Lexington Going Green? Or are they

At first glance, I may not be the most environmentally friendly person around.  I enjoy traversing the woods in my Suzuki Samurai, which has been modified for Offroad use  (RockCrawling is a passion that I don't get to enjoy much anymore, but it's still a passion.), and I'm not a big fan of the way Lexington, Ky has implemented the Recyclying campaign with the Rosie's and Lenny's.   In Reality though, I am a true friend to the environment, who has participated in numerous Roadside and Trail Cleanups sponsored by organizations such as PRIDE and THE Trail Keepers Foundation.

This particular Project is even more environmentally Friendly, due to the way the work is being done.  Lexington, Ky only has a single employee, driving a single truck, and using a shovel to dig the holes for the new trees.  This is truly amazing, considerring very few actually digs holes by hand any more.  Most holes are dug using heavy machinery consuming large quantities of fossil Fuels, while several supervisors (All driving their own trucks) pull up to watch.  I must Commend Lexington, for this Great Planning.

Or Should I????

Now for the rest of the story.

Less than one year ago, this road had some rather nice streetscaping already in place.  What did it have?  Trees in the Median of course.  I know, you must be thinking the trees must have died and needed replacing.  I wish this were the case, but NO, the trees were healthy, decent sized, and thriving.  For No Apparant reason, the city Dispatched a fleet of trucks and several city employees yielding a wide range of power equipment to Cut down the trees.  They must be destroyed and removed, therefore in great haste, Chainsaws cut down the trees and heavy machinery worked on their root systems and they were gone.

Sadly, this left gaping wounds in the soil, which allowed for sediment and erosion to bleed into the stormwater systems after each heavy rain for weeks on end, until eventually the Wild Grass and Weeds began to heal the wounds.  Now, just as the grass has fully taken over, Lexington, Ky begins the cycle again, first digging the holes, then planting the twigs not much larger than sapplings.  It will take many years for these trees to reach the size of the originals, or to be as good for the environment as the originals.

Lexington and Lexingtonians should be outraged at the waste this is causing.  There are so many ways to improve our environmental Footprint, such as marketing through Websites instead of printing paper flyers and ads or ensuring our heating and air condition systems are properly maintained.  Or even simpler things such as making sure the tires on your car are properly inflated.  Likely any one of the previously mentioned items would be better for the environment than the NET LOSS planting the new trees has caused.

What does this Mean??

What initially appears to be a great environmentally friendly gesture from LFUCG is in Reality an NET LOSS for the Environment.  The Waste in manpower, energy, and fossil Fuels will likely never exceed the Plusses of planting these NEW Trees.