ECO by Nanette Wiser
Recycle, Repurpose: Pinellas County’s new and updated tools give all of us a chance to help Mother Nature. In the 2021 Recycle Guide, learn how to recycle or safely dispose of hundreds of items with the county’s Where Does it Go? search tool, found at www.pinellascounty.org/wheredoesitgo. The Recycle Guide is available online at www.pinellascounty.org/recycleguide.
Small Is Beautiful: Make the most of your small space garden with a new approach both simple and sustainable.Why not plant vertically? You can choose trees or tall plants, set against a wall, fence or terrace, placing a vertical garden with planting pockets within it for herbs and leafy crops. You can erect shelves for placing containers, and grow climbing plants up a trellis. Create planting towers by stacking planters and add hanging baskets. Embrace natural or reclaimed materials such as bamboo canes or natural branches to make a trellis and create vertical gardens or planters from wood pallets or other found objects.
Garden For Health: The mental health benefits of gardening are undeniable; after all, if we can’t talk to our houseplants who can we converse with these days? Turn over a new leaf and explore therapy in a terracotta pot indoor or out. NYU Langone Medical Center’s horticultural therapist says that plants can reduce heart rate, blood pressure, improve concentration, elevate mood and create a serene space. Add a bird feeder to your backyard or patio and get double the health benefits from watching warblers and jays. It’s good for kids too. Children who grow up with green space have up to 55% less risk of developing mental health problems as they age, and digging in the dirt is just as therapeutic for little tykes as adults.
Farm To Fork: So many of us have been obsessed this year with growing our own vegetables, or getting a weekly batch of organic delights. From Little Pond Farm to Emmanuel Roux’s urban farm, find organic farms at local markets and here: www.localharvest.org/pinellas-park-fl/farms. Hydroponic gardens such as those at St. Pete’s Brick Farms and Boynton Beach’s Green Life Farms are growing in popularity. You can even buy biodegradable greeting cards with wildflower seeds from a California company, www.thoughtfulhuman.co.
Tapping Flipper: Dorsal fins, splashes and the occasional dolphin leap are all welcome sights off the seawalls bordering the campus of Eckerd College. Now, with the help of a tiny supercomputer and a hydrophone, scientists and enthusiasts will be able to hear the chatter of dolphins in Frenchman’s Creek. Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Peter Simard, Ph.D., was over the moon when his Ph.D. supervisor, President of Loggerhead Instruments David Mann, converted his machine learning algorithm designed to detect bird whistles into one that also detects dolphin whistles underwater. A Haikubox Marine Station was installed off Eckerd College’s Galbraith Pier in February.
