The Jefferson County Extension Service is offering another one day rain garden workshop from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm on Thursday, July 11. The workshop is geared toward residents who are interested in installing rain gardens in their yards. 

The workshop will cover the following topics:

• Rain gardens and their role in stormwater management
• Landscape/lawn assessment: locating the site for a rain garden
• Rain garden construction: size, design, and installation
• Plant selection, care, and rain garden maintenance

The event will take place at the Extension Service office at 810 Barret Avenue in the morning and in the afternoon participants will install a rain garden at Karen Lynch Park, at the corner of Brownsboro Road and Story Avenue.  The rain garden will be one of the features in the Green Park, which is being constructed as an educational demonstration park on green infrastructure.

The event costs $15 and includes lunch.  Please RSVP by Friday, July 5th by calling Sarah Stolz at 502.569.2344 ext 120 or emailing sarah.stolz@uky.edu. View a flyer for the event.

 Earlier this summer the Extension Service hosted a rain garden workshop and installation, in which the rain garden pictured above was installed at Breslin Park.  This rain garden has native plants that will attract butterflies and create cleaner air.  The plants will absorb stormwater, clean it, and infiltrate it into the groundwater rather than it running straight into nearby Beargrass Creek.  This will help improve water quality in the creek.

Councilwoman Ward-Pugh recently taped a new video for MetroTV that is available to watch online here.  It is focused on Kelley Green Biofuel, which is creating clean burning biodiesel from waste cooking oil.  You can recycle your waste cooking oil in a container in the Clifton Center’s west side parking lot (2117 Payne Street), and Kelley Green will use it to make biodiesel, which is sold to local farmers and for use in cars.  If your restaurant is interested in having Kelley Green pick up your waste cooking oil for free, you can learn more athttp://kelley-green.com/. 

The other part of the MetroTV feature focuses on exciting initiatives in Parkland, in District 1, represented by Councilwoman Attica Scott.  Watch it today to learn about these projects around Louisville.

The Jefferson County Soil Conservation District (JCSWCD)and Beargrass Creek Alliance (BCA) are offering free environmental education programs this summer for groups in Jefferson County.  Storm Drain Marking events are designed to educate the public and encourage “Best Management Practices” that benefit our community’s water quality.

Participants in the storm drain marking events will each receive a kit to mark storm drains, educational resources, a rain gauge, a reminder magnet to limit water-use during or after a storm, and native plant seeds. Volunteers from the JCSWCD and BCA will conduct a short program and then assist groups in locating and marking their neighborhoods storm drains. 

Storm Drain Marking events are happening this summer and fall, so sign up soon!  Program duration is about 2 hours, and at least 10 people per event are required.  Combined groups are encouraged, i.e. faith communities and scouting troop or neighborhood and business groups. 

For more information, contact Tessa Edelen at tessa@kwalliance.org or (502) 589-8008. Or visit the website: visit: www.BeargrassCreek.org

From Bike Louisville:

Louisville’s first two Bike Boxes have been installed at Adams and Story Avenue and Spring Street and Mellwood Avenue.  Bike Boxes help direct bicycles so that they can better maneuver with traffic, resulting in a more efficient and safer traffic flow. The aim of these new measures is to encourage more cycling by creating a safer, more comfortable road environment.

This engineering treatment is being used by the City of Portland Office of Transportation to improve bike safety at intersections. They are intended to improve awareness and visibility of cyclists and to help prevent dangerous “right-hook” collisions.

What is a bike box? The bike box is an intersection safety design to prevent bicycle/car collisions. It is a painted green space on the road with a white bicycle symbol inside. In some locations it includes a green bicycle lane approaching the box. The box creates space between motor vehicles and the crosswalk that allows bicyclists to position themselves ahead of motor vehicle traffic at an intersection.

Why are bike boxes being installed? The main goal of the bike box is to improve safety by 1 – increasing awareness and visibility of cyclists; 2- helping cyclists make safer intersection crossings – especially when drivers are turning and bicyclists are going straight; 3 –encouraging cyclists to make more predictable approaches to and through an intersection; and 4 –providing space at the front of an intersection to help cyclists avoid breathing vehicle fumes.