On February 9, 2016 from 1:00 – 2:30 PM (EST), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will present a free webcast titled Greening Vacant Lots.
In this webcast, speakers from the Cleveland Botanical Garden, the Buffalo Sewer Authority, and the City of Baltimore will highlight vacant lot greening programs and specific landscape treatments that they have used in their communities.
These programs and practices utilize vacant lots as sponges to hold and soak in rainwater, which helps to keep local waterways clean.
Implementing green infrastructure on vacant lots can also reduce the incidence of combined sewer overflows and the quantity of stormwater that municipal sewer districts treat and manage.
By creatively using vacant lots as an asset, these cities are addressing legacy environmental challenges in new ways that create multiple community co-benefits.