ReScape California

ReScape, a California nonprofit, provides a regenerative, nature-based whole systems watershed foundation to landscaping workforce development, education and policy, addressing climate change and land use issues. Our landscaping practices are based on the fact that one input effects the whole: integrative core principles which foster soil health, conserve water, sequester carbon and protect valuable resources while reducing waste and preventing pollution. The 8 Principles are: Act Local, Reduce Waste, Nurture Soil, Sequester Carbon, Save Water, Conserve Energy, Protect Water & Air, Create Habitat. ReScape wants to be at the planning table with Valley Vision because we see an immediate and significant opportunity to engage the landscaping industry in equity, job quality, and sustainability. An Ibis World Report states that the industry employs approximately 1,200,000 workers in the US as of June 2022, 2.9% more than last year and up 3.9% since 2017. Current conventional landscapes management makes excessive use of water, fossil fuels, and harmful chemicals in the form of fertilizers and herbicides, effectively working against the environment. Current practices reduce biodiversity, kill soil biology and decrease environmental resilience against fire, drought, and climate change. Landscapes in the US produce 12% of GHG emissions; 30 to 60% of water use is devoted to outdoor uses. Now is the time to transform this industry and ReScape has the tools and experience to participate in the planning to train a diverse workforce with regenerative, nature-based practices to address and reverse the negative effects of conventional landscaping. ReScape works with local and state agencies to establish policies, permits and ordinances that enable implementation and compliance to decrease tons/acre of GHG, save and protect water, increase biodiversity, reduce run-off, utilize non-toxic weed suppression, reduce maintenance labor costs and more.