Green Buffers

Slowing down runoff and preventing pollution

Did you know that buffers can help filter and clean polluted water?

Many of the pollutants that challenge us today are non-point pollutants. This type of pollution does not come from a single source like a smokestack or sewage drain. Water, from rain or melting snow, travels downhill across fields, parking lots, lawns, roads and roofs. Along the way this water picks up small amounts of pollutants and carries them to streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and seas. The waterways become polluted and the source was not a single point, but all the points combined.

To prevent runoff from carrying pollutants to waterways the best thing we can do is slow the water down. Water moving slowly is more likely to soak into the ground and trap the pollutants in the soil where they can eventually break down. Natural buffers are efficient at slowing water down and preventing water pollution. Humans can copy nature's design and build buffers or allow buffers to grow naturally. Either method works well, but keeping existing buffers around waterways, and encouraging buffers to grow naturally is a cheap and easy way to protect water.

What is a buffer? Buffers are as simple as a strip of tall native grass and as elaborate as a rooftop garden on a skyscraper. No matter what they look like buffers slow down runoff, prevent pollution, look beautiful and provide wildlife habitat. Read on to learn more!

Supporting water education and sustainable water use in Maine.

The Pathways office is the hub of Chewonki's leading-edge environmental sustainability, conservation, and energy curriculum. Pathways develops materials and demonstration projects on a wide range of topics and shares its expertise with educators and students. Pathways also oversees the implementation of sustainable practices on the Chewonki campus in Wiscasset, Maine.