My Green Dad

I honestly could honor my dad with a never-ending post.  So instead I'll choose one of my favorite characteristics of him to focus on, and the impact on me: his contributions to the environment.

My dad was "green" before eco-friendly was cool.  In fact, his life's work revolves around taking care of the environment through stormwater management.  Hey, someone's gotta take care of the water falling from the sky, and my dad is the man for that job.  He's a civil-environmental engineer.  My early life is decorated with memories of water treatment plants, retention and detention ponds, and previous pavement.

I remember one time, on our way home from church, we stopped by my dad's most recently finished product: a stormwater retention pond.  At around age 8, I recall going with him over the summer to check on it, but now that it was finished and raining we just HAD to stop by.  My dad got out of the car and literally jumped for joy.  The pond was collecting water;  he succeeded!  It was that passion about his career that I've always admired. 

Among many other successes, he established the Stormwater Academy at the University of Central Florida,  complete with a mascot, Drippy the water drop.  He wrote a lot of stuff on the topic and continues giving speeches, despite being retired.

Currently he heads up STE: Stormwater Treatment Environments, llc.  I'm pretty proud of the way he uses his knowledge for the betterment of the earth.  The company specializes in:
"Green stormwater management practices, such as greenroofs, pervious pavements, reuse, integrated water systems and other regional and low impact methods are used.  hey reduce pollutants released into the environment, manage stormwater resourcefully, and create additional revenue generating space for owners while lowering the cost of ownership."

So maybe I don't understand half of what he does, but I know this:  he believes in what he does, and he does it well, meanwhile improving the world for future generations.
I hope I can live in a green way, passionately, like he does.  The world needs more people to take care of it!

Happy Father's Day, Dad!
I love you!