Resources
Highlights
- GreenScapes Cost Calculators
- Climate Change Tools
- Environmental Management Systems (EMS)
- Presentations from GreenScapes Workshops
- GreenScapes Publications
- Composting
- Green Buildings
- Green Landscaping
- Recycled-Content Products
- Waste Reduction
- Reuse/Recycling
- Water Efficiency
- Soil Best Practices
- Air and Energy
- Ordering EPA Publications
- GreenScapes Tools
GreenScapes Cost Calculators
Downloadable Excel spreadsheets that can aid in your decision making and implementation of more sustainable landscape design, construction, and operations and maintenance.
Climate Change Tools
EPA and its partners have developed tools to help individuals and organizations determine the greenhouse gas impacts of their purchasing, manufacturing and waste management actions.
Environmental Management Systems (EMS)
Integrating Environmentally Beneficial Landscaping into Your EMS (PDF) (13 pp, 101K, about PDF)
Developed by GreenScapes and EPA's EMS program, this document provides practical guidance, potential language, and examples of environmentally beneficial landscaping practices for each of the EMS elements.
Presentations from GreenScapes Workshops Conducted at the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) 2006 Annual Meeting & Expo
Presentations from GreenScapes workshopsBuilding Sustainable Sites From the Ground Up
GreenScapes Publications
GreenScapes: Environmentally Beneficial Landscaping | PDF
Version (8 pp, 757K, about PDF) |
|
Greenscaping
Your Lawn and Garden (PDF) (8 pp, 1.6MB, about PDF) | en
Español (PDF) (8 pp, 3.1MB, about PDF)
Booklet encouraging consumers to grasscycle, mulch, and compost to reduce the amount of yard waste in the waste stream. |
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GreenScaping: The Easy Way to a Greener, Healthier Yard | PDF Version (16 pp, 2.1MB, about PDF) | en Español (PDF) (16 pp, 2.7MB, about PDF) Booklet telling consumers how changing their landscapes to GreenScapes can save time and money and protect the environment.
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Composting
Analysis
of Composting as an Environmental Remediation Technology
Summarizes information on the use of compost for managing hazardous
waste streams and for remediating contaminated soil.
Compost Best Management Practices
A series of fact sheets describing various ways to control erosion caused
by storm water at construction sites:
Composting
EPA Web site providing information and publications
on composting.
Composting
at Mine Sites
Contains information on composting technologies applicable to addressing
contamination at abandoned mine land sites
Compost
in Landscaping Applications (PDF) (20 pp, 68K, about PDF)
Describes ways in which landscapers can use compost to create cost-effective,
high quality, and environmentally beneficial projects.
Compost-New
Applications For an Age-Old Technology
Series of fact sheets addressing innovative and cost-effective uses
of compost to remediate or prevent pollution. Discuss how compost can
be used to clean contaminated soils; remove oil, grease, and heavy metals
from storm water runoff; destroy VOCs; and facilitate reforestation,
wetlands restoration, and revitalize wildlife habitats.
Compost
Use Guidelines and Specifications
Web site presenting compiled results of a comprehensive search to identify
guidelines for different categories of compost use. Provides information
that will help you identify a compost product best suited to your needs.
Compost
Use in Forest Land Restoration (PDF) (36 pp, 2MB, about PDF)
Provides examples of using compost to successfully restore lands disturbed
by forest management activities in the Pacific Northwest; many can be
expanded for use in other environments with consideration of local conditions.
Compost
Utilization for Erosion Control
Defines compost and erosion, describes the benefits of using compost
for erosion control, discusses application, and provides recommended
specifications.
Landscape
Architecture/Design Specifications for Compost Use (PDF)
(14 pp, 251K, about PDF), US Composting Council
Provides specifications for turf establishment with compost, planting
bed establishment with compost, compost as a landscape backfill mix
component, compost as a landscape mulch, compost as a soil blanket for
erosion control, and compost as a filter berm for sediment control.
Organic
Materials Management Strategies (PDF) (58 pp, 451K, about PDF)
Describes seven composting strategies for organic materials and presents
an analysis of the benefits and costs of each strategy, the potential
for diverting organic materials from landfills or waste-to-energy facilities,
and the potential markets for diverted organic materials.
Green Buildings
US Green Building Council
Promotes buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable
and healthy places to live and work.
Green Landscaping
Bay-Friendly Rating Manual for Civic and Commercial Landscapes (PDF) (144 pp, 1.4MB, about PDF)
The Bay-Friendly Rating Manual is an essential tool to successfully implement the Bay-Friendly Scorecard for Civic and Commercial Landscapes . It is written for landscape design and construction professionals and Bay-Friendly Raters, as a guide in describing and verifying the practices in the Scorecard.
Bay-Friendly Landscaping & Gardening is a whole systems approach to the design, construction and maintenance of landscapes that contributes to the health of the San Francisco Bay Watershed.
Florida Yards and Neighborhoods Handbook: A Guide to Environmentally Friendly Landscaping (PDF) (68 pp, 1.2MB, about
PDF)
Describes how to minimize nonpoint source pollution from landscapes, especially residential ones. This booklet from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an integral part of the Florida Yards & Neighborhoods (FYN) program being implemented in certain parts of the state by the Cooperative Extension Service.
Best Management Practices, Public Information, and Environmental Education Resources
Florida's Web page for best management practices, guides and resources. Includes best management practices for urban and golf, agriculture, and silviculture.
Ecologically
Sound Lawn Care for the Pacific Northwest: Findings from the Scientific Literature
and Recommendations from Turf Professionals (PDF) (89
pp, 366K, about PDF)
This report consists of three tools for persons interested in environmentally
best practices for lawn care: (1) An introduction to the concept of
ecologically based lawn care, and a review of the scientific literature
that supports a change from traditional chemical-intensive practices;
(2) Complete practical recommendations for ecologically sound lawn care
in the region west of the Cascade mountains, assembled from interviews
with turf scientists and professionals and an extensive review of literature;
(3) An annotated bibliography that reviews source documents useful to
residents, landscape professionals, and public resource managers.
Low Impact Development
Technologies from the Whole Building Design Guide
Presents an alternative site design strategy that uses natural
and engineered infiltration and storage techniques to control storm
water where it is generated.
Natural
Yard Care
Seattle Public Utilities Web site providing five easy steps to a great-looking,
easy-care yard that’s also healthier for kids, pets, and the environment.
- Natural Yard Care: Five Steps to Make Your Part of the Planet a Healthier Place to Live (PDF) (8 pp, 566K, about PDF) | en Español (PDF) (16 pp, 1.2MB, about PDF)
Plant Conservation Alliance
Consortium of ten federal government agencies and many non-federal
members whose mission is to protect native plants by ensuring that native
plant populations and their communities are maintained, enhanced, and
restored.
Recycled-Content Products
Plastic
Lumber in Landscaping Applications (PDF) (22 pp, 64K, about PDF)
Plastic lumber, a product made from recycled plastic, is ideal for use
in landscaping applications. By using plastic lumber, landscapers can
create cost-effective, high quality, and environmentally beneficial
projects.
Recycled
Rubber Products in Landscaping Applications (PDF) (19 pp, 63K, about PDF)
Rubber from scrap tires is a waste material that is ideal for use in
landscaping applications. By using recycled rubber products, landscapers
can create cost-effective, high quality, and environmentally beneficial
projects. The landscaping market is potentially large enough to recover
all the scrap tires that are currently discarded in landfills or tire
piles.
EPA's Comprehensive Procurement Guideline (CPG) program helps organizations "close the loop" through buying recycled products. EPA published a series of product guides summarizing information on recycled products for various applications. Four CPG fact sheets relate directly to GreenScapes and can be found online.
- 2007
Buy-Recycled Series: Construction Products (PDF) (9 pp, 360K, about PDF)
- 2007
Buy-Recycled Series: Landscaping Products (PDF) (7 pp, 304K, about PDF)
- 2007
Buy-Recycled Series: Park and Recreation Products (PDF) (6 pp, 342K, about PDF)
- 2007 Buy-Recycled Series: Transportation Products (PDF) (8 pp, 335K, about PDF)
Waste Reduction
WasteWise Update: Building for the Future (PDF) (16 pp, 2.2MB, about PDF)Features the materials efficiency aspects of green buildings, including the reduction, reuse, and recycling of construction and demolition (C&D) debris, and the use of recycled, reused, and otherwise "resource-efficient" building products.
WasteWise
Update: Closing the Loop (PDF) (13 pp, 1.6MB, about PDF)
Focuses on issues associated with buying recycled products, such as
benefits, common myths, case studies, and resources.
WasteWise
Update: Recovering Organic Wastes (PDF) (16 pp, 1.2MB, about PDF)
Explains the composting process, offers various outside resources, and
highlights a number of organic waste diversion and recovery options
implemented by WasteWise partners.
Reuse/Recycling
Glass
Reuse and Recycling Directory (PDF) (137 pp, 454K, about PDF)
A compilation of noncontainer alternatives for reusing and recycling
glass, especially glass bottles and jars, the information was gathered
from state and provincial governmental agencies of the United States
and Canada, as well as the respective state and provincial recycling
organizations, and from articles from magazines and conferences.
Water Efficiency
The
Enchanted Xeriscape: A Guide to Water-wise Landscaping in New Mexico (PDF)
(3 pp, 2.1MB, about
PDF)
Provides information on using native plants and efficient water use
in arid climates
National
Management Measures to Control Nonpoint Source Pollution from Urban
Areas (PDF) (518 pp, 5.4MB, about PDF)
Provides guidance to help citizens and municipalities in urban areas
protect bodies of water from polluted runoff that can result from everyday
activities. These scientifically sound techniques are the best practices
known today.
National
Menu of Best Management Practices for Stormwater Phase II
Provides guidance to regulated small Municipal Separate Storm
Sewer Systems (MS4s) as to the types of practices they could use to
develop and implement their stormwater management programs.
Reduce Runoff: Slow It Down, Spread It Out, Soak It In
Watch this video that showcases green techniques that are being used in urban areas to reduce the effects of stormwater runoff on the quality of downstream receiving waters. The goal is to mimic the natural way water moves through an area before development by using design techniques that infiltrate, evaporate, and reuse runoff close to its source.
Using
Water Efficiently: Ideas for Residences
Defines water-efficient landscape irrigation.
Water Efficient Landscaping: Preventing Pollution & Using Resources Wisely (PDF) (19 pp, 1.6MB)
Describes the benefits of water-efficient landscaping; includes several examples
of successful projects and programs, as well as contacts, references, and a short bibliography
Soil Best Practices
Ecological Revitalization: Turning Contaminated Properties Into Community Assets
Provides technical information to assist property managers and other stakeholders better understand, coordinate, and conduct ecological revitalization at contaminated properties during cleanup, presents general planning and process considerations for ecological revitalization and provides technical considerations for implementing ecological revitalization of wetlands, streams, and terrestrial ecosystems during cleanup.
How To: Soil Best Management
Practices, Tools, & Specifications
Provides information on preserving native soil and restoring soils disturbed during development with organic amendments like compost to reduce stormwater runoff and pollution; to reduce landscape maintenance needs for water, fertilizer, and pesticides; and to make healthier, more attractive landscapes.
Resource Efficient Natural Landscaping: Design, Build, Maintain (PDF) (8 pp, 817K, about PDF)
Provides design, building, and maintenance tips for professionals.
The
Use of Soil Amendments for Remediation, Revitalization, and Reuse
(59 pp, 1.7MB, about
PDF)
Describes soil amendments, the advantages of using them, the types of environmental problems and contaminants they can address, the types of sites where they can be used, and regulatory and other issues related to using them. It focuses on the use of amendments on sites dominated by inorganic contaminants, although they also can be used to address volatile and semivolatile contaminants that have left sites barren of vegetation.
Air and Energy
Your
Yard and Clean Air (PDF) (2 pp, 16K, about PDF)
Addresses the emissions from lawn mowers and provides suggestions
for pollution prevention in your own backyard.
Ordering EPA Publications
Paper copies of EPA publications may be ordered from the National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP) by any of the following means:
Internet
By Mail
US EPA/NSCEP
PO Box 42419
Cincinnati, OH 45242-0419
By Fax
Send your order via FAX, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
(301) 604-3408
By E-Mail (nscep@bps-lmit.com)
By Phone
Call 1-800-490-9198 (Speak to an operator
Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM, E.S.T.) Leave an
order 24 hours a day.