Sacred Heart students take classroom to golf course

What is the difference between storm drains and sewer drains? How much oxygen do salmon need when they are spawning? Under what pH does grass need to thrive?

These are some of the questions Laurel Nyquist’s 7th grade students pondered on their field trip to Glendale Golf and Country Club in Bellevue on May 5.

Through First Green, local golf course superintendents host students on field trips where they test water quality, collect soil samples, identify plants, design plantings, assist in stream bed restoration and are involved in the ecology and environmental aspects of the golf course. The students also are introduced to many other aspects of golf.

The more than 50 students at the event visited four learning stations around the golf course. They tested the water in Kelsey Creek, the tributary that runs through the golf course, for pH and temperature, and learned the optimal conditions for salmon and salmon eggs. Using water from the golf course’s pond, students raced each other to find macro-invertebrates. They also learned about storm water and what they could do at home to protect water quality.

Jim Myers, Greg Hall and Craig Benson, superintendents at The Plateau Club, Fairwood Golf and Country Club and Meridian Valley Golf & Country Club, showed the students how to test the soil for pH level, and why that is important.

After the learning stations, the students were able to go onto a putting green for a putting contest.

Laurie Devereaux from the City of Bellevue guided the students through their macro-invertebrate hunt and taught them that the presence of macro invertebrates (in quantity and diversity) indicates water health. Melani Baker of Nature Vision addressed how water quality impacts salmon.

“The trip really helped the students make real world applications to our classroom lessons," said Nyquist. "I had some nice discussions with my students when we returned to school about water quality, soils and effects of pollution on water and habitat.” said Laurel Nyquist.

More information about First Green is available online at http://thefirstgreen.org.

Source: www.pnwlocalnews.com

Three golf courses swing for zero waste

A service club, a nonprofit and the county are teaming up to turn the three county-run golf courses into zero-waste operations.

The effort was kicked off by the donation of two vessel composters from the county Integrated Waste Management Authority. The composters cost $10,000 each and will be used to compost all of the food waste, grass clippings and landscape byproducts from Dairy Creek Golf Course near Cuesta College.

The project aims to take waste from the golf course and turn it into organic fertilizer that can be used not only at Dairy Creek, but also at Morro Bay Golf Course and Atascadero’s Chalk Mountain.

“Ultimately, I want to eliminate all waste into landfills,” said Josh Heptig, superintendent of county golf operations. The project is not costing the county any out-of-pocket expenses, only staff time.

As part of the project, a zero-waste demonstration project is being set up at Dairy Creek. It includes food-waste composting, vermiculture — the use of worms in composting — and the production of compost tea, in which water is steeped in compost to give it fertilizing and pesticide properties.

The county is being assisted in the effort by the Eco-Rotary of Morro Bay and Environmental Protection Associates, a San Luis Obispo-based nonprofit.

Source: www.sanluisobispo.com