Top 10 Ways to Green the White House Grounds

Also see Top 10 Ways to Green the White House

1. Eliminate use of pesticides and herbicides

The White House perches smack-dab in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, where the main source of pollution is chemical runoff. Eliminating toxic landscape chemicals would help protect the quality of one of America's most productive estuaries.

2. Go native

Replace large sections of the White House lawn with native trees, bushes and flowers. Need some advice? Ask the native plant societies in Maryland and Virginia.

3. Plant an organic vegetable garden

EatTheView.com is encouraging the First Eaters to plant a "Victory Garden," with produce going to the White House kitchen and local shelters.

4. Compost

Kitchen scraps, coffee grounds and yard waste can be composted on-site, with the resulting natural fertilizer applied anywhere on the White House's 18 acres.

5. Install green roofs

Roof space not taken up by solar hot water heaters or photovoltaic cells could be planted in greenery that provides added insulation to the White House and helps offset its carbon footprint.

6. Put up an outside clothesline

I don't necessarily want to see the First Underwear waving in the breeze. But how about using solar energy to dry towels, sheets, and t-shirts?

7. Use electric lawn mowers, hedge trimmers and chain saws

Electric gardening tools reduce noise and air pollution; they'll be easier to use if the farthest reaches of the White House grounds don't require as much maintenance because they're planted in native grasses and groundcovers.

8. Set up carpools and vanpools for White House employees

Encourage use of mass transit. The White House is no more than a 15-minute walk from subway lines that serve most of the city and many of the suburbs.

9. Install rain barrels

The White House grounds already feature a sprinkler system. How about taking wate conservation a step further, and collect roof water into rain barrels that can irrigate flower beds, bushes, and that Victory Garden the Obamas are going to grow?

10. Turn part of the grounds into a kids' playground

Many children today suffer from Nature Deficit Disorder, a lack of relationship to nature because they spend so much time indoors. Build the Obama girls a playground that includes tree houses, a pond, birdfeeders, and someplace they can play hopscotch without worrying about getting chalk on the floor.