Remediation. Reconciliation. Restoring a right relationship with the natural world. Can art do this?
If you’re interested in any aspect of this question, I invite you to host a coffee-clay remediation sphere in your local stream, creek, pond, lake, or river.
But… what is a coffee-clay sphere?
The South African environmental scientist Tony Flynn discovered that a mixture of coffee grounds and clay, fired in a kiln, can filter germs, dirt, and other nasty things out of polluted water. This is potentially an awesome way to provide economical water filters for rural communities.
Spheres made from this material look awesome, like volcanic ejecta or giant-scale granite marbles. What I’m really interested in, however, is the potential for these things to remediate dirty water in streams or rivers.
I’d like to document a number of these spheres in a range of waterways (streams, ponds, etc.) all over North America. Blue-ribbon trout streams in Idaho. Catfish runs in Wisconsin. Black water ditches in urban brownfields.
So- if you have a body of water that you love near to the place where you live, I’d be interested in sending you a sphere to adopt. I’ll mail it to you… and here’s what I’d ask you to do…
- Place the sphere in the water in a location where it’s not easily going to get lost
- Leave it there for at least a year
- Take a photo or two during the interval and email them to me
- In a few cases, I may pay you to send the sphere back to me (for gallery display)
Eventually, I plan to exhibit a range of these spheres with photos.
Leave a comment below if you’re interested, and I’ll get back to you!
I am interested! I am 1 block away from a densely urban creek that takes a breath above ground in my neighborhood.
That’s great Vicki! I’ll be in touch.
Definitely In! My backyard is against an NPG that is very swampy, fed by spring and creek in the neighborhood. It would be a perfect place for this experiment.
That sounds awesome! I’ll be in touch.
Fascinating! I live on a rural inlet of the Puget Sound in Washington state. Since this body of salt water is affected by the tide I would secure it to wood pilings so that it wouldn’t be taken out to sea.
That sounds great! I haven’t had someone propose putting one in the intertidal yet- it’ll be fascinating to see what that does to the object…
I’ll be in touch shortly.
David
Would these work in a natural pond? My folks have one in their backyard that is consumed by duckweed and other grossness. If so, I’d love to give this a try!
Duckweed and grossness are great. I’ll be in touch.
This is cool! I have a creek running behind my backyard in Spokane, WA. I would love to try this.
That would be great! I’m sure I’ll be in Spokane at some point this summer, and can drop one off if that works for you…
I’m going to ask folks in my Buy Nothing Group… lots of folks around here have Thornton Creek running through their yards and it’s filthy. Like, no one is supposed to even touch the water. ????
Heya! I definitely want to get some of these in some polluted water. Is that the creek that runs through the park near your house?
Thornton Creek runs right along our backyard (Seattle.) We’re renters, though…
Heya. Doesn’t matter if you’re renters… but do you anticipate being on-site for more than a year? I want to see how they evolve in a single location over time…
Thorton Creek runs right behind our house. I would love to host!
That will be great! I’m visiting Amy at some point this summer I’m sure, and will bring you one.
Hi David! Would you consider putting one in a storm water ditch? We have a ditch that runs along our property and eventually drains into Thornton Creek in Seattle. I noticed other Thornton Creek residents in the area and wondered if our ditch drains to their house.
Hi Andrea. Thanks so much for reaching out- it sounds like you’re doing some wonderful restoration work on your property.
Is the ditch in a state of perennial flow? I’m interested in seeing how the spheres evolve in different wet environments (both healthy and impacted)… so this might be interesting. My only hesitancy is that there are already several people on Thorton Creek who have reached out… but it might be interesting to see a cluster of these things in a single neighborhood…
Are you friends with or connected to my sister Amy?
Hi David, I live on Thornton Creek across from the Meadowbrook tennis courts Creek is about 25 ft from my house. I’ve been here for over 25 years! I participated back in 2007 in the first ever private land owner stream project! Please reach out if you’d like to see if my location may work:-)…
Hi David, I live on Thornton Creek across from the Meadowbrook tennis courts Creek is about 25 ft from my house. I’ve been here for over 25 years! I participated back in 2007 in the first ever private land owner stream project! Please reach out if you’d like to see if my location may work:-)…
Thanks Suzy! It’s going to be exciting to have several of these in the Thorton Creek area… I’m planning to be in that area soon and will being several with, including one for you. Thanks for your advocacy and citizen science!