2/19/2019

Englewood Indivisible members are working with a new coalition of Englewood residents promoting neighborhood-by-neighborhood efforts to improve water quality and limit contributions to red tide.

The group, led by Jessie Wilder who lives in the Bay Vista neighborhood, has met twice and has its next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, March 19th at 1:00 PM at the Elsie Quirk Library, 100 W. Dearborn in Englewood.

Residents of several neighborhoods have attended the meetings and the group has connected with the South Manasota/Sandpiper Key Association, which has launched an educational effort on red tide.

The group has already put together a list of ideas that could work on a neighborhood basis to move homeowners away from nitrogen fertilizers and thirsty plantings.

1. Create neighborhood teams  to design and coordinate activities
2. Neighborhood based education- bringing it to the street/homes:

Possible topics:

• Benefits of native plantings and other Florida friendly plants
• Edible landscapes
• Water collection and storage
• Problems with pesticides
• Pollinator gardens
• Newsletter tips
• Decreasing the use of plastics

3. Rewards/Recognition:

• Yard of the month or quarter with sign recognizing winner and possible gift card
• Photo of winner in newsletter or on Next door
• Garden tour of winner’s yard

4. Peer pressure:

• Neighbors who sign a pledge to use Florida friendly practices in their  yards receive a small yard flag that indicates they are making good choices for water quality

5. Fun:

• Guided walks that focus on human/wildlife connections
• Work together to create Florida friendly entrances to subdivisions
• Scavenger hunt to locate native plants in the neighborhood
• Welcome baskets with a native plant and educational resources for new neighbors

For scientific background, the group is drawing on a white paper by Kerrigan Clough, a retired EPA executive and resident of Manasota Key. You can see the paper at the bottom of this post. 

To get involved with this coalition, send an email to EnglewoodIndivisible@gmail.com