Missouri Botanical Garden

Bathroom tiles made from recycled automobile glass? Carpeting woven from used soda bottles? A flat roof covered with green plants? No, it isn't a junk yard. It's the headquarters of the Missouri Botanical Garden's EarthWays Center, a group devoted to an increasingly vital goal: conservation of energy and other natural resources for the future, otherwise known as "sustainability." As the motto over EarthWays Center's living room mantle proclaims, sustainability means meeting the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

"As a division of Missouri Botanical Garden, we embrace the Garden's mission of protecting and preserving plants, but with a slightly different approach," said Glenda Abney, director of the EarthWays Center. While the Garden is a botanical institution focusing on plants themselves, the EarthWays Center zeros in on what botanical researchers agree is the greatest threat to plants and the environment: people.

"Our focus is helping people understand how their behavior impacts plants, and in turn how it affects the entire environment," said Abney. "We promote sustainability through environmental education and improving the built environment. By educating people about our dependence on plants and the natural resources that support plant communities, we are teaching adults and youth to value and protect the things that sustain our families and communities."

EarthWays Center staff work with contractors, municipalities, school children, businesses and the general public through a variety of programs, including fairs, classroom and teacher presentations, summer youth camps, classes, professional training workshops, and special events. When developing their projects, the EarthWays team strives to get all participants - owners, designers, contractors, et cetera - to work together from the earliest planning discussions and to consider energy-saving options.

The most visible element of the EarthWays Center's programs is its headquarters, a charming Victorian-era home located at 3617 Grandel Square in midtown St. Louis. The three-story residence was built in 1885 and renovated in the early 1990s to demonstrate energy efficient systems and recycled products.

"A tribute to the diligence of the folks who rehabbed this building is that almost every product and system they researched and selected as a feature of this home over 15 years ago has become a standard in today's green building industry," says Abney.

The home was once a private residence, and later served as the Block Brothers photography studio. After it was vacated in 1979, the home fell into a state of disrepair. The non-profit organization EarthWays acquired the house in 1992 and began renovating it with energy efficient systems and recycled products, using $500,000 in donated materials and labor. The original organization disbanded in 1997. In November 2000, Missouri Botanical Garden assumed management of the site, retained the name EarthWays Center, and re-opened the home for tours in 2001.

It is significant that the EarthWays Center uses a recycled house, retaining the original 19th century architectural characteristics, yet demonstrating green practices with modern equipment, materials and techniques that are readily available. A sign in the living room explains, "One of the best ways to save resources is to renovate old buildings rather than build a new one – that's what EarthWays did!" The purpose of the rehabbed residence is to showcase affordable systems, products and practices that anyone can use

Some of the demonstrations are quite simple. Daylight flooding the north-facing conference room nearly eliminates the need to use electric lights. The rain barrel placed under a downspout collects water for plants. A living room ceiling fan with a built-in heating element warms or cools occupied space; when used with the room's direct-vent fireplace, comfort is efficiently maintained with reduced demand on the whole-house climate controls. Outdoor compost bins and an indoor worm bin divert kitchen and garden scraps from the trash, processing nutrients in this "waste" into organic fertilizer.

Other features are more complex. A photovoltaic (solar panel) array powers kitchen appliances and high-efficiency exterior lighting. A ground-source (or geothermal) heating and cooling system uses the earth's constant sub-surface temperatures, instead of ambient air, to maintain indoor comfort. A garden pergola is topped with drought-loving, low-growing plants to demonstrate the storm-water retention capability of a Green Roof.

Displays of sustainable products include seven kinds of flooring, from the recycled soda bottle carpeting installed on used-tire carpet pad, to rapidly-renewable cork and bamboo, to an "eco-terrazzo" hearth sparkling with colored scrap glass and mirror chips. Raised vegetable beds are built with lumber made from recycled garden pots and trays. Many types of non-toxic product options for home and garden maintenance are also displayed.

The EarthWays Energy Bike, hooked up to light bulbs and small appliances, uses human power to showcase how much less energy is needed to illuminate compact fluorescent bulbs, or CFLs, compared to incandescent bulbs. A "sun tunnel" display shows how daylight can be built into interior spaces.

Visitors will learn about the cost savings associated with going green. A CFL bulb may initially cost more, but it lasts for about 8,000 hours, compared to the incandescent bulb's 1,000 hours, and uses 75‑percent less energy. Water-saving fixtures such as a simple faucet aerator can cut water use by 50‑percent. DIY weatherization materials that are easy to use can cut heating and cooling bills and improve comfort year-round. ENERGY STAR kitchen and laundry appliances and a tankless water heater use 20‑ to 85‑percent less energy than conventional models!

"People ask, 'What can I do to make my home more energy efficient? Where do I take my recyclable items? What can I do about indoor air quality?' and we provide answers and resources, said Abney. An EarthWays Center guided tour helps to answer visitors' questions and start conversations about the importance of individual actions. Seeing installations in this "recycled" city home prompts adults and youth to visualize how sustainable choices can work in their own home. Many handouts are available to explain displays, provide useful tips and refer visitors to local product and service sources. The EarthWays Green Resources Hotline responds to public sustainability questions addressed to greenresources@mobot.org or (314) 577-0246.

The EarthWays Center is staffed by ten full-time employees. Over 40 volunteers help lead public tours, participate in outreach events, and take advantage of regular opportunities to learn about the latest green technologies and practices.

The EarthWays Center is open to the public on the third Saturday and Sunday of each month, with guided tours of the home beginning at 11 a.m., noon, 1 and 2 p.m. Group tours may be booked by appointment using an online tour request form; visit www.earthwayscenter.org.

Adult classes are offered year-round. During the school year, a menu of K-12 offerings includes recycling, energy and air quality lessons. In July, Camp EarthWays – Young Green Builders engages students in "green dream house" planning and design. A Campus Sustainability Network supports ongoing, varied greening efforts of area colleges and universities. The annual Green Homes Festival hosts thousands of visitors on the last Saturday of September, and an annual Green House Tour opens the doors of model homes around the region to showcase the benefits of green-certified building. The EarthWays Center also houses and supports the work of the U.S. Green Building Council-St. Louis Regional Chapter, with its goal to transform commercial and residential building practices.

The EarthWays Center promotes sustainability through environmental education and improving the built environment.

The Missouri Botanical Garden's mission is "to discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment in order to preserve and enrich life." Today, 151 years after opening, the Missouri Botanical Garden is a National Historic Landmark and a center for science and conservation, education and horticultural display.

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