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Couple turn home into artificial ecosystem

Posted by: Maven on April 17, 2009 at 8:14 am

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Early spring rain funneled off the roof of Laura Baker’s Berkeley home and flowed into a downspout that connects to a gutter, which directed water into planter boxes containing her prized willow trees. The excess water was transported in pipes under the planter boxes to a pond that is home to a menagerie of wildlife, including frogs, dragonflies, mayflies, hawks, turkey vultures and other birds.

Baker, 62, and her husband, Lewis Lubin, 56, have turned their Roble Road garden into an artificial ecosystem with a drainage network that saves water and provides wildlife habitat. “We’re astonished about how easy it was to do this,” Baker said. “We feel it is just unconscionable to think about wasting water at this point. Once you become conscious of that and change your mind-set, it just gets easy.”

The couple used only 147 gallons of water a day during the last East Bay Municipal Utility District billing period. That’s 100 gallons a day less than the average used by the utility’s 1.3 million customers in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

While some people may save even more, Baker and Lubin have done it without drastically changing their lifestyle. Their water savings occurred even though their home is nearly 3,000 square feet with a garden that covers almost 2 acres.

Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.

April 17, 2009 · Filed Under Drought Tolerant Landscaping

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