Award Winning Blue Thumb – Planting for Clean Water™ Program Up For Another Award

The Blue Thumb – Planting for Clean WaterTM program, still in its infancy, is up for its second award. The Blue Thumb program is an online outreach program with A to Z information to help residents plan and plant native gardens, raingardens and shorelines with native plants to help solve water quality problems. The website http://www.bluethumb.org features planting blueprints, a plant selector tool, local retailers and landscapers, grant information, how-to guides and videos, and more. On May 15, 2008, the Blue Thumb program will be represented at the Environmental Initiative Awards held at the Nicollet Island Pavilion in Minneapolis at 6:30 p.m. A panel of independent judges selected the finalists from more than 60 projects nominated in five categories. The 17th annual award honors superior environmental achievement by Minnesota’s businesses, nonprofits, government, and institutions. The Environmental Initiative Awards, established by the Minnesota Environmental Initiative, recognizes 15 innovative projects that have achieved extraordinary environmental outcomes through collaborative partnerships annually. These awards are meant to honor projects and the many partners involved, to inspire other organizations to create similar successful projects, and to encourage innovative collaborative approaches to environmental problem solving. Awards are given in five categories. The Blue Thumb program is a finalist in the Environmental Education category. Less than three months ago, the Blue Thumb program received the Governor’s Award – Minnesota Government Reaching Environmental Achievements Together (MN GREAT!). Given out by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, this award recognizes organizations that focus on preserving our environment through innovative practices that prevent pollution and waste, improve resource efficiency, and lead to sustainability. “These awards are very exciting,” stated Jane Byron, City of Apple Valley Blue Thumb partner, “but we’ve only just begun!” The Blue Thumb program was started by the Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD) as an outreach program to help residents do their part to protect water and to help cities meet strategic water quality improvement goals and federal Clean Water Act mandates. But since organizations all over the metro were working on similar goals, this program quickly grew to bring the efforts of 44 partners under one umbrella combining resources, minimizing duplication of efforts and increasing the strength of outreach to residents with a clear, unified public education message. This program saves both water resources and tax payer dollars. The Blue Thumb partners range from local governmental units to non-profit and community organizations to a variety of private businesses.

Blue Thumb plantings create gorgeous landscapes while decreasing all of the top water quality concerns, providing habitat to fish and wildlife, reducing the use of chemicals needed, and reducing air pollution from mowing while boosting our local economy. “Residents are realizing that native landscaping is a great way to positively impact the environment while creating a beautifully landscaped yard. Now people are looking for the resources and information to accomplish these projects. We had to create a program to keep up with the demand,” said Dawn Pape, RCWD Environmental Education Coordinator, “The Blue Thumb program makes it easy for residents to do the right thing and support area businesses too.”

Why are plants so effective in maintaining water quality? Pape explains, “The “magic” is largely due to the root systems. Plant roots, especially native plants that tend to have longer roots, act as filters by absorbing polluted run-off and excess nutrients. These long roots also decrease erosion and soil compaction as well as find their own water. Regular lawn grass is basically on ‘life-support’ because it needs constant watering in order to stay green through a hot and dry summer. Native plants do not require watering after establishment, which only takes a few months.”

We have literally paved the way to polluted waters since streets connect to lakes and rivers through storm sewer pipes. Stormwater runoff is listed by the Environmental Protection Agency as the number one cause of water pollution. Mimicking nature, raingardens and other native plantings let water soak into the ground - capturing and filtering polluted runoff and recharging groundwater. The nature of stormwater runoff is that it is “non-point source pollution” meaning it comes from a little erosion here and a few grass clippings there.

Since most land in the state is privately owned, what residents do in their individual yards with the help of the Blue Thumb program makes a huge difference in collective water quality. In the last year, nearly 15,000 people have visited the Blue Thumb website with raingardens being the most sought after information. The online plant selector tool that aids gardeners in selecting plants appropriate for particular soil, light, and moisture conditions is another popular page.