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Millions of tons of waste materials are hauled away, buried, or burned each day from landscaping and grounds keeping operations—trees, shrubs, brush, lumber, asphalt, and concrete, just to name a few. Consider the millions of gallons of water, pesticides, fuels, and oils in use each and every day. The costs of these materials—both economic and environmental—can be easily reduced or eliminated with updated landscaping methods.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) GreenScapes program provides cost-efficient and environmentally friendly solutions for landscaping. Designed to help preserve natural resources and prevent waste and pollution, GreenScapes encourages companies and homeowners to make more holistic decisions regarding waste generation and disposal. This reduces impacts on land, water, air, and energy use.

The GreenScapes Alliance is a voluntary partnership program that aims to combine government and industry into a powerful, unified influence over the reduction, reuse, and recycling of waste materials in large land use applications.

Read related information about greenscaping at my website: CaliforniaGreenSolutions.com

The Sustainable Sites Initiative has been launched by The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), The University of Texas at Austin's Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and the United States Botanic Garden. The U.S. Green Building Council is lending its support to this project and plans to adopt the Sustainable Sites metrics into its LEED system once they are finished.

The Sites Initiative will measure the sustainability of designed landscapes of all types, including public, commercial, and residential projects.

Learn more online at www.usbg.gov

Master Composting Program by the San Diego Solid Waste Management Department, is people-powered by The Master Composters, a group of volunteers who have undergone an extensive training class in all aspects of the composting process, and then use that information to teach others how to turn their organic wastes into a perfect soil amendment.

Master Composters receive:

1. Extensive training and background material in composting and other alternatives to organics disposal which they can use in their own residence;

2. Additional "continuing education" through semi-regular meetings, field trips, and interaction with others who have different expertise;

3. Experience in speaking to and interacting with groups and individuals with whom they have common interests;

4. Satisfaction in knowing that they are doing their part to alleviate part of the ever-increasing landfill problem

... Resources for Composting listed here:

Manage and identify insects, mites, diseases, nematodes, weeds, and vertebrates with IPM

Use IPM tools to help make decisions

• Weather data and products
• Degree-days
• Interactive tools and models

California Pesticide Use Summaries

UC IPM developed this database from data from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. The database includes summaries of pesticides used on California crops datailed by commodity, pesticide, county, and month. The database has no information about a pesticide or its label.

Access IPM Database

UC Davis Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program