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We once thought climate change and the continued degradation of the environment was simply the product of humans overusing and over-abusing our natural resources.

But the truth is, it’s actually far more complicated than that.

Climate change shares a turbulent history with racial injustice, and scientists across the board agree that we have to find simultaneous solutions to really make positive progress. If we truly want to solve environmental issues, we must also solve the systemic racism and widespread economic inequalities in our society.

Why are these two issues connected? Why are people of color far more at risk from environmental health hazards than white people? For that answer, we have to first look at where the roots of this problem began.

Here at Ecogardens, we have recently begun selling some of the products we’ve been using for years.

By championing The products that we’ve found to be resilient and reliable, we hope to share with you some of the tools that have been the very foundation of our work.

To kick off this exciting new phase, we recently sat down with Mike Merlesena, National Commercial Sales Manager of DIG Corporation.

Based in California, and successfully manufacturing and distributing drip irrigation accessories since the 1980s, DIG started out providing a line of low-volume irrigation products to both the DIY retail market and the commercial turf market. From the beginning, they’ve taken the resilience and sustainability of their products and services seriously.

While DIG has always provided advanced, eco-friendly irrigation technology solutions, when they acquired the LEIT controller product line in 2000, they could confidently claim to have the greenest irrigation technology on the market.

If you’re American, there’s a 95% chance you have these invisible, killer chemicals somewhere in your body. They’re called PFAS.

What are these mysterious chemicals, how did they get in our bodies, and what does this have to do with our water supply? Let’s take a look.

It shouldn't be a surprise that in today’s world, carcinogens lurk everywhere. And while we don’t want to freak you out, there’s a particular chemical lurking in the American landscape that we should all know about.

First off, let’s agree to just use the shortened version of the group of chemicals - PFAS.

If you want to know the long version, they are technically called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Basically, these are a group of man-made chemicals that have been in use since the 1940s and also include such tongue twisters as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). Not to burden you with too many acronyms, but PFOA and PFOS are important to mention, as they are the two most produced and studied of the PFAS chemicals.

So now that we have the nomenclature all set, what we need to know is that PFAS is used in a variety of industries around the world and in a dizzying amount of consumer products.

Worse, PFAS are persistent in both humans and the environment. Persistent, in the scientific community anyway, is actually a pretty frightening term. It means PFAS builds up over time instead of breaking down. So instead of disappearing or disintegrating with passing years, layer upon layer gets added and sticks around...forever.

For many of us, water is a resource that we take for granted.

We wash our hands, flush the toilet, fill up a glass straight from the tap and enjoy long, hot showers. For those who enjoy this kind of abundance, the idea of water scarcity is abstract. For others, it’s a daily reality. And the issue only stands to get worse throughout this century.

Enter the water wars.

Right now, over two billion people suffer from problems with their water - whether it’s getting enough clean water to drink, or safely dealing with wastewater. Experts predict that within the next four years, two-thirds of the world could face water shortages. Which makes water scarcity a harsh reality for both the present and the future.

But there’s a new way to deal with water scarcity on the horizon. Starting in early December of 2020, water joined gold, oil and other commodities and is now traded on Wall Street.

Ecogardens has emerged as a trusted source for consulting and project management when it comes to green roofs.

If you’ve ever wondered how the process all works and how it can help you mitigate risk, save money, and create higher quality projects, read on for a short interview with Greg Raymond, Founder of Ecogardens and experienced Green Roof Project Manager.

Question: There are many benefits to bringing in a Consultant or Project Manager for your sustainability projects—especially green roofs. In your view, what are the top benefits and how do they relate to each particular stakeholder in a given project?

Greg: It depends. Most of the people we work with have a considerable degree of expertise in their field, but when it comes to green roofs, there are a lot of moving parts and it can be helpful to bring in folks like us who have done it effectively and economically, for years.

When was the last time you walked through a national park and thought to yourself ... “Boy, good thing the Land and Water Conservation Fund is here to make sure these wild places get their full funding?”

If you answered “never,” then you’re in good company. Most people don’t know exactly how our outdoor areas receive their vaunted protection.

Well, spoiler alert: It doesn’t come free.

Rather, it’s the result of hard work and hustling on the part of Dedicated Parties ranging from citizen coalitions to national conservation organizations to even, if you can believe it, our elected officials.

Fountains have been gracefully shooting water into ponds for millennia. In fact, the first documented fountain was of a goddess in 3000 B.C. For thousands of years fountains relied on gravity to do their special thing, until King Louis XIV wanted a fountain at Versailles that required 257 different pumps.

Modern fountains were born.

Unlike old King Louis, today’s fountains are less of a statement about the power of man over nature, and more about the balance of nature.

But those of us in the business of keeping ecosystems in balance – whether natural or urban ecosystems – have long known that fountains are more than just pretty to look at and nice to listen to.

To the average dog-walker, bird-watcher or picnicker, retention ponds are just part of the background. Sure, most people might know something about their usefulness or necessity, and some people might even appreciate them.

After all, a well-designed and maintained retention pond can be very pretty to look at.

But for those of us in the know, retention ponds are an integral part of stormwater management. There are a lot of ways to manage stormwater, but retention ponds, or, I should say, properly managed retention ponds, are a key part of stormwater management.

Operating as both storage for extra water from storms or snowmelt that can overwhelm urban infrastructure, and as a water quality treatment, the design can be fantastic.

There’s only one problem. If not properly designed or maintained (frequent problems when cities are dotted with retention ponds), there can be some pretty serious impacts on water quality.

When your best mate, or, in this case, best mutt, leads you to the career of a lifetime, it has to be fate.

That’s what happened to Bruce Kania, founder, CEO, President and Research Director of Floating Island International over fifteen years ago.

Rufus, a swim-loving lovable mutt, spent his free time taking laps in late summer on a pond on Bruce and his wife Anne’s 340-acre home along the Yellowstone River northeast of Billings, Montana. The land was idyllic. It had water, wildlife, gorgeous sunset views and a pond, where black-furred Rufus would emerge after his swim a questionable shade of red. And he’d stink.

So, maybe that part wasn’t so idyllic.

Worried about the pond, and the stench coming in waves off his dog, Bruce sought the advice of friends who worked at Montana State University. They told Bruce that the worrisome reddish hue coating Rufus was actually cyanobacteria.

Bruce asked what he could do. And a new career began.

This year, it’s not much of a stretch to imagine a Day Without Something. Remember when you thought you’d have to go without toilet paper? Or hand sanitizer? And the run on potatoes and pasta was something to see!

We don’t mean to poke fun. Back in the spring, when it felt like suddenly we might not have access to whatever modern day or basic supply we might want was shocking, and a little scary.

Which makes this year’s Imagine a Day Without Water a little close to home for most of us, and incredibly relevant as we think about what we want our world to look like in the coming years.