Rain gardens are a practical, ecological and theological solution for houses of worship
A common environmentally friendly solution to flooding, rain gardens satisfy a common theological thread running through many faiths. Read the article from Religion News Service.
Rain garden in the Allen Centennial Gardens on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Photo by James Steakley/Wikipedia/Creative Commons
Showy goldenrod. Oxeye sunflower. Blue false indigo. When spring comes, it’s impossible not to notice the colorful ensemble of flowers and bushes outside the Sisters of St. Joseph’s convent in Brentwood, New York.
But there is something deeper going on than an eyeful of natural beauty. The sisters’ rain gardens, as their plantings are known in environmental circles, soak up rainwater that would otherwise collect in depressions around the convent’s 212 acres. Besides solving nuisance flooding, the rain gardens improve water quality thanks to an underground filtration system. They also feed the insect population, becoming sanctuaries for bees, butterflies and, in turn, attract and feed birds.
Rain gardens, which have deeper roots than grass, “not only soak up rainwater, but they also do a little bit of filtration of the contaminants in it, preventing them from entering drinking water,” said Amanda Furcall, a landscape ecologist who helped the sisters expand their green infrastructure.
Just as people think about roads and rooftops as completely impermeable, Furcall said, they think about lawns as permeable. “But long grass has really shallow roots, only a couple inches deep. And usually, if it rains, they can only absorb about a quarter-inch of rain,” she said.
Two years ago only 2,000 square feet of the Sisters of St. Joseph’s property was dedicated to a single large rain garden. Today, the Brentwood campus has six main rain gardens and several smaller ones.
Rain gardens are commonly installed along city sidewalks today for flood control, often preventing overflow of sewers during heavy rains. But in recent years houses of worship and other religious communities like the Sisters of St. Joseph adopted rain gardens as easy-to-build, low-maintenance ways to devote their sometimes extensive real estate to fighting climate change.
The rain gardens also satisfy a common theological thread running through many faiths: a commitment to treasure the earth created by God.