Depave to create another piece of paradise in Peterborough

Depave Paradise returns to Peterborough this Friday, October 2nd and Saturday, October 3rd. One of six Depave events to take place in Canada this year, the event will transform a local parking lot into another piece of paradise, leaving behind green space, habitat, and clean water.

During Peterborough’s first Depave Paradise event in 2014, volunteers and community partners worked together to liberate the soil beneath pavement at Brock Mission. The beautiful garden planted in its place helped to make this Murray Street location a treasured community space.

The new upcoming project will take place in the west end of the city, and will dramatically alter the landscape of the parking lot surrounding Wireless Solutions at 1774 Lansdowne Street West.

This project is in partnership with local property management group Sammy and Sons Ltd.

Over the course of the two-day event, 100 volunteers and community partners will use pry bars and shovels to remove approximately 150 square metres of asphalt from an unused section of the parking lot. Volunteers will then turn this depaved section of newly liberated soil into greenspace by planting a large garden. The garden, complete with native plants, will create a valuable habitat for birds, insects, and animals.

Depave Paradise offers many benefits to the community, building ownership and investment while also creating a beautiful and calming shared public space. Depave Paradise also benefits our most vital resource — our water.

Hard, impermeable surfaces such as asphalt and concrete are found in many cities covering driveways, parking lots, and surrounding buildings. These hard surfaces can disrupt the natural water cycle by forcing water to flow into storm water drains and by not allowing rain and snowmelt to naturally permeate into the ground.

As stormwater travels along hard surfaces it becomes warm and picks up contaminants such as grease and oil, pet waste, salt and litter. This untreated water then travels into storm drains where it is deposited into local streams, rivers, and lakes having potential to negatively impact local aquatic ecosystems and water quality. Removing pavement naturally cools urban areas, restores the natural hydrological cycle, increases the rain’s infiltration rate, recharges our groundwater, and promotes awareness of stormwater alternatives.

Many municipalities are faced with concerns surrounding ageing stormwater infrastructure. During heavy rain events water can quickly overwhelm storm drains and increase risks of flooding.

Currently, many municipalities are looking at stormwater alternatives and the creation of more permeable surfaces is a meaningful way to help manage stormwater. When more water is able to naturally filter into the ground, less water burdens our stormwater infrastructure, contaminants are filtered leaving water cleaner, groundwater is recharged, and risks of flooding are reduced.

Similar successful initiatives have taken place across Ontario and in the United States, with more information available online at www.depaveparadise.ca.

Many thanks go to the RBC Blue Water Project and the Green Communities Foundation for funding support provided for this project. This Depave Paradise project is in partnership with GreenUP, Green Communities Canada, Sammy and Sons Ltd. and Wireless Solutions, with support from the City of Peterborough. Thank you to the many community organizations and businesses supporting this project!

Volunteers find the depaving experience empowering and a lot of fun. Depave Paradise is a great opportunity to have an immediate impact on our community and get dirty! We would love for you to join us! The event will take place Friday, October 2nd from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday, October 3rd from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine.

For more information about Depave Paradise or to sign up as a volunteer, please contact Heather Ray at 745-3238 ext. 208 or by email at heather.ray@greenup.on.ca.

All photos courtesy of GreenUP.