The First Baptist Church in Alameda was at a crossroads: they wanted to invigorate and expand their congregation, and be an example for their fellow neighbors. The Boy Scout Troop that meets at the church offered to organize lawn conversion as an Eagle Project. The Troop Leader contacted local Bay-Friendly Designer, Georgia Madden who then contacted StopWaste and a community partnership was born.
StopWaste provided a mini-grant to the church to cover the design costs, including compost, cardboard and mulch, and offered to help coordinate a church/community lawn to garden party. Georgia Madden provided the design and a connection to a local Bay-Friendly landscape contractor who installed irrigation infrastructure. The troop and Eagle Scout Andrew Park raised funds to cover irrigation equipment and plants. Andrew acted as project manager and learned all the aspects of the lawn conversion, including training his fellow scouts on sheet mulching. The church applied for a lawn conversion and irrigation rebate from EBMUD and promoted the party to their members and neighbors. A deacon at the church volunteered to maintain the new garden.
On the day of the party, 50 church, community members and scouts sheet mulched the lawn in place. Now, the church has an attractive Bay-Friendly landscape, Andrew Park earned the rank of Eagle Scout, and StopWaste educated many more people to sheet mulch their own lawns.
