Greetings fellow sustainable minds,
I am a graduate student at Oregon State University and I'm working on a program with the City of Corvallis' Stormwater Program to reduce fertilizer use and improve water quality. I am working with local lawn care professionals to uncover barriers in a few selected practices and I could use any literature about perceived barriers to reducing fertilizers in lawns. The behaviors that I am targeting are mulch-mowing or recycling grass clippings, using slow-release fertilizers, testing the soil regularly, and sweeping any excess fertilizer or clippings off of hard surfaces (i.e. sidewalks, streets) and back into the lawn. These are the "low hanging fruits" that will be easy for lawn care professionals to bite.
If you have any literature about these behaviors or any barriers that pertain to lawn care in general, that would be very much appreciated!
Thank you!
Jenna Halsey
Jenna Halsey
MS Candidate
Oregon State University, Marine Resource Management
United States
Reducing Fertilizer Use
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May 04, 2010 12:55 PM
The City of Ventura is hoping to work with Surfrider Foundation in coming months to host homeowner workshops on their "Ocean Friendly Garden" program. The basic concept is to conserve water & resources, increase permeability and water retention of the site through LID tools and techniques. I will post results as we move forward. In the meantime, check out their blog site at http://oceanfriendlygardens.blogspot.com/
Jill Sarick Santos
ES Coordinator
City of Ventura - Environmental Services Division
United States
www.venturasenvironment.com
...
Hi Jenna,
We have just in the last month completed the development of a strategy to reduce phosphorus loading in some particular waterbodies. It was a large project with several areas of focus, and included use of residential phosphorus fertilizers. To be precise, the behaviour is to use non-phosphorus fertilizers and alternatives, and the target audience is people who's residences border the lake.
Our research included a literature review, a workshop with experts in phosphorus loading, and focus groups with residents in the area. That research informed the selection of the behaviour, target audience, and CBSM strategy to foster the desired behaviour.
As the strategy has recently been delivered to our client I am not at liberty to share it with you at this time. What I could do though is answer questions you might have, just in a more generic manner.
Please feel free to send me an email at ken@beyondattitude.com if you would like to discuss this further.
Cheers,
Ken
Ken Donnelly
Vice President, Atlantic Canada
Lura Consulting
Canada
www.beyondattitude.com