After the premiere of the Fashion episode from Big Ideas for A Small Planet’s second season, there was one other episode that I really wanted to see - Grow. Having gone from the farmland of rural Indiana to the urban concrete of San Francisco, my appreciation for every square foot of green space has skyrocketed over the years.

Just what inside perspectives could the Sundance folks give on taking seedlings to the next level? From the Sundance Channel’s website: This episode looks at new green spaces in cities and suburbs. As urban populations swell, creative environmentalists are scouting surprising spots for vegetation amidst the cement. Elsewhere, suburbanites are introducing environmental consciousness to their lawns and gardens.

Unlike the Fashion episode from BIFASP’s first season, I did not see the Grow episode the first time around. I’m not able to compare which Grow episode is “better”, but I can say that season two’s coverage on the aspects and importance of growing plants is engaging. Premiering next Tuesday, May 20th at 9pm EST and PST, the 25-minute installment focuses on three topics: green roofs, xeriscaping and instant parks. Features within these segments is Jorg Breuning, Founder of Green Roof Service LLC; Marjora Carter, Executive Director of Sustainable South Bronx; Vynnie McDaniels, Xeriscape Garden Consultant; Andy Lipkis, Founder of Tree People and the infamous Dr. David Sukuzi, Geneticist & Author.

The overarching concept of the episode is encapsulated in two simple sentences at the beginning: Plants nourish the air and filter our water, yet green spaces are endangered all over the planet. Can be imagine growing a greener world? The obvious answer to this question is a resounding, “HELL YES!” No matter how much we talk about eco-fashion, beauty, food or transportation, plants are at the heart of what makes this planet green in the first place. Seems a bit oxymoronic how we have charted progress by how many building we erect instead of how much green space we embrace.

Discussion on green roofs takes up the bulk up the episode and it is easy to see why. “Considering 20% of New York City’s area is rooftop, imagine if it were actually green. Imagine the storm water benefits, imagine the air cleansing benefits of all that greenery,” says Majora Carter, who is planting the first ever resident green roof in NYC on her brownstone in the Bronx. “I want a green roof on my building because, as an environmental activist, it is really important to me to practice what I preach and to show that this kind of sustainable building technology is something that we should be doing.”

With benefits from reduced heating bills and decreased water run-off to support for all types of birds and tripling the life of roof materials, green roofs are one of the biggest sustainable construction concepts of the last 100 years. As expected, Europe has been embracing the concept of planted roofs for years - 15% of all flat roofs in Germany are green, which is enough to cover every roof in New York City almost three times.

An important concept for suburban homeowners, xeriscaping could help save millions of gallons of water used on traditional lawns each year. Never heard of xeriscaping? Don’t fret - I just learned about it two years ago myself. In a nutshell, xeriscaping is focused on reducing the amount of extra water needed to maintain a landscape (minus expected raining). This is accomplished by using plants tolerant of the local climate and overall drought-tolerant plants, such as agave, cactus, lavender, juniper and more. Drip irrigation systems, which slowly release water directly to underground roots, is also a key element of xeriscaping, which uses 50% less water than sprinkler systems.

If xeriscaping is the future of suburban landscaping, then instant parks are the quick-fix way of getting people’s attention in urban areas. Popularized by National PARK(ing) Day, instant parks are just what they sound like - for one day, parking spots in cities all over the world are transformed by volunteers into public parks. Access to parks has been shown to reduce crime rates, obesity rates and stress levels, according to the Grow episode and I don’t think anyone would argue with that. “We’ve made cities very hospitable for buildings and sidewalks and roads, but very inhospitable for trees,”says David Suzuki. With the attention-grabbing actions of National PARK(ing) Day, coming up again on September 19th, green of all kinds will start to make a comeback in the urban jungle.

Hands down - grab a trowel and the remote for this must-see episode. If you don’t have cable, you can download the episode via iTunes, so make sure to get your hands dirty with this one.

[Image courtesy of the Sundance Channel]