Building on the momentum of Depave Paradise and RAIN Community Solutions Home Visits, we are excited to announce a new project that will be taking place in Dundas in 2019-2020. This project, called Catch the Rain, will provide Dundas homeowners with free consultations and landscape design sketches that integrate rainwater capturing and native species into their landscape. By implementing “green stormwater infrastructure techniques” such as native plant rain gardens, rain barrels and permeable pavers we can capture and filter rainwater, helping to reduce polluted runoff from entering Spencer’s Creek. The goal of the project is to contribute to the overall health of our watershed. Through these consultations, we will work with micro neighbourhoods within Dundas to install a series of green stormwater infrastructure projects such as rain gardens, permeable pavers, or bioswales constructed by our team and the collective action of community members. We hope to spur a trend and encourage more property owners to build these features into their landscapes, in an effort to protect our local water quality. Simple changes to how water is managed on residential properties have the potential to foster a connection between our built environment and the natural environment. By reducing the amount of rain leaving each property, less polluted stormwater runoff is delivered to nearby water courses. Collectively, by initiating small changes to how we manage our water at home, we can make big improvements to the overall health of our watershed. This project is funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Sustain Our Great Lakes program.

Visit our Catch the RAIN page for more information.

In 2018 Green Venture expanded our community based Depave Paradise program to homeowners by creating three permeable driveway demonstrations in Hamilton with help from the City Enrichment Fund. In this program, called Depave at Home, three homeowners were selected to turn their broken and chipped asphalt or concrete driveways into water absorbing, permeable driveways to promote green infrastructure and help our water clean.

By replacing asphalt and concrete with a low impact development technique, permeable pavement, we can have a huge impact on reducing stormwater runoff and keeping the water that falls on our property, on our property. These homeowner demonstration projects are invaluable for engaging neighbourhoods in making change through a ripple effect while empowering homeowners through this hands on educational opportunity to address the impacts of urbanization and climate change. These demonstration driveways have helped expose homeowners to beneficial stormwater landscaping projects and spread awareness of the available green infrastructure to others in these neighbourhoods.

As a property owner you want to protect your most valuable asset from water-related damage by minimizing flooding and reducing stormwater runoff. The best time to defend your home against water damage is before issues are visible by taking a proactive approach. Simple alterations to the exterior of your property have the potential to solve many water-related issues such as:

• Installing permeable pavers instead of concrete or asphalt
• Using a rain barrel to capture rainwater from rooftops
• Disconnect your downspout
• Creating a rain garden
• Planting urban trees

• To learn more, visit RAIN Community Solutions webpage by Green Communities Canada
• RAIN “Soak it up” toolkit to reduce runoff and runoff pollution 
• Rainproofing Checklist for homeowners