Welcome to the Blog

We often talk about how green roofs are different from landscapes on the ground, and never is that more obvious than in the spring. Luckily, there are some signs to look for to ensure your green roof health is optimized and thriving for the upcoming growing season.

We recently got an introduction to the complex problems surrounding environmental equity. The very real connection between racial inequality and climate change is serious and the everyday problems people in our own communities are facing because of environmental inequalities are pervasive and persistent.

After a wet, cold winter, there is a glimmer of warmth on our horizon. With spring around the corner, it’s important to remember that a green roof has a different rhythm and maintenance cycle than landscapes on the ground. With that in mind, here are three things you can do to keep your green roof thriving this spring.  

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.