Green Pastures
A couple of years ago, a sewage treatment plant up in Harlem was roofed over with a pretty, grassy playground. I haven’t heard much lately, but at the time it was a pretty dismal affair, as it apparently smelled very bad indeed, angering the neighbors, as they felt slighted that the city expected they wouldn’t mind using a smelly playground. Maybe things have improved. Meanwhile, another greenway effort is underway in Milwaukee, where the sewer district’s headquarters has installed a rooftop garden. O.k., it’s not a garden; it’s a stormwater management system. At 11,000 square feet (about 1021 square meters), it’s a fairly large building, and the effect is expected to be significant. There’s a big call here by the government for homeowners to install rainwater tanks, but I wonder if a similar hydroponics approach might be another way to go? Perhaps strata and company title buildings could pursue an organic co-op effort on their roofs? But would the natural rainfall be enough? It’s starting to look like another year of drought, after all. Well, there’s always cactus. (Thanks to Nick Aster, at Beyond Brilliance, Beyond Stupidity for the Journal-Sentinel link.)