Eye Opener: Photo Essay

 I love the idea of a photo essay.  It's personal, which makes it more interesting!  My first thought was to try and make homemade, non-toxic cleaning products and use them on my kitchen and bathroom; however, I've been home the past 5 days and my mom is some kind of cleaning Nazi who keeps our house looking spotless and immaculate (as you can see from a picture of my bathroom).  Since there is no point in cleaning what's already clean and even less of a point when I'm trying to prove the effectiveness of non-toxic cleaning products I came up with a new idea.  Take a green-tour of the greater Grand Forks area!

In 1997 Grand Forks and East Grand Forks suffered through a huge flood.  The water rose 54 feet out of the banks of the river and broke through sandbags and makeshift dikes.  It ended up destroying many homes, businesses, and other buildings. Piles of contaminated garbage, appliances, and the guts of houses lined the streets for months.  What a huge waste of materials! Since then, these two towns have done a lot to improve our community and build it up even better than it was at first!  In these two pictures I am on opposite sides of the river standing next to what now acts as a flood wall to contain the river if it ever decides to rise again.
 This picture illustrates the record high water level in 1997 along with other flood years. 




Now days along the banks of the Red River we have something called "The Greenway".  It was originally 1200 acres of floodplain, but has now been created into something useful!  There are over 20 miles of bike and running trails, 2 Frisbee golf courses (one on each side of the river), a dog park, numerous playgrounds, sports fields, and more. 
 

In this picture you can see a biker enjoying the use of the trails across the river.  I'm standing next to the statue with the water levels on it as I took the picture.  In 1997 the river was covering the road on the bridge just to give you an idea of how high it was.

<-- Here's one of the Frisbee golf courses.

Here is an information pillar in the Greenway.  It contained a map of the bike paths and "Fitness trails".    -->

There are solar powered street lamps that line a good portion of the trails, which solve the problem of getting electricity to a flood prone area along with really staying true to the idea of a "Greenway".













Along the Greenway is this town square.  It holds farmers markets every weekend during the summer and growing season.  You can buy all kinds of locally grown and organic produce along with other goods!  There is even a stage for music and other performances!

Something that East Grand Forks (EGF) has created since the flood is what we call our "Green Site".  Each resident of EGF is given a card that opens up the gate to the green site and people can recycle all kinds of things like yard wasts such as grass clippings, leaves, and tree branches.

 

 

Just doing some recycling at the Green Site!

Paper only!

Recycling is easy!

 

But please, no dumping.

Something that was new on this home visit to even me was our windmill!  A wind mill was recently constructed on the edge of town.  Wind energy is a green, renewable source of power.  It doesn't require the use of fossil fuels, or create water or air pollutants.

 

Lastly, there have been changes in how we recycle.  I don't remember a time when we didn't recycle at my house.  Everyone on our block did and we had to separate everything!  I remember dragging each individual bin out to the end of the driveway before school.  Glass, cans, plastic, and another bag for paper and cardboard!  Now the city has issued everyone a standard garbage can and recycling bin.  You can throw all of your recycling into one container and hull it out to your curb!