Floating Gardens
Cleaning the Gowanus Canal through an alternative arts and science project.
About the project
The idea behind this art and science experiment is to explore the possible beneficial applications of floating gardens to provide wildlife habitat, filtration and oxygenation of the Gowanus Canal waters. Most importantly, this project will draw attention to environmental issues related to water quality in the Canal. The gardens will be designed to be highly visible from the street so that passing pedestrians will stop and reflect on the gardens. This may be magnified with the presence of an on-site telescope.
The gardens will be designed by members of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy's volunteer committee, constructed by volunteers, and made largely from recycled and renewable materials. The gardens explore a variety of habitat types such as vegetative gardens with salt-tolerant plants, shellfish cages and colonization substrates, fish habitat, bird perch and nesting platforms, trash collecting skimmers and micro algae pads. We hope that these small islands will be able to help filter the nutrient-heavy, sewage infused Canal water. While we do not expect this small garden initiative to have a significant impact on the overall water quality, we hope this experiment will help to evaluate the feasibility of a larger, more effective floating garden project. This project was launched in its pilot form during the summer of 2011. We are seeking to refine existing concepts, explore new options, and further develop this exciting project.
The Steps
Members of our Volunteer Committee will be responsible for designing the Floating Gardens themselves. Several of these members participated in the previous launch of Floating Gardens in 2011, and they will be building on previous concepts explored during that time.
Garden designs will be developed concurrently with site selection, ensuring visibility, protection from industrial activities, and accessibility.
There will be two prototyping work shop days where volunteers will design the gardens. The Floating Gardens will then be constructed and launched in their final form by volunteers on August 19th, as part of our "Clean & Green" volunteer program and with support from the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe club.
Why we‘re doing it
This project is an attempt to bring attention to water quality and wildlife habitat issues in the Gowanus Canal. It is also an experiment in bioremediation, and the feasibility of large-scale bioremediation projects in the Gowanus Canal.