Going Green

A bioretention cell at Easter Lake Park

One of our favorite times of year is coming up on April 22, Earth Day! Of course we think every day should be Earth Day, but it’s a good time to reflect and bring attention to how we treat the Earth.

How did Earth Day come about? Senator Gaylord Nelson, from Wisconsin, founded Earth Day on April 22, 1970 to bring awareness to environmental issues. An estimated 20 million people from around the country participated in activities that day! Later that same year, Congress authorized the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency to handle environmental issues.

So what are some of the “green” initiatives Polk County Conservation practices as an agency?

  • We compost our food waste at the Jester Park Nature Center with a large composter that we purchased after receiving a Resource Enhancement and Protection – Conservation Education Program mini grant. When school groups visit the nature center, they get to toss their uneaten scraps into the composter! 
  • We save water and electricity by using low flow showerheads, faucets, toilets, and urinals along with hot water on-demand water heaters in our campground shower houses.
  • We save fuel by reducing the amount of turf grass we mow in our parks. The turf grass in these no-mow areas will be replanted with native plants this spring. 
  • We save electricity by replacing old incandescent and CFL light bulbs with more efficient LED lighting in all of our county park buildings (shower houses, cabins, shelters, park shops and offices, and nature center). Energy efficient LED bulbs last longer than incandescent bulbs.
  • We provide charging stations for electric vehicles at the Jester Park Nature Center. Electric vehicles do not produce any emissions that contribute to poor air quality.
  • We save placed recycling stations throughout our campgrounds and at the Jester Park Nature Center to cut down on the amount of waste sent to the landfill. 
  • We have helped capture and slow down rainwater runoff from paved parking areas by installing bioretention cells at Easter Lake Park, Fort Des Moines Park, and Jester Park.
Electric car charging station at the Jester Park Nature Center

What "green" initiatives do you practice? You can celebrate Earth Day with us on Monday, April 22 from 10am-3pm at Easter Lake Park as we help restore the woodlands in the park. Or you can celebrate with us that evening from 6:30-7:30pm at the Jester Park Nature Center to hear Earth Day Stories on the patio.

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