West Seattle Blog…

Video: Nature Consortium celebrates ‘Soundway Day’ and more

On the edge of the West Duwamish Greenbelt, Seattle’s largest remaining contiguous forest, the Nature Consortium rallied staffers, volunteers, and community members to a Saturday celebration. At the heart of it was a mayoral proclamation held above by NC’s Monica Thomas (right), with founder/executive director Nancy Whitlock: It was “Soundway Day” (proclamation closeup here) in honor of the years-in-the-making rescue and restoration of WDG land once earmarked for homes and roads. It was also a chance for the group to hold its annual “Golden Shovel” presentation recognizing an exceptional volunteer – this time, Tim Jaureguy:

We recorded video of the official presentation, following some words on behalf of Soundway, and recognition for two others before and after the giving of the “Golden Shovel”:

Funding for the party was part of a grant related to the ongoing work at the site; Marination (WSB sponsor) brought the food, and NC brought plenty of activities, including art for the smallest attendees:

This is a big summer for Nature Consortium – not only bringing back the Arts in Nature Festival (August 10-11 at Camp Long), but also, recruiting a successor to Whitlock, who recently announced her plan for a sabbatical. She told us Saturday that the executive director job is scheduled to be officially posted July 1st.

P.S. The Nature Consortium could use YOUR help in the West Duwamish Greenbelt – just about any time. Here’s how to join in.

Last chance to comment on Duwamish River cleanup

The Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition reminds us that today is the deadline for commenting on the EPA’s draft cleanup plan for the Duwamish River on West Seattle’s eastern border, and shaping a plan that will affect lives in this area for decades to come – from cleanup jobs to the health of the river and the people who use it. If you can spare a few minutes to have a say, all the links you need, from the plan to the comment form to DRCC’s opinion, are at this link.

Followup: Remodeled, energy-efficient ‘Triplets’ now on sale

Six months ago, we reported on a first-of-its-kind plan for remodeling and reselling three vintage West Seattle homes instead of tearing them down. Now, the Westwood Village-vicinity homes dubbed “The Triplets” are done and listed for sale, with their first public open house today (Sunday). We stopped by for a sneak preview Saturday. Here are two of them:

All three are in the 8800 block of 24th SW – from north to south along the east side of the block, Clara, Zelda, and Louise, as named by Green Canopy Homes, which “re-envisioned” them with financing from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission‘s Sustainable Energy Trust Lending Program. It’s all about energy efficiency – but “The Triplets” have been updated in far more than that aspect, from the entries…

Click to read the rest of Followup: Remodeled, energy-efficient ‘Triplets’ now on sale…

Recyclable electronics? Shreddable docs? Junction event Saturday

(WSB photo from June 2012)
It’s become an annual tradition for West Seattle Windermere and the WS Junction Association to offer a chance for you to recycle unwanted electronics AND get old documents shredded, all at the same time, same place. 10 am-1 pm this Saturday (June 8th) is the time, the 42nd SW parking lot behind Windermere (south of SW Oregon) is the place. P.S. Wondering what recyclables they’ll accept? Here’s the list.
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Monday: Open house seeking your opinion on reducing waterway pollution

(Outfalls in our area – blue = ‘controlled,’ pink = ‘uncontrolled’)
The city has yet to finalize a plan for keeping its combined-sewer overflows out of local waterways – but once it decides on an option, West Seattle will be affected, one way or another, as this “community guide” shows – with options including at least half a million gallons of overflow storage to be built somewhere in eastern West Seattle. As part of the current environmental review of the options, the city has a “scoping” open house tomorrow to which you’re invited. It’s been advertised here and elsewhere as “The Plan to Protect Seattle’s Waterways“; it’s a chance to review the potential alternatives, and ask questions/offer comments in person. It’s downtown, 4:30 pm-6:30 pm Monday (June 3rd) in the Bertha Knight Landes Room on the main floor of City Hall downtown. If you can’t go, you can comment by e-mail, as long as your comment’s in by June 20th – e-mail betty.meyer@seattle.gov. (Or – here’s a survey.)

P.S. Just in case you wondered, two things:

#1 – This is separate from King County’s combined-sewer-overflow-reducing plans, which in our area include the planned storage tank across from Lowman Beach Park and “green stormwater infrastructure” in Westwood and Sunrise Heights. The county’s plan involves reducing overflow at two of its pump stations on the southern West Seattle shore; the city’s plan involves reducing what gets to its more-numerous outfalls both on Puget Sound and on other waterways including Longfellow Creek and the Duwamish River.

#2 – If this sounds a bit like déja vu – there was a previous round of “scoping” in 2011 (as noted here). But since then, the city negotiated an agreement with higher authorities regarding past pollution, and the results of that changed the potential plan a bit, as explained in the “community guide.”

West Seattle weekend scene: HPIC’s new rain garden

What was long just another stretch of asphalt in the Highland Park Improvement Club parking lot is now a brand-new rain garden, after today’s planting party gave it the finishing touches. As explained on the HPIC website (where you also can see the Rain Dog Designs vision for the garden), “every little bit helps” to get toxic runoff water out of the drains that run right into the Duwamish River and Puget Sound. (You can find out about possibilities for your own little corner of West Seattle, by checking with RainWise.)

Another chance to help plant a West Seattle community garden

If you have passed Highland Park Improvement Club along SW Holden lately, you probably noticed some of the asphalt lot dug up, close to the sidewalk. This is the long-planned HPIC rain garden, close to completion, as part of a partnership with Sustainable Seattle and King County. This Saturday (June 1st), you are invited to join in finishing and planting the new community-designed garden, which will help keep toxic stormwater runoff from making its way into local waterways. The official event announcement adds that it’s a chance for you to get inspired to do something similar:

On that day, HPIC will also be the host to many other ways that you can get involved at home. Join us for the Yards in the Neighborhood Tour:

• Take part in the planting of the rain garden
• Embark on a short, self-guided walking tour to learn about rain gardens and see demonstrations of green infrastructure
• Meet RainWise contractors learn about incentives and reimbursements for installing rain gardens and cisterns
• Visit booths and see demonstrations
• Learn five easy take-home actions to help the Duwamish River!

This is all happening 10 am to 1 pm Saturday at 12th/Holden, free of charge, everybody welcome, no minimum time commitment – stop by for a few minutes or all three hours, help plant if you can (or just cheer everybody on!).

Wednesday: Final public hearing on Duwamish cleanup plan

(2011 photo by Danny McMillin, via the WSB Flickr group)
Just two and a half weeks remain in what began as a three-month public-comment period for the Environmental Protection Agency‘s proposed Duwamish River cleanup plan. June 13th is the deadline to have a say on how Seattle’s only river should be cleaned up after decades of pollution, and one more public hearing (with two sessions) is coming up this week. As the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition has led the way in pointing out, there are distinct differences in the ways the cleanup can be approached, and your comment(s) can be something as simple as a description of your priorities. The official plan document is here – you can read it in its entirety, or just check the “executive summary” a few pages in, if that’s all you have time for. DRCC’s recommendations are here, along with other assistance they offer for commenting.

HOW TO COMMENT: This week’s two-session hearing is at 2 pm and 6 pm Wednesday (May 29th) at Town Hall downtown, 1119 Eighth Avenue (map). You can also comment online via this web form, or e-mail ldpc@resolv.org.

Followup: Sound Experience to benefit from Explorer West win

The winning “Environmental Issues Slam” team from Explorer West Middle School (WSB sponsor) – mentioned here a month ago – has decided what to do with their winnings. The team calling itself “Drastic Plastic,” whose presentation covered plastics pollution in the world’s oceans, won the right to choose a charity for a $1,000 donation from the Washington Foundation for the Environment, and voted to give it to Sound Experience, described by EW’s Amy French as “an educational sailing organization with a program that educates schools/youth about plastic pollution in Puget Sound … Sound Experience has a unique partnership with UW-Tacoma to research microplastics in Puget Sound. As shown in the photo Amy shared, Sound Experience’s education/outreach coordinator Megan Addison visited EW this past week to receive the ceremonial check from the students; she’s shown with them and history teacher Tim Owens. Amy adds, “The winning team of students have also been invited by Sound Experience to participate in some plastic clean-up on board their vessel.” The slam participation followed a schoolwide effort that was part of EW’s Sustainability Program.

From campuses to creek: Salmon-release season in Fauntleroy

(Photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
The long run of beautiful spring weather has brought perfect conditions for hundreds of local students to visit the woods along Fauntleroy Creek. It’s the time of year when they release school-raised salmon fry during an intensive schedule organized by creek steward Judy Pickens. WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams was there on Friday as students from both Alki Elementary and West Seattle Elementary students visited within the span of an hour. Above, WSES teacher Kendall Paine showed students an insect, part of the ecosystem supporting this salmon creek.

Volunteers like Bud Schwinger (below) help the students get their fish into the creek, and show them how to spot the fry:

They’re transported to the creek from schools’ tanks in buckets:

After a short walk to the water’s edge, it’s into the water – volunteer Dennis Hinton (below) helped Alki fifth-grader Steven Huynh release fry:

Yes, you can see them if you look really closely – note the three fry in the foreground, released by a West Seattle ES student and ready to swim away:

Before Memorial Day, Judy and volunteers will have helped with 17 release visits. Then, come fall, it will be time to watch for salmon spawners further down the creek – last fall, you might recall, set a record (here’s our report, with photos by Nick, from mid-November).

Followup: Why about 400 West Seattle homes are 12 tons lighter

Another successful Recycle Roundup at Fauntleroy Church last Sunday (WSB coverage here) – Judy Pickens reported today that the church’s Green Committee estimates 400 vehicles brought almost 12 tons of recyclables for free dropoff with nonprofit 1 Green Planet. Adds Judy: “We’ll do it again on September 22!”

Duwamish River cleanup: EPA hearing tonight; HPAC briefing notes

(Cargo traffic on the Duwamish River; photo by Don Brubeck)
With only a month and a half remaining for public comments on the EPA’s proposed cleanup plan for the Duwamish River, one of its official public hearings is tonight at 6 pm (after an early session that’s just about to get under way) at the Georgetown campus of South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) – here are the details from the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition‘s website. The coalition sent a board member to this month’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting – read on for the points made in that mini-briefing:

Click to read the rest of Duwamish River cleanup: EPA hearing tonight; HPAC briefing notes…

Happening now: If you don’t need it, Fauntleroy Church’s Recycle Roundup will probably take it!

As today’s Fauntleroy Church Recycle Roundup got going, their recycling partner 1 Green Planet (a nonprofit) had three trucks on standby, knowing that West Seattleites are ready to fill them up, as they have in past editions. The one in our photo above was rapidly filling with old TV sets of all ages (we’ll probably pitch in some day, having not joined the flat-screen revolution just yet). They’re there until 3 pm – free (though the church’s Green Committee, which organizes this twice a year, is glad to accept a token $ donation from anyone who offers) – look for the signs outside the church parking lot at 9140 California SW:

The list of what they’re accepting is here.

Explorer West Middle school team wins ‘Environmental Issues Slam’

As Earth Week continues, a local school is celebrating its students’ achievements in a big event last night – thanks to Amy French for sharing the photo and report:

The Explorer West Middle School community congratulates the three groups of students chosen to represent Explorer West at Washington Foundation for the Environment‘s “3rd Annual Great Environmental Issues Slam” last night at The Flagship REI Store. The 6 students (across three teams) had 5 minutes to present their issues to a packed room of audience members who had the chance to vote at the end. The other contestants were all talented, adult speakers from a range of non-profits.

One of the student teams, presenting on “Drastic Plastic,” won the slam and the opportunity to donate $1,000 to the charity of their choice that is working to deal with the issue of plastics in our world’s oceans. Explorer West students will be voting this week to decide which non-profit receives the donation from Washington Foundation for the Environment.

Featured in the top photos is the winning group with EWMS Head of School Evan Hundley and history teacher Tim Owens, who Amy says “was the lead in getting the school involved in the slam.”

Don’t want yellow-pages (etc.) directories? Opt-out deadline ahead

Both Seattle City Councilmember Mike O’Brien and a PR agency for the yellow-pages-directory industry have sent reminders today that a deadline is ahead for opting out of the next big round of deliveries – go to this website by May 6th if you want to opt out of the next Dex directory delivery. They say you can also use that site to set your preferences regarding other directories. The city, you might recall, was sued over its attempts to constrain the directory industry (Seattle Times coverage here), but residents still have the right to opt out, and this industry-sponsored site is what both sides are recommending.

Earth Week note: 4 ways to sustainably rid yourself of stuff

We’ve mentioned all four of these before, but now that the weekend is in view, we thought a reminder might be in order:

SATURDAY – SHRED EVENT: 10 am-2 pm this Saturday at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW), free shredding of your unneeded paperwork, presented by IHeartWestSeattle.com (which like C & P is a WSB sponsor) – details here.

SATURDAY – DRUG TAKE-BACK DAY: Also 10 am-2 pm this Saturday, with the Southwest Precinct (Delridge/Webster) serving as the closest local dropoff spot for medications that are expired or otherwise unneeded – more info here.

SUNDAY – RECYCLE ROUNDUP: 9 am-3 pm, the Fauntleroy Church Green Committee invites you to come to the church parking lot (9140 California SW) to give 1 Green Planet anything unwanted that you see on the official list. (Free, though the Green Committee accepts and appreciates $ donations if you’re so moved.)

AND TODAY … is the last day to register for the 9th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day. We call it “person-to-person recycling” – more than 230 sales of all sizes already ready for their spot on the map for Saturday, May 11th, 9 am-3 pm, one wild day of shopping, browsing, and mingling, presented/coordinated again this year by WSB. If you’re planning to be part of it, 11:59 pm tonight is the registration deadline – sign up here!

Duwamish Alive! next Saturday: Signed up for a site yet?

(Brandon St. Greenspace volunteers during October 2012 Duwamish Alive!; photo by Nick Adams for WSB)
Next Saturday is the twice-a-year Duwamish Alive! cleanup/restoration work-party day – and as usual, you can choose from multiple work-party locations to get involved with helping take care of West Seattle’s river and its watershed. Organizers like to know how many people to expect – so if you are interested in helping out on Saturday, go here and mouse over “Sign Up” to see the drop-down list of eight possible sites where you can help, from West Seattle to South Park to Tukwila, 10 am-2 pm April 20th.

Next ‘Recycle Roundup’ at Fauntleroy Church set for April 28th

(WSB photo from last September’s Recycle Roundup)
It’s an ever-more-popular component of spring/fall cleaning in West Seattle – the twice-yearly Recycle Roundup at Fauntleroy Church. Judy Pickens sends word that the date for the next one is set!

The Recycle Roundup is coming to town again, thanks to organizing by the Green Committee at Fauntleroy Church. It will be Sunday, April 28, 9 am – 3 pm in the church parking lot (9140 California Ave. SW). 1 Green Planet will take almost anything for free, responsible recycling. Here’s the list and contact information for questions.

City Council committee to review ‘green stormwater infrastructure’ plan

That projection of a future bioswale/raingarden-added Westwood/Sunrise Heights block comes from a slide deck that will be shown to the Seattle City Council‘s Transportation Committee next Tuesday morning (April 9). This “green stormwater infrastructure” plan to reduce combined-sewer overflows at the Barton Pump Station is a county project, but it’s happening in city-owned right-of-way, such as the planting strip in the rendering, so the committee will be asked to give “conceptual approval” to the project. Public comment is on the agenda before the meeting’s business/action items including this one; the meeting is at 9:30 am Tuesday (April 9) in City Council chambers at City Hall downtown.

P.S. The latest project update on the county website identifies 15 blocks for construction of 93 bioswales and 15 underground drains, with four more to be monitored for possible later addition. Most are in the north part of the project area:

Construction is scheduled to start next year.

West Seattle Autoworks: AAA-approved; also in ‘Don’t Drip & Drive’

Two notes tonight from West Seattle Autoworks (WSB sponsor) – co-owner Todd Ainsworth says, “We are happy to announce that we have received our AAA approval here at the shop. It was a process that took months to complete, but it’s official now” – and that’s why the logo is now on the sign (photo at right). Todd also says WSAW is “participating in a new campaign sponsored by the State Department of Ecology and ASA called ‘Don’t Drip and Drive’ – aimed at educating consumers about the problems that can be caused by fluids leaking from vehicles. Runoff from the streets go directly into storm drains and, in turn, into the streams and creeks that feed Puget Sound.” Watch for a promotional campaign this month by the state, in which, Todd says, “participating shops such as ours will provide the customer with a free leak inspection. If leaks are found, the customer will be entitled to a coupon for 10% off (up to $50) toward the leak repairs.” You can find out more at fixcarleaks.org and pugetsoundstartshere.org.

West Seattle schools: World Water Week’s finale at Sealth

(First 3 photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
This past Friday was World Water Day, all around the planet. And at Chief Sealth International High School, it wasn’t just WWD, but also the finale of the third annual World Water Week “ideas festival,” a weeklong focus on water issues global and local. One of many workshops presented to, and with, students on Friday is the subject of our first three photos. West Seattleite Tiffany Silver-Brace had e-mailed to let us know that her company, Seattle BioMed, would be making presentations to students about “aquatic insects (mainly mosquitoes) and the diseases that they carry. We will be focusing on the malaria burden worldwide and how to keep mosquito breeding sites (i.e. stagnant water) under control.” They brought mosquito specimens as well as microscopes to show the students “real malaria parasites.” Tiffany is at right in the photo below, with Jen Hume, who led the Sealth presentations:

Tiffany also told us that Seattle BioMed’s BioQuest program “hosts local high schools and conducts lab tours, global education and hands-on science…including mosquito dissections! It’s an amazing program run by amazing people for a great cause: global health and getting high school-ers excited about science.” At Sealth, they brought along free insect-swatters:

Before the day full of special events on Friday, Wednesday and Thursday included sanitation education for Sealth’s 1300-plus students, both local and global:

That’s Casey Plank from King County Wastewater Treatment Division, which basically is responsible for what happens after you flush; social-studies teacher Noah Zeichner, WWW organizer, shared the photo. And these are just the tip of the (frozen water) iceberg of what happened at the school all week long, and in preparation. They have a donation campaign going too, to help ensure ongoing education of the issues that affect billions of people worldwide – you can chip in here. Some of the other Sealth WWW coverage included:
*WSB report on keynote speaker Jack Sim from the World Toilet Organization, who spoke at the school Tuesday
*Seattle Globalist‘s report about World Water Week @ Sealth
*WSB coverage of Sealth students’ challenge to actor and water-issues advocate Matt Damon

From Seal Sitters: 3-pup day; chemical-ban advocacy; surfing seals

THREE SEALS FOR ST. PATRICK’S DAY: No holiday for the Seal Sitters. On their Blubberblog website, you can read about today’s three pup sightings, all in the Jack Block Park vicinity – a pup dubbed Shamrock who appeared to be making a first-time visit; the return of rehabiiltated pup Ruby; and a third pup who’s nameless so far.

CHEMICAL BAN TO GET PUBLIC HEARING THIS WEEK: Tuesday afternoon, HB 1294 gets a public hearing in the State Senate Energy, Environment & Telecommunications Committee. This bill would ban two toxic flame-retardant chemicals that get into the food chain and are stored in the fat of marine life – especially our area’s seal pups – as well as humans. As noted in this Blubberblog report explaining the need for a ban, it recently passed the State House. You can e-mail your thoughts to our area’s Sen. Sharon Nelson by using this form.

SLIPPING-AND-SLIDING ‘SURFING’ SEAL-PUP CLIP: Seal Sitters‘ Robin Lindsey called our attention to this clip, which you might already have seen, since it’s passed a million views on YouTube:

Ethan Janson set up the surfboard platform off Three Tree Point in Burien. As Robin’s Blubberblog post notes, and as Alki residents and visitors have seen firsthand, platforms are a boon to seals of all sizes, so they can rest without coming ashore and having to deal with other animals (humans included). Follow the link to find out more about building your own – she writes that Alki’s own Guy Smith, builder of the Joy D. Smith Wildlife Raft, was a later consultant to the video-maker!

Video: PBS features ‘Diver Laura’ and the fight against runoff pollution

(EDITOR’s NOTE: Embedded video window removed because of technical problem – please follow the first link in the story to see the video)

West Seattle’s own “Diver Laura” James shares the link to that report from PBS NewsHour earlier this week. Her work documenting underwater Puget Sound sights both beautiful and disturbing is featured along with something you might not have heard about the use of raingardens to intercept runoff pollution: The fact that techniques are being studied to find out more about how they work and how long they work. (Despite the labeling from PBS, the video clip is mostly about runoff, not raingardens.) Laura is now leading the tox-ick.org program to educate people about reducing runoff, not only via stormwater interception but in so many other ways, and she’ll again be part of the team when local advocates join The Whale Trail‘s next presentation, coming up March 28th (look for more details on that from TWT later this weekend).

Followup: Saturday night Barton Pump Station overflow estimated at 50 gallons maximum

Saturday night, we told you about an overflow after a mechanical malfunction at the Barton Pump Station in Fauntleroy. This afternoon, King County estimates the overflow totaled “five to 50 gallons of wastewater.” Their news release adds, “Cleanup crews deployed Saturday evening did not find debris typically associated with a wastewater overflow, further confirming the incident’s minimal impact.” Water samples nearby “showed normal bacteria levels,” so they say area beaches will reopen once the Public Health Department says it’s OK.

Third West Seattle sewage problem in 3 weeks: Barton Pump Station overflow

10:07 PM: Another West Seattle beach has or will soon have a warning sign up about a sewage problem. We first got a reader tip tonight about sewage overflowing at the Barton Pump Station in the 5 pm to 7:30 pm vicinity, and as we were about to seek verification, an announcement came in from King County Wastewater Treatment Division with this news:

An undetermined amount of wastewater overflowed from a blown cap on a pipe north of the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal at about 7 p.m. To stop the leak, crews temporarily shut down one of the pumps to slow flows and reduce pressure in the line. The system resumed normal operation, though the cause of the overflow is still under investigation.

Crews initiated cleanup this evening and reported the overflow to health and regulatory agencies. Employees will make additional assessments, post the beach as closed, and take water quality samples when daylight resumes.

In response to our followup question about when it started, KCWTD spokesperson Annie Kolb-Nelson says she can’t confirm the start time but “we got a report from a State Ferry employee who said he noticed it at dusk, but the stop time sounds correct.” The beach on the north side of the dock is already off-limits to the public because of the pump station’s ongoing upgrade project, but there are residential beaches to the south of the dock and immediately north of the pump-station work.

This is the third recent sewage problem along West Seattle shores: Just a week and a half ago, Murray Pump Station, about a mile north, had an overflow estimated at 18,000 gallons when it lost power during a Seattle City Light outage in the vicinity; also last month, pipe problems at the over-water Harbor West Condos building led to leakage estimated by Seattle Public Utilities at around 30,000 gallons.

ADDED 11:13 PM: We should also note that it is the second problem the county has reported at this particular pump station in less than a week. The previous one – which was NOT reported to have caused an overflow – was a power outage last Wednesday.

West Seattle schools: Chief Sealth students visit North Delridge rain gardens

(Photos courtesy Karrie Kohlhaas)
In the months ahead, rain gardens will be part of at least two government-led projects in West Seattle. A private project that’s already in place in North Delridge continues to draw interest – including a school field trip for which Karrie Kohlhaas was the neighborhood liaison today. She shared photos and this report:

This morning, Chief Sealth International High School brought 25 ninth-graders on a tour of the Rain Garden Demonstration Cluster on 25th Ave SW between Brandon and Findlay (10 rain gardens in the front yards of 10 neighbors on 25th).

The students have been learning about storm water and how it impacts the environment and nearby waterways. Students visited Longfellow Creek before walking 25th Avenue to learn about rain gardens for the first time.

I met with students and teachers to explain how a rain garden works and to show them the different types of plants in a rain garden. We talked about why someone might want to plant a rain garden — how it can both absorb excess water in the winter and be a low maintenance landscaping in the summer and most importantly how it filters toxic pollutants before the water makes its way to local waterways like nearby Longfellow Creek.

As expected, some of the students were more interested than others. I told them that this might not be so fascinating right now, but when they have a home one day, they may stop and think about planting a rain garden instead of grass, which is not beneficial to the environment. They are finding out about grass alternatives much earlier than I did. I only discovered rain gardens a couple years ago. I told them they are way ahead of the curve.

Since we installed 10 rain gardens on our block in 2011, we’ve had many visitors. Many gardeners, a local Muslim school, curious West Seattle and Delridge neighbors, and even people who heard about the project on NPR and PBS in other states have made our block part of their visit to Seattle. I’ve enjoyed spreading the word about rain gardens and the benefits to homeowners, the environment, and the community.

If anyone wants to come check out the gardens, they are welcome to walk the block. It’s a great example of neighbors and non-profits working together to improve the community. While here, you can also see the street improvement on our block, where we collaborated with SDOT and Stewardship Partners to augment a drainage solution in the street by adding, yep, more rain gardens as well as native plants in the planting strips up and down the block. This spring will be a great time to come and check it out when everything is blooming and budding.

Here’s a map to the neighborhood.

ADDED SATURDAY: Chief Sealth social-studies teacher Noah Zeichner tells WSB that this was one of 10 “field experiences” taken by ninth-graders on Friday as part of the multidisciplinary WEST Project (Water, Ecology, and Sustainability Team). The destinations also included:

• Renton Water Treatment
• Cedar River Water Shed
• Water 1st
• Seattle Biomed
• Duwamish Boat ride
• Solid Ground
• Rainier Urban Farms and Wetlands
• Urban Gardens with Composting
• Gates Foundation Visitor Center

Local and global water issues continue to be a focus at Sealth, and this year’s World Water Week is coming up – at which time, among many other activities, students will present their projects to students at adjacent Denny International Middle School. More on WWW coming up in another WSB story this weekend – meantime, here’s previous coverage, including a note about this year’s keynote address, to which the community’s invited.

West Seattle’s mysterious Fairmount Ravine needs you – March 9th!

(Part of the 2010 Fairmount Ravine volunteer annual-cleanup crew)
Their 20th annual cleanup in 2012 netted a “vintage” 7-Up bottle – estimated to be half a century old. In 2008, discoveries included a car door. What will turn up in beautiful, mysterious Fairmount Ravine, beneath the Admiral Way bridge, during this year’s cleanup? Be part of the team that finds out – one week from tomorrow, Saturday, March 9th. Devoted neighbors, friends, and visiting volunteers will join forces over the course of two hours – also enjoying treats from Metropolitan Market and Zatz Bagels (both WSB sponsors) – 8:30 am to 10:30 am. From organizers:

Meet at the top of the hill at Fairmount and Forest – directly east of Hiawatha Park.

Please wear gloves, boots and old clothes as we remove garbage and invasive plants.

Here’s our coverage from past years – 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008.