Pave the Way

No- to low-maintenance driveways grow from beer bottles, tires and even the front lawn

By Dawn Klingensmith
CTW Features

Considering how much real estate driveways take up, it’s a shame more of them don’t make a statement. A driveway can enhance a home’s beauty if the right materials and installation techniques are selected. And in today’s marketplace, there are plenty of pavement options that can add character and are mindful of the environment.

A highly porous pavement called FilterPave makes for a glittery, colorful surface thanks to the crushed beer bottles and other recycled glasses that make up about 90 percent of its composition. The glass pieces are held together with a pliable binder, so it has “kind of a Rice Krispie bar look to it” when it’s poured in place, says Bill Handlos, director of Geosystems, the Appleton, Wis.-based manufacturer. Heineken and Rolling Rock bottles make up the green aggregate, while Budweiser and Amstel Light go into the amber-colored mix. FilterPave was designed to be “exceedingly permeable,” Handlos says. “More water will go through this than through a lawn or grass.”

However, grass is perhaps the ultimate green driveway material and it’s gaining ground, literally, says Tania Gybels, owner of Environmental Concept, a Van Nuys, Calif.-based landscape services firm. But there’s more to a grass driveway than meets the eye. A manufactured reinforcement grid, usually consisting of plastic cells, is necessary for support. The grass grows over and conceals the grid. The trick is just making sure that no one blocks the driveway, mistaking it for a yard.

Among other greener options are rubber or composite pavers made from recycled tires and plastic bottles. VAST is a brand of composite permeable paver made from 95 percent recycled materials. Permeable pavers help the environment by capturing storm water and allowing it to seep into the ground instead of running over the surface and sweeping pollutants into the water system. Porous concrete accomplishes the same thing, it just doesn’t look hand-laid. It generally looks the same as traditional concrete but is manufactured without fine aggregates, so there are voids that allow for infiltration.

Concrete has more potential than is often realized – it can be tinted, mixed with colored glass, or stamped or engraved to mimic natural products like slate. Asphalt can be accessorized by edging it with pavers or creating a “driveway apron” with bricks or paving stones at the entrance, says Arnie Pellegrino, owner of Rocky Point, N.Y.-based Long Island Elite Landscape Designs. “It brings the landscape into the driveway,” he says.

Decomposed granite can be loose like gravel or blended with stabilizers or resin to create a substance similar to asphalt, but it’s more colorful. It is used where a natural or rustic look would complement the architecture and surroundings, Gybels says.

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