Internships in Sustainability and the Environment: "Sustainable Landscaping," Sydney Hall

The idea behind my internship is sustainable landscaping. I saw this internship as an opportunity to improve something within the community as well as be as environmentally and economically sustainable as possible. I wanted to use as many natural materials as possible to minimize the environmental impact of the project. I also used as many resources that we already had at the study center as I could to avoid purchasing additional materials. I chose the location I did because I saw the chance to fix the need for a safe meeting space and seating area along the transect of road from Monteverde to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve. I wanted to create a space that is more usable by the public and that is more aesthetically pleasing to people walking and driving past. I also constructed a hand rail to create added security to people crossing the existing “bridge” over the drainage ditch. During the time Ella and I were working in this area, we saw several large groups of small children crossing the ditch as well as nearly falling in ourselves. Eventually a new footbridge over the river will be constructed so I tried to leave enough room for vehicles when they begin construction and leave a path to show where the future trail ought to go.

The new sustainable seating area

A big part of this project, for me, was being able to better something in the community while being as sustainable as possible. I removed the invasive grass by hand which was really difficult work but I did not want to coat the area with Roundup as the municipality usually does to clear plants. This common practice has many negative environmental effects which I wanted to avoid. I replanted the areas with native plants from ProNativas which will attract butterflies and hummingbirds. The new plants serve a purpose; they aren’t just pretty flower planted because they’re pretty.

Through this internship, I learned a lot about the specific plant species native to the Monteverde area and how to use them with intention in a garden where they serve a purpose besides decoration. I experienced the aggressiveness of certain nonnative plants when I removed invasive grass from the project location. Before this project, I was not aware of how much planning goes into projects like this besides just the physical work. Even my little roadside improvement took two weeks of planning. In the planning process I was able to gain a deeper understanding of the community dynamic and relationship with the environment in Monteverde.

I think my greatest contribution to the community is the handrail constructed of tree branches because it greatly increases the safety of the trail crossing the drainage ditch as well as highlight the trail entrance so more people will be inclined to use it instead of walk in the road. It is something that is very usable by everyone in the community as well as aesthetically pleasing.

The new handrails on the footbridge