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As climate change continues to impact regions across the world, our immediate communities are becoming increasingly wetter, warmer, windier, and wilder.

Depave Paradise addresses the increasing amount of hard surfaces in urban environments, including school sites, through the act of ripping up pavement and replacing it with soil and vegetation. 

 

Native plants, bushes, and trees are then planted to act as filters and sponges by absorbing and filtering polluted stormwater. 

 

Depave Paradise works with local organizations, such as Halton Environmental Network, at highly visible sites, such as schools, to stage work bees, during which volunteers “liberate the soil,” using hand tools to pry up the pavement.

 

Depave Paradise leads with the understanding that the key to healthier, cleaner water and more sustainable communities is to capture rain where it falls by helping it drain into the ground as nature intended. 

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Did you know that hard surfaces such as asphalt and concrete not only reduce green space but also retain more heat and contribute to water pollution? 

What does a Depave look like?

Before
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  • Hard surface does not absorb rain, creating runoff.

  • Hot sun reflects off of dark surfaces, creating hotter temperatures.

  • Soil does not receive air, water or sunlight. 

After
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  • Native plants provide food and shelter for insects, mammals, and other creatures.

  •  Rain soaks into the ground, getting filtered and cleaned.

  • Trees provide shade that cools off surfaces below.

  • Rain, sun, and air keep soils healthy and productive.

Are you interested in getting involved in a Depave project?
Do you know of a space that needs Depaving? Let us know!

Office Address

Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre
2302 Bridge Rd Oakville, ON L6L 2G6

Mailing Address

c/o Halton Environmental Network (HEN)
PO Box 60037 RPO Hopedale
Oakville, ON L6L 6R4

Office Hours

Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm

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As a community, we have the responsibility to honour, care for and respect all the Creation gives to provide us with life. This includes the land, water, air, fire, animals, plants and our ancestors. The Anishinabek Peoples have utilized this land for millennia and we would like to acknowledge their direct descendants, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, as the rightful caretakers and titleholders of this land upon which we live, work and conduct ourselves. We acknowledge our treaty relationship and responsibilities to both the land and these original peoples. We also recognize that this land is rich in pre-contact history and customs, which includes the Anishinabek and Haudenosaunee and since European contact, has and continues to become home for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. And it is in the spirit and intent of the Dish With One Spoon, wampum agreement whereby we will collectively care for and respect the land, water, animals and each other in the interests of peace and friendship and for the benefit of not only ourselves but of our future descendants.  
The HEN Office resides on Treaty 22, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

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The Halton Environmental Network is a proud member of the Halton Equity and Diversity Roundtable (HEDR) and has signed their Charter to foster an inclusive Halton community. 

© Copyright 2008-2025 Halton Environmental Network | Privacy Policy

Charity Number 815145214RR0002

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