Monday, April 29, 2013

TerraScapes assisted with organizing the Hampton Roads TownHall - The Climate Situation Report - Military Leaders on the Emerging Threat at Nauticus in Norfolk, VA.  The event featured the following Speakers: U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Philip Collum, Rear Admiral Larry Baucom (USN, Ret.), Captain Joe Bouchard (USN, Ret.), and Ben McFarlane, Hampton Roads Planning Commission

Sunday, February, 10, 2013

Terra Pascarosa Duff is the Regional Volunteer Coordinator for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  This was Terra’s fifth annual Grasses for the Masses workshop at the Virginia Aquarium.  With the help of Marnie Pascarosa, Ben Duff, and Julia Allard the workshop continues to be a huge success.  We had over 40 participants at the workshop this year!

Participants in the program grow wild celery (Vallisneria americana), a type of underwater grass, in a simple grow-out system in their homes for 10-12 weeks. After 10-12 weeks of grow-out, participants will gather to plant their grasses in select local rivers to bolster grass populations and help restore the Bay.

Saturday December 1, 2012

Tanya Ramseyer  and Christina Conover attended the 11^th Annual Fair Trade Festival on December 1^st at Seatack Elementary School in Virginia Beach, VA. The Seatack Elementary Go Green Club sponsored this event, and was organized by Eco Maniac Company. The Fair Trade Festival offered guilt free shopping as every product was made under fair wage and fair labor standards. Local crafters and artists used fair trade or recycled/upcycled pieces and parts when making their products. Fair Trade Chocolate, Coffee, Crafts, Jewelry, Accessories, Textiles and more were available at this event. Some of the vendors included Morphed Products, Earthy Child, and Blue Crab Books. Environmental information tables were present as well. Many of the vendors donated products for a raffle to benefit the Seatack Elementary Go Green Club. There was music and dancing throughout the day.

Terrascapes Environmental had an informational booth at the Chesapeake Arboretum in Chesapeake, VA on October 20^th, 2012.  This event was a place where eco-friendly vendors came to sell products or market their companies.  All of the vendors had the same goal: to enhance our planet and environment. Some vendors sold products they made, food, or simply gave out environmental information. These include the Beekeepers Guild, Everett’s Watercolors and Chesapeake Master Gardeners. Interactive booths and rain barrel workshops were all included as well.  There was even watercolor painting, and hay rides and a maze for the kids. Tanya Ramseyer manned the booth and gave out information about Terrascapes’ landscaping, hardscaping, beekeeping and advocacy work. The weather was awesome, and Tanya met some amazing people who share her interests!

Terrascapes Environmental had an informational booth at the Hampton Roads Sustainable Living Expo  at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Virginia Beach, VA on September 27^th, 2012.  The Sustainable Living Expo was filled with eco-friendly vendors and tables who came to sell products or give information. All of the vendors were environmentally conscious and were so excited to be there.  Many vendors sold products they made such as food, organic soaps, and beer and wine sampling! Some tables simply gave out environmental information on solar panels, river clean ups and much much more. Educational seminars and presentations were given at the Expo.  There was even a fashion show, showing off fashion made out of recyclable items such as newspaper and aluminum cans. Intern Tanya Ramseyer and volunteer, Christina Conover manned the booth and gave out information about Terrascapes’ landscaping, hardscaping, beekeeping and advocacy work.

Terrascapes Environmental Consulting hosted an informational booth at the 4^th Annual Go Green Expo Event at the Brittingham-Midtown Community Center in Newport News, VA.  The Go Green Expo was hosted by the Newport News Master Gardenners and was a place where eco-friendly vendors came to sell products or give information. All of the vendors had the same goal: to enhance our planet and environment. Some vendors sold products they made, food, or simply gave out environmental information. Educational seminars and rain barrel workshops were all included as well.  All of the products sold at the event were eco-friendly, good for the earth, sustainable, recycled, upcycled or locally made.

Tanya Ramseyer manned the booth and gave out information about Terrascapes’ landscaping, hardscaping, beekeeping and advocacy work.  Tanya Ramseyer also sold her PuraVida bracelets at this event.

Tanya Ramseyer also sold her PuraVida bracelets at this event.

TerraScapes Environmental designed, implemented, and installed over 5,000 square feet of sustainable landscaping at the Mühlbauer Hightech International Inc location in Newport News, VA.

TerraScapes used several native Virginia species in the sustainable landscaping design consisting of gardenia, butterfly bushes, and holly.   We incorporated Delaware river rock and local recycled Virginia tree mulch.

All materials used for the project meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard.

– As told to Pilot writer Carolyn Shapiro  

When I started TerraScapes three years ago, I was a geologist. I got my degree in geology. I’ve volunteered for groups like the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Sierra Club. I started getting some of my clients that I volunteer for asking me if I could help them with work. They started offering me money to work on clean-energy projects and protecting the oceans, cleaning up the Bay.

I’d always wanted to start my own company, doing more advocacy and consulting work that was more in tune with the environment and not just testing water and soil, which is what I did for about 11 years as a geologist.

My first main client hired me to work on clean energy and a federal fisheries campaign. That really started my business off. Within a few weeks, I had a contract with the Natural Resources Defense Council, working on ocean acidification and acid rain.

I always did green business makeovers with previous jobs. I did a lot of government contracting and environmental assessment. I’d go into the different Navy facilities and check the buildings to see if the sinks had aerators, if they have low-flow water, if their toilets were efficient, if their lighting was efficient. I’d been doing that for years as a government contractor as a geologist.

Within the past couple of years, I got some training through Green Irene, which is part of Green America (a nonprofit consumer group that promotes environmental sustainability).

They train you to become a green consultant, which I’d already done, but I just thought it was a nice certification to put on the website. That’s when I started getting calls from homeowners and business owners.

The green consulting is a part that I’d really like to see take off a little more. I’ve probably done about a dozen of them in the past six months or so.

When we go into a home­owner’s house, we start with their living room, and we look at their light bulbs and fixtures that they’re using. Are they using ceiling fans? We check their attic to see if they’re using attic fans up there as well.

The most recent one that we did was the Residence Inn in Old Town Alexandria.

Normally for a large hotel – they were between 100 and 150 employees – it’s anywhere from three to five hours to do a business makeover. We sit down and kind of do a kickoff meeting with them and show them a video, if they haven’t watched it yet, about what we’re going to do. We ask them, “Do you have a green team? Do you have an environmental vision statement that you’d like to adhere to?” Most of the time they don’t, so we sort of help them along the way while we’re doing the whole makeover.

Then we tend to go straight to the break room and bathroom. Are they using recycled products, paper towels? Are they using sustainable products? We want those products to be 35 to 100 percent post-consumer recycled material. We make sure they’re not using styrofoam and plastic utensils. We talk about water conservation issues. We’ll start talking about their laundry facilities, and are they using Energy Star appliances. Aerators are a big deal, in your sinks. If you don’t have aerators, the flow’s going to come out faster. Low-flow toilets, they’re just another energy-saving device.

We try to get people started, to take baby steps. People will come back to us for advice once they get started. When people call me to do a consulting, I’ll let them know it’s a one-time fee, and I’m available for them for a year to give advice. We will compile an electronic report for them if they request it. But we don’t give them really any paper copies of anything anymore because it’s kind of ironic. It’s hypocritical for us to give them a whole bunch of paper when we’re telling them not to do it.

One of the big challenges is getting people out of their norm and looking at the big picture for our future and our children’s future. People are like, “I don’t want to get rid of my bleach,” and, “My lawn’s so green, and then it’s not going to look as good as Joe’s next door.”

It’s OK to let your lawn grow a little bit more and a little higher so you don’t have to cut it as often. It’s OK to keep your clippings on your yard. It doesn’t need to look perfect because then you’re reusing your clippings as sort of a mulch, and it doesn’t grow as fast.

All these little things that people just don’t want to let go of. It’s all about aesthetics. So many people are stuck on that aesthetic.