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Ecology of Place

The Ecology of Place imperative requires that our space is contaminant free, it preserves farmland and green space, and it is returned to a place that is flourishing with plants, organisms, new growth, and productivity.

What This Means For Our Project

To encourage biodiversity and bring a natural community back, pollinator planter boxes, a large organized pollinator garden, and solar-powered birdhouses will encourage biodiversity on our site! The place that we selected is greyfield which is crucial to meeting the expectations of the imperative. The HIVE will be built on a greyfield, which is economically obsolescent, outdated, or underutilized lands such as older retail malls or strip centers that no longer attract adequate investment or tenants. Greyfields typically are not environmentally contaminated, but may contain older types of infrastructure that may need to be replaced.

Brownfield

A tract of land that has been developed for industrial purposes, polluted, and then abandoned

Greyfield

A property that does not have known environmental contaminants but is economically nonviable in its current state and has conditions that significantly complicate its redevelopment or reuse

Green Field

land in the countryside or around cities that has never had buildings on it before

What We Are Doing To Incorporate Native Trees & Plants

The Climate Clock’s Deadline tells us that, at current rates of greenhouse gas emissions, we have less than eight years left in our global “carbon budget” that gives two-thirds chance of staying under the critical threshold of 1.5°C of global warming. The tornado in early September took so many carbon-absorbing trees and habitats for nesting creatures in the area. This is why we plan to plant a few trees in many locations in the community as well as our site. We will do this through an organization called Tree Plenish. Tree Plenish is a company based all around planting trees across the nation. Our goal is to set up an event through Tree Plenish and raise money to plant saplings all throughout the Upper Dublin community, especially on our site.

The Centerpiece

A Flowering dogwood will be the centerpiece of the Hive, taking in carbon, offsetting emissions, while supporting hammocks, bird nests, and shading our outdoor classroom. The flowering dogwood is a beautiful tree with pink leaves and it holds a lot of Carbon dioxide which is why we picked it. It will be surrounded by other native trees like the Northern Red Oak and Eastern Redbud. The red oak and redbud trees are both homes to the cardinal which happens to be our high school mascot. We feel that the connection between the school and the environment is important and there is no better way than doing it through an animal.

The Importance of Composting at the HIVE

We have noticed that there is a surplus of unfinished food at UDHS that simply becomes waste. According to World Wildlife Fund, “reports estimate U.S. school food waste totals 530,000 tons per year and costs as much as $9.7 million a day to manage, which breaks down to about 39.2 pounds of food waste and 19.4 gallons of milk thrown out per school per year”, meaning that there is easily enough materials for this to be successful and extremely cost efficient because everything we need is right in our hands.

With compost, it is a simple solution because it is a basic 30:1 carbon nitrogen ratio that allows the compost to be scent free and easy to manage. After all materials are in the bins, we are left with little work because all we need to do is turn the compost and the rest happens naturally. The compost will take approximately 6 months to be usable which will give us enough time to build the HIVE.

Why Should I Compost?

A Compost Machine

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