The Greening of Detroit: Working to Create Healthy Urban Communities Through Trees, Education, and Jobs

Kim Kisner
May 21, 2024
Community

Established in 1989, The Greening of Detroit is a nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire sustainable growth of a healthy urban community through trees, green spaces, healthy living, education, and job opportunities.

To date, it has planted 147,000 trees and trained more than 1,000 people through its five-year-old workforce development program.

Putting trees in the ground is job one for the organization, but it also is involved in stormwater management and providing landscaping services to residents and businesses in the communities they serve.

President Lionel Bradford has been with the nonprofit since 2010 and is proud of its 35-year history. SBN Detroit interviewed Bradford about the organization’s programs, impact, and future.

Q: What was the impetus to begin The Greening of Detroit?

A: For years Detroit was known as the Paris of the Midwest, partly because of the tree canopy cover the city used to have. Between 1950 and 1980 Detroit lost over a half million trees due to Dutch Elm Disease, urbanization, and neglect due to financial struggles. In 1989, The Greening of Detroit was founded to reforest the city of Detroit.

Since its inception, 147,000 trees have been planted throughout the city. We also started a youth employment program as a way to educate and take care of these trees. Our Green Corps Summer Youth program at its height employed 200 high school students. That number decreased due to COVID-19, but it’s coming back up.

In a nutshell, our organization has two main pillars: workforce development and green infrastructure.

Q: What are you currently working on in terms of tree planting?

A: We are in the third year of a five-year strategic plan where we are looking to plant 20,000 trees throughout Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park, and train 300 individuals who have barriers to employment.

This plan fits into a larger initiative we are involved in called the Detroit Tree Equity Partnership. This is a collaboration with American Forest, DTE Energy, and the City of Detroit in which we are planning to plant 75,000 trees over the next five years.

There is a buzz in the city right now in terms of trees. We’ve done a lot of engagement and outreach. Recently we conducted a 500-tree giveaway, and there were still cars lined up after we gave away the last tree. It’s great to see this.

Q: What is your involvement with the Walter Meyers Nursery?

A: Walter Meyers is a tree nursery on 72 acres in Rouge Park that for years went untouched. In 2004, The Greening of Detroit – with the city’s permission – took over managing that property to serve as a training ground for our adult workforce development. We have used it as an outdoor classroom setting.

In 2017, we put together a master plan to turn it back into a working nursery operation. As an organization, we are looking for ways to generate revenue for our training programs and to plant our trees. We want to control our destiny and cut down the carbon footprint involved in having trees shipped in.

We have planted over 4,000 trees in the nursery and harvested our first 200 trees last year.

The goal is to get to a point where we are selling 5,000 trees annually to municipalities, the City of Detroit, and the community.

Q: What sustainable impact do you think this brings?

A: In addition to creating green infrastructure in the city, community engagement is at the heart of what we do. Our job is to get trees in the ground, but we do not want to impose our will. We want to be invited into communities. Not only do we want residents to have a say, but we also want them to be a part of the work. This is a model that speaks volumes in terms of sustainability, and it’s held up across the state and the country.

Q: How does The Greening of Detroit impact businesses?

A: We engage and work with business owners in the communities we are involved in. Many of them bring us in to green their properties.

The more green space we can add for businesses, the more it helps aesthetics and foot traffic. Green space and economic development go hand in hand.

Also, from an economic standpoint, our education program puts people into jobs doing work around the city, which enhances the economic viability of Detroit as well.

GC Citizens Bank 3 — TRAINING VOLUNTEERS

Q: In what other ways does the organization create green infrastructure in the city?

A: Stormwater management. We have installed three major bioretention ponds around the city that hold up to a million gallons of water. These are in Rouge Park, Chandler Park, and Eliza Howell Parks. We also work with residents and businesses to replace impervious surfaces with green infrastructure through our Land + Water WORKS Coalition.

Q: You have an adult workforce program from which over 1,000 Detroiters have graduated in the past five years. How does this work?

A: This is a six-week program called the Detroit Conservation Corps. Sixty percent of those who have graduated were previously incarcerated. We are passionate about helping that population get credentials and secure jobs that pay decent wages.

We work with a network of businesses looking to employ, most from the tree care and landscaping industries. These companies work in tandem with our advisory committee to help us build our curriculum and help with job placement. We have hired a small percentage of our trainees ourselves.

Q: What is the future of The Greening of Detroit?

A: Community engagement will always be a focus. We also are rebuilding our environmental education. These programs fell by the wayside before and during COVID-19, but we are working to get into schools, facilitate field trips, and educate our youth.

We truly believe that getting the Meyers Nursery operations up and running is key for us moving forward. It will be important for us to generate our revenue.

I’m proud we’ve been able to sustain the organization for 35 years. I feel good about the climate of the city in terms of how people feel about trees and think things will continue to get better from here.

Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates on sustainable business practices in and around Detroit.

Kim Kisner

With over 25 years of experience in the development and execution of strategic branding, content planning, and copywriting for brands such as Gatorade, Ford Motor Company, and Under Armour, and published by SEEN Magazine, The Jewish News, and countless health and lifestyle journals and blogs, Kim helps companies, brands, and people tell their stories.

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Detroit Entrepreneur Builds Eco-Conscious Candle Brand

February 24, 2026 No Comments

Unique Monique Scented Candles, a Detroit-based business founded by Monique Bounds., aims to produce candles and household products with clean ingredients and local supply chains. What began as a personal hobby during college has evolved into a full-time venture producing coconut oil and soy-based candles made with essential oils and locally sourced materials. SBN Detroit interviewed Bounds about launching a sustainable product line, sourcing challenges in Michigan, and how small manufacturers are navigating the growing demand for eco-conscious home goods. Q: Tell us how Unique Monique began and what motivated you to turn candle-making into a business. A: I started making candles about five or six years ago. It began as a hobby – something calming and creative that helped me manage stress while balancing college classes I was taking and work. I shared them with friends and family, and the response was positive. As I continued experimenting, I began taking business mentoring classes. 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Eastern Market Expands Investment in Local Growers

February 17, 2026 No Comments

Eastern Market Partnership, in collaboration with the City of Detroit’s Office of Sustainability Urban Agriculture Division, has announced $240,000 in grant funding to support Detroit-based farmers and farmer collectives. The grants will advance food access, climate education, sustainable land use, and economic opportunity, with priority given to Black- and Indigenous-led farms, youth-led initiatives, and projects rooted in historically disinvested neighborhoods. The recipients – ranging from cooperatives and community gardens to individual urban farms – were selected through a competitive request for proposals process. The funding builds on Eastern Market’s broader efforts to strengthen Detroit’s local food ecosystem, including expanded purchasing programs for urban growers, wholesale distribution improvements, and ongoing infrastructure investments such as the redevelopment of Shed 7. 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Building More Sustainable Homes Through Automation

February 10, 2026 No Comments

Citizen Robotics is a Detroit-based nonprofit that advances the use of robotics and digital manufacturing in residential construction, focusing on improving productivity, sustainability, and long-term affordability. Best known for its early work in 3D-printed housing, it explores how alternative construction methods and new financial models can reduce material waste, lower lifetime operating costs, and enhance the resilience of homes. SBN Detroit interviewed Tom Woodman, founder and president of Citizen Robotics, about why housing has lagged behind other industries in adopting new technologies, the structural barriers facing innovative construction methods, and what it would take for models like 3D-printed housing to move from experimentation to scale. Q: Tell me about Citizen Robotics and the impetus behind it. A: The homebuilding industry largely missed the digital revolution. 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Michigan has the ingredients to become a proving ground for innovative and more sustainable construction, from advanced manufacturing expertise to policy interest in sustainability. The challenge is unlocking the first wave of projects. Q: What needs to change for innovative housing models to become permanent? A: We need financing structures that optimize for total cost of ownership, not just upfront cost. Philanthropy can play a role in de-risking early projects and funding workforce development. Policy matters too. Zoning reform, incentives for net-zero housing, and support for local job creation all help create space for innovation. With the right mix of public, private, and philanthropic investment, we can keep jobs local, improve housing quality, and move toward a more sustainable construction system. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates on sustainable business practices in and around Detroit.

Rethinking Hydrogen Production

February 4, 2026 No Comments

Detroit-based OneSix Energy is a clean-energy technology company focused on advancing a lower-carbon approach to hydrogen production. Headquartered at Newlab in Detroit, the startup is developing a proprietary methane pyrolysis system designed to produce hydrogen without carbon dioxide emissions, while also generating solid carbon as a co-product. SBN Detroit interviewed with cofounder Stefan Sysko about the company’s origins, its approach to hydrogen production, and why Detroit is positioned to play a leading role in the next phase of the energy transition. Q: Can you give us the elevator version of OneSix Energy — how it got started, the impetus behind it, and the approach you’re taking to hydrogen production? A: OneSix Energy really began with my co-founder, Dan Darga, who back in 2002 was working at General Motors. He read about the hydrogen economy and immediately knew he wanted to be part of it. He transferred to GM’s fuel cell division in upstate New York, then later worked for a solid oxide fuel cell company. While there, he kept running into the same problem: carbon buildup clogging systems. His perspective was that we were fighting nature instead of working with it. That led him to start thinking differently about surfaces, materials, and how carbon behaves. Dan eventually left to work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he learned how to take ideas from concept to deployment in extreme, real-world conditions. He combined these two experiences, refined them, and approached me. I’ve been a lifelong entrepreneur, and I felt I had one more startup in me — one that could genuinely address a major global challenge. We incorporated OneSix Energy nearly two years ago, bootstrapped the initial design and modeling, filed a patent that’s now pending, raised a friends-and-family round, built and independently tested a prototype, and are now moving toward a pilot phase. 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A: Right now, the industry is stuck between options that are either cheap and dirty or clean and expensive. What’s changing is the recognition that we need new pathways — not just incremental improvements. Innovations in materials science, reactor design, and system efficiency are making approaches like methane pyrolysis viable at scale. The key is eliminating emissions without introducing new resource constraints. Q: Where do you see the earliest and most impactful applications for clean hydrogen? A: Two areas stand out immediately: data centers and shipping ports. Ports face increasing regulatory pressure because of emissions from ships idling while docked. Hydrogen-powered equipment and shore power could significantly reduce pollution while keeping operations moving. We also see opportunities in power generation for buildings, factories, and industrial facilities. Long-term, hydrogen fuel for heavy-duty transportation — Class 8 trucks, for example — is very compelling. Electrifying those vehicles requires massive and expensive batteries that reduce payload capacity. Hydrogen avoids that issue. Q: Why build a clean-energy technology company in Detroit? A: Detroit put the world on wheels. There’s no reason it shouldn’t lead the energy transformation. We’re at Newlab, surrounded by engineers, manufacturers, and people who understand how to scale physical systems. Detroit is a perfect microcosm — a place where you could demonstrate how an entire city transitions to clean energy. Plus, I was born and raised in the city, so it’s home to me. Q: What misconceptions do you encounter most often about hydrogen? A: The first is safety. People immediately think of the Hindenburg. But hydrogen is actually lighter than air and dissipates quickly, whereas gasoline fumes stay low and linger. When you look at safety data, hydrogen performs very well compared to other fuels. The Hindenburg taught us the hard way that we need to develop unique handling procedures for hydrogen – and we have. Q: What should Michiganders understand about hydrogen’s role in a sustainable energy future? A: Michigan potentially has significant natural hydrogen resources, which should be explored. But we need to remember that it will likely be years, if not decades, before that becomes viable, We also have the Great Lakes — which must be protected. If all hydrogen today were produced via electrolysis, the water consumed would be equivalent to Lake St. Clair

Inside Michigan’s Environmental Justice Landscape

January 29, 2026 No Comments

Regina Strong serves as Michigan’s first Environmental Justice Public Advocate, leading the state’s Office of the Environmental Justice Public Advocate. Her role focuses on addressing environmental justice concerns raised by communities, helping residents navigate environmental systems, and working across state agencies to improve equity in environmental decision-making. SBN Detroit interviewed Strong about the challenges communities are facing across Michigan and what environmental justice work looks like in practice. Q: As Environmental Justice Public Advocate, what does your work look like day to day? A: There really is no typical day. This role was created to address environmental justice concerns and complaints, to advocate for equity, and to help communities navigate systems that can feel opaque or inaccessible. That can mean many things. 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Whether people live in dense urban neighborhoods, suburban communities, or rural areas, we consistently hear concerns about water – lead service lines, contaminated wells in rural areas, and flooding. Air quality is another major issue, especially near industrial corridors or transportation infrastructure. In more densely populated areas, concerns often cluster around industry, waste facilities, landfills, and cumulative air pollution. In rural areas, it may be wells, septic systems, or access to clean drinking water. Across all regions, energy burden comes up frequently, particularly during winter months, when households are forced to spend a disproportionate share of income on utilities. Climate change is amplifying many of these issues. Flooding, power outages, and extreme weather events are becoming more common, and their impacts are not evenly distributed. The underlying issues may differ by location, but the throughline is vulnerability tied to infrastructure, income, and exposure. Q: What are the hardest gaps to close when translating community concerns into action? A: One of the biggest challenges is that environmental justice issues rarely fall under a single authority. A concern may involve state permitting, local zoning, county health departments, and federal regulations all at once. Our office often helps communities navigate those layers. From an environmental justice perspective, equitable access to decision-making is critical. We work to ensure voices are heard, especially in communities that have historically been underserved. We do a lot of resilience planning in – for example – the 48217 ZIP code (Southwest Detroit) in the heart of a very dense industrial corridor. We also work with communities near hazardous waste facilities and communities with drinking water concerns. Many of these challenges have deep historical roots. Our role is often about helping communities access resources, understand processes, and advocate effectively while acknowledging that solutions are rarely immediate, yet possible. Q: To that end, how does history complicate environmental justice work today? A: History matters a great deal. Many environmental regulations around air and water are set at the federal level and applied category by category. Communities, however, experience impacts cumulatively – air, water, land use, and health intersecting in daily life. That mismatch creates tension. Residents want holistic solutions, but regulatory frameworks don’t always account for cumulative impacts. Before the Clean Air Act and Safe Drinking Water Act, people lived near industrial facilities for decades – and still do. Laws have improved, but legacy exposure and infrastructure decisions remain. Balancing regulatory constraints with community realities is one of the most complex aspects of this work. Q: What structural or systemic barriers are hardest to change? A: Policy is often written within narrow frameworks that don’t always center people’s lived experiences. That’s a persistent barrier. Another is data – how it’s collected, interpreted, and applied. MI EJ Screen, the state’s environmental justice screening tool is designed to help address that gap. It looks at environmental conditions, demographics, and health indicators together, creating a shared reference point for communities, government, and industry. The first version was launched in 2024, and expanding its usability is a priority because shared data helps align conversations and advocacy. Understanding how existing laws interact and where they fall short remains both a challenge and an opportunity. Q: How has your background in clean energy advocacy and community development shaped your approach? A: Where you live often determines the challenges you face. Working in community development and later in clean energy made that clear. Lower-income communities and communities of color are more likely to experience environmental burdens, often due to proximity to industry or aging infrastructure. That perspective informs everything I do. Some issues can be addressed through regulation, but others require working directly with communities to improve daily quality of life. Our Environmental Justice Impact Grant Program is one example – 43 grants statewide, including many in Detroit, supporting grassroots organizations, schools and communities addressing local concerns. This office sits outside of regulatory enforcement, which allows us to take a broader, more human-centered view. Q: How do you think about progress for residents living with impacts right now? A: Progress can look small but be very meaningful. Having a dedicated office focused on environmental justice is progress. Having tools that didn’t exist before is progress. If progress means a senior is no longer dealing with basement flooding because they received support for a sump pump, that matters. We have to focus on both micro-level quality-of-life improvements and

Building the Next Generation of Urban Infrastructure

January 21, 2026 No Comments

Founded in 1965, Gensler is a global architecture and design firm working across sectors including urban development, commercial real estate, and civic infrastructure. SBN Detroit sat down with Najahyia Chinchilla, senior associate and sustainability consultant, to discuss mass timber, embodied carbon, and what sustainable construction means for Southeast Michigan. Q: Why is wood re-emerging right now as a serious option for large-scale, urban construction? A: Mass timber blends strength, sustainability, and design quality in ways few materials can. Wood has been used for centuries, but today’s engineered timber products – CLT, glulam, DLT, and NLT – bring a new level of precision, consistency, and performance that aligns with modern building requirements, including strict quality control and predictable fire resistance. Another driver is the industry’s increasing focus on reducing embodied carbon. Compared to steel and concrete structural systems, mass timber can significantly lower a project’s carbon footprint. At the same time, sustainably managed forests contribute to carbon sequestration and biodiversity, while modern processing methods reduce waste. Wood’s lighter weight also cuts fuel use and emissions during transportation, particularly when sourced regionally. From a delivery standpoint, mass timber offers compelling schedule advantages. Prefabricated components, lighter assemblies, and the ability to sequence work in parallel can meaningfully shorten construction timelines, an increasingly important factor for clients who need projects delivered quickly and efficiently. Q: Detroit and the Midwest have long been defined by steel, concrete, and manufacturing. How does mass timber challenge or complement that legacy? A: Mass timber is highly complementary. Michigan was once the nation’s top lumber producer, giving the region a timber legacy that predates its steel and concrete era. At Gensler, we’re designing hybrid systems, such as Fifth + Tillery in Austin, that combine timber and steel to modernize existing structures. For each project, we partner with clients, engineers, and contractors to select the right system based on performance, sustainability goals, schedule, and budget. As mass timber gains momentum for its lower embodied carbon, it is also prompting steel and concrete industries to innovate and compete. Q: How do projects like the tall timber work featured at the MSU Tall Timber exhibit help shift conversations about what sustainable urban buildings can look like? The MSU Tall Timber exhibit, at Chrysler House (open until March, 2026), is a great way to broaden the conversation across the design and construction industries, real-estate community, property owners and the public on what is possible. The exhibit includes Gensler’s Proto-Model X project for Sidewalk Labs and mass timber projects from across the state. The curation team is also doing a great job of hosting events and panels that give project teams a chance to talk about projects and lessons learned. In legacy industrial cities, where we have a strong existing building inventory, we have a responsibility to preserve and repurpose our buildings. Nothing is more sustainable than reutilizing buildings and reducing waste, as seen with the Book Depository building in Corktown. For new buildings, we also have a responsibility to build for the future and make the best choices that we can with the materials at our disposal. Mass Timber is a responsible option and should always be considered. Q: Beyond sustainability, what design or human-scale qualities does mass timber introduce that more conventional materials often don’t? A: Wood brings a natural warmth and biophilic quality that supports wellbeing – lowering stress, improving cognitive function, and creating spaces that feel welcoming and calm. Exposing the structure adds authenticity and makes the architecture legible, helping people feel more grounded in the space. Q: What makes Michigan uniquely positioned to lead in mass timber and low-carbon construction? At the MSU Michigan Mass Timber Update in December, I was able to see the strength of the Michigan mass timber community coming together. The institutional leadership from Michigan State University and their director, Sandra Lupien, is positioning Michigan’s mass timber capabilities on a global level. Connections are being established across the market from – architects, structural engineers, MI EGLE, code officials, business and economic development associations, workforce training leaders to contractors and suppliers. Q: How could mass timber and life cycle thinking influence redevelopment in cities like Detroit, where adaptive reuse and reinvestment are central to the urban story? A: Detroit has led in adaptive reuse for over 25 years, proving that reinvesting in existing buildings delivers cultural, social, economic, and environmental value. Mass timber and lifecycle thinking are the next steps, offering lower carbon pathways as the city continues to grow. To make informed decisions, architects and clients need a full understanding of a material’s life cycle, from extraction and manufacturing to reuse and end of life. This is why circular economy thinking is so critical to future development. At Gensler, our Gensler Product Sustainability (GPS) Standards help guide this process by providing clear, industry-aligned criteria that accelerate the adoption of lower carbon materials in collaboration with the Common Materials Framework. Q: In a region shaped by reinvention, how do you see sustainable materials and measurement tools contributing to the next chapter of Detroit’s built environment? A: Detroit and Michigan have always thrived on reinvention. That same spirit of creativity positions the region to lead in the next wave of sustainable development. Our climate challenges, paired with the natural and industrial resources already here, create an ideal environment for adopting materials and strategies that will help Michigan thrive through future change. The growing investment in next-generation technologies is especially exciting. As industries across the state push toward innovation, there’s real potential for that momentum to drive broader adoption of low carbon materials, mass timber, and performance-based design tools. If we want to attract new residents, businesses, and industries, we need to shape buildings and public spaces that reflect where Detroit is going – healthy, efficient, resilient, and future focused. Q: As sustainability expectations continue to rise, what do you think will separate projects that genuinely reduce impact from those that simply meet minimum standards? Minimum standards are steadily improving as energy codes tighten and reduce allowable energy use, which means operational carbon is no longer the primary differentiator. What will set truly impactful projects apart is a commitment to addressing embodied carbon as well. Conducting Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) early in design gives clients and teams a clear baseline and empowers them to make more informed material choices. Projects that are serious about reducing their overall footprint will also look beyond efficiency to incorporate clean energy—whether by purchasing renewables from their utility or integrating onsite solutions. Michigan is particularly well-suited for ground source heat pumps, with stable underground temperatures that perform reliably through freezing winters and hot summers, and a strong network of engineers and installers who understand the technology. In short, the leaders will be the teams that measure comprehensively, design holistically, and pair low carbon materials