Green roofs: Bocce, bees and beauty – Creating your green list
By SARAH MEEHAN,wtop.com – WASHINGTON — Green roofs provide potential for recreational, aesthetic and eco-friendly space, and as the appeal of sustainable roofing grows, Washington area residents continue to find colorful alternatives to just being green.
At a glance from the sidewalk, it appears Jeff Miller lives in a typical Georgetown row home. But a quick climb up a ladder through the skylight in his bathroom reveals another dimension to his house, where about 240,000 honeybees buzz atop the roof.
Miller bought his first beehive several years ago to provide pollinators for his garden, he said, and later founded D.C. Honeybees to propagate more bees in the city.
It’s this type of innovation that puts a personal spin on eco-friendly city living, said Kat Harrold, assistant green roof designer at Green Roof Service in Bel Air.
“In terms of the overall quality of life in an urban area, it’s one of the best things you can do,” Harrold said. “If you can basically turn your roof into your backyard, whether it be for gardening for just hanging out, I think that would be a tremendous resource.”
And if a roof can be converted to a backyard, why not use it for the Italian lawn game bocce?
Last month, the D.C. Bocce League’s Columbia Heights Division kicked off its fall season on a grassy plot atop the Highland Park apartment complex. That was the league’s first time playing eight stories above the city.
“We needed to run a fall league somewhere, and it’s hard to find space on Saturday,” said John Groth, the league’s co-founder and marketing director for the Highland Park building’s contractor, Donatelli Development.
Harrold said zoning regulations and weight capacities are the main restrictions on rooftop use.
“It’s not as heavy as a lot of people think it is, but the bottom line is (its) structure has to be sound for you to add anything to it or even just hang out on it,” Harrold said. Read more…
Creating your green listThe Journal-Standard – Let me make one thing clear: I like technology. Every day I use my MacBook, iPod, camera and cell phone. I often rely on my microwave, dishwasher, fridge and other appliances. I feel blessed to live in the 21st century, driving my somewhat reliable car and residing in a house with electricity and temperature control.
However, I also like some of the “old-fashioned” ways. Hanging my laundry on the clothesline. Making my own bread and granola. Growing food in the garden and preserving it for winter. Walking in the woods for the pure bliss of it.
Is it possible to combine the old world with the new world? Reach some form of compromise? I’m trying to find out.
At times it seems impossible to change our current lifestyle. Short of emulating Thoreau and moving to Walden Pond, what can we do to make a noticeable difference? We’re not willing to commit to drastic measures and give up the lives we know. In a world where progress is measured in leaps and bounds, the baby steps hardly seem worth it.
Yet every little step does count. You are getting somewhere, albeit slowly. If life is a marathon, then it’s one race you don’t want to finish quickly. Slowing down now can pay off in the future when you finally see the results.
Hanging your laundry conserves energy and saves money. Making food from scratch eliminates preservatives and mystery ingredients. Growing your own food cuts down on pollution and transportation costs to the grocery store both for you and the truck that delivered the food from who-knows-where. Walking in the woods reminds you of the environment we need to protect and conserve.
Easier said than done? Many of us have good intentions. We want to live green and provide healthy food for our families. The number one obstacle is time. In a day that is already jam-packed with work or school or activities, we can’t find time to take those extra steps.
This is the hard part. The part when you sit down and prioritize. The part when you sacrifice something fun to make time for something important. Or maybe it’s not as hard as we think. I gave up TV and don’t even miss it. The joy I get from my old-fashioned life far surpasses anything I got from TV. Read more...
