News from April, 2010

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News Archive
All Months in 2010

The Business Case For Greening Your Grounds

MinnPost.com

With the 40th anniversary of Earth Day upon us, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on what many businesses do when they decide to "go green."

Most of the time, business leaders focus on the inside of their facilities, from upgrading lighting and HVAC systems to initiating recycling programs. Some businesses take things one step further and complete LEED certification. (In the interest of full disclosure, our company, Murphy Warehouse Co., has undertaken many of these initiatives as well.)

Yet many of these companies' facilities are still surrounded by traditional lawns that not only ...
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Metro Storm-Water Ponds Are Chemical Soups

White Bear Lake's proposed ban on some driveway sealants is a first step in keeping contaminants out of storm-water ponds.

The local neighborhood pond fringed with spring green looks attractive, but its muddy bottom is loaded with contaminants.

Metro communities from White Bear Lake and Maplewood to South St. Paul are discovering that their storm-water ponds are chemical soups of pesticides, fertilizers, pet wastes, oil, grease and other contaminants.

With an estimated 20,000 public storm-water ponds in the metro area, and thousands more privately owned by industries and homeowner associations, state pollution officials say they expect the ...
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Collecting Rain, Cleaning Up Lakes

Raingardens have critical function and can be pleasing to the eye by Nicholas Backus Staff Writer Published: Monday, April 26, 2010 5:41 PM CDT CIRCLE PINES — Matt Percy’s neighbors often ask him when the koi fish are going in.

It’s a question repeatedly answered with “never.” Percy’s expansive front-yard raingarden wasn’t built to keep ornamental fish, although it may look like it. Besides, the sandy soil would make it hard to maintain standing water even if he tried.

“Many people ask me what it’s here for,” Percy said about his lawn depression filled with rocks and mulch. ...
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