Household Hazardous Waste Facility Landscaping Project

Butterflies and household hazardous waste seem an unlikely combination, yet at the Household Hazardous Waste Facility the two will peacefully coexist. When HHW employees Veronica Pena and Dawn VanDeVeire were doing a school battery collection container drop off, they saw a Butterfly Garden and inspiration struck. They decided that the HHW facility could use a few good Monarchs and, with the help of Mike Van Zandt, created a green garden in front of the hazardous material storage sheds nearest the front entrance using their own funds.

Beginning in February and March 2005, they planned the design, purchases compost, brought in free mulch from the City's landfill, readied the beds, built 4x4 trellis with heavy wire to hide the oil collection tanks, and enlisted other HHW employees in the digging and spreading process.

After that came the plants: Mountain Laurel, white Trailing Lantana, orange and yellow Bulbine, Mexican Honeysuckle, Coral Honeysuckle, Mistflower, Red Yucca, Gaura, Maidenhair Grass, Tropical Milkweed, Fall Asters, Purple Coneflowers, Gulf Coast Penstemon and Turk's Cap. The three brought in most of the plants and shifted around some existing plants. "some of them are only an inch tall, but in three months they will have spread everywhere," said VanDeVeire.

The garden not only beautifies the facility but will become a home for all insects, even though butterflies were the target audience. Along with the aesthetic benefits, the garden provides an educational service. Citizens can learn about green gardening, organic gardening and beneficial insects.