Tag: Keep Durham Beautiful

Get Ready for Creek Week!

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By Ellie Dilworth, AmeriCorps Environmental Outreach & Volunteer Coordinator, Keep Durham Beautiful

With Spring fast approaching, it’s hard not to stare out the window and dream of being outside. Luckily, the third week in March offers a great chance to get out there: Durham Creek Week.

This year, Creek Week runs from March 18th through March 25th. Creek Week is one of Durham’s largest litter cleanup initiatives of the year; a collaboration of over 15 community groups, organizations, local government divisions, and businesses; and a week-long celebration of Durham’s creeks, streams, rivers, and lakes.

Volunteers from Durham Tech at a litter removal event at Long Meadow Park along Goose Creek, Creek Week 2019 (Credit: Tania Dautlick)

Tackling Pollution

One of Creek Week’s main initiatives is removing litter from waterways and raising awareness about water pollution. Litter flows into our waterways with runoff and pollutes water as materials degrade, leaching chemicals into the surrounding water and soil. Did you know, the chemicals from just one cigarette butt can contaminate around two gallons of water—removing litter is a big deal!

Durham’s main source of drinking water is Lake Michie, located in North Durham. However, most of the creeks and streams in Durham flow into Jordan or Falls Lake, which serve as drinking water sources for surrounding cities. March is a great time to remove litter from our waterways as much of the overgrowth is dormant, making it easier to get close to waterways, spot the litter, and go in there to get it out.

Durham has celebrated Creek Week since 2009. In Creek Week’s 13-year history, approximately 4,117 volunteers have removed 190,637 pounds of litter from Durham’s waterways. This year, Creek Week will host a variety of cleanups across Durham to remove litter both on foot and by boat. Below we’ll tell you how to get involved.

Educational Opportunities

            While litter removal is a big part of Creek Week, it’s also a great time to learn more about our waterways, aquatic life, and water infrastructure in Durham. Participants can gain knowledge and experience through hands-on learning opportunities.

Kids searching for frogs at last year’s Frog Watch at Sandy Creek Park, Creek Week 2022 (Credit: Laura Webb Smith)

Some of this year’s events include:

  • Experiencing the explosion of spring song and mating activity among frogs at Sandy Creek Park
  • A bioretention tour at the City of Durham’s General Services Building
  • A Green Stormwater workshop at the Museum of Life and Science

An Educational Resource Guide with youth book recommendations and classroom activities and lessons can be found on the Creek Week website for a great way to learn and participate from home!

Recreational Activities

After lots of litter removals and educational events, it can be nice to spend some time exploring and enjoying our local waterways. Creek Week has ample opportunities for both fun and challenging—but still fun—recreational activities. Join Creek Week partners for one of many canoe and kayak adventures and classes which offer a new perspective on our lakes and rivers, enjoy free admission to explore the Museum of Life and Science on Durham Community Day, or team up for a hike along one of Durham’s many trails that run alongside our waterways.

Participate from Home

Whether you can attend an in-person event or not, you can still participate in Creek Week! Visit the Creek Week website to fill out this year’s bingo card. Participants who complete five spaces will receive a Creek Week patch. Those who fill out ten spaces will be entered for a chance to win a $120 gift card from Frog Hollow Outdoors. Durham County Stormwater is hosting a virtual scavenger hunt via social media with prizes for participants who get all the questions correct.

In addition to events in Durham, the Clean Water Education Partnership of the Triangle J Council of Governments hosts a Regional Creek Week event. For this year’s Regional Creek Week theme of “GSI Oh My!,” CWEP will be hosting a virtual scavenger hunt highlighting local examples of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI). GSI provides an alternative to sending runoff unfiltered directly into waterways via methods of filtering and absorbing stormwater in the place where it falls. Implement green stormwater infrastructure at your home through things like a rain barrel or rain garden, or take on a larger project like bioretention cells or redeveloping the riparian buffer along a waterway. For more information on the scavenger hunt and Regional Creek Week events, visit CWEP’s Regional Creek Week webpage.

Volunteers at a litter removal event at Beaver Marsh Preserve, Creek Week 2022 (Credit: Laura Webb Smith)

Register and Learn More

If you’re interested in joining a cleanup, participating in a workshop, or attending a recreational event, visit www.durhamcreekweek.org and navigate to the events page for registration links. Space is limited for many events, so sign up soon to secure your spot. If you’d like to organize or lead a litter removal event, please fill out this form. Keep Durham Beautiful will provide tools for those leading litter cleanups. If you’re not in Durham but would still like to get involved, keep an eye out for similar events in your area by visiting CWEP’s Regional Creek Week webpage or the NC Creek Week Network Hub from the NC Department of Environmental Quality.

However you choose to participate, we hope you take the chance this March to explore, appreciate, learn, and care for our local waterways. See you out there!

Resources/Links:

www.durhamcreekweek.org (Includes Event Registration, Educational Resource Guide, Bingo Card)

NC Creek Week Network Hub

CWEP’s Regional Creek Week webpage

Registration Form to Lead or Organize a Cleanup

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Learn With Us, June 18 – June 24

On By durhammastergardenersIn Garden events

Durham Garden Forum Tuesday, June 20 from 6:30-8:00 PM at the Doris Duke Center, Sarah P. Duke Gardens. There is no charge for parking.

Our topic this month is “Sustainable Turf Strategies” presented by Grady Miller, Professor, Crop and Soil Sciences, North Carolina State University. Turf functions in many ways to provide open space, pathways and creating a frame that many people enjoy. Sustainable turf strategies begin with selecting the best grass for your location and then managing the turf to reduce water and chemical use while maintaining the health of the yard and reducing organic yard waste. Grady will give us an update on a variety of sustainable practices.

We had another active Member Plant Giveaway Table in May and will continue with this feature in June. Please remember to bring your plant is some form of container, label if possible and remove at the end of the evening if it has not been taken.

Lecture fee: $10 per meeting for non-members. Forum members free with $25 annual membership, payable to Durham Garden Forum.
(919) 668-1707
– See more at: https://www.durham-nc.com/includes/calendar-of-events/Durham-Garden-Forum-Sustainable-Turf-Strategies/86108/#sthash.PjNpDjYO.dpuf

Durham Pollinator Garden Tour, June 24, 9:00 -1:00.  http://keepdurhambeautiful.org/our-events/durhampollinatorgardentour/

 

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Learn With Us, week of Jan. 12

On By durhammastergardenersIn Garden events
Getting Dirty with Durham County Master Gardeners Radio Show  – Broadcasts Tuesdays at 2:00pm on WCOM 103.5  Can be heard live or replayed any time at http://gettingdirtyradioshow.org
JANUARY 13 – Durham’s vibrant community garden has just been expanded to include a grape arbor, fruit tree orchard, and education pavilion.  This expansion was funded by Keep Durham Beautiful, Keep America Beautiful, and Lowes Home Improvement.  Volunteers donated over 400 hours of their time to install the arbors, build raised beds, and build an educational pavilion.  Lise Jenkins tells us about this project and talks to some of the volunteers that made it happen.
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This has been a busy season at the Briggs Avenue Community Garden. As part of a project funded by a grant from Lowe’s, volunteers from Durham Tech, Keep Durham Beautiful, Lowe’s Heroes, Durham County General Services, Durham County Extension Master Gardeners and the Briggs Avenue Community Gardeners have built a beautiful pavilion, planted a vineyard, and installed raised garden beds. Fantastic work, everyone! Enjoy this slideshow of the pavilion construction.

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For more information about the project, see this earlier blog post: https://durhammastergardeners.wordpress.com/2014/11/05/keep-durham-beautiful-receives-10000-grant-from-lowes/

Photos courtesy of Doug Roach

 

Keep Durham Beautiful Receives $10,000 Grant from Lowe’s

On By durhammastergardenersIn Gardening information


Lowe’s Community Partners grant supports Briggs Avenue Community Garden

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Volunteers began work on a new project at Briggs Avenue Community Garden on Friday, October 31, thanks to a $10,000 grant from Lowe’s to support the mission of Keep Durham Beautiful.

The Lowe’s Community Partners grant will provide funding to expand the existing garden space at Briggs Avenue Community Garden to create new demonstration areas, develop a vineyard and improve accessibility for individuals with limited mobility.

Briggs Avenue Community Garden, located at 1303 South Briggs Avenue in Durham, was founded to address issues of food security, to improve diet and to provide Durham youth and families with resources and education to grow their own fresh fruits and vegetables.

The Keep Durham Beautiful grant is one of more than 60 merit-based grants awarded nationally by Lowe’s to community-based affiliates of Keep America Beautiful to support grassroots service projects.

Local Lowe’s employee volunteers, called Lowe’s Heroes, will work at the garden alongside other volunteers and City and County staff to accomplish the following projects:

  • Create a 400-square-foot mortared brick patio with lighting, fans, seating and cooking stations for public use in demonstrations and community gatherings
  • Develop a vineyard with grapes and blueberries to teach vineyard cultivation and management for the community
  • Create accessible raised garden beds for plot owners with limited mobility

“The power of the partnership between Lowe’s and Keep America Beautiful can be seen in the work accomplished by Keep Durham Beautiful and the Lowe’s Heroes employee volunteers who spend countless hours to make a difference in our targeted community initiatives,” said Jennifer Jehn, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. “Keep America Beautiful is thrilled to work with Lowe’s to continue transforming public spaces into beautiful places for a third year.”

Over the course of the partnership, KAB and Lowe’s have brought together more than 33,000 volunteers and 800 Lowe’s Heroes. Together, they’ve contributed 170,000 volunteer hours in their respective communities.

Since the Briggs Avenue Garden began in 2010, more than 55 families have grown at least 50 types of fruits and vegetables and harvested 7000 pounds of produce valued at $14,000. Over 40 partners including Cooperative Extension, local garden clubs, community colleges and businesses have helped to develop the garden.

To volunteer in the garden expansion project or to rent a garden plot, contact the Durham County Cooperative Extension Durham County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers at 919-560-0528 or mastergardener@dconc.gov. For a schedule of workdays, click here: Lowes Grant Workdays
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About Keep Durham Beautiful
Keep Durham Beautiful, a non-profit affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, engages and inspires individuals to take greater responsibility for their community environment. Focus areas include litter prevention, beautification, recycling and waste reduction. To volunteer, visit http://www.keepdurhambeautiful.org or call 919-354-2729. Be sure to like us at http://www.facebook.com/KeepDurhamBeautiful or follow us at http://www.twitter.com/DurhamBeautiful.

About Lowe’s in the Community
Lowe’s, a FORTUNE® 100 home improvement company, has a 50-year legacy of supporting the communities it serves through programs that focus on K-12 public education and community improvement projects.  Since 2007, Lowe’s and the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation together have contributed nearly $200 million to these efforts, and for more than two decades Lowe’s Heroes employee volunteers have donated their time to make our communities better places to live. To learn more, visit Lowes.com/SocialResponsibility and LowesInTheCommunity.tumblr.com.

About Keep America Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. With a powerful national network of community-based affiliates, we work with millions of volunteers who take action in their communities to transform public spaces into beautiful places. Through our programs and public-private partnerships, we engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community’s environment. For more information, visit kab.org, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or view us on YouTube.