Making a Difference with Perfect Earth Project
December 14, 2023
The Peconic Land Trust has partnered with Perfect Earth Project to shine a light on the restoration and remediation of our lands and waterways, initially with a focus on the land around Georgica and Sagg Ponds.
The Living Lands Program, a new initiative of the Trust and Perfect Earth Project, is designed to educate homeowners on proper lawn care and maintenance. Our goal is to improve our groundwater and waterways by reducing the use of harmful fertilizers and pesticides. With Perfect Earth Project, we will create land-specific plans to help facilitate the transition from toxic landscape methods to nature-based practices for homeowners.
Georgica Pond and Sagg Pond are two locations the Trust has been in the process of restoring for the last couple of years. The main issue these ponds are facing is the stress that harmful algal blooms are creating in our ponds due to the nitrogen and phosphorus runoffs from nearby landscapes. Alongside our partners at the Center for Clean Water Technology at Stony Brook University, we are helping to upgrade antiquated septic systems around the ponds to more advanced I/A septic systems, which reduce nitrogen from entering the groundwater and the pond. This will help for decades to come.
The Living Lands Program is a companion piece to our on-going Free Lawn Expert program that has been offered at Bridge Gardens since 2014 with Paul Wagner of Greener Pastures Organics, also a partnership with Perfect Earth Project. This program is available weekly onsite from May through October. Or, you can email questions to LawnExpert@PeconicLandTrust.org.