For fellow UC San Diego Climate Change classmates: Activity 8: Watched this terrific video (https://youtube/watch?v=bLdNhZ6kAzo) with my 13-year-old son – who pretended he wasn’t interested but couldn’t help but tune in – about locally driven but government-incentivized efforts to revitalize landscapes laid barren after thousands of years of erosion and nutrient loss in China and Ethiopia. From arid and brown to lush and green. Inspirational. Meantime, a severe thunderstorm had just deluged Toronto. While there’s not much I can change in my own routine to lower emissions (notwithstanding a commitment to go meatless more often and to endure scratchier sheets and pillowcases through rack-drying), I did find a great project that’s worth attention and that speaks directly to the problem of flash flooding in Toronto (also in Kingston, Calgary, Collingwood, Peterborough, Hamilton, North Bay, Ottawa, Mississauga): DePave Paradise. It’s a transplant from Portland, Ore. (of course - if only we could transplant more of that city’s bike culture, too!). Check out the small project in the Junction neighbourhood (depaveparadise.ca/toronto.html). These volunteers slowed the rush of run-off (and its mix of oil and grease, pet waste, chemicals, bacteria and other contaminants) into the city’s stormwater system and made the cityscape more attractive at the same time (and gave the trees there a fighting chance). Small steps…
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 15:24:20 +0000
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