right.

The first book, Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide, is a review of all of the species of bumble bees in North America north of Mexico. We don't have a lot of bumble bees here (as I discovered in the book, bumbles bees like cooler temperatures--like me), so I was surprised at the numbers of bumble bee species in North America. We supposedly could expect to find three species of the possible 46 in our area (although that is not confirmed.)

The species accounts are interesting. As you would expect in an identification guide, there are pictures of the bees, range maps, and a discussion of their habitat, favorite plants and identifying characteristics. I was surprised at the variation in coloration of the same species of bumble bees, making identification more of a challenge than one might think. However, this little book was more than an identification guide, including their life cycle, how to attract bumble bees to your yard, specific plants to include in your landscape and conservation status and threats. Overall, a fascinating look at these important insects. If you are a "bug person" this would be an excellent addition to your library.

The second book I received from Princeton University Press was The Bee: A Natural History. As much as I enjoyed the bumble bee book, I have to say my geeky self liked this one even more. Although focused more on the honey bee, the book does include the solitary bees and bumble bees. The reason I like this book so well was that it is more than just an identification guide, but includes a lot of interesting information about bee biology and also more tangential topics such as bees in religion. Little snippets like this always draw my attention. Overall, a fascinating look at bees in all their diversity without being overly technical.

The book looks at bees worldwide. Consequently, it is not an in-depth review of bees in our area. If I could have done one thing to make the book more appealing to me personally, it would have been to have more US bees included in the directory portion of the book. But then, that isn't the focus of the book, so it is not a significant detractor and would have made the book too darn big--after all, there are 20,000 species of bees in the world and 4,000 native bee species in North America. This is another outstanding addition to the library of those interested in pollinators, especially the bees.

Christmas is coming up--either of these could be a wonderful gift for you naturalist friend/family member. And the prices won't break the bank either.

Pollinators Workshop Coming Up

Yours truly will be presenting a pollinators workshop at River Bend Nature Center on September 23, from 6:00 - 8:30 PM.

I'd love to meet all of you, so come on out. My goal is for you to be able to leave the workshop with ideas for your yard that will help these vital and under-appreciated animals. Although most people think of bees when they think of pollinators, we'll be covering more than just bees.