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At the bus stop, a living ad for nature

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Sunday, September 14, 2025

Warning: This graphic requires JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript for the best experience.Bus shelters tend to be practical, utility-oriented, no-frills structures. They offer protection from the elements. Seating for while you wait. Maybe an ad to grab your attention.But a green bus stop movement is seeking to make them something more: Antidotes to the heat-island effect. Habitats for native pollinators. Living advertisements for incorporating nature into the built environment.These installations were first popularized in the Netherlands, which has almost 1,000 of them. They have been sprouting across Europe, as well as in Japan, Singapore and Canada, among other countries. The biggest U.S. collection is in Boston, which fitted 30 bus shelters with green roofs last fall. This year, green bus shelters are planned for two Maryland towns, Bladensburg and Edmonston. There also have been proposals to install them in Arlington, Virginia, and New York.A bus shelter with a green roof in Utrecht, Netherlands. (Bauer Media Outdoor Europe)A green roof bus shelter in the Ville-Marie borough in Montreal. (CNW Group/École de technologie supérieure)Green roofs on buildings have become even more common in many cities around the world, and those larger surfaces stand to have more environmental impact than a relatively tiny bus shelter. But roof plantings are often out of view from the street. Cultivating a garden on a bus shelter can influence how people perceive the world as they make their way around town.Green bus shelters can also add up. The city of Boston estimates that if all 8,000 of its bus stops featured living roofs, it would amount to about 17 acres of green space — that’s the size of nearly 13 football fields.The ingredients of a green bus stopGreen bus shelters typically involve five key components.(The Washington Post; iStock)(Zachary Balcoff/The Washington Post; iStock)1: Rigid structureA green roof structure needs to be able to support a lot of weight — not just soil and vegetation, but water after a heavy rain.So retrofitting an old bus shelter roof may not be sufficient. “You don’t want to put a green roof on a roof that’s, say, 15 to 16 years old. Ideally, you want to put it on a brand-new roof,” said Chase Coard, founder and CEO of Ecospaces, a green roofing company in Washington.2: Root barrierNext comes the root barrier: an impermeable fabric, plastic or rubberized material that will restrict the downward growth of the plants.3: Drainage and retentionOn top of the impermeable layer is the drainage mechanism, designed to collect and store rainwater for the benefit of the plants and slowly release the excess in a way that doesn’t overwhelm city drains.4: SoilThe depth of this layer will determine how many native plant species can thrive and how heavy and costly the green roof will be. The soil for a green roof should be more lightweight and mineral-based than typical house plant soil, to increase rainwater retention, according to the National Park Service.5: VegetationNative plants can help support local biodiversity. Zoe Davis, senior climate resilience project manager for the city of Boston, said their selections have attracted butterflies, bees, birds and squirrels.Probably the most common green roof plants are sedums, which are lightweight succulents. “You can basically toss them into really extreme environments and somehow they’ve found a way to survive and thrive off of little soil and little water at times,” said Larry Davis of Green Mechanics, a Maryland company specializing in ecological design.The impact of green bus stopsOne key advantage of green bus shelters is as a counter to urban heat islands. Living roofs can provide more shade than glass roofs, and they don’t absorb and reemit heat the way a blacktopped roof would. Instead, they can hold water long enough for it to evaporate and have a cooling effect.Jean-Luc Martel, a professor at École de technologie supérieure in Montreal, measured temperatures inside traditional bus shelters and ones with green roofs and found a difference of as much as 50 degrees Fahrenheit at peak times.Living roofs have been documented to reduce surrounding air temperatures by up to 20 degrees Fahrenheit.A case study in CanadaA thermal-imaging camera deployed in Montreal shows a bus shelter with a green roof is significantly cooler than one without. This study was conducted in August 2024 as part of an experiment by École de technologie supérieure, a local university. (École de technologie supérieure)For Utrecht, a city in the Netherlands, a goal of building green bus shelters was to address a rapid decline in the bee population. Strategically placed living roofs created “bee lines” and helped keep pollinators fed.The installations may have contributed to a steadying of the bee population, as reflected in a “national bee census” (which involves citizens counting the bees in their gardens for 30 minutes on designated days each year).Some of the green bus shelters in the United States are really demonstration projects. In San Francisco, Philadelphia and East Lansing, Michigan, the idea was to provide information about green roof infrastructure that is often hundreds of feet out of sight.Those novelty installations may affect how people think about vegetation in their surroundings. But it’s when living roofs are installed on a larger scale that they may start to have real environmental effects.“It’s the accumulation of those small, small things you will be doing that will have an impact in the long run,” Martel said.About this storyDesign and development by Zachary Balcoff. Editing by Marisa Bellack. Design editing by Christine Ashack and Joe Moore. Photo editing by Dominique Hildebrand. Copy editing by Shibani Shah. Additional support by Emma Kumer and Carson TerBush.

A movement is installing plants on bus shelters, providing habitats for pollinators and countering the urban heat-island effect.

Warning: This graphic requires JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript for the best experience.

Bus shelters tend to be practical, utility-oriented, no-frills structures. They offer protection from the elements. Seating for while you wait. Maybe an ad to grab your attention.

But a green bus stop movement is seeking to make them something more: Antidotes to the heat-island effect. Habitats for native pollinators. Living advertisements for incorporating nature into the built environment.

These installations were first popularized in the Netherlands, which has almost 1,000 of them. They have been sprouting across Europe, as well as in Japan, Singapore and Canada, among other countries. The biggest U.S. collection is in Boston, which fitted 30 bus shelters with green roofs last fall. This year, green bus shelters are planned for two Maryland towns, Bladensburg and Edmonston. There also have been proposals to install them in Arlington, Virginia, and New York.

A bus shelter with a green roof in Utrecht, Netherlands. (Bauer Media Outdoor Europe)

A green roof bus shelter in the Ville-Marie borough in Montreal. (CNW Group/École de technologie supérieure)

Green roofs on buildings have become even more common in many cities around the world, and those larger surfaces stand to have more environmental impact than a relatively tiny bus shelter. But roof plantings are often out of view from the street. Cultivating a garden on a bus shelter can influence how people perceive the world as they make their way around town.

Green bus shelters can also add up. The city of Boston estimates that if all 8,000 of its bus stops featured living roofs, it would amount to about 17 acres of green space — that’s the size of nearly 13 football fields.

The ingredients of a green bus stop

Green bus shelters typically involve five key components.

(The Washington Post; iStock)

(Zachary Balcoff/The Washington Post; iStock)

1: Rigid structure

A green roof structure needs to be able to support a lot of weight — not just soil and vegetation, but water after a heavy rain.

So retrofitting an old bus shelter roof may not be sufficient. “You don’t want to put a green roof on a roof that’s, say, 15 to 16 years old. Ideally, you want to put it on a brand-new roof,” said Chase Coard, founder and CEO of Ecospaces, a green roofing company in Washington.

2: Root barrier

Next comes the root barrier: an impermeable fabric, plastic or rubberized material that will restrict the downward growth of the plants.

3: Drainage and retention

On top of the impermeable layer is the drainage mechanism, designed to collect and store rainwater for the benefit of the plants and slowly release the excess in a way that doesn’t overwhelm city drains.

4: Soil

The depth of this layer will determine how many native plant species can thrive and how heavy and costly the green roof will be. The soil for a green roof should be more lightweight and mineral-based than typical house plant soil, to increase rainwater retention, according to the National Park Service.

5: Vegetation

Native plants can help support local biodiversity. Zoe Davis, senior climate resilience project manager for the city of Boston, said their selections have attracted butterflies, bees, birds and squirrels.

Probably the most common green roof plants are sedums, which are lightweight succulents. “You can basically toss them into really extreme environments and somehow they’ve found a way to survive and thrive off of little soil and little water at times,” said Larry Davis of Green Mechanics, a Maryland company specializing in ecological design.

The impact of green bus stops

One key advantage of green bus shelters is as a counter to urban heat islands. Living roofs can provide more shade than glass roofs, and they don’t absorb and reemit heat the way a blacktopped roof would. Instead, they can hold water long enough for it to evaporate and have a cooling effect.

Jean-Luc Martel, a professor at École de technologie supérieure in Montreal, measured temperatures inside traditional bus shelters and ones with green roofs and found a difference of as much as 50 degrees Fahrenheit at peak times.

Living roofs have been documented to reduce surrounding air temperatures by up to 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

A case study in Canada

A thermal-imaging camera deployed in Montreal shows a bus shelter with a green roof is significantly cooler than one without. This study was conducted in August 2024 as part of an experiment by École de technologie supérieure, a local university.

For Utrecht, a city in the Netherlands, a goal of building green bus shelters was to address a rapid decline in the bee population. Strategically placed living roofs created “bee lines” and helped keep pollinators fed.

The installations may have contributed to a steadying of the bee population, as reflected in a “national bee census” (which involves citizens counting the bees in their gardens for 30 minutes on designated days each year).

Some of the green bus shelters in the United States are really demonstration projects. In San Francisco, Philadelphia and East Lansing, Michigan, the idea was to provide information about green roof infrastructure that is often hundreds of feet out of sight.

Those novelty installations may affect how people think about vegetation in their surroundings. But it’s when living roofs are installed on a larger scale that they may start to have real environmental effects.

“It’s the accumulation of those small, small things you will be doing that will have an impact in the long run,” Martel said.

About this story

Design and development by Zachary Balcoff. Editing by Marisa Bellack. Design editing by Christine Ashack and Joe Moore. Photo editing by Dominique Hildebrand. Copy editing by Shibani Shah. Additional support by Emma Kumer and Carson TerBush.

Read the full story here.

Photos courtesy of

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Beach lowering has begun across Cape Town: Why is the city pushing sand back into the sea?

As work begins at four key beaches, this coastal management practice reveals a delicate balance between infrastructure and nature. The post Beach lowering has begun across Cape Town: Why is the city pushing sand back into the sea? appeared first on SA People.

With Capetonians in a fuss about the recently announced beach lowering programme, many are asking the obvious question: Why are bulldozers pushing sand back into the ocean at Fish Hoek, Muizenberg, Gordon’s Bay, and Bikini Beach? Aren’t we supposed to protect our beaches, not remove sand from them? The confusion is understandable. As the annual programme kicked off this October, the sight of heavy machinery on beloved beaches naturally raises concerns. But the answer lies in understanding Cape Town’s unique coastal challenge: the relentless power of wind-blown sand during the Mother City’s notorious summer winds. The Problem Cape Town’s coastal areas exist in what officials call “highly altered coastal systems”: urban coastlines where infrastructure sits close to dynamic natural forces. During winter, sand accumulates naturally. But when summer arrives with the infamous southeaster winds, this sand becomes a moving threat. “The lowering of beach sand levels enables greater areas of the beach to become wet during high tides, therefore limiting the potential for wind-blown sand to inundate adjacent roads and infrastructure,” explains Alderman Eddie Andrews, the City’s Deputy Mayor. Without intervention, wind-blown sand can smother parking areas, block stormwater outlets, and threaten electrical infrastructure. At Hout Bay, a giant dune once endangered key facilities. The Science Beach lowering is different from simply removing sand. The City pushes sand from the upper beach to the low-water mark, where wave action transports it back into the coastal circulation system. “Beach lowering mimics a natural scour event which is common on our shorelines, and puts the sand back into the sea where it returns to circulation within the oceanic system,” the City notes. By lowering the beach profile, more surface area becomes wet during high tides. Wet sand is significantly heavier than dry sand and far less susceptible to wind transport, effectively anchoring it in place during the windy season. Environmental Balance Beach manipulation raises important environmental questions. Research worldwide has identified both benefits and concerns. On the positive side, the practice maintains natural sediment circulation, protects infrastructure without hard structures like seawalls, preserves beach access and tourism, and represents a reversible intervention. Potential concerns include temporary disruption to beach organisms, short-term water turbidity during work, and disturbance to shorebirds during operations. Cape Town’s approach minimises impacts by scheduling work between 1 October and 8 November, before peak summer season and bird nesting periods. Critically, sand isn’t removed from the coastal system entirely but returned to natural ocean circulation. Why Not Just Build Walls? Hard structures like seawalls might seem simpler, but they accelerate erosion on adjacent properties, reflect wave energy, permanently alter natural processes, and prove inflexible as sea levels rise. Beach lowering represents a “soft” engineering approach that preserves the beach as a natural, dynamic feature while managing wind-blown sand. Looking Forward As sea levels rise and extreme weather intensifies, Cape Town’s approach of minimal intervention offers lessons for coastal cities worldwide. “Our intention is to intervene as little as possible,” says Gregg Oelofse, head of the City’s Environmental Policy and Strategy. “We have learnt that the more you intervene, the more you mess the situation up.” The mechanical work runs through early November, completing before summer winds intensify. Beaches remain accessible, though visitors should stay clear of machinery. For most beachgoers, results will be largely invisible. Beaches won’t look dramatically different, they’ll simply function better with less sand blowing onto infrastructure. The sand being pushed back into the sea isn’t wasted. It’s being returned to its natural home, to be redistributed by the forces that brought it ashore. Sometimes the best solution is working with nature rather than against it. A Sandy Perspective For South Africans living abroad, particularly in the UK, Cape Town’s beach challenges offer an interesting contrast. British beaches are often rocky affairs, frequently backed by concrete seawalls built to hold back the sea. When the weather is actually good enough for a beach day, you’re more likely to find pebbles than sand. Cape Town’s problem isn’t a lack of beaches but managing an abundance of sand that wants to go where it shouldn’t. It’s a uniquely South African coastal challenge, and one that makes those sprawling False Bay beaches all the more precious. Beach lowering runs from 1 October to 8 November 2025, weather dependent. For updates, visit the City of Cape Town’s official website. The post Beach lowering has begun across Cape Town: Why is the city pushing sand back into the sea? appeared first on SA People.

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