Projects

Current GNDC Projects include:

Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) Toolshare Inventory and Management.

Woodchipper! Photo courtesy of GNDC, CC-BY 4.0

We’ve launched the site!

We’re supporting DPR’s previously little known Garden Tool Share Program to make it far more known and more broadly useful. They actually have a ton of garden tools: rakes, weedwhackers, hedge trimmers, shovels, bee equipment, a composters. They also have solar ovens, a shop vac, paper shredders, compost bins, a camping stove, mitre saws, keyhole saw, tarps, and much more. Plus some bonus items they are giving away. Bat houses, for instance! And some “Junior Master Gardener” books for kids!

To view and reserve from the list of 139 different types of tools, please go to:

https://www.myassettag.com/assettiger/assets, (new URL coming soon)

and type in:

Username: (coming tomorrow!)

Password: 1Community!

Hours to come check out the tools include:

Or email Josh Singer of the Department of Parks and Recreation for an appointment: joshua.singer@dc.gov.

WE’LL ALSO BE PLANNING AN OPEN HOUSE!

Plan to join us for an open house in late June. Stay tuned!

Please suggest any new potential projects via our Contact Us page!

Or join a Green Neighbors meeting! Usually the 3rd Sunday of every month, but this month we have postponed it at least a week.

Issues in which we’re involved

Local to global issues that directly affect our neighborhood.

Climate Change. Our world is changing very rapidly with greenhouse gases, urban heat island effects, and motorized vehicles everywhere – yielding higher global temperatures every year. Though our specific neighborhoods are ~200 feet above the Chesapeake Bay, much of DC will be affected, as the world is affected. Lower portions of DC will be flooded at high tide, water supplies will change, and more snow is forecast in winter while even higher temperatures are anticipated for the summer (affecting our utility prices), and even plant, insect, wildlife cycles will change, as will diseases. As one of us was bitten by a mosquito in January of last year – this is not good! GN is involved locally in efforts to help prevent climate change – from helping neighbors pursue renewable energy, to promoting the planting of trees to prevent the urban heat island effect. Many of us also join in regional, national, and international initiatives. We plan to be a clearinghouse for local action.

Wildlife Protection and Safety. Even though we are urban dwellers, wildlife exists in DC, and interacts with folks. From snowy owl sightings, to raccoons, possums, and squirrels raiding our trash cans (and the night creature that shall remain nameless),

gn-at-petworth-community-market-6-11-16-3 — At the GNDC booth at the Petworth Farmer’s Market

there are many creatures that still live in the environment we keep changing. Migratory birds fly overhead, and stop in our parks. Songbirds now sing much earlier due to streetlights, and wear themselves out. How do we interact with them, and help protect them? Keep watch for a quarterly post about some of our furrier green neighbors. And we’re looking for resources and great stories!

And many thanks to two GN members who wrote up this handout on creating bee-friendly gardens.

Create-a-bee-friendly-urban-garden

More to come…