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Mission Zero Fest 2012: Water Hill, June 9 and 10

Mission Zero Fest is a unique event unlike anything that’s been seen before — it’s part sustainability symposium, part environmental exhibition, part green home tour, and partneighborhood block party. While speakers and workshops exhibit the how and why of sustainability, organizations will exhibit an array of green products and services for living a healthier, more comfortable life with a lighter footprint. Mission Zero Fest offers grassroots solutions to a complex global problem, designed to inspire a greener, more fulfilling lifestyle in our homes.

The two-day event is an opportunity to tour six ultra-green homes, attend workshops led by renowned sustainability experts, grab some delicious local food, and dance in the streets with an incredible array of top musical acts. The event is a celebration of neighborhoods and communities that harvest their energy and water needs and produce no waste.

Mission Zero Fest takes place Saturday, June 9 from 10am to 6pm and Sunday, June 10 from 11am to 4pm in Ann Arbor’s Water Hill neighborhood, located just northwest of downtown.

Volunteer With HRWC or the Fest!

HRWC will be speaking and exhibiting at Mission Zero Fest and sharing our Saving Water Saves Energy program, tips and tools. We need a few people to help staff our table. Contact Pam Labadie at HRWC, plabadie@hrwc.org, to sign up for a 2-3 hour shift at the HRWC booth on Sat, June 9, 10am-6pm or Sun, June 10, 11am-4pm.

The Mission Zero Fest organizers also need help before, during, and after. This is a great opportunity to network, share expertise, and give back to the community. REGISTER HERE to help. For more information, visit www.MissionZeroFest.org, email info@missionzerofest.org or call Monica Patel at 734-369-9277.

At the Dexter District Library, 3255 Alpine Street.

Please join us for our most important meeting every year to hear first hand from HRWC watershed planners and ecologists the outcomes of our work this past year.

• Climate Resilient Communities
• Save Water Save Energy
• River Up!
• Stormwater Success
• Conservancy Partnerships
• Water Quality Monitoring

The Board of Directors is hosting a picnic BBQ to thank all of you for your commitment to HRWC, your stewardship and membership. Volunteer Awards will be announced and handed out.

For more information contact, Margaret Smith at msmith@hrwc.org or (734)769-5123 x 605.

“Would you like to save the world? One drop at a time?” our masked H2O Hero asked attendees of the Home, Garden and Lifestyles show this past weekend. Awash in his blue cape, our H2O Hero made his debut, engaging the community in lively dialog about how to Save Water, Save Energy and Save Money.

We talked to over 700 people, sending them home with bright red stop-sign-shaped 5-minute shower timers and the idea of holding a “shortest shower” competition in their home. There was a lot of good-natured family finger pointing when we asked who might linger the longest in the shower. Many water and energy-bill paying parents nudged their teens in our direction, so that they might buy in to our water saving tips. Short shower skeptics were able to hold, compare and understand the benefits of installing a low flow shower head, aerator or faucet nozzle. We showcased fixtures from many makers, calculated the water and energy savings and payback for each, and explained the EPA’s WaterSense label which assures homeowners of both performance and efficiency.

We met a lot of H2O Heroes – people who have installed Energy Star appliances, high-efficiency toilets, planted native species….people who are saving water in small and big ways! The discussions were terrific. If you missed this opportunity to meet our H2O Hero, don’t despair. He will be on hand again.  Visit with the HRWC on Earth Day (April 22), at the Mayor’s Green Fair (June 8) and Mission Zero Fest 2012 (June 9 &10.) We want to hear how you are saving water at home and at work.

ScoopPoop.org made this video to help raise awareness about how cleaning up your dog poop will improve water quality in the Puget Sound. A spoof of Blackstreet’s 90′s hit song “No Diggity”, their Dog Doogity video features Pantless Knights and dogs Lola and Ranger.

We bring you this video to make you smile and to raise awareness during March, Scoop Poop month here at the Huron River Watershed Council. Share it with a friend and help us spread the word…”Dog Doogity, we’ve got to bag it up.” For more information on pet waste disposal and other ways to protect water quality, visit our website.

One man’s quest to rid
his city of dog poop.

This month, HRWC recognizes everyday heroes like Christof Wullner, a civil engineer whose vocation involves testing and cleaning up soil for building developments. Outside of work, Wullner founded a non-profit organization Stadt Und Hund (City and Dog) that has installed 250 dispensers and distributed over 4,000,000 pet waste bags, in an effort to help Berlin pet owners take responsibility for scooping poop. Way to go Wullner!

In this NPR audio file, reporter Monika Mueller-Kroll tells the story. Wullner’s efforts have helped thousands of Berliners to keep their streets and waters clean.

You can make your dog proud & be an H2O Hero. Scoop it, Bag it, and Pitch it in the Trash. Learn more about Wullner’s organization at www.stadtundhund.de/ (the site is in German, look for the “translate” button).

For more tips on how to rid your city of dog poop, CLICK HERE.

Are you a leak detector or a leak ignorer?

The EPA has concluded that the average household’s leaks can account for more than 10,000 gallons of water wasted every year, or enough water to wash nearly 10 months’ worth of laundry.  Yikes! Nationwide, household leaks can waste more than 1 trillion gallons annually.  That’s enough water to supply Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico for more than one year.

Be a leak detector.  One good method for detecting leaks is to examine your winter water use.  It’s likely that a family of four has a serious leak problem if its winter water use exceeds 12,000 gallons per month.  Or check your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used.  If the meter does not read exactly the same, you probably have a leak.

Find more (lots more!) leak detection and repair tips at H2ouse, the EPA’s Watersense Fixing Leaks at Home Guide and Alliance for Water Efficiency. And Join HRWC at the Home, Garden and Lifestyles Show this weekend, March 16-18 at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds. We’ll be handing out FREE leak detection kits. The rest of the sleuthing is up to you.

Inspiration for your Home
March 16, 17, 18 at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds

If you are remodeling, redecorating, planning a new garden, or simply learning how to save water and save energy, we’ll see you at the Home, Garden & Lifestyle Show March 16-18.  For decks or drywall, solar panels or septic systems, hundreds of professionals will be on hand to offer assistance to area homeowners. The event is sponsored by the Builders & Remodelers Association of Greater Ann Arbor. Visit the BRAG website for directions, show hours, and a list/map of exhibitors.

Drop by space E176, where the HRWC will display water-saving shower fixtures and offer water-saving tips and tools as part of the Saving Water Saves Energy campaign. Admission is $5, children ages 12 and under are admitted for free. HRWC members are welcome to stop by the New Center this week to pick up a FREE admission coupon.  See Pam Labadie in the marketing office at the end of the hall.

BRAG offers a free energy saving guide to the first 500 paid attendees. Regularly $8, it makes a nice gift for new homeowners.

Huron River watershed Oakland County residents invited.

The Six Rivers Regional Land Conservancy is an important HRWC partner that works to preserve the landscape and natural heritage of our region.  They want to know what you think—what land is important to protect?  Join them and share your thoughts in a live, interactive instant response survey at an open house.

Wednesday, March 21, 6:30-9pm
Paint Creek Cider Mill at 4480 Orion Road, Rochester

Six Rivers will share maps of draft priorities for land preservation in Oakland and Macomb counties for your feedback.  They have worked with HRWC’s Bioreserve Project and a number of other partners including the planning departments at Oakland and Macomb counties to develop these priorities—now they need to know what the citizens think!  There will be refreshments and door prizes, the interactive survey, and a fundraising activity for anyone interested. More Open House details HERE.

Learn more about HRWC’s work with Six Rivers and other regional land conservancies.

Scientists in the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Lab at the University of Pennsylvania have designed a robot that may revolutionize a spring yard clean up task that pet owners surely cannot relish. Scientist Ben Cohen narrates this 1:18 minute video that showcases the lab’s new robot, pet-named P.O.O.P.  S.C.O.O.P. ( Perception Of Offensive Products and Sensitized Control of Object Pick-up,) in action. Using an onboard camera, the robot “sees” varying types of poop, scoops them up and lobs them into a bucket.  But don’t throw away your poop scoop quite yet, the robot costs $400,000 to produce at this stage of development.

P.O.O.P.  S.C.O.O.P.  is part of what the GRASP lab calls their “trifecta of robots,” which includes robots that clean, wash dishes and do the laundry, conceivably working to eliminate hours of chores and procrastinating nationwide. We bring her/him to your attention this month as part of Scoop Poop month, when we at the HRWC work to raise awareness about the importance of disposing of pet waste properly.  Help keep our waterways clean. Scoop it, Bag it and Pitch it in the Trash every time….or program your robot to do it for you.

How can a snowy river walk in the woods devolve into arm waving and arguing? Watch as the Bright Futures Filmmaking Club depicts Walter and Patricia in Walking Brutus, a silent film with an unlikely hero. Is it Walter, who knows a thing or two about runoff? Is it Patricia’s dog Brutus who saves the day? Or is it a stream monitor with a baggie?

This award winning short film took top honors at the 2010 Miller’s Creek Film festival. It helps us to bring up a point of interest. While it may seem perfectly natural to leave a dog’s poop in the woods, it is simply not good for the river. That poop contains harmful bacteria that will wash into the Huron River as snow melts or rain falls. So, when nature calls, make sure you pick it up.

March is Scoop Poop month on the HRWC Watershed Community Calendar. We’re asking you to help us raise awareness about this everyday activity. If you like the video, share it with your friends.

Clean water is important to all of us. Make your dog proud – Scoop it, Bag it and Pitch it in the trash every time.