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Trees, butterflies, spring events, Earth Hour, and sustainability news!
Money Does Grow On Trees: Trees Provide Multiple Benefits
It's pleasant now, but once we hit triple digits, we enthusiastically seek out the cool shade of a tree. Read our March Sustainability Savings Tip [PDF] to learn about all the benefits that trees provide. We also talk about:
- Tree placement to get the greatest cooling impacts
- Our Trees Are Cool initiative and how you can help us grow a cooler community
- Our Trees Are Cool site where you can click on the "All About Trees" button to find the guide that includes beautiful photos of each tree
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Low Water Use Landscapes Are Beautiful CONTEST!
Through March 31! Watch our video series featuring Noelle Johnson (aka AZ Plant Lady) and then register for a chance to win a copy of Noelle's newly published book Dry Climate Gardening. We're selecting two winners each week. See classes listed below that she is teaching at Mesa libraries in April!
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Spring planting season is here! Temperatures have warmed up, making it a perfect time to replace plants you may have lost during the winter, or replace your high-water-usage plants with water-thrifty ones.
Water – Plant It Wisely is your handy resource to provide landscaping guidance, advice, and ideas on what to plant. By selecting low-water-use plants, you help conserve our precious water supply for generations to come.
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Mark Your Calendar!
Spring Equinox in the Monarch Garden
Sat., March 18, 10 a.m. to Noon. Come to the Monarch Haven & Reading Sanctuary at the Red Mountain Library to celebrate the spring equinox. Southwest Monarch Study will provide expertise about Monarchs in Arizona. Visit with Roberta Gibson, author of How to Build an Insect. Master Gardeners will answer your gardening questions and Environmental & Sustainability staff will talk about the Monarch life cycle and will give away super cool origami butterflies. There will be lots of crafts and activities for children. Red Mountain Library, 635 N. Power Road.
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Downtown Mesa Farmers Market
Each Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the Market hosts farmers and makers. It's located at the beautiful Mesa Arts Center campus – the perfect setting for outdoor shopping, eating, playing, and listening to live music.
Fix a Leak Week
March 20-26. Are you ready to become a leak detective? Fix-a-Leak Week is just a few days away, and the perfect time to hunt down the pesky water-wasters in your home. Finding and fixing leaks is as easy as 1-2-3! Find all our favorite links to help., and don't miss our Do-It-Yourself Plumbing Videos thanks to students from EVIT's plumbing program.
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Intro To Drip Tape
Wed. March 22, 4 p.m. Intro To Drip Tape is a free program being offered by Urban Farm U. It will provide details on the use of drip tape for vegetable gardens and for small farms.
Earth Hour
Sat., March 25, 8:30-9:30 p.m. is Earth Hour, a time to take one iconic action – switch off the lights for an hour. This worldwide event celebrates your commitment to the planet with your friends, family, community, or at work – in your own way. The site has meaningful ideas on how to spend the hour. Stargazing would be nice.
#BiggestHourForEarth.
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2023 Arizona Good Business Summit
Mon. April 3 & 4 taking place at Mesa Convention Center. Join Local First Arizona on Monday to kick off the Arizona Good Business Summit with a tour of Downtown Mesa. Tuesday includes a full agenda for participants featuring innovative entrepreneurship and community-rooted economic strategies to future proofing your business. Keynote, Michael H. Shuman, is an economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, and a leading visionary on community economics.
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It Takes a 'Living Green' Village to Build a Sustainable Community
Sat., April 15, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Join us for Celebrate Mesa at Pioneer Park, a free family event that brings the community together to enjoy games, carnival rides, entertainment, and more. Be sure to look for our special group of exhibitors in the Living Green Village portion of the event (behind the playground).
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Can it be RECYCLED??!!!
Yard waste: Although you cannot place green yard waste in the blue barrel, it does not have to go into the landfill. The City of Mesa does offer a Green Barrel Program for this material.
Paper towels/napkins: You cannot put paper towels, napkins, tissues, or greasy paper plates into the blue barrel. You should, however, always look for products that are made of recycled materials. This creates a market for the recycled materials and turns them into a useful product again.
Mesa residtents can get a composter for $5 and you can turn much of the material mentioned above into compost! Supplies are currently limited.
Wondering about other items... just ask by pushing the magic button below:
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CycloMesa Unchained... Bring Your Bike!!
Sat., April 1, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. This FREE event is designed to inspire cycling for all ages. Enjoy BMX stunt show, roller derby demos, unicyclists, bicycle safety, live entertainment, food trucks, zip line, rock wall, bicycle-related vendors, and more!
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Water releases from Verde River create storage capacity and protect Dam as runoff increases For the first time since 2019, the Salt River Project (SRP) has begun low-level water releases from Bartlett Dam on the Verde River, which are expected to continue...
Planting Ahead: Benefits of Smart Gardening & Desert Landscaping As water resources become even more precious, planting wisely is more important than ever. You will enjoy the immediate effects of lowering your outdoor water use....
Your March Landscape Watering Reminder It rained, it got cool, it got warm, then cool again... and plants are coming out of dormancy. How do you water? We have the answers..
Plant of the Month: Shades of Green Shamrocks aren't the only green plant to celebrate in March. Find my list of some of my favorite plants that are best known to show off their ‘green’ more than their other features like flowers, fruit, or fall color.
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Mark your Calendar! April has a lot going on!
Find the series being taught by Noelle Johnson, aka AZ Plant Lady
Other upcoming events:
The Climate Action Plan focuses on six areas to ensure that, together, we are working toward a healthy, climate-ready community. Learn more about Mesa's Climate Action Plan.
+ + Water Stewardship + +
Wed., March 22, 9-11 a.m. Central Arizona Project (CAP) University How much do you know about the large canal that brings water across the state to more than 80 percent of Arizonans? Do you know how it works? Where the water comes from? How Colorado River shortage impacts Arizona and what the future holds? Free and virtual.
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Celebrate AZ Water: A Tale of Two Watersheds
While this winter’s snowfall has benefited watersheds positively, the result of Arizona’s winter snowpack affects each watershed system differently. This Water – Use It Wisely blog contains great information from SRP and CAP...
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+ + Heat Mitigation, Energy, & Air Quality + +
Sat., April 15, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Volunteer Opportunity to Distribute Trees - The local non-profit, Trees Matter, will be facilitating the SRP Shade Tree Distribution Event at Mesa Community College. Over the course of the winter months, SRP participants attended virtual tree care workshops, and selected 2 shade trees that they would receive once the weather was more suitable for planting. They will arrive in the drive thru we set up to pick-up their trees. Many volunteers are needed to ensure the day runs smoothly!
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Trees Are Cool
Find our simple one-pager on how to plant a tree and how to water a tree on our Trees Are Cool page.
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+ + Energy & Air Quality + +
The City is undertaking the development of a Communitywide Electric Vehicle Adoption Master Plan. The Plan will help guide decisions on policy and infrastructure investments that accelerate the community transition to EVs. Take the survey and help map preferred locations at mesalistens.com/ev-project.
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- Learn to Live Green -
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