My Green Sonoma

California mandated water conservation rule goes into effect today requiring residents and businesses to reduce water consumption by 15%.

The Sonoma County Water Agency supplies water to about 570,000 people throughout Sonoma and Marin County. This water comes from a combination of Russian River water and native ground water to meet demand. 

One of our reservoirs has reached a critically low level.  By reducing our water consumption by just 15% we will ensure that we have sufficient water resources for our needs.  Here's a few more tips on what we can do to reduce water consumption with minimal impact on our own lifestyles: 

• Try taking your car to a car wash that uses recycled water.  I tried searching on the internet for local car washes that use recycled water and came up empty handed.  Stay tuned.  In an upcoming post I will provide a list.
• Water your landscaping at night between the hours of midnight and 6:00a.m. Watering in two cycles instead of one reduces runoff and increases absorbtion so you can shorten watering time and use a bit less.
• Change out shower heads, faucet aerators and to low flow versions.  These are inexpensive, easy do it yourself improvements that will achieve your target savings.  You probably won't notice the difference when you use these fixtures, but you will when your water bill comes. 
• Fix leaks.   Change out old angle stops, gaskets, and leaky hose bibs.  Make a list and call your plumber. Most tasks can be completed quickly.  By making a list you save money with fewer plumbing visits.

The good news is, that Sonoma County is already voluntarily achieving its mandated water reduction, but lets use this opportunity to become more aware of our resource consumption and enjoy the cost savings of not wasting what we have.   We can set an example to the rest of the state, and our country by exceeding our water savings goal and showing what really is possible if each of us make just a few small changes.

I called around to find out which car washes are using recycled water these days.  Here's a list of businesses that say that they do.  If you know of others please let me know and I'll add them to this post.

Chevron:  7360 Commerce Bl. Rohnert Park

Jolly Washer 19249 Sonoma Highway Sonoma

Mendocino Avenue Car Wash and Detail Center  2700 Mendocino Avenue, Santa Rosa

Mission Car Wash  59 Mission Circle, Santa Rosa

Oilstop Drive Thru Oil Change & Full Service Car Wash  5070 Redwood Dr. Rohnert Park

Rohnert Park Car Wash  200 Classic Court, Rohnert Park

Rotten Robbie Touch Free Car Wash  7200 Healdsburg, Avenue, Sebastopol

Touchless Car Wash 540 Lakeville Road, Petaluma

I came across a great resource at the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency website, called "less toxic pest control".  Check out this website because if offers many less toxic solutions to managing pest issues http://www.recyclenow.org/less-toxic/index.html and places a perspective on why those annoying little pests are actually good for our environment.

The trick is to keep them outdoors where they can actually work to protect and sustain our environment.  This website has many useful recommendations to do just that.

Enlightened and ready to dispose of your old can of RAID?  Whatever you do, DO NOT throw it in the garbage can where it may eventually make it to our water supply. Take it to the closest household toxics facility.  If its too far to drive, call me and I'll try to help you figure something out.

Honda Civic NGV Every day I love this car a little bit more!  Its fun to drive, clean, and economical. Having already accumulated over 1,000 miles on this car in under 3 weeks, it truly feels good to know that I've substantially lowered my carbon emissions relative to my previous vehicle.

As long as your household has access to natural gas, and can install Phill (the natural gas refueling unit that installs in your garage), this car is a perfect vehicle for local, around town driving.  Everyone that has a second car should have one of these in their garage.

I just learned that, upon installation of Phill,  PG&E will reset our account to be billed at the baseline so we will always pay the minimum rate for natural gas.  Add this to the financial benefits already known like HOV tags, fuel costs that equate to about 70-80 mpg when compared to a gasoline burning vehicle and $5,000 in federal tax incentives.

Do I miss all the bells and whistles of my old luxury car?  Of all the things I used to have, the one thing I miss the most is a decent sound system ... but that's something easily resolved if I so choose.

WINDSOR TOWN GREEN

The Windsor Town Green Village development is a successful example of Smart Growth and New Urbanism design that conserves land while providing a open air environment for community to come together.  Town Green Village is acclaimed by Sierra Club as one of the top smart growth development projects. 

Did you know that the Town Green Village has some of the most energy efficient buildings around?  Here are some of the energy efficient features:

Their future units will be even greener as the Town of Windsor embraces Green Building as a standard.

Anderson Organic Vegetable Stand & Pumpkin Patch
tel. +1 707.763.3852
4588 Bodega Avenue
Petaluma, CA 94952

Laguna Farm
tel. +1 707.823.0823
1764 Cooper Road
Sebastopol, CA 95472

Love's Organic Produce 245 Buena Vista Ave.
Healdsburg, CA 95448
About a mile south of the Plaza along Healdsburg Ave.
707-695-1632

Tierra Vegetables
tel. +1 707.837.8366
Airport Blvd and 101
Santa Rosa, CA 95401