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Locals Steal Parking Lots, Plant Trees
In Portland, Oregon, locals are taking it upon themselves to steal parking lots in order to plant trees.
Okay, it’s not stealing. It’s “de-paving.”
For years we’ve been paving paradise to put up parking lots, but according to these local tree-huggers, oversized driveways and abandoned parking lots need to kick rocks.
Depave, a non-profit organization based in Portland, Oregon is committed to promoting the removal of unnecessary paved areas to create more green spaces. Since 2007, the Depave crew and volunteer army have reverted more than 94,000 square feet of paved parking back to tree-filled parks, public green spaces, urban gardens, playgrounds and more.
See the problem is pavement. Paved surfaces keep the rain from the soil, diverting it to other waterways, picking up and carrying pollutants from antifreeze to pesticides along the way. Think about all the junk you see on streets and in parking lots – yeah now think about drinking it.
In addition to poisoning our water supply, in the summertime, paved urban areas are at least ten degrees hotter than their rural neighbors. Not only does this contribute to excessive use of electricity to power fans and
A/C units, but it also promotes the formation of ground-level ozone (the main culprit of smog). Who knew parking lots were such troublemakers?
As if toxic water, sweltering summers and suffocating smog aren’t enough, here are some more reasons to steal parking lots and plant trees.
If you’re in the Portland area you can check out Depave’s upcoming projects to get involved. If you’re not, they have an entire page online dedicated to teaching people how to depave in their own communities.
At the end of the day, there really isn’t a good reason NOT to Depave paradise. Heck even if you just want to get out some aggression, taking a sledgehammer to an unsuspecting parking lot could almost be therapeutic.