Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Environment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Kalamazoo student to teach low-cost rain-barrel workshop to help reduce river nutrients
Summary
A Kalamazoo Central rising senior told commissioners she is organizing a free rain-barrel workshop on Aug. 9 to help residents reduce nutrient runoff contributing to algae blooms in the Kalamazoo River; she cited cost barriers to existing rain-barrel programs.
Ava Ballant, a rising senior at Kalamazoo Central and the Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center, used the July 21 public-comment period to outline a community initiative aimed at reducing nutrient runoff that contributes to algae blooms in the Kalamazoo River.
Ballant thanked the commission for the city’s stormwater-management efforts and said environmental activism must continue. She described a nonprofit rain-barrel program run by the Kalamazoo Watershed but noted that purchasing a barrel from that program costs about $56.60 on sale — an expense she said limits access.
To offer a lower-cost option, Ballant said she will host a free hands-on workshop at a park on Aug. 9 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Participants will be asked to bring an old garbage bin or storage container; Ballant said she will demonstrate how to convert it into a rain barrel. “I’m hoping through this way we can make rain barrels more of a ... staple in Kalamazoo so we can fight for a more sustainable future,” she said.
Commissioner Prado told Ballant he had ideas and potential resources to reduce rain-barrel costs and invited follow-up. The commission’s earlier discussion of the city’s stormwater management plan was cited by Ballant as part of the context for her project.
Ending: Ballant’s workshop is scheduled for Aug. 9, 5–7:30 p.m., at a community park; residents who want to participate should bring a clean, used plastic bin or container to convert into a rain barrel.
