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Read more from Project Evergreen and download their fact sheet here.
The best green space is a healthy landscape. Learn about economic, environmental and lifestyle benefits of well-maintained green spaces, including lawns and landscapes, sports fields, golf courses and parks from Project Evergreen.

• Urban advantages. More green space within a city's boundaries can improve the urban environment. Among the green space advantages listed in EcoPlanIT Madison: Green Space Goal (UW-Madison Department of Urban and Regional Planning) are: helping regulate air quality and climate...reducing energy consumption by countering the warming effects of paved surfaces...recharging groundwater supplies and protecting lakes and streams from polluted runoff.
• Water quality protection. Proper landscaping reduces nitrate leaching from the soil into the water supply and reduces surface water runoff, keeping phosphorus and other pollutants out of our waterways and preventing septic system overload
• Reduced heat buildup. Trees in a parking lot can reduce on-site heat buildup, decrease runoff and enhance night time cool downs. Tests in a mall parking lot in Huntsville, Ala. showed a 31 degree difference between shaded and unshaded areas.
• Reduced soil erosion. A dense cover of plants and mulch holds soil in place, keeping sediment out of lakes, streams, storm drains and roads; and reducing flooding, mudslides and dust storms.

Improved air quality. Trees, shrubs and turf remove smoke, dust and other pollutants from the air. One tree can remove 26 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually, equaling 11,000 miles of car emissions. One study showed that one acre of trees has the ability to remove 13 tons of particles and gases annually.

2,500 square feet of turf absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releases enough oxygen for a family of four to breathe.

Lower attic temperatures. Trees shading homes can reduce attic temperatures as much as 40 degrees. According to the EPA, urban forests reduce urban air temperatures significantly by shading heat sinks such as buildings and concrete and returning humidity to the air through evaporative cooling. 7having to bag clippings.

Reduced pollution. Trees naturally remove pollutants from the air, so every tree that%u2019s subtracted from a city's ecosystem means some particulate pollution remains that should have been filtered out. In Washington, that amounts to 540 extra tons each year.

Rainfall retention. A healthy, sodded lawn absorbs rainfall 6 times more effectively than a wheat field and 4 times better than a hay field.

Reduced temperatures. In Atlanta, temperatures have climbed 5 to 8 degrees higher than surrounding countryside where developers bulldozed 380,000 acres between 1973 and 1999, according to NASA. Scientists fear the heavily developed corridor between Boston and Washington could be the next big hot zone.