EF Driveway Options

pixieprincss

Our current driveway is gravel and is generally a muddy mess. We are starting to look into some options for it. Any idea which options are the most/least EF?

CDMay2006

A permeable surface with plants that can filter residues is best.  Look for "permeable" or "pervious" like this:

jennyk213

Also look for "permeable pavers."  There are also pavers that have spaces between each one for gravel so the water filters through.  I don't know anything about this company but if you scroll toward the bottom, you'll get some other ideas of what permeable pavers look like.  http://www.uni-groupusa.org/EcoFam.htm.  I'm sure a google image search would give you ideas, too.

heliocentric

I was also going to suggest permeable pavers. I looked, but can't find the info. on the company we researched. If I find it, I'll post. The pavers themselves are made of recycled materials (tires, maybe?) and they allow water to drain through which prevents runoff. They look like the bricks, but come in different colors and can installed in a variety of configurations. I imagine they are pricey, though. (We didn't get that far into planning yet.)

Adb6283

heliocentric:

I was also going to suggest permeable pavers. I looked, but can't find the info. on the company we researched. If I find it, I'll post. The pavers themselves are made of recycled materials (tires, maybe?) and they allow water to drain through which prevents runoff. They look like the bricks, but come in different colors and can installed in a variety of configurations. I imagine they are pricey, though. (We didn't get that far into planning yet.)

I saw these on This Old House and it was so neat.  I was going to suggest this, but you beat me too it.

CDMay2006

The brick-like stuff in the photo above is pervious/permeable pavers.  The lattice pavers are another option; there they are combined, but don't have to be.

daisyterp

We have gravel, we have to stick w/ permeable because of the slope of our driveway to our house.  We are probably just going to get another truckload of gravel delivered in the spring, but might look into other gravel-like options.

While I love permeable pavers- I believe a whole drainage system needs to be installed below them (as I saw on This Old House) and we don't have the funds for that type of project anytime soon- I got a quote on having them installed below our back deck- and it was not cheap, at all, and I am afraid of DIY'ing because it seems like the sort of thing that is very labor intensive and could go wrong easily.