On August 19th, we partnered with the City of Petaluma to provide a tour of diverse climate-resilient landscapes located in East Petaluma. Residents from across Sonoma County were given the opportunity to come together and tour three residences that have adopted laundry-to-landscape greywater, rainwater harvesting, and food forest/pollinator garden practices on their land. At the first site, participants were able to take a deep dive look into the value of greywater systems, the water-saving potential, indoor and outdoor components, and how to best design plantings for greywater mulch basins, all while enjoying delicious pastries from Wildflour Bakery.
At the second site, Angelo, a local bakery owner and Petaluma resident, showed participants all the various plant and tree species growing in his garden, highlighting the positive environmental, food-providing, and pollinator-supporting benefits of each. He emphasized all the unique ecological beauty of allowing the controlled wildness of a landscape and the potential challenges that come along with it.
The tour ended at Patricia’s home, a longtime Daily Actor, Petaluma resident, and environmental steward to explore her expansive rainwater harvesting system and laundry-to-laundry greywater systems. She spoke passionately to the participants of the value of adopting these systems, her water conservation journey, and all the considerations individuals should make when choosing what water-saving strategy is best for them.
Overall, participants left the tour not only with handfuls of leftover pastries, but with the knowledge, direction, and passion to take action towards improving the climate resilience of their own neighborhoods and communities!
