Paradise Unpaved
by Franke James
Credits:
Paradise Unpaved copyright 2008, Franke James, MFA
Photographs, illustrations and writing by Franke James, MFA except where noted.
Alice in Wonderland drawing by Franke James, was inspired by illustrator John Tenniel’s 1865 drawing, “She was now more than nine feet high!”
Franke James with shovel photo by Michael Stuparyk, Toronto Star, under license from Torstar
Seeding Photo of Franke James by Lucas Oleniuk, Toronto Star, under license from Torstar
Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell, excerpt of lyrics.
Many thanks to Joan Chadde, author of Understanding the Ecological Impacts of Changing Land Uses published in the Spring 2008 issue of Green Teacher, and her colleague Dr. Alex Mayer, a hydrologist in the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering & Sciences at Michigan Technological University, for their kind assistance with the stormwater calculations.
Articles and Media:
The Green Driveway Articles detail the building of our green driveway step-by-step, including the materials used.
Eco-friendly driveway is rejected by the city Paul Moloney, Toronto Star,
May 5, 2007 Interview by Melissa Grelo, CITY TV, May 6, 2007
Don’t Rip Up Your Driveway in North York, Lloyd Alter, Treehugger.com, May 8, 2007 Franke James wants a green driveway, city says no.
Martin Edic, Burnertrouble May, 2007 Resources: Stormwater Runoff: Understanding the Ecological Impacts of Changing Land Uses by Joan Chadde, Michigan Technological University, Green Teacher Magazine Issue Spring 2008
Toronto Homeowner’s Guide to Rainfall: Riversides 2008 report: Urban Runoff Excellent backgrounder on stormwater runoff and the economic cost of it to the city. Riversides 2008 Toronto Workshops – 5 Things You Can Do Reports referenced by Franke James to City Official
City of Toronto 2005:
Transportation Report on Wet Weather Flow City of Toronto 2005: Impacts of Front Yard Parking on Wet Weather Flow
July 4th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
I love seeing the entire story all in one place and to see how far it has come – your paradise (sans pavement) is just beautiful! What an example you are!!
July 4th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
the power of green transcends the stagnant city planners gray laws.
a simple plan makes a lovely statement for progressive action.
merci les amis de Toronto. what a testament of natural conscience.
July 5th, 2008 at 10:40 am
BLOGGED BY LELO IN NOPO:
I adore this blog…
…and you should too. Visit Franke James.
“They paved paradise, and put in a parking lot.”
Patriotism? This is patriotism, to me.
July 5th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
This visual essay is delightful and learningful, Franke. Thanks for simplifying it so lyrically! (Hmm, what’s the visual equivalent of lyrical?)
As someone who has been collecting cast-off bathtubs in order to have someplace to grow things (we live on rock and shale), I’m really happy for you, Franke, that you’ve beem able to reclaim this bit of land and turn it into an urban oasis!!
I’m also envying the fact that you don’t have to deerproof your garden. One lapse in closing the deer gates last weekend and the marauders finished off my peas, cabbage and several herbs — even my zucchini plants! Luckily, they don’t like onions….
Anyone who thinks we’re going to be able to make a quick transition “back to the land” when the climate change/fossil fuel you-know-what hits the fan hasn’t created a “living driveway” or had to fend off raids on their food sources.
Have a lovely summer enjoying your driveway,
Julie
July 5th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Julie,
Thanks! I’m fascinated by your bathtub and deer comment! We are so fortunate. Here we had a beautiful south facing piece of land and it was covered up for years by interlock! But I do worry a bit about the water it will need in the future – some plants, and the eco-lawn grass, are drought tolerant but still trees and plants do need water. We may have to adapt to more deserty plants…
Franke
July 6th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Franke:
Another wonderful story, wonderfully told.
I love the reference to the Joni MItchell song I have always loved that one.. you should see if she wants to come and dedicate your “unpaved paradise” on its next anniversary??
all the best
greig and carolyn clark
July 6th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Thanks Franke! A visual report such as yours makes for a more powerful statement than numbers alone.
Keep up the wonderful work!
July 7th, 2008 at 11:38 am
WOW! Congrats on getting approval for your green driveway. What an awesome and ambitious project. I love the finished design. It is both green and inspiring. I’m going to look for my little bit of Paradise to reclaim.
July 7th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Hi Franke,
Well that is a wonderful story and I was looking forward to seeing how you made out after sharing the start of this last year.
Now what happens if you occasionally drive on that grassed area with the grid system under it? Would the grass hold up?
cheers,
Stan
July 7th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Hi Stan,
Thanks for your comment! Yes the grass does hold up. The grass roots are protected by the honeycomb cell structure. The Permaturf is totally drivable and can support all vehicles. It has a maximum load capacity of 100 tons per square yard. See more details in my article:
Green Driveway: Playing with Perception and Reality
Cheers,
Franke
July 7th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
If at first someone tells you no, try try again! What a beautiful garden. Looks so peaceful.
Dagny
July 7th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
I was so happy to see your amazing story- sometimes rules and bureaucracy stand in the way of good common sense especially these days when we are all (should be) more eco-conscious, but the old rules still apply.
We just bought an old Japanese home and renovated it and am enjoying building up the garden for keeps this time. The house we were renting before and renovated a 4 car carpark into a beautiful garden full of trees and parking for our bicycles was completely decimated when we moved out- it broke my heart! The neighbors told me when they asked why they were ripping out all the beautiful plants and trees we had built up over the 10 years we lived there said that the landlord didn’t want the obligation of keeping it up for any new tenants. Now it is ugly and hot- dirt and gravel, but the soil is still good so if they rent it out (might be harder now that it is so ugly) I might mention that to any new tenants to encourage them to get started- got to look on the bright side and do what you can do when you can do it!
Well done writing this all up- you are inspirations to us all!
July 8th, 2008 at 9:57 am
BLOGGED IN HIROSHIMA, JAPAN:
Paradise Unpaved – A Couple’s Battle to change their drive into a garden
This is a great article with pictures and illustrations about a couple’s battle with Canadian authorities in their town to get rid of their driveway and replace it with trees and a garden.
Follow their pictures and journey here on Paradise Unpaved – Franke James
I can relate as the trees and garden we planted and created out of a carpark over a 10 year period was completely destroyed when we moved out a few months ago. Thank god I decided to move some of the trees and plants that I loved. But I still left some very beautiful plants that were too hard to transfer- texas yellow rose shrubs and healthy trees on the perimeter of the garden- including a lemon tree that had just started to bear fruit this year (they just cut it down)… continued
July 8th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Thank you Joy for posting about my Paradise Unpaved visual essay — and sharing your personal story of paradise reclamation from an old carpark! How inspiring! It’s too bad that your old landlord did not share your vision, but so fortunate that in your new garden you are the owners and have more control.
Anyone curious about the effects of deforestation should check out Joy’s post about Myanmar: “Saving Mangroves May Help Lessen Power of Natural Disasters”
Franke
July 8th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Hi Franke,
Paradise Unpaved is a beautiful account of an inspiring initiative. I heard about this from an Ontario government economic development officer based in the U.S. I couldn’t agree more with what he said about it, which is as follows:
The story is beautiful.
It is delivered beautifully. And the results are beautiful.
The use of the technology is creative.
It reminds me of what is good about the Internet. And of what is good about Toronto. And of course, what is good about people.
It adds to the reasons I enjoy representing Ontario in the US.
It tells us all that we can all take steps to help preserve this planet for our offspring and beyond.
It shows that you can “fight city hall”.
It proves that bureaucrats can “get it”.
And it demonstrates the wonders of creativity.
All the best,
David
July 9th, 2008 at 6:10 am
You weren’t kidding about doing the hard things first! Change a lightbulb, save some power. Change some pavers, and create a new mini ecosystem.
Beautifully told.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Another inspiring essay!! I recently read about guerilla gardening, a wonderful concept for revitalizing green space without the sanction of municipal governments. You have beautifully illustrated that it is possible to work within the system to create an eden on a busy city street. Congrats!
July 14th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
I’m lucky enough to be a neighbour who can see all those plants filling out. The green growth is amazing. I remember the interlock – a desert. Now, for water, when are the rain barrels going in?
Roz
July 14th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Roz,
Thanks for dropping by! I was considering rain barrels — but I think our ‘french drain system’ on the west side of the house takes care of both rainwater and overflow. We built a horizontal rubber-lined trench of gravel which two pipes lie on top of. There are three parts to our system: 1. the downspouts, 2. the pipe from the 50 gallon sump pump, 3. the gravel channel (for overflow from a commercial building next door to go into).
The rain and overflow water is channeled through the pipe and gravel into our backyard, where it discharges into the soil.
We created this water system (in consultation with an engineer and contractor) due to the large amount of runoff we were receiving from a neighboring building. They eventually fixed their eavestrough, but in a heavy rainstorm our sump pump works hard and a lot of rainwater is discharged into our backyard.
Franke
July 15th, 2008 at 8:47 am
BLOGGED BY TORONTO RUNNING CLUB
So you think YOU’RE green?
You may be sorting for recycling, saving water, picking up trash in your neighborhood, and other ‘green’ activities, but have you given up your car? Covered your driveway with grass and plants? Read this fantastic visual story about Bill and Franke James (Bill helps us with the club website and both have been at some club socials) and their saga with going really green.
Paradise Unpaved
Or, you can go directly to Franke’s site to see her other posts
July 16th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Twittered: http://twitter.com/christineegger/statuses/860135228
Blown away by @frankejames’ driveway post — http://tinyurl.com/5jls72 — Inspiration + Instruction = *Totally* Empowering!
July 16th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
This made me feel WONDERFUL.
There really is hope for us, isn’t there?!
July 17th, 2008 at 11:41 am
[...] Franke refers to her work as ‘conceptual art’ that’s designed to express her personal concerns about the environment and global warming. The starting point for her pieces is usually a personal environmental action, such as when she decided to give up her SUV and convert her driveway into a garden. [...]
July 18th, 2008 at 2:15 am
Great idea, and wonderfully told. Thought you might be inspired by these kindred spirits over in Portland: http://depave.org/blog/index.php
July 18th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Peter,
Wow! http://www.depave.org is a great site! So impressive. For MyGreenconscience.com (also known as http://www.FrankeJames.com) readers here’s the Depave mission statement:
Depave Mission
Depave has been created to inspire and promote the removal of unnecessary concrete and asphalt from urban areas. Depave is a project of City Repair, a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon, USA.
Vision
Livable cities where people and wildlife coexist and thrive amidst clean air, clean water, and an abundance of plants, trees, and vegetation.
Rationale
The problem is concrete. Paved surfaces contribute to stormwater pollution, whereby rainwater carries toxic urban pollutants to local streams and rivers, greatly degrading water quality and riparian habitats. Pavement also disconnects us from our natural world.
The solution is clear. The removal of impervious pavements will reduce stormwater pollution and increase the amount of land available for habitat restoration, urban farming, trees, native vegetation, and beauty, thus providing us with greater connections to the natural world.
Objectives of Depave
- Provide information, inspiration, and technical assistance to those wishing to remove concrete and asphalt
- Educate the public about the benefits of pavement removal
- Advocate to minimize and/or reduce the amount of impervious pavement in public construction and repair projects.
- Promote responsible and creative reuse and recycling of concrete and asphalt
- Provide an opportunity for greater connection with the natural world
—end snip–
If you are unpaving your Paradise please send me an email about your project: franke [at] frankejames.com
Franke
July 18th, 2008 at 10:52 am
BLOGGED BY POPTECH.ORG
The real poop on Franke James
[...] I was first introduced to Canadian visual artist Franke James’ work via a link from Max Gladwell, a site that explores social media and green living. Ms. James, who describes her visual essays as “a freewheeling mix of illustrations, photographs and hand-drawn text,” sits squarely at the intersection of these two spaces. [...]
July 21st, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Blogged by Kottke.org July 21, 2008
Lovely visual essay of how a residential driveway became a nice green area, even after the city objected.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Great story, well told. An inspiration. Thanks.
July 21st, 2008 at 4:26 pm
What a great story, it’s encouraging to know there are people with the determination to follow through when they reach hurdles like this. On a totally different scale, I had similar issues trying to get a neighbourhood parking pass, and I discovered that the “Toronto” civic centres couldn’t help me because they followed Etobicoke, North York, etc bylaws while city hall could issue the permit right away, under Toronto bylaws. So bizarre.
Maybe there is a way to collect some rainwater, which you could use to water the front when need be… and keep some of the huge volume of water off the back yard. As an apartment dweller with a large rooftop patio, I’m stuck doing some container gardening, but have buckets to collect rainwater to avoid having to go down to the bathroom or kitchen to fill a watering can.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:33 pm
[...] These Toronto residents replaced their conventional driveway with permeable pavement and put in a garden. See the story, with photos and illustrations, HERE. (Thanks Adam!)
They even managed to calculate the volume of water that is absorbed into the landscape (as opposed to becoming pollutant-gathering runoff) thanks to the permeable driveway. [...]
July 21st, 2008 at 7:34 pm
You’re an inspiration! Thanks for sharing.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:42 pm
[...] James’ charming and inspiring visual essay is here. Found this via the faraway [...]
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:03 am
Awesome. So inspiring. It’s a beautiful improvement. Good for you!
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:48 am
[...] Paradise Unpaved | Franke James [...]
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:54 am
[...] 22 July 2008 Paradise Unpaved “And since we didn’t have a car, we didn’t need a driveway. We dreamed of [...]
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:55 am
Thank you to Beerzie Boy, Joshua, Trailer Park Girl, Nicole Stamp, April, Anand, and This is the Goo, for your help in spreading the word! I hope Paradise Unpaved inspires others to dig up some asphalt or concrete and find their own bit of paradise! It’s under there I’m sure…
Cheers!
Franke
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:02 am
Hi – And when is David Suzuki planning on making a visit.? A piece on Daily Planet maybe?? Bravo!
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:45 pm
hi Franke,
Just wanted to say congratulations. Small, simple steps- the very essence of “acting locally”, how embarrassing and shameful it is that this even has to be a news item! Good for you, keep it up….don’t stop now!
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I can’t wait to turn our driveway in to a vegetable garden. Right now we need it for storage of building materials, so a couple years to go. We plan on leaving one parking spot, and turning our unattached garage in to a studio/workshop, as well as adding a greenhouse. Our driveway is just gravel at the moment, so it shouldn’t be a problem converting it to a garden. Good job fighting the city on that one!
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:17 pm
[...] Franke James.? Read the full story here. [...]
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:07 pm
BLOGGED ON TREEHUGGER
Paradise Unpaved: Franke James’ Driveway One Year Later
A year ago we recounted how artist Franke James gave up her SUV and then decided to rip up her driveway, except the law said that every house had to have a driveway paved with concrete, asphalt or brick. Even porous pavers like turfstone were illegal.
Franke took her case (and a printout of TreeHugger) to City Hall and won; now she tells her story in her wonderful mix of humour, drawing and photography.
One of her last panels shows a summary of benefits of tearing up the drive and says it all, but read the whole thing at ::Franke James
See more Franke James on TreeHugger:
Franke James on Global Warming in Canada
Selling the SUV: Do the Hardest Things First
Don’t Rip Up Your Driveway in North York
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Wow!!! with a green driveway my neighbors would have a reason to explain why they spray water on their driveway to clean it!!!
Bravo! Je suis curieux de savoir si ma ville a un reglement semblable!
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:39 pm
[...] twitters from both Onehouse and Beyond Magazine, here’s a story about a family in Toronto who decides to green up their life. First, they sell their car, and then [...]
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:04 pm
[...] then there’s Paradise Unpaved, in which a committed individual turns her paved driveway in Toronto into a green driveway and [...]
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Seth at Swiss watching
Very lively writing! Fun to read your carbon offsets article and see how you wove flying, vegetarianism and Paradise Unpaved all together. Glad to see we’re one of the ‘awesome’ ways to reduce one’s footprint! We figured doing everything eco-perfectly is a bit tough — so we’re knocking off the biggies first (e.g selling the SUV, unpaving our Paradise…)
Cheers,
Franke
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:09 pm
[...] Science, Tech | Tags: driveway, grass, green, replace, trees | [from kottke of course] here is a cool, green, and quite nicely done story on how to change your driveway and your city’s views on going green. tbo11 is a blog [...]
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:03 am
Awesome! What a great idea!
I just blogged about it!
http://jonrawlinson.com/2008/07/a-driveway-that-was-turned-into-a-park/
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:49 am
Jon,
I have to laugh at your headline. We sometimes joke that we’ve built a little ‘parkette’, but it’s really just our front yard. Thankfully, our former 4-car interlock driveway is now history! (The green driveway part is on the right.)
Thanks for spreading the word (and to everyone else who is blogging about it. Kottke is amazingly viral). Hope our experience inspires others to rip up some pavement. ~ Franke
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:05 am
What an inspiring story! And creative way to share it. I found the article by chance when looking for ideas on making our blacktop driveway more eco-friendly! We have jobs requiring cars, so can’t go that far…but will head in a better direction. Thank you!
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Congrats on your giardino!!! What an inspiring story and what courage you both have!!!!
It is wonderful that you documented each step of this fairytale so that others can follow in your footsteps.
For sustainable trips to Sicily, Italy with garden walks, herb lectures and authentic meals visit my site: http://www.soulofsicily.com
un caro saluto,
renee
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Blogged: http://60percent.blogspot.com/2008/07/pollyannas-answer-to-rising-fuel.html
“As a follow up to my imaginings of edible garden rooftops, check out Franke James’ visual essay on transforming a parking lot back into paradise.”
Cheryl McNamara
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:42 pm
[...] This story about removing an asphalt driveway and building a garden is pretty cool. [...]
July 24th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Blogged by blogto.com
…Local artist and eco-minded citizen Franke James decided to do the hard thing first and replace her interlocking brick front yard (parking lot) with plants and an eco driveway (paradise). What she didn’t expect was a North York demand for concrete, asphalt or interlocking driveways. But, with persistence, she made one of the city’s greenest front yards a reality….
July 24th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
[...] nice visual storytelling by the woman who fought the system in Toronto and unpaved her driveway. Lovely results one year later. Thursday, July 24, 2008, 11:52pm. Comics, Politics. Permalink. [...]
July 25th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Hi Franke
Great to see you made it thru the gauntlet.
We are looking into permaturf for our driveway to replace some awful interlock. We just sunk 3 holes 400 feet deep each into the driveway for a geothermal system, so replacing the surface is on the horizon.
If you’re interested in just how UNgreen this mayor and his corporation really are, here’s my small tale.
We planned a south facing addition that would be a passive solar collector in the winter. No problem. The city approves the plans except one small but very necessary item. There is an awning that extends 8 feet to cut out the summer sun so the space does not overheat requiring constant AC.
The Building Code does NOT recognize any use of an awning or overhang on a house except to extend around 14 inches to 24 inches to support eaves. This meant going to Committee of Adjustment for approval as a minor variance.
No exceptions!
As both our stories demonstrate, there is a big disconnect between what the mayor claims and what he has done, or even about to do. As I write there has still not been any plan at updating the Code allowing for ‘green’ things such as these.
Imagine, it’s technically still illegal to have a clothesline. Unbelievable.
BTW, no permit was or is necessary to drill 400 feet! Go figure.
Enjoy your drive.
July 25th, 2008 at 11:23 am
So, if it isn’t inappropriate to ask, how much did all of this cost? I’m curious to compare it to getting a driveway paved — Perhaps some people who are thinking of doing significant repair on their current driveway will go this route if the costs aren’t too far off.
July 25th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Twittered: http://twitter.com/gcn1/statuses/867995452
Paradise Unpaved – A pictorial about a battle of the garden vs. the city. Very well done and an interesting story.
Gabriel
July 25th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Hi Brook,
We built our green driveway out of PermaTurf. There are other products around, but to give you a rough idea of costs:
MATERIAL: One skid of PermaTurf covers 360 square feet, and costs approximately $900. USD. If you order more than one skid, the price drops accordingly. (Visit http://permaturf.com/ to get a quote.)
SHIPPING AND DUTIES: You also have to factor in shipping and if you’re out of the US (as we are), then duties too.
INSTALLATION: We installed it ourselves, which saved us a lot of money and was not hard. We enjoy a good workout!
Check out my step-by-step articles on how we built our green driveway.
http://www.frankejames.com/debate/?page_id=66
This is the one where we actually built it in a long weekend:
http://www.frankejames.com/debate/?p=56
Good luck!
Franke
July 25th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Hi Franke,
I have one question and it has to do with winter. With a paved driveway, it’s easy to clear with with a shovel, but I wonder what it will be like with the PermaTurf. I imagine that when you shovel the snow, it will tear up the grass. Any ideas on how it will work out?
Once again, thanks for sharing your achievement.
July 25th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Matthew,
Thanks for your comment and question!
You can shovel and also use a snowplow on it but you need to keep the ‘shoe’ up, not scraping the grass. It’s okay to shovel the grass because the roots are protected by the PermaTurf, and cannot be damaged. The manufacturer of PermaTurf is located in New Hampshire, which gets lots of snow. They tell me they have many customers who regularly shovel their green driveways (but we don’t have a car, so we enjoy leaving the fallen snow ‘pristine’, which I know is not for everyone… but it’s one of the many perks of us not having a car).
See my post which shows summer and winter views:
All Season Eco-friendly Driveway
http://www.frankejames.com/debate/?p=93
If anyone reading this is curious about how we built the driveway, see my step-by-step Green Driveway Articles:
http://www.frankejames.com/debate/?page_id=66
The later ones go into great detail.
Hope that answers your question. The main environmental benefit is permeability. So whatever material you choose to build your driveway out of, make sure the rain can soak into the ground.
Franke
July 29th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Love it!!!!!!!!!!
Great fun! The glue that held me from beginning to end was that you were telling a story…
Funny, endearing, stubborn, ‘David overturns Goliath’
Tons and tons of positive and doable examples of what each person can do
To change their life
That of the people around them
And — in a delightful way — to have the faith that if you keep communications going with your city, your city will eventually “graciously” see the light!
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
[...] Paradise Unpaved | Franke James: Lovely illustrated story about changing a hot, dry, bland, and environmentally unfriendly driveway into a lush paradise. [...]
Your story made me want to buy a house just to turn the driveway into a garden.
Conner McCall / sloped
http://www.twitter.com/sloped
August 7th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Kicking a keen sense of green to the curb
“Franke James likes doing the hard things first, which is why, when it came to reducing her carbon footprint, she skipped right past the programmable thermostat and coffee thermos business and headed straight for the real green challenge — selling her SUV and replacing the driveway with a garden.
Well, technically speaking, the driveway still exists. But it’s been completely covered in grass and surrounded with trees, bushes and other lush foliage.
Up until now, the predominant trend in North American cities has been to pave over greenery with asphalt in the name of development…“
August 7th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Hi Franke,
Lelah Ferguson sent a link to your article. It was fun to see your illustrations.
I can see a Mattise-ean aesthetic still pervades, and it was uncanny to recognize your hand writing.
You look well, and healthy and happy,
All the best,
Lucy
August 7th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
[...] Franke James left her green footprint in The National Post today.
Vanessa Farquharson, the Post’s Sense & Sustainability columnist wrote about Franke’s real life story of ripping up her interlocking driveway, battling City Hall, and winning the right to be the first pilot project for a green driveway in North York [...]
August 11th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Saving the Earth – One Driveway at a Time:
Paradise Unpaved | Franke James.
This visual article is beautiful, engaging, funny, inspiring, and practical. It’s the story of how my friend and colleague Franke James and her husband successfully went up against the city of North York (which, as she points out, is really Toronto) to be allowed to replace their huge, ugly, ecologically unsound concrete interlock driveway with a green alternative…
August 12th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
love this kind of stuff – curmudgeonly old cynic me – does my old heart (what’s left of it !) the world (what’s left of it!) good – and you had trouble doing it! – who was in charge of anything (worth bothering about) who thought that what you were doing was wrong? – I’d like a strong word with that idiot! – good for you and all like you!
August 12th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
I just stumbled here, and I’m glad I did. This was a joy to read and look at! Congratulations on your beautiful little paradise.
August 13th, 2008 at 9:14 am
To LP and Etna,
Thanks very much for your comments and strong votes of confidence.
Connecting with people like you makes my day!
Franke
August 13th, 2008 at 9:58 am
I would like to congratulate you on literally GREENING your life.
Peace!
james livingwell
August 13th, 2008 at 11:37 am
[...] – Paradise Unpaved This is the story of a family in North York who converted their entire driveway into a garden. What’s most [...]
August 13th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Hey, thanks for the comment on my blog.
I just got a chance to go through some of your other posts and it’s great stuff.
I love the hand drawn illustration. It’s kind of like my photo-heavy editorials, except nicer looking, nicer topics, and less opinionated. So really, just better in every way.
When I do a post of sites like mine, but better, yours will be on that list.
Eric
August 13th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Everyone Digg the story!!
http://digg.com/environment/Paradise_Unpaved
August 14th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Congratulations, Franke! What an inspiring story.
Wonderful, just wonderful.
August 21st, 2008 at 4:15 am
I loved your site as it has an unusual flair to it
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:21 pm
[...] was a safety hazard. But when it hit the media they backed off. Watch the amazing transformation here.? I LOVE what they [...]
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Wow really thought provoking, beautifully presented visual essay.
I work in horticulture in Ireland and I have added this inspiring story to my blog. Here in Ireland we have a similar problem in that almost every family now has at least 2 cars and people have very little time to maintain their front patch (and in some cases people don’t want to have to converse with their neighbour – sad isn’t it). The garden has taken a back seat and concrete and hard landscaping are to be seen more and more in comparison to years ago.
Personally I feel the city and county councils should be encouraging and not hindering the development of green spaces. Grants should be made available and here in this country we should pay more emphasis on community composting. But no, these are not important issues in the scheme of things – much more important to wonder why all the rain we have received of late has no where to go because the once green lawns took care of that! Foolish people don’t seem to get or see the bigger picture at all.
I’m going to keep a regular eye out for your essays as really your an inspiration. Just goes to show how perseverance and belief in something as simple and wonderful as a front garden pays off. I applaud your tenacity, and so should your city.
August 24th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Makes me wish I had a driveway so I could tear it up!!!
Suzanne
August 24th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Paradise Unpaved
I came across an extraordinary storyteller the other day: Franke James. Her stories are made of text and photographs and illustrations and they’re fabulous! She calls them “Visual Essays” and they’re all documents of her efforts to green her life. Here’s the latest, called Paradise Unpaved.
Seeds for Thought
August 26th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
[...] my World Cafe Girl Geek friends, a pointer to the work of Franke James – wow, great visual thinking [...]
September 24th, 2008 at 9:44 am
[...] Visual essays are a powerful way to get any message across. In researching topics for my show, A Greener Toronto, I stumbled upon Franke James, a writer and illustrator who lives in Toronto, and who takes reducing her carbon footprint to a whole new level. She got RID of her SUV!! And in the process took on the City Of Toronto. Why, you ask? You’ll have to click here to find out: http://www.frankejames.com/debate/?p=98. [...]
September 25th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
This is amazing, inspiring and re-affirming! Way to go. We are going to rip up half our parking lot at our community centre next spring and make it a garden… we could start the unpaving paradise movement!
Much love,
Cameron Stiff
Montreal
http://www.greeningduluth.org
September 27th, 2008 at 1:08 am
AWESOME!
I just sold my Sport Ute and now I bike!… Well, I keep on biking since before, I had the car, but rarely used it!
September 29th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
[...] There’s a wonderfully inspiring story online how a North York artist turned her four-car parking pad into a garden, notwithstanding municipal requirements for a paved driveway. Franke James eventually got Toronto’s first permit for a “green” driveway, and estimates that she has already kept 10,135 gallons of stormwater out of the sewers. [...]
October 7th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Well done
October 27th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Over here in Australia things are getting bad, it simply won’t rain.. and when it does, I often joke that I could probably pee more… though it’s a sad sort of joke.
Congratulations, I think you did a wonderful thing.
Wolfie!
November 1st, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Wow! What a story. You are truly an inspiration!
It’s really made me think “What can I do? This person could do it – maybe so can I!”
Thank you for posting this! To me, you are a hero!
November 2nd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
[...] Franke James Paradise Unpaved [...]
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Awesome article…. I was amazed. It took some serious inspiration to do something as awesome and helpful as that.
Nice job you two!
-J
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Well done, such gorgeous work! And so nice to Stumble upon a fellow Torontonian trying to do a bit of green in our small space
November 6th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Exceedingly inspirational and a great example to show “the hesitant” folks. Good for you for getting the exemption and then doing a smashing job of it!
Small comment – having just replaced our masses of cement with interlocking pavers, the pavers are a small step up. At least they drain through the pavers. Does not reduce the heat island effect, but if some folks want to go half way, making the total area of cement smaller (we halved ours) and going with pavers is one way to do it.
December 6th, 2008 at 11:11 am
[...] came across the blog site of Franke James entitled, My Green Conscience. In it there was a page on unpaving her driveway in North York (Toronto), Canada. It was such a cool idea that I had to share it with [...]
December 31st, 2008 at 7:15 am
You are fantastic and an inspiration – not only getting rid of your SUV! but getting rid of your driveway! well done you.
For most people their house is their most valuable asset – you must be happy with where you live and had no plans of moving as it must be a big gamble on your house price to remove 3 out of 4 parking spaces. (I hope I got that right)
Looking at your amazing result your house must have increased in value – has it? I know it was not about the value of your house but this must be a consideration for others wanting to copy you.
I love it!!!
PS. love the way you told your story : )
December 31st, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Richard,
Thank you for the wonderful comment! Glad you enjoyed my story. We have discovered so many benefits from selling our car — and the beauty of our green driveway is just one of them. I’ll be writing a new essay soon on the ripple effect of selling our car. It’s been almost 2 years now.
To answer your question about the property value going down due to the elimination of the parking spots — I will be making that exact argument to MPAC to reduce our property taxes! The City has told me previously that the two legal boulevard spots we had were worth $20,000 each… (We paid $600 a year for the parking privilege.) But somehow I bet MPAC will not discount our property by $40,000. We’ll see. (Technically we had 3 legal parking spots — but a 4th car occasionally would park as there was room. We still have one parking spot in the garage — or very close in front of it. A second spot would require a special front yard parking permit from the City.)
Other people reading this might think we’re crazy to voluntarily reduce the value of our property by removing those two spots, but our view is that a new owner could add one more spot by applying for a front yard permit (for a total of two), and install a conventional driveway IF they wanted.
We’re realistic that most home-buyers would not see the green driveway as an asset. But we have no plans to move and we LOVE our green driveway. It’s enhanced the beauty of our home for us and that’s all that matters.
Best wishes for 2009!
Franke
January 2nd, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Hi there, we’d like to link with you and perhaps we can also discuss strategy
We’re a local group in Portland, Oregon who is doing this – we just removed 3,000 SQ Ft. this past summer at one location and have done others in the past. Looking forward to connecting. And, I’m albertkaufman on Twitter, btw.
Albert Kaufman
Portland, Oregon
http://depave.org
January 3rd, 2009 at 1:05 am
Hi Albert,
Good to see your comment — and thanks for the connection on twitter. Yes, we should talk. If you look back in the comments you’ll see I’ve mentioned Depave.org and also posted some of your mission statement.
I’m publishing a book in March which will include the Paradise Unpaved essay (and four others). I think there is an opportunity to get the depaving message out there — so let me know what new stuff you’re up to. Here’s my book info:
Bothered by My Green Conscience
How an SUV-driving, imported-strawberry-eating urban dweller can go green
http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/4037
Look forward to connecting!
Franke
January 3rd, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Tremendous! I like especially that you were persistent and positive in your dream, researching further into the issue to get at the real answer of “Yes”, which your intuition told you was there. I have left every rental I ever lived in with abundant perennials and happy Neighborhood Grandma Ladies taking walks past priorly-barren desmesnes. You surely have had many happy visits similarly! Thank you for the research and citations to help the rest of us create Paradise!
January 19th, 2009 at 6:30 am
[...] surfing on the net, following writings from friends, this is what I found: a truly, inspiring story, as much in the content as in the way it is [...]
February 1st, 2009 at 11:59 am
Great job! Can you tell me if you purchased you Permaturf locally?
I see the link online but it is in the US.
I also cannot see anything about pricing.
I have a 10×24 ft area that I wish to convert.
There is not a lot of info online about these products in Canada…hard to believe???
thanks in advance
Lisa
February 1st, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Lisa,
Thanks for the email. We had the Permaturf shipped from the US. However, since then I’ve heard there is a similar product in Canada. See my post below on Secrets of a Green Driveway:
http://www.frankejames.com/debate/?p=94
“For Canadians, who don’t want to pay the shipping and duties from the United States, you may want to investigate a new alternative by Green Innovations’ systems called MODI. I have not seen it in person, but after reading about it on their website, I think it’s worth a look.”
Good luck! Please send me a note and a photo of your green driveway if you go ahead. I have documented our building of the green driveway in a series of posts.
Cheers,
Franke
February 9th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Just found your blog and am so glad I did! It’s fabulous and inspirational! Thank you!
February 21st, 2009 at 1:36 pm
[...] lusting over a home of my own. It fills my dreams, it calls to me, it keeps my budget in line. And the hippie eco nerd in me REALLY wants to do something like a green driveway. On the other hand, the motorcyclist and car nerd in me wants to live out in the country and to [...]
March 7th, 2009 at 3:07 am
We’re hoping more people will do this! We also hope people will start yardsharing to grow food closer to home – so we’ve built hyperlocavore.com – a yardsharing community.
March 7th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Just about finished building our strawbale house. Last summer we put in the vegetable garden. This year we are putting in a permaturf driveway. Found your site to be very informative. Thanks. We are hoping to open one of Canada’s first stawbale bale bed and breakfasts on June 1st, 2009. So if you are ever in Nelson, B.C. drop by and have a look.
March 8th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
such a great way to go green. lots of work, but considering the heat in the summer there, well worth it. guess what vancouver’s latest green initiative is? allowing people to raise chickens in their backyards in the city!
March 18th, 2009 at 12:28 am
You are amazing! Thank you for your persistence in the face of stubborn bureaucracy. Have you heard about the effort by Tree Nation to plant 8 million trees in the Sahara Desert in the shape of a giant heart astronauts can see from space? http://www.greenwala.com/Whole_Lotta_Trees
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:25 pm
The other important thing, Franke, is that you chose not to treat City Hall as The Enemy. The wars are begun in the conflicts we entertain within ourselves and play out trivially in our environs and locales… I’m so impressed and energized by your way of going about things! Maybe I can become just a bit more like you as me! More positive, creative about how to arrive at the goal. Just a hoot!
May 5th, 2009 at 7:03 am
[...] Paradise Unpaved Now that is a lovely driveway. [...]
May 11th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
I’m not sure I understand the permaturf. The grass grows through this? It looks wonderful. We are in the process of landscaping and I am interested in this. Good job!
May 11th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Mia,
Yes the grass grows through it. See these two posts for more information on the PermaTurf material we used:
Green Driveway: Playing with Perception and Reality
http://www.frankejames.com/debate/?p=55
Excerpt:
The technology behind our ‘driveway-free’ illusion is PermaTURF. By using this product, our driveway can look just like a green lawn, but actually be load-bearing. This allows vehicles to drive on it without causing ruts or damage to the grass.
Each plastic paver measures 13″ x 13″, with a depth of 1 1/2 inches. The main concept to understand is that grass seed and soil goes inside each honeycomb cell. (You can place other materials in the cells such as ground cover, or even gravel and pea stones.) The opening on the bottom allows for grass root penetration and development. Once the grass has taken root and grown, the surface appearance is that of any lawn. In addition to driveways, it’s been used for parking areas, access roads, fire lanes and scores of other novel applications.
How to Build a Green Driveway in a Long Weekend
http://www.frankejames.com/debate/?p=56
Excerpt:
Step 6: Fill panels with 30% sand and 70% loam
But the pretty green PermaTURF isn’t intended to stay visible. So in Step 6, we filled the panels with a mixture of 30% sand and 70% loam (see below). With that mix of sand and loam on top you’d never know the panels were under there.
[in progress photos] The final step in creating the green driveway, is to fill the panels with grass seed. Using sod would create an instant green driveway — and I considered it. But it’s not recommended for our cold winters because the roots don’t go down as far as with grass grown from seed. However the irony is that our summer weather is so hot (forecast today is 91F/ 32C), that it’s recommended that we wait for cooler weather to plant the grass seed.
———
Let me know if you build a green driveway. We are very happy with our decision to use PermaTurf, (quality, availability, customer service) but there are other products that are similar to it. Good luck!
Franke
May 21st, 2009 at 4:32 pm
[...] Starting Somewhere 2009 May 21 tags: Franke James, toronto by chapman Paradise Unpaved [...]
June 5th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Thanks for being such an inspiration, and for being so awesome, Franke.
All we have to do is show what can be done, and people will learn from each other.
There is hope. There really is.
June 19th, 2009 at 5:55 am
I love the reference to the Joni Mitchell song, I always loved that one .. You should see if she wants to come and make your “paradise earth” at the next anniversary?? http://rapidbeetle.com
July 13th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
[...] GREEN YOUR DRIVEWAY “Philadelphia has 80,963 driveways, totalling 84,500,000 sq ft, or 1,939 acres. Of these, 76,895 are residential, totalling 72,000,000 sq ft, or 1,652 acres (2% of city total).” They pour about 2 billion gallons of rainwater into storm sewers yearly. About half of that can carry raw sewage into our rivers. [thanks to Eric.Werfel at PWD] —There are already several pervious asphalt drives in Philly, such as Vanni subdivision (1125 Southampton Rd) and between 40th, Union, Fairmount, Aspen. And there are many more paved with staggered blocks, gravelled or grass-covered. See also: eco-friendly-green-driveways; http://www.frankejames.com/debate/?p=98 [...]
July 25th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
[...] “right.” Like what? Well, we sold our only car, an SUV, in February 2007. We built a green driveway despite facing objections from the City. I can feel good about those [...]
August 24th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
This is a beautiful story. I love what you have done and would love to do the same when I get out of my condo into a house with a driveway.
More power to you and hope you continue to inspire all who see your beautiful green garden or read your story.
August 24th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
That’s really informative and inspirational — thanks!
If I still had a home in the city, I’d do the same thing
August 24th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!!!! Made my day.
August 24th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Sweet!
Nice Job
Chris
Bend Oregon
August 29th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Hooray. What a great story. I’m sharing it with everyone, and will get to work on my own green driveway.
September 1st, 2009 at 5:26 pm
I just mowed my driveway for the first time.
We had a big surface water problem, and I kept returning to the idea of unpaving the asphalt expanse in our backyard, rather than adding more and more pavement. After our latest basement flood, I decided enough was enough, and we replaced the old bitmeous drive with GrassPav2. So far we have a dry basement, and a beautiful new backyard. The story and pictures are here: http://coonifer.blogspot.com/2009/08/completion.html
Many thanks for the inspiration!
September 1st, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Cate,
Yeah!! CONGRATULATIONS! How exciting to read about the building of your green driveway.
http://coonifer.blogspot.com/2009/08/completion.html
I’m thrilled that we played a part in inspiring you!
Our green driveway has helped with our water issues too. We waterproofed around our house, put in a bigger sump pump, “naughty french” drains
and even new drains to the “stack” (a term I didn’t know until we needed to put the drain to it). Like yours, it’s been quite an adventure!
Thanks so much for sharing your tremendous story. What’s next?
Franke
September 6th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
This is awesome, and most inspiring!
I’ve been interested in rain water reclamation for years. Using this method over a pan that drains into a cistern is just what I’ve been looking for.
I can see using it as a driveway, patio, even in low-lying areas where water runoff naturally collects, then re-using the water for things where municipal water would normally be used.
Thank you so much for posting this!
Patric in SoCal, USA
October 2nd, 2009 at 5:14 pm
[...] Michigan Tech Center for Water and Society, who helped Franke calculate the stormwater runoff for Paradise Unpaved, was interviewed for the article. Dr. Mayer comments, “I’d never seen anything like these [...]
October 20th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Very cool way to communicate ideas!
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:19 am
[...] would label as children’s book for grownups. Pictures are always a bonus! Check out Paradise Unpaved for a good example of her [...]
January 24th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
[...] James stands on the green driveway, which is a fully functional driveway which can support the weight of cars and [...]
February 19th, 2010 at 10:08 am
Accidentally I dropped into your world. Thank-you for making my day knowing that there really are people that care about…. a lot :O) I wish you enough ! Tom e
March 7th, 2010 at 11:30 am
Hello,
I came across your website a couple of years back, and really liked your idea of putting down a green driveway. I’ve recently purchased my own house in East York, and I’m hoping to do something similar. We have a mutual driveway shared with our neighbour, and it expands in our backyard into 2 parking spots — but we have no car! I can’t do much about the shared driveway, but I want to replace those paved parking spots with green parking spots — essentially, grass that my visitors can park on. In the past week, I’ve started contacting landscape contractors with experience putting down PermaTurf and similar products.
The one part I’m hoping you can share with me is the part where you contacted City Hall and got a permit for what you did. It isn’t obvious to me which department I’d need to contact to get things going. Was there anyone specific that you spoke to who familiar with your pilot project, so that they’d know what I was talking about when I described my intentions?
Thanks!
March 8th, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Hi,
Great! Eric Jensen is the guy to call. I Googled his name and came up with this info…. * Eric may direct you to someone else but it’s a start.*
Transportation Services, Right-of-Way Management
North York District
Eric Jensen
Supervisor
Tel: 416-395-7112
E-mail:ejensen@toronto.ca.
For in-depth, step-by-step articles on how we built our driveway see my Green Driveway articles:
http://www.frankejames.com/debate/?page_id=66
Good luck!
Franke
March 12th, 2010 at 5:31 am
This is such an inspiring, real world happening. Small bits really help and you helped the environment twice (once by stopping using the SUV and then by unpaving the driveway).
Very great and full of fruits!
Neil
May 25th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
I love this story! Good for you! What is you next project? Go organic!
May 28th, 2010 at 8:12 am
This is a terrific story and great project. Very inspirational! From everyone here at Sckoon Organics we say Bravo To You!
July 14th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
I always find myself grinning from ear to ear when I experience your work, Franke! I so hope that Joni sees this. Her timeless lyrics and your progressive vision are the best 1970 and 2010! How can 40 years have slipped by and we still don’t have an energy bill? I loved reading and sharing today your graphic essay and review of Eric Pooley’s NYT best-seller, The Climate War. Simply fantastic! I hope every local, state, and national legislator reads it too. You’re a star!
Stacy Clark
August 29th, 2010 at 9:36 am
that’s an inspiring story, thanks!
August 30th, 2010 at 5:32 am
This is a sweet illustrated narration of a Toronto family’s transformation of their driveway into a garden, and the nonsensical bureaucracies they overcame.