Come out and join Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed on April 9, at 9 a.m., at Whetstone Park (3923 N. High St.) in Columbus. They, and you, will be joined by Battelle Rivers and Stream team, FLOW, and Columbus Parks in planting 1200 – 1500 seedling trees in the Casting Pond area of the Park. For lunch, Battelle will host a cookout for all volunteers. What better way to get some sunshine (we hope!), help the environment, and meet your neighbors.

Contact Kimberly Williams at (614) 267-3386, or through email kwilliams@olentangywatershed.org to find out more, or visit their website.

If you live in Bexley, perhaps you’d like to come out this Saturday to help clean things up? Billed as the Ultimate Spring Clean Up, the City of Bexley invites you down to Pump House Park (Main & Alum Creek) to pitch in from 9 a.m. to Noon. At this event you can, free of charge, recycle household items like televisions, computer monitors, microwaves, some metals, and so forth. They even have some free paper and newspaper shredding available. You can also donate bicycles and clothing. All volunteers will be provided gloves and bags if they join in the litter cleanup activities. Everyone will be able to grab free coffee and doughnuts. If you’re interested in Alum Creek planting, well, bring your shovel too!

To find out more about this event, please contact Debbie Maynard at (614) 559-4212 or e-mail her through dmaynard@bexley.org. You can also visit www.Bexley.org for more information.

Is your community involved in environmentally friendly activities too? Want to talk about it? Let us know and we can help get the word out.

At minimum, I pledge this is the year that I will have a rain barrel to capture rain water to feed my garden! The Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed have excellent resources and classes available to educate willing participants on the process to build a rain barrel at home, and if the program survives the recent city budget shortfall, there may even be a cost sharing program to encourage citizens to get smart and get a rain barrel at home! However, if you want to hire a great local company, the Rain Brothers are at your beck and call. They are a dedicated microenterprise committed to sustainable living, environmentally friendly improvements and general goodwill.  

Did you know the City of Columbus has a great website for our citizens to stay abreast of conservation, water usage and even money saving green updates that benefit both the individual and the city? These green tips are relatively easy to acheive and are cost saving as well. Reduce, reuse and recycle…. and save some money while your at it!! I welcome your tips, suggestions or questions about environmentally friendly ways to live in Columbus. Best of luck in all your Green-Living Updates ~ Jeanne