Small Neighborhood Makes Big Impact . . . by Ed Beaulieu, chief sustainability officer for Aquascape, Inc.
www.aquascapeinc.com
For more than 15 years, my work at Aquascape Designs in St. Charles has largely focused on developing, designing and installing water features that are environmentally sound and beneficial. My wife and I began to wonder if maybe my neighbors in the Lakes of Bliss Woods development in Sugar Grove could be inspired to participate in a green neighborhood makeover.
We began by inviting neighbors in our subdivision over to our house for a meeting on a Sunday afternoon in June 2009. We were pleased that, of the 130 homes in our development, 40 were represented at the meeting.
Ed Beaulieu
I briefly presented our ideas, explained that making them happen would involve area homeowners, businesses and community departments in installing a variety of rainwater-collection systems, permeable hardscapes and other water- and resource-management strategies – and declared our goal as moving toward becoming a so-called “sustainable neighborhood.”
Using systems and products we’ve been developing and using at Aquascape as a framework for what could be done immediately, we covered a number of possible scenarios:
• If you’re interested in wildlife, we could install an ecosystem-style pond or a rain garden.
• If you’re interested in the sights and sounds of moving water and like the idea of offsetting water usage, we could put in any of a number of variations on basic rainwater-capturing systems, from elaborate pond/stream systems that include rainwater storage cells to small water features or simple barrels that collect, store and allow for efficient use of rainwater.
• If your primary concern is managing rainwater runoff, we could install permeable hardscape areas and use them to feed rainwater reservoirs.
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Conservation: Rainwater Harvesting
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