by Vanessa Rule in Ages 18+, Environment and Open Space, Events, Public Health & Safety
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 7:14 pm
| October 11, 2010 | ||
| 10:00 am | to | 4:00 pm |
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Join Somerville Climate Action, Groundwork Somerville, and Mystic River Watershed Association to
DE-Pave the Way to a Safer Climate!
Monday, October 11, 2010 10:00 to 4:00
a 350.org Global Work Party
Next Monday, October 11th from 10:00am to 4:00pm, we will be De-Paving the Way to a Safer Climate! We invite you to join us in what we hope will be the first of many “de-pavings” in Somerville. This event is part of the 350.org Global Work Party. As the planet heats up and the world awaits for heads of state to pass a science-based climate treaty that will bring us back to the safe 350ppm atmospheric CO2 concentrations as soon as possible (we reached 392ppm this summer), citizens across the globe will be rolling up their sleeves and getting to work in their communities, sending a message to world leaders that they, too, need to get to urgently get to work on climate change.
In Somerville, we will be de-paving two backyards from 10:00am to 4:00pm in two hour shifts and will finish off the day with food, music, and cheer!
Please let us know if you can participate (we need an exact head count to make this run smoothly!) by emailing somervilleclimateaction@gmail.com, and what shifts are best for you (10 to 12; 12 to 2; or 2 to 4). If you can come for less than 2 hrs or more, that’s fine to!
Note: we’re holding this event on 10/11/10 instead of 10/10/10 because of HONK!
How does removing asphalt and concrete address climate change?
Somerville is 78% covered by impervious surface! This spring and summer brought flooding, extreme heat, and poor air quality, all of which are projected to get worse as the planet heats up. One effective way to mitigate these impacts is by de-paving and creating new green space.
Benefits of depaving and creating new green space:
> Cleans the air as growing plants take up carbon and other pollutants from the atmosphere
> Reduces negative impacts of climate change through:
Less flooding: water in the ground not in basements and streets
Less extreme heat: de-paving reduces heat absorption
Reduced negative health impacts: cleaner air reduces asthma and cardio-vascular disease
> Makes our community more resilient!
New places to grow fresh local food
Better living and working environments for us all
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Vanessa, where are these two yards?
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Hi Alain,
One of them is on Maple Ave and the other on Vinal Ave.
Vanessa
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I’ve noticed that whenever a 2- or 3-family house is made into condos, the back yard is made into a parking area so that each unit can be sold with an off-the-street parking space.
So, rather than maintaining the amount of green space in Somerville back yards (which is already pretty small), it’s being decimated each year.
What is the city doing about this? Don’t people who are paving their back yards need to get a permit?
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My sense is that the city is currently trying to address this, but I don’t have all my facts straight so I’m fact-checking before answering this question and will post once I’ve got the definite answer.
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Vanessa, how did it go? If you have pictures, you can post them on Flickr and link to them or embed them on our blog.
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