Second Newsletter
With the everyday emissions from vehicles, tire pollution is often one of the many factors that contribute to the ever growing global warming. So, this begs the question, what can be done to prevent or at least reduce this impossible crisis? Gardens. Specifically rain gardens, one of the many viable solutions that can be used to help reduce the exposure of harmful chemicals into our waterways.
Recently the Traction Initiative has been working with the city of Vancouver to help maintain and grow the rain garden at sunset park, doing our part in fighting tire pollution and climate change in general.
So how do rain gardens work and why are we focused on implementing them in our cities? Rain gardens as the name says are based around the idea of a garden collecting rain water and filtering it with plants to clean potential pollutants. Even better is that rain gardens are a great way to filter the water and create a greenspace in otherwise bleak city environments. The incorporation of native plants not only is great for the upkeep requirements, but adds to the environment and wildlife around it. Often built in a slope as a way to maximize water collection, it uses a combination of rocks, sand, water and plants to filter and clean water before it reaches sewer systems and consequently the ocean. Furthermore, they generally are actually dry and only soak up water for up to 48 hours before it seeps through and is gone. Generally speaking rain gardens are built based on the estimated rain water that will go through it. “A rain garden should have an area about 20% the size of the roof, patio, or pavement area draining into it. A typical rain garden for a residential home or small building is between 100 and 400 square feet.”
Now all that information is great, but what on earth is in the water and how do plants fix it? As mentioned previously, tires go through a ton of wear and tear every time you drive your car. All these tire wear particles sit on the road, waiting for the rain to collect them as they contaminate the water. Without proper filtration, the contaminated water will affect wildlife, waterways and especially salmon. One of the main chemicals called 6PPD-q is deadly for salmon to be exposed to as they can die quite quickly when swimming in infested waters. The benefit of rain gardens is that they “are effective in removing up to 90% of nutrients and chemicals and up to 80% of sediments from the rainwater runoff.”
The benefits of rain gardens outweigh the consequences by a mile and with the increasing implementation of them, they seem to be putting up an unexpectedly good fight against tire pollution. In fact, anyone can make a rain garden, though the requirements for a large one seem daunting, it isn't too difficult as long as certain principals and guidelines are followed. More information on how to make a rain garden can be found at the Ground Water Foundation’s website . https://groundwater.org/rain-gardens/#:~:text=A%20rain%20garden%20is%20a,%2C%20driveways%2C%20patios%20or%20lawns.
