Brown is the new green - Let's save a wetland in Maryland

few days ago I received an e-mail from a member of the Kunzang Palyul Chöling center. Let's read their needs, the story and their experience about treatment wetlands.

Groundbreaking Earth-friendly Wastewater Processing Project at Risk

“Brown is the New Green” is a campaign to support and maintain the first man-made wetlands in Maryland to process residential wastewater. In 1988, this new alternative, called a constructed wetlands, was just being pioneered to treat residential sewage to protect lakes and groundwater. This project, designed and installed at a Buddhist monastery and temple, has successfully treated wastewater with earth-friendly methods, and without any chemicals or untreated releases.

After 26 years of continuous and successful operation, this landmark environmental experiment is now at risk, requiring rehabilitation and maintenance. Gravel beds need to be removed and replaced, as well as clearing invasive plants and installing new aquatic plants. There is urgency to this project requiring planting before the first frost so aquatic plants have the opportunity to establish roots.

An Indiegogo campaign with a goal of $33,000 has been launched to support this short-term project. Kunzang Palyul Choling (KPC) is a Buddhist temple in Poolesville, MD and home to monks and nuns, with a prayer and meditation room open 24 hours to the public and a 65-acre wildlife sanctuary with hiking trails and meditation gardens.

President of KPC, Claire Waggoner says “We’re proud of sustaining this green project for 26 years, yet as a small non-profit we need support to preserve it for the future”.  

The use of constructed wetlands has the potential to change how rural and developing locations treat their wastewater. Many parts of the US and the world have no water treatment facilities. Constructed wetlands require few resources and none of the chemicals than industrial water treatment facilities use.

KPC Temple is located at 18400 River Road, Poolesville, MD 20837. More information is available at www.tara.org. 

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about our story, Shelley Sims at shelleynsims@aol.com is the press contact.