Unusual Blowback

If you’ll recall, last month I noted that one of my personal goals for 2019 was to include more green-oriented articles in these WaterShapes newsletters – and I must say that I’ve never run into a case where one of my New Year’s resolutions kicked up so much dust!

Within a few hours, I received notes from volunteers who wanted to discuss their ideas with me. I also heard from a couple folks who disliked my resolution fairly intensely and suggested that paying too much attention to green issues would, in a variety of ways, be detrimental to their businesses.

Frankly, I had anticipated these polarized reactions, no worries. What caught me entirely off guard was a third sort of note I received. In these cases, the general comment was, “Where have you been?”

Shortly after the blog was published, I began receiving notes wondering if I’d paid enough attention to what we’d published through the past 20 years. As these readers saw it, WaterShapes has been all over green issues virtually from the start, writing incessantly about hydraulic efficiency in particular and hopping aboard quickly with various higher-efficiency technologies that were finding their ways to watershaping, including variable-speed pumps, LED lighting and more.

Some readers pointed to our coverage of geothermal heating systems, pipe and concrete shell insulation and the late Mark Urban’s approach to flow reversal for water heating – not to mention articles that have prominently featured high-efficiency gas heaters, pool covers and a host of other efficiency and conservation strategies that have arisen through the years.

But some of you went further, mentioning our frequent coverage of bog filtration for ponds and natural swimming pools – green-ness expressed in nature-friendly approaches to water clarity and treatment. Another mentioned how often we’ve called attention to multi-purposing fountain sites in colder climates so these spaces are useful and used year ’round. Still others mentioned our frequent mentions of recycling, local material sourcing and other approaches that reduce the carbon footprint of watershaping projects.

To quote just one line from the very first note I received: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

All of this was enough to stop me in my tracks. Once I’d finished patting myself on the back and smiling at the many proclamations of WaterShapes’ virtues, I was humbled that more than a few of you had been paying so much attention – clearly just a bit more than I had been myself!

For all that, however, I’m sticking by my pledge. Yes, I will pursue my New Year’s resolution as planned, but you may rest assured that, rather than saluting each and every green detail with blaring trumpets, we will continue as before in taking these measures in stride as a natural, rational part of what we’ve always done at WaterShapes – and, more important, what you’ve been doing all along as professional watershapers.

To be honest, I wasn’t figuring that this would be a particularly difficult resolution to keep. But I had no way of knowing it would resound so strongly that I’d be able to consider it a job well done before I’d accomplished anything more than reading a few emails and answering a few phone calls.

Thanks for the validation.