Urban Rainwater Harvesting

How can we best make use of the rainfall we get in our challenging wet/dry climate? For most people on small lots, the idea of storing all the rainwater they need for their home or even their gardens is a challenging proposition. However, there are proven strategies and techniques we can use to slow, spread, sink, and store more rainwater than we are currently while ensuring safe and responsible drainage back into our creeks, rivers and/or municipal storm drains.

This workshop is meant to help people living on residential lots and small acreages better understand their options for managing rainwater in a way that encourages groundwater recharge, reduces pollution, buffers storm surges, and holds some water back for later usage.

We’ll cover:

- Navigating our challenging rainfall patterns with climate change

- Understanding urban drainage systems as they are now

- Rainwater catchment basics: cisterns, rain gardens, seasonal ponds, French drains, swales, ditches, overflows and storm drains

- Case studies

Tayler Krawczyk co-manages Hatchet & Seed; a small business focusing on edible landscaping & ecological design projects. Since 2011, they've been transforming barren, boring yards into thriving edible ecosystems. They also practice permaculture principles in their own backyard in Vic West, with integrated chicken coop + compost systems, light greywater re-use, edible plant nursery, rain gardens, greenhouses, fruit trees, and veggie gardens; all on 1/10th of an acre lot.

How to Register for this Event

This workshop is happening in person only. Please dress appropriately for all types of weather, the workshop may be outside or in our heated strawbale building.

Only current members in good standing are eligible to use the free ticket option as a part of their member benefits package.

There are a limited number of Pay What You Can tickets available for folks who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC), and people who are facing significant financial barriers to their involvement in our programming. The Compost Education Centre is continually in the process of examining the ways in which our program accessibility can be improved for all members of our community. This ticket gesture is by no means a fulsome examination of the systems of oppression that exist for people inside and outside of our community. We welcome your ideas and feedback.

You must pre-register for this event. You can purchase a ticket through Eventbrite. You can also register for the event by calling our office at 250 386 9676 or via email by contacting [email protected]

Customers can receive a full refund (less the Eventbrite processing fee) up to 7 days before the workshop. Customers who request a refund less than 7 days before the workshop can request to switch their ticket to a different workshop within the calendar year if tickets are available. To request a refund or switch your ticket, email [email protected].

VERY IMPORTANT: Please be in touch if you are no longer able to attend but hold a ticket so we can make your space available to someone else.

Accessibility

The Compost Education Centre site has flat paths made of woodchips. The strawbale learning classroom is accessed via a wooden ramp and has a wide double door and a ramp leading up to it. Once inside everything is flat.

There is a single-stall gender neutral washroom on site. The washroom is not wheelchair accessible. There is a steep ramp from the wood chip pathway onto the washroom boardwalk, and a 2-inch step up from the washroom boardwalk into the washroom.

About the organization

The Compost Education Centre is located on unceded and occupied Indigenous territories, the land of the Lekwungen people— specifically the Xwsepsum and Songhees Nations. These nations are two of many, made up of individuals who have lived within the porous boundaries of what is considered Coast Salish, Nuu-Chah-Nulth and Kwakwa'wakw Territory (Vancouver Island) since time immemorial. At the CEC we seek to respect, honour and continually grow our own understandings of Indigenous rights and history, and to fulfill our responsibilities as settlers, who live and work directly with the land and its complex, vital ecologies and our diverse, evolving communities.

Compost Education Centre memberships get you free workshops, discounts at garden centres around town and more great perks! Sign up or learn more on our website.

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