July 29, 2010: Protecting Urban Waterways With Roadside Rain Gardens

Seattle is a leader in Low Impact Development to control storm water. Techniques include rain gardens, green roofs, and permeable pavement that allow more rainwater to flow into the ground instead of running off and carrying pollutants into streams and Puget Sound. The 'SEA street' LID project that was built in the upper part of the Carkeek Park watershed reduced storm water flow by 99%. Today Seattle Public Utility is working to protect another waterway, Salmon Bay. Green Acre Radio brings us the story.

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July 22, 2010: The Merlin Family of Thornton Creek & The Trees That Nurture

When it comes to merlins, the predatory bird popular in falconry in medieval times, seeing them in urban Seattle seems like a stretch of the imagination. But two merlins named Thor and Spike appear to have taken up residence in a neighborhood near Thornton Creek. Green Acre Radio takes us for a visit to learn why "98115" has become the merlins' favorite urban zip code.

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July 15, 2010: Energy Tales from the Home Front: Harnessing the Sun & Region’s Ambient Light

Solar energy - power from the sun - may not seem like the best energy alternative in gray Western Washington. Yet Germany, who gets 70% of the sun we receive, leads the world in solar installations. Washington has a long way to go. But more and more homeowners are taking advantage of tax incentives and “net metering” which allows them to sell the solar energy they make back to the utility. Green Acre Radio takes us to the rooftops with this story, checking in on homeowners committed to harnessing the sun’s vast and inexhaustible resource.

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July 8, 2010: Industrial Feedlots, Growing Geoduck in South Puget Sound Intertidal Estuaries

43,500 plastic tubes per acre covered with nets and staked with rebar may seem like an unusual sight on most beaches in Puget Sound. But in South Puget Sound citizens and environmentalists are crying foul. The tubes are used to plant geoducks, a type of clam favored in Asian markets, by Washington's shellfish industry. Martha Baskin brings us the story - industrial farms on beaches and inter-tidal estuaries.

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