Benefits of Trees in Urban Communities

A county-wide environmental improvement organization, Hollywood Beautification Team has coordinated multiple projects to make Los Angeles a better place to live for nearly three decades. It plants over 1,500 trees per year, has adopted more than 140 public schools, provided employment to 2,500 youth and, painted over 2 million square feet of graffiti each year. The Hollywood Beautification Team has been part of the City’s Million Trees LA program, which aims to plant many trees across the city.

Trees play a critical role in cities considering many urban areas are expanding rapidly without proper land planning strategies, damaging forests, green areas, and landscapes. Urban trees allow city-dwellers to relax and enjoy their surroundings alongside the following benefits.

1. Prevent Flooding

Mature trees can regulate water flow which is key in lowering floods and the risk associated with natural disasters. A single mature tree can absorb up to a maximum of 450 liters each day and capture rainwater on leaf surfaces. Tree roots also reduce soil erosion and slow down the rate of water entering a city’s drainage systems. Cities whose ground surface mainly consists of impermeable materials such as concrete and tarmac are at a high risk of flash flooding after a heavy downpour.

2. Make Cities Cooler

Strategic tree placement in cities helps to lower temperatures between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius. This, in turn, helps communities to enjoy cooler temperatures and cope effectively with climate change challenges. When cities are cooler, energy bills, including the cost of air conditioning goes down. Studies have shown that the cooling effect from one tree is equivalent to 10 room-sized air conditioners.

3. Promote Healthier Urban Communities

Living near urban green spaces and the ability to access them easily helps improve urban dwellers’ well-being. For instance, cities with many trees help residents relieve their stress and lower high blood pressure.

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Understanding Stormwater Management

Hollywood Beautification Team has, since 1992, been at the forefront of educating Los Angeles citizens to know more about environmental conservation and improvement. In the course of their duties, volunteers have served communities through tree planting, educational workshops to youths at risk, and general improvement of school campuses and neighborhoods. Hollywood Beautification Team plants over 1,500 trees each year, removes two million square feet of graffiti and, participates in water conservation efforts, including stormwater conservation and management.

Stormwater management is the effort to lower runoff from     or melted ice that finds its way on the streets of major towns and cities. When there is a lack of a proper strategy to deal with stormwater, it can run on the surface, picking up debris, chemicals, eroded soil, bacteria, and other pollutants in rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands. Urban areas have many pavements that prevent water from naturally being absorbed into the ground and instead, goes to storm drains, sewers and, drainage systems, causing floods.

Stormwater can be managed using various techniques such as a catch basin. These features form part of the storm drain system whose work is to ensure water doesn’t accumulate in fields, roads, parking lots and, other surfaces. A catch basin insert refers to a device placed in a storm drain to facilitate quality water treatment. The goal is to get rid of contaminants such as debris, litter, oil, and grease, as well as coarse sediment.

The inserts rely on a strainer and catch basin filters to get rid of all unwanted debris. This pre-treatment technique ensures stormwater runoff is safe from pollutants which promote environmental conservation. Catch basins and filters are best installed during the initial system construction to avoid pollution of key natural resources and cause water to fail quality standards.