LOSN Sustainability Insider

March 2021

Addressing Climate Change through Natural Climate Solutions

Oftentimes when we think about climate change we think of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Yet human contribution to the rise in carbon emissions in the atmosphere is not only due to our burning of fossil fuels, but also in the impoverishment of nature’s ability to absorb carbon in soil, in trees, and other high-carbon ecosystems. The degradation of our lands, including the earth’s fertile agricultural soils, is in itself another massive disaster facing humans. Yet, by looking to nature, we can take actions that can change this trajectory. Natural climate solutions – conservation, restoration, and land management activities – can help revive nature’s ability to sequester and store carbon.  Find out how healthy soils are an intrinsic component of addressing climate change and cooling the earth.

LOSN partners with the Oswego Lake Watershed Council (OLWC) in the goal of protecting our natural resources through the use and promotion of these natural climate solutions. OLWC leads restoration of watershed function on private land while the City works to enhance natural resources and their ecological services on City-owned land.

OLWC also works within the community through the Urban Forest Committees to protect and enhance our urban forest and holds the annual Tree Summit for the community. Additionally, the council is leading the LO Trees Initiative to inventory the urban forest by deploying citizen scientists to help achieve the Lake Oswego Climate Goal of planting or protecting 5000 trees in 5 years.

The Dirt on Trees

We love our trees!  We love their shade, their graceful patterns against the sky and how they store carbon to combat climate change. But where would trees be without their roots? The roots we cannot see but know anchor the beauty towering over us. Where does that stability come from? The soil into which the trees reach. What do we know about that soil? Do we just take it for granted?  It’s always there!

That soil is as important to the health of our trees as the air is to the trees making food. The air supplies the carbon for tree leaves to make the food and structural building blocks to keep the tree alive and growing. An important part of that process (known as photosynthesis) also requires water that is extracted from the soil by the tree roots. But that soil does so much more than anchor the tree and provide water – it also supplies all of the minerals and other nutrients (particularly nitrogen) trees need to live.

Dirt via University of Oklahoma, Citizen Science Soil Collection Program

For many years soil scientists thought of soil as an inanimate object composed of ground up rocks. But that is only half of the story. The other half of soil is air, water, and organic matter which includes a multitude of living organisms. The living, biological component includes microbes, mycorrhizal fungi, insects  and worms. Most of which are too small to see with the naked eye. This living component of soil is the key to healthy, fertile soil. This unseen living system breaks down the soil to supply minerals, capture nitrogen from the air, and create spaces for water and air. Without this living component soil just doesn’t work properly. Tree roots are also an important part of this system since plants actually take some of the food they make in the form of sugars and pump it into soil to feed these organisms. This is an interactive system where the biotic components provide nutrients and plant roots provide food for these organisms.

When we use pesticides and artificial fertilizers we kill off these living organisms and destroy this interactive system. Artificial fertilizers actually make the tree roots lazy and they stop expanding and feeding the soil. You probably noticed some large trees planted in the middle of the lawn at an apartment complex along Boones Ferry Road that had fallen over in the ice storm. Their roots just couldn’t support them with the extra ice. There is a good chance that lawn receives artificial fertilizers and the roots just stopped growing.

We all benefit from understanding natural systems and supporting natural processes. Get to know your dirt! Join us for the Soil Your Undies activities in April!

Soil Your Undies Campaign – Spring 2021

Check out the upcoming activities to learn more about soil.

April 8 – LOSN Monthly Forum: The Soil Will Save Us
Time: 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Speaker: Kristin Ohlson – Registration link below

April 22 – Get To Know Your Dirt – online workshop
Time: 5:00 to 6:30 pm
Presenter: Oswego Lake Watershed Council
Venue:  Online Zoom
Summary: Explore what makes up healthy soil and how your gardening practices can support building your soil heath and help sequester CO2.

April 24 – Soil Your Undies Kickoff
Pick up a free pair of 100% tighty whities at either Lake Oswego or Lakeridge High School between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. Limited to 200 participants. Pre-registration required. More information at www.oswegowatershed.org.

July 7 – Reveal Your Undies
We will get together on Wednesday July 7th to show our undies and discuss the results. We hope we will be able to meet in person! Details will be announced on the OLWC website.

April is Arbor Month in Lake Oswego

April is Arbor month, and we will be celebrating trees and our urban forest all month long! Join in the festivities throughout the month capped by a celebration on Arbor Day, April 30th.

Lake Oswego has a diverse urban forest and has been a member of Tree City USA for over 30 years! This means that individual trees throughout the city connect to create an urban forest system that provides countless benefits to the community. Do you love Lake Oswego’s trees and want to make a difference? OLWC is encouraging the community to celebrate Arbor Month 2021 by working together to preserve our urban forest.

OLWC is sponsoring a community event throughout the month where you can be an urban forest hero by protecting your neighborhood trees from ivy. Check out how this works here.

The city’s next Hello LO will have more information about all the Arbor month activities. Or check the OLWC Arbor Month webpage at the beginning of April for additional Arbor Month activities.

LOSN Interfaith Coffee: Join Us in a Conversation with Councilor Massene Mboup

Date: Tuesday, March 16th, 2021
Time: 10-11:30 am
Where: on Zoom

Description: Not only is Massene our newest Lake Oswego City Councilor, he has an incredible journey and perspective to share. Hear Massene talk about his life in Senegal, his journey to Lake Oswego, and his appreciation for the Earth. We are so grateful for Massene agreeing to join us and we hope you will join as well!  

Councilor Mboup, who has lived in Oregon for over twenty years and in Lake Oswego since 2011, is the founder and Executive Director of the International Leadership Academy (ILA), a private, nonprofit French immersion school located in the heart of Lake Grove on Boones Ferry Road in the Hope Community Church.

April Online Forum: The Soil Will Save Us

Speaker:  Kristin Ohlson, Author, The Soil Will Save Us
When: Thursday, April 8, 2021
Time:  6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Where:  on Zoom

Did you know that good old dirt could help solve the carbon crisis?  Thousands of years of poor farming and ranching practices – and, especially, modern industrial agriculture – have led to the loss of up to 80 percent of carbon from the world’s soils.

Kristin Ohlson, author of The Soil Will Save Us, will present her passionate case for “our great green hope” – a way in which we can heal the land, turn atmospheric carbon into beneficial soil carbon, and potentially reverse global warming – through regenerative agricultural and landscaping practices.

In her talk, Ohlson introduces some of the visionaries from her beautifully researched book. She shares stories from scientists, farmers, ranchers, and landscapers—who are figuring out in the lab and on the ground how to build healthy soil including the herd of microorganisms that escape our notice. Better land management practices, that lead to healthy soils, can help solve a myriad of problem: including drought, erosion, air and water pollution, and food quality, as well as climate change. Join in on April 8 to discover a whole new world beneath our feet.

To learn more about our speaker please visit her website: http://www.kristinohlson.com.

May Online Forum: Transitioning to Electric Landscaping Equipment

Speaker:  Dan Mabe, CEO, President of American Green Zone Alliance
When: Thursday, May 13, 2021
Time:  6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Where:  Webinar on Zoom

Learn about how communities are moving toward pollution free, all electric landscaping equipment and services.

Come hear from Dan Mabe, CEO, President of American Green Zone Alliance, talk about how we can transition from gas powered landscaping equipment to all electric powered equipment which helps to reduce air and noise pollution.

To learn more about our speaker and American Green Zone Alliance please visit agza.net.