Phytoremediation workshop in Brooklyn
Expedition Gowanus is a series of Saturday workshops focused on low-tech, do-it-yourself sustainability practices happening in tandem with an informing the self-sustainable redesign and retrofitting of a houseboat in Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal. The first workshop will be held Saturday, September 11th and will focus on phytoremediation, the use of plants to draw pollutants out of the surrounding environment. The workshop will be led by Scott Kellogg, co-founder of Albany’s Radix Ecological Sustainability Center and co-author of Toolbox for Sustainable City Living: A Do-it-Ourselves Guide.
He will introduce basic concepts in phytoremediation and some of the techniques for applying these concepts to the remediation of polluted water (living machines, constructed wetlands, etc). After an introduction, you will be lead in the construction of a mini ‘floating trash island’. Made out of construction debris and old soda bottles, the island will be planted with wetland plants, and then given the ultimate challenge; an inaugural float on the infamous Lavender Lake (aka Gowanus Canal).
Saturday, September 11, 1-3pm
Gowanus, Brooklyn (exact location sent after RSVP)
Pre-registration required; RSVP to expeditiongowanus@gmail.com
Sliding scale donations accepted at the door, suggested $7
