Mount Vernon Clean & Green Initiative

(Thursday, March 7, 2019) Under the leadership of Mayor Richard Thomas, the City of Mount Vernon has developed an innovative storm water and greenscaping infrastructure plan to address the challenges of degraded water quality, aging infrastructure, and the impacts of climate change on human health and our ecosystems.

Mount Vernon plans to increase its green-space (currently at 1% of 4.4 sq miles) through the creation of new parks, expansion of current ones, and encouraging green rooftops to soften the urban environment.

Some environmental benefits of green spaces are the following:

• Urban advantages. More green space within a city’s boundaries can improve the urban environment. Among the green space advantages listed in EcoPlanIT Madison: Green Space Goal (UW-Madison Department of Urban and Regional Planning) are: helping regulate air quality and climate...reducing energy consumption by countering the warming effects of paved surfaces....recharging groundwater supplies and protecting lakes and streams from polluted runoff.
• Water quality protection. Proper landscaping reduces nitrate leaching from the soil into the water supply and reduces surface water runoff, keeping phosphorus and other pollutants out of our waterways and preventing septic system overload.
• Reduced heat buildup. Trees in a parking lot can reduce on-site heat buildup, decrease runoff and enhance night time cool downs. There can be a 31 degree difference between shaded and unshaded areas.
• Reduced soil erosion. A dense cover of plants and mulch holds soil in place, keeping sediment out of lakes, streams, storm drains and roads; and reducing flooding, mudslides and dust storms.
• Improved air quality. Trees, shrubs and turf remove smoke, dust and other pollutants from the air. One tree can remove 26 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually, equaling 11,000 miles of car emissions.
• 2,500 square feet of turf absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releases enough oxygen for a family of four to breathe.
• Lower attic temperatures. Trees shading homes can reduce attic temperatures as much as 40 degrees. According to the EPA, urban forests reduce urban air temperatures significantly by shading heat sinks such as buildings and concrete and returning humidity to the air through evaporative cooling.
• Natural resource conservation. By using trees to modify temperatures, the amount of fossil fuels used for cooling and heating is reduced. Properly placed deciduous trees reduce house temperatures in the summer, allowing air conditioning units to run 2 to 4 percent more efficiently. The trees also allow the sun to warm the house in the winter.

For more information and to see the full Mount Vernon Clean & Green Initiative, please visit the link provided.