Wildflower Rain Garden

WILDFLOWERS © Luckyrobj © Dreamstime.com 

Over the years, Plymouth’s Wildflower Rain Garden will provide the corner of Nicollet and Franklin a wetland, prairie and woodland oasis. Each year the plants will continue to grow, spread and provide more shade, attracting more birds, butterflies, bees and animals. The garden will continue to provide a sustainable landscape for a healthier environment and earth as well as an area of year-round interest and beauty for our congregation and neighbors.

Small crews of volunteers are needed to keep the garden looking good year-round. Whether you're just learning or a master gardener, all are welcome! This is a great activity for the whole family. The work is close to the ground, hands-in- the-dirt gardening and no heavy lifting is required. On-site training will be given and equipment can be provided.  Come learn about our wonderful wild flower rain garden and to meet some Plymouth members in an informal setting.Contact: Tom Anderson, 763/428-2559, tomPand@yahoo.com

Articles by our members

Composting
Remember Clotheslines?
About Compact Fluorescent Lamps

Plant a tree, love a tree
Remember the book, The Giving Tree? In it, a tree loves a boy and gives him everything she has until there’s nothing left.

We Minnesotans love our trees, and there’s nothing like the wonderful feeling of planting a tree that might live longer than we do. Tree planting involves work, hope and satisfaction beyond measure. It also reduces home heating and cooling costs, saves dispersion of soil by wind and water and reduces noise pollution.

Give a tree to someone you care for; there’s no lovelier gift than a tree planted in the honor of a family member or friend. Birds make their homes in trees we plant and cheer us with their joyous singing. Treat yourself: plant a tree. What could be more uplifting than that? - Joy Bumgarder

Plant a tree photo: © Danijelm | Dreamstime.com


Tips for Sustainable Living

Be bright about light! Make it a habit to turn off lights when you are leaving a room for 15 minutes or more. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs. Replace your old Christmas lights with LEDs. Note that LEDs last much longer than regular bulbs, and reduce energy use by 90 percent!

Laundry tips! Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible. As much as 85 percent of the energy used to machine-wash clothes goes to heating the water. Cold water generally works as well and keeps your clothes looking newer longer than hot water washing. When done, hang it out! Use a clothesline or rack to dry your clothes.

Plastic!  Plastics tend to persist in the environment for hundreds of years. Disposable plastic bags, bottles and utensils clutter the land and water. Think twice before you buy any more. Consider bottles made of glass or steel, and bags made of cloth.

Kindle your love of nature! Renew your appreciation for the natural beauty of the area in which you live. Take a walk in a park, visit a local arboretum, garden or lake! Sit under a giant tree!

Recycle! We all throw things away. On average, American’s discard 4.5 pounds of waste every day. Over half of this trash ends up in landfills. Much of that can be reused, repaired, or recycled. Challenge yourself to produce twice the volume of recyclables as you do of non-recyclable garbage.

How many times have you walked, biked, carpooled or used public transportation this week? Get out and enjoy your neighborhood! Consider leaving your car at home at least a couple times per week!

Insulate, insulate, insulate. The basement and attic are notorious for having drafts. This is made even worse in the winter by the chimney effect, which draws cold air in through the basement as warm air goes out the attic. To find out if you need more insulation, schedule a home energy audit through your utility company or your state energy or weatherization office. A professional auditor will pinpoint the energy-wasting spots in your home.

Buy products in bulk. Purchasing your everyday products in bulk saves in many ways. You spend less time driving back and forth to the store, using less fossil fuel to get there. Plus, it reduces packaging and saves money.

Plan your trips.  Even if it’s a short local trip, consciously anticipate an order that uses the least fuel. If you’re a parent, ask your children to help plan: Will you go to the grocery store first, then back home, and later, make another trip out to Grandma’s and the hardware store? Or can you save energy by traveling from the grocery store to the hardware store, next to Grandma’s for cookies and then home? Planning together, you can save both money and energy. This kind of planning can become an important part of your children’s way of living. Together, we can help to heal the world.

Turn down the heat. Save energy by setting thermostats for furnace heat to a lower temperature when going to bed at night. Snuggle in with warm blankets instead, and raise thermostats again in the morning. Heal the world? Yes! We can do it together.

Reconsider eating patterns and food choices: Buy locally rather than purchasing food that traveled halfway across the globe. Eat organic and eliminate pesticides and herbicides in your diet. Purchase fair trade products that ensure the value of resources and the people who survive off the land.

Other Resources

A potpourri of resources:  A PDF file with links to many useful resources.

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Plymouth Congregational Church • 1900 Nicollet Avenue • Minneapolis MN 55403-3789 • 612/871-7400

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