Sweetwater Collaborative is proud to announce our August Technical Round table topic, Beyond the L2L- Greywater Options in our homes.  The round table will be held at the Watershed Resource Center, 2981 Cliff Dr, Santa Barbara, CA 93109, at Hendry's (Arroyo Burro) Beach, on Monday, August 8, 2016, from 7:00-8:30 PM.

Fred Hunter and Josh Graning will lead the discussion. Fred and Josh have designed and installed a variety of greywater systems in our area and will talk about their experiences and show some images of projects. We also encourage round table participants to share their experiences with putting in greywater systems.

Technical round tables are held on the second Monday of each  month. In August we'll be discussing Greywater Options other than Laundry to landscape- which may include branched drain gravity systems, systems with pumps, filters, acuators, and more. Join us and spread the word!

Our goal for the Technical Round Table series is for each of us to feel more empowered and ready to promote or install cutting edge features, create a support system so we can quickly trouble shoot with each other, use less water in a more efficient way without compromsing our lifestyles, and make our community more resilient. This is an ongoing process and we hope you’ll join us and continue to attend these productive meetings.

The Watershed Resource Center is the blue two-story building on the right of the main parking lot at Hendry's Beach, as you face the ocean. It's about halfway to the beach from the street. Come up the stairs and come on in.

 Suggested donation is just $10 at the door in cash or check. Looking forward to seeing you there.

We are having another Sweet Water Wise Walking Tour, this time on the Lower Riviera/Eastside on Saturday October 1, 2016, from 3:00-6:00 PM. Water-wise features include rain gardens, Slimline raintanks, a laundry greywater system, sheet mulching, a branched drain greywater system, a series of large rain tanks, and native plant guilds.   We'll also see water wise garden beds, drought tolerant terraced gardens, and a flagstone patio and paths.  At our final stop on the tour, we'll enjoy a wine and cheese while relaxing in the landscape.

We are reaching capacity for this event- we now have over 60 people coming, including Sweetwater staff, volunteers, and tour hosts. We want everyone to hear and see all there is to offer on the tour. We may show the sites in smaller groups as people arrive on site. Exciting! We want everyone to have a great experience.

If you are still interested in attending and have not paid in advance, please come to 1002 E. Canon Perdido (corner of Alisos) however, on Alisos in front of the garage doors.Youll see the Sweetwater sign. Please arrive by 2:50 so we can start promptly at 3:00. Cost will be $17 per individual ticket or $29 per couple. $12 for students/youth 18 and under.

This tour will take you into the homes and gardens of residences with cutting edge water wise features and systems.  We will be walking just over a mile altogether over the course of the three hours- Google has estimated the total walk to take about half an hour. We will stop at six properties along the route; ten minutes is the longest stretch between sites. We have planned the tour to allow even more time for walking than the Google estimate, so no one feels rushed. Some of the walking will be uphill. 

At about 4:30, we will have a rest stop and a temporary shift to cars for those who are having trouble keeping up, before we climb the steepest hill of the tour.

Please wear good walking shoes. We also encourage you to bring a hat, sunscreen, and a water bottle that you can carry easily, for your comfort.There will be restroom access at most of the sites

Tickets can be purchased at the following prices:

Individual        - $15          

Couple             - $25          

Student/Youth (18 or under) - $10           

Click on the "Donate" button on the left sidebar on any page of our website to pay by Paypal, or send a check to:

Sweetwater Collaborative, at our PO Box

Please include your name(s) and an email address when mailing a check. 

You will receive an email confirmation of your payment and some additional information about the tour, including starting address.  Please arrive promptly, as we have a lot of wonderful projects to see!

$2 per person per event will be added to tickets purchased online the day of the tour, at the tour itself or ticket request received in the mail in the 24 hours before the start of the tour. 

Looking forward to sharing our good work with the community! See you there!

 Volunteers needed for our Walking tour--support the Sweetwater community and earn barn raising hours for a project at your home.

We need people to check in attendees, keep the group on track from house to house, help serve at our wine and cheese, clean up, and more.  We appreciate your willingness to serve.  We'll have fun!