'Green infrastructure' -- a toolbox for reducing runoff and beautifying American cityscapes, too

  Preventing Bad versus Creating Good

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has released a new report called Rooftops to Rivers II: Green Strategies for Controlling Stormwater and Combined Sewer Overflows. The report describes ways that cities are using green infrastructure practices to clean up their waters, literally greening their cityscapes in the process.

"....one observation kept coming back to me as I read the NRDC report. We’ve learned from experience that regulation is a good tool for stopping a bad situation from getting worse, by forcing people to give up their old/bad ways. But it isn’t such a good tool for making things better, because that requires persuading people to adopt new/better ways," wrote Ron Meador in a post on his Earth Journal blog.

"The most stirring aspect of 'Rooftops to Rivers' is how much better these example cities have become — in ways that go far beyond simply reducing runoff — through creation of beautiful streetscapes, rooftop oases, public gardens, greenbelts and more."

"A close runner-up is the intriguing variety of tools and strategies that produced these results. Regulation is always present in some role, to be sure. But not always, and not necessarily, in the lead."

TO LEARN MORE:  To read the complete article on Earth Journal by award-winning Minnesota journalist Ron Meador, click on 'Green infrastructure' -- a toolbox for reducing runoff and beautifying American cityscapes, too. 

In Earth Journal, Ron Meador clarifies environmental issues in the news, lends proportion and perspective to competing claims, and engages readers in exploring subjects that lie beyond the headlines — with a special emphasis on the people, businesses and organizations that are finding solutions to environmental problems. To download a PDF copy, click here.