by jon bosworth jaxvillain@yahoo.com
In 2001 Neil Armingeon took on the task of being the St. Johns Riverkeeper. The Riverkeeper’s mission, as the name states, is to be an objective advocate for the river. The non-profit organization is privately funded and their mission, as stated on their website stjohnsriverkeeper.org, is “to work on behalf of the community for clean and healthy waters in the St. Johns River, its tributaries and its wetlands through citizen-based advocacy.”
The organization brought on James Orth as their second fulltime employee to manage the business and public relations side of this massive task, leaving Neil to handle the science and “the work” as Jimmy says. Any attempt to address environmental issues in Jacksonville without addressing the care of our most beautiful and precious asset, the St. Johns River, would be ridiculous. We all take great pride in the river, hence the nickname the River City, and in the interest of taking better care of our environment it is imperative that we consider what is required of us to maintain this treasure. I met up with Jimmy Orth at The Fox, appropriately located in Riverside, to talk about how we can help on a daily basis to protect and preserve the St. Johns.
“The most important thing people can do is get informed. Use your voice and your vote to help the river. The elected officials in office need to hear from us and know what we care about. So few people vote to begin with, then the people that contact their legislator is even less. Stay in touch with your legislator, the lobbyists certainly are.”
While being in contact with the people that represent us is obviously important, it is not something many of us are eager to do. If getting political isn’t your shtick (and being in contact with your representative isn’t necessarily “being political”) Jimmy did provide some very turnkey suggestions about things you can do in your everyday life to make sure you are not further endangering our river.
“The biggest use of water is just to irrigate our lawns and plants. More than half of our annual water consumption is used on lawns during the summer.”
Just because Scotts Weed & Feed has trained people that more nitrogen is better does not make it true. Your lawn only uses so much nitrogen and the rest runs off and ends up in the river. Take a look at the following suggestions and see how helping the river can help you have a better yard, save money, and feel better doing it.
The Riverkeeper has events all year that promote, celebrate and advocate our river. Go to their website for more tips on how you can help preserve the river.
“Just try to be conscious and thinking about your actions. If people start thinking about the things they do, they’ll choose to do the right thing. People don’t know that their storm drains ultimately lead to the river. If people just think about the outcome of their actions, they will realize where they impact our environment and they will make changes.”
Go to stjohnsriverkeeper.org and look under the “How You Can Help” tab to learn more about river-friendly yards.
April 24 – 26 Jacksonville to Sanford
April 27 – 29 Sanford to Jacksonville
The Riverkeeper does cruises twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring. They send a three-day cruise down river, with a stop-over in some wonderful resorts. They bring speakers on board to tell stories about the river and even have historical reenactors on board. These cruises are fun and they will teach you about the culture, science, and history of the St. Johns. You will even discover parts of the river where it is not only safe to swim, but it’s encouraged.
“People are surprised by the beauty and diversity of the river. If you are familiar with the river in the Jacksonville area, where it is urban and developed with bulkheads, you will be surprised by the natural shoreline. Especially once you get south of Palatka, you can see the river change into what it looks like where it is completely natural.”
Take a trip from North Jacksonville down to Sanford and let the shuttle take you back home, or catch the shuttle down to Sanford and return on the cruise that comes back. Your fee includes catered meals, overnight accommodations, entertainment and, of course, a fabulous boat trip.
“Sanford is only a little more than halfway, so there is still a lot of river, but south of Sanford isn’t as navigable. The channel is not as well-defined and it gets shallow. You can go farther south in a smaller boat, but for our purposes, that’s the end of the line.”
Sign up for one of these terrific adventures at their website or call (904) 256-7591 to make your reservation.
1 – Keep a river-friendly yard. Our yards represent one of the biggest impacts we have on the river. Reduce the amounts of fertilizers, chemicals and pesticides you put in your yard. Use low-maintenance or native plants instead of turf grass. “We recommend low-phosphorous, slow-release fertilizers. 30% of the nitrogen should be in a slow-release form. If you can find it, we recommend organic fertilizers like Green Edge. It is made from JEA bio-solids, so it recycles our waste, it’s safe, organic and you are recycling nutrients from our own community.”
2 - Don’t water too frequently. You can actually build a stronger lawn by not watering too frequently. The rule is, generally, no more than two times a week, but you don’t even have to water that often. “In the summer it rains frequently, people forget that. Pay attention to the weather.” Putting a little thought into how you use water can make a big difference.
3 – Expect more from your lawn maintenance company. Many residents use a service to take care of their lawns. Does your lawn maintenance company use slow-release fertilizers? Have their employees been trained in Best Management Practices? “The Agricultural Service Extension provides training for lawn care companies in every county that teaches these companies the same standards that we teach homeowners.” Make sure your company will spot-treat infected areas. When it comes to pest control, have them only treat the problem area instead of spraying the herbicides and pesticides across the entire lawn.
4 – Conserve water. “Water conservation doesn’t require time or money. You can buy low-flow toilets and showerheads that function well and use a lot less water. In the yards there is micro-irrigation. If you have an in-ground irrigation system, add sensors that detect the moisture in the soil and shut your system off when your yard doesn’t need any more.” There are also simple, intuitive things you can do to help the river. Don’t run the water while you brush your teeth or wash the dishes. Buy low-maintenance plants and reduce the amount of St Augustine grass you have in your lawn and you’ll use less water.
5 – Find an environmentally-friendly builder or developer. “One of the biggest ways we can reduce our impact is to find a builder or a development community that is more environmentally-friendly.” These days there are low-impact developments and new technologies are more readily available than ever before. From green-homes that are more energy-efficient to finding the developers that call their homes green-built, JEA has created standards that builders must meet to identify themselves as green-built. “These homes might not be the best in the country at reducing impact, but they are significantly better than the average home.”
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