The Gardens at Heather Farm Sustainable Gardening in Walnut Creek

If you are embracing the fresh spring breezes and are looking for an ongoing display of the beauty that spring bestows upon Contra Costa County, then it’s time to visit The Gardens at Heather Farms in Walnut Creek.

The Gardens have received several accolades. First, the non-profit organization was established in 1972 as a volunteer educational facility with a focus on creating and maintaining a sustainable environment. Their primary mission is “to educate and inspire the community about sustainable gardening and stewardship practices that preserve and protect our environment.”

The Gardens at Heather Farm has a wide variety of environmental education field trips and classroom presentations that can be interweaved into grade school curriculum. The text book teachings are brought to life through interactive presentation and hands-on activities. To access youth programs, click here.

Adult gardening programs are also available. You can learn how to design your garden, how to attract pollinators to your yard and flower arranging. to access the calendar. Click Here

Second, they are a certified wildlife habitat. You have the opportunity to see many different species of wildlife such as river otters and many different waterfowl such as bufflehead and other birds like the white breasted nuthatches. Of the many garden settings one that is worthy of mentioning is the waterfall garden. If you look closely you will see Caddisfly larvae on the rocks bottom which is an important bio-indicator that the water is pollutant free, clean and fast flowing.

Third, they are a certified Contra Costa County Bay Area Green Business. They are associated with many other like minded individuals, and businesses that continually strive to protect, preserve and sustain our environment.

This purpose driven organization is mainly supported through many volunteers and various fundraisers. You can be a garden volunteer or an instructional docent.

Third, they are a certified Contra Costa Bay Area Green Business so they belong to a network of like minded individuals, groups and businesses that share a common goal of continually working towards protecting preserving and sustaining our environment.

The Gardens at Heather farm have over 20 different types of gardens for your viewing pleasure. Probably one of the most spectacular one to view is the Cowden Rose Garden featuring 1000 roses. You can even have a wedding in a gazebo right next to this garden.

The Gardens at Heather Farms are definitely a Contra Costa backroad you should keep plugged into your GPS as you will want to visit the gardens each time the seasons change to get the full scope of what this location offers.

Green Job: DIY Battery Reconditioning

If you could think of a cool job that you could do in your spare time in your garage that would help the environment would you want to know about it? Have you ever thought about where all the used rechargeable batteries go when you think they are not useful anymore?

Unfortunately, most batteries rechargeable or not go into our trash cans and then into our landfills where they eventually leak acid into the soil. This obviously is not a good thing especially as we own so many electronic gadgets that require rechargeable batteries such as computers, Ipods cameras, phones, gardening and power tools just to name a few.

So what is the number 1 reason we throw our batteries in the trash?

“BECAUSE WE DON’T KNOW WHAT OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE.”

Here are a few options to consider:

1) If you want to make one small change today, find  2 shoe boxes and label them “Used Batteries” for all your disposable batteries and “used rechargeable batteries”

2) Check with your city to see if they have a drop off location for used disposable batteries. Walnut Creek, California is an example of what options are available for convenient drop off in their city.

3) Find a local business that specializes in battery reconditioning or rechargeable batteries.

4) Start your own battery reconditioning business it’s a lot easier than you think. The benefits include:

• Not a significant investment to get started.
• A battery reconditioning service can be started in a small space such as a corner of your garage.
• Can be a great side business, an extra stream of income, or a great summer job for a high school or college student.

If you want an outline of what it takes to start a battery reconditioning business I found a cool link for you to review.

How to Set-up a Battery Reconditioning Business

Green Recycling - Recycle your old batteries in Walnut Creek

Local retailers are now providing battery recycling for single-use household batteries. Those merchants in Walnut Creek who now accept batteries are: Long’s Drugs stores at 1123 S. California Blvd., 1914 Tice Valley Blvd., and 738 Bancroft Rd., and Rite Aid Drugs at 1526 Palos Verde Mall. For more information, contact Lois Courchaine at the Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority atlois@wastediversion.org