August 31, 2010

We hope you've heard of depave, a project of Portland-based nonprofit City Repair.

Depave works to - you guessed it! - inspire and promote the removal of unnecessary pavement in urban areas. They're available to provide information and technical assistance to those wishing to remove concrete and asphalt, advocate to minimize the addition of impervious pavement in City projects, and promote responsible and create reuse of concrete and asphalt.

Since 2007, depave has reclaimed over 50,000 square feet of paved surface, reducing stormwater pollution and increasing the amount of land available for urban farming, habitat restoration, urban canopy, and native plants. Along the way, they've engaged over 600 volunteers to create 14 new greenspaces and 7 sustainable schoolyards.

This summer, depave has had 4 events, including Vermont Hills Church this past Saturday. Nick was excited to be part of that event, depave's first foray into West Portland. Nick and the rest of the crew removed 7,200 square feet of pavement, allowing the church to greatly expand its existing community garden.

Nick and his team at Parks have launched a Community Garden initiative to help Portlanders connect with their community, their food, and the outdoors. As part of this initiative and to help meet our Climate Action goals, we'll add 1,000 plots by 2010. Depave is one of our most valuable partners in this effort!

Check their website - www.depave.org - for their calendar of events and for more about their work in our community.