Green Tip #1: Paving a Greener Path
Paving Your Driveway and Walkways “Green”
Eco-friendly and aesthetically pleasing driveways and pathways now come in a variety of colors, patterns and shapes. Enhance the architectural appeal of your home while helping to replenish Mother Nature with interlocking permeable concrete pavers. Get rid of unsightly cracked driveways and impenetrable surfaces that cause runoff water to pool and run into drainage systems while giving your driveway a stylish new look.
Traditional and stamped concrete drives crack over time due to extreme temperature changes and settling. Replacing unsightly cracked sections can be expensive, can cause unnecessary waste and are virtually impossible to match the color of established sections. Environmentally friendly interlocking pavers, however, are manufactured to be uniform so replacement is quick and simple with minimal waste. And because paving stones come in a variety of colors, patterns and surface finishes, you can turn a dull drive into artwork.
What Makes it Green?
The high number of joints within the interlocking paver system allows water to drain through your drive, returning to the water table or being harvested for other uses. If deformation or damage does occur to your drive, the system may be easily repaired by removing specific pavers. This decreases the amount of waste. Unlike traditional concrete, pavers are ready for traffic (foot or vehicular) as soon as they are installed. It is not necessary to wait a few days before using your paved driveway or pathway. Finally, the versatility of pavers allows you to pave large or small spaces. So be creative, start paving and help the environment!
What You Can Do
Instead of using traditional concrete to pave driveways, sidewalks and pathways, use permeable interlocking pavers.
Do not use impenetrable mortar to hold pavers in place. Instead, use sand or gravel. This allows water to drain into the ground and return to the water table or to be harvested.
Concrete is a recyclable material. To find a company that will pick up and recycle demolished concrete, please visit the Georgia Construction Demolition Waste Recyclers guide.
Create a rain harvesting system that uses rainwater to water plants or to create a beautiful water feature.
Did You Know?
Concrete contains recycled materials and therefore helps reduce industrial byproducts that would otherwise clog landfills. Interlocking concrete pavers have the additional benefit of allowing rainwater to penetrate through your drive and into the ground.
Hands On
Stone Forest located in Kennesaw carries a variety of interlocking pavers from Pavestone, perfect for an array of home projects. And at Stone Forest’s Outdoor Lifestyle Showcase, you can view a number of ways to use pavers, including patios, driveways, walkways and even a permeable basketball court.