Erosion control is essential for most or our projects during the rainy season and must be done year around to comply with regulations. It is a great disappointment to us that our efforts to protect the environment actually might be harming it in other ways.
At Orcas Excavators, we use rolls and rolls of plastic sheeting. “Straw” blankets encase straw in plastic netting. Our erosion control barriers are made from woven plastic, and the straw waddle that we purchase is straw encased….you guessed it…in plastic. A lot of this plastic ends up in the environment or for only a single use before it ends up in the dumpster.
We like to offer other solutions such as “tub grind” which is wood debris ground up in a grinder into a course bark product, or local hay which can be used in some situations. We have found that unless the hay is applied when it’s raining, the wind can blow it off the area we’re attempting to protect.
We are always looking for a better way to approach storm water challenges. We also would love to make our single use plastic debris into at least a 2 use product. With that in mind, please feel free to contact us if you’d like any used 6 mil plastic sheeting. We currently have a pile and I’d love to see it reused.