Green Philosophy Statement

To me green building and planning is an essential component to the continuation of human existence. Are population is too high to continue with the unsustainable practices of the past. We have already caused much damage to the earth which when combined with increasing population is a recipe for disaster. Green building and other sustainable practices must be enforced so that we can reverse these effects and protect our fragile environment. Green building and planning must be applied to residential and commercial buildings. It also must become the basis for both regional and global planning.

Cities should be designed in a green and sustainable manner. Not only does this reduce the footprint of the city and its citizens but it also makes sense in many other ways. Green cities will make more efficient use of utilities therefore reducing the size and amount of infrastructure required to support the city. Green cities promote healthier living by encouraging a more active lifestyle along with increasing the overall happiness of its citizens by having a more integrated and connected community.

Green cities should have streets that tend more to active transportation such as biking and walking than it does to personalized automobile use. This means using wide sidewalks and bike-lanes which are separated from automobile lanes. There should be a safe means of crossing the automobile lanes for pedestrians. The city should be designed with high connectivity. There should be a transit system ample enough so that personalized automobile use is not required for convenient living. Multi-use buildings should be utilized so that amenities are closer together and within walking distance for many residences. The use of big box stores and large shopping complexes with massive parking lots should be avoided. Medium and high density buildings should make up most of the residential living spaces. District heating and cooling should be employed as it is far more efficient than conventional single building heating/cooling systems. Renewable energy sources should be used to power these cities. Use of green spaces and parks should be integrated to help reduce the urban heat island effect along with reducing the amount of impervious surfaces. Existing cities should try to integrate as many of these features as possible and try promote active transportation and living.

Buildings need to be made more efficient. Green technologies and features should be integrated into building codes. The capital cost will be higher but in the long run reduced utility costs will offset this. Building code should require that all new homes use energy efficient furnaces and water fixtures. Manitoba has already implemented this into their building code (Turenne 2010). Buildings should use green roofs to help insulate buildings along with reducing storm water and the urban heat island effect. This will also help increase the vegetative mass in cities. When green roofs aren’t a viable option high-albedo roofing should be used. Buildings should also be designed to maximize day-lighting and in cool climates should incorporate passive solar heating. Warm climates should use shading techniques to assist with cooling while maintaining day-lighting. Buildings should be constructed of materials with a recycled content or else should be sourced from sustainable practices. Preference should be made for locally sourced materials.

There are many other green technologies that can be incorporated into buildings depending on funding, climate and the needs of the building and its occupants. As time progresses more green and sustainable technologies will become available and should continue to be incorporated into existing buildings when feasible. New buildings should be constructed with the highest of efficiencies that funding can support. By doing this along with moving away from a consumer based economy we should be able to preserve the environment and its resources so that future generations can prosper and enjoy a high quality of life.

References 
Turenne, P. (2010). Building code update requires eco-friendly fixtures: The Winnipeg Sun.      Retrieved from http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/manitoba/2010/10/15/15711351.html

The Story of Stuffs & The Story of Bottled Water

          The Story of Stuffs talks about the linear system that everything in our economy goes through and how this would only work if resources were infinite, which they are not. We have already consumed one third of the planets natural resource base. Also if a person doesn't “own” or buy a lot of stuff they are considered to be valueless. It also talks about the fact that as long as we are inputting toxins into the production process we are going to continue getting toxic products. Another words we need to come up with non-toxic alternatives for production. Due to bio-magnification human breast milk has the highest levels of toxins out of anything else in the food chain. This means that are babies are being raised with already high levels of toxins which are just going to get higher as they consume more toxins. This effect will continue to compound in future generations. Also talked about is how costs are externalized and we don’t pay the true price for products but instead pay for it in some other way or indirectly make someone else pay the price.

            The Story of Bottled Water talks about bottled water and how it is not as clean as it is advertised to be, sometimes it is worse quality than tap water. Also talked about is the amount of energy and oil resources that go into the production of the bottles, which then get shipped around the world. After we drink the water the empty water bottles that are supposed to be recycled usually get shipped off to somewhere where they get either down-cycled or simply piled up to sit for thousands of years.

            I couldn't agree more on how this system of designing stuff to break and be throw-away is bullshit. Same with the pressure put on us to buy new "updated" versions. 

Videos found at http://storyofstuff.org/movies/ 

Reflection

    I have enjoyed this course and have learned many valuable things. Throughout this semester I have learned to analyze how and why I do things, along with consider if it is the efficient and most eco friendly way I can be doing things. I have learned that caring for the environment is much more than just  the physical aspects. It also means considering how we interact with each other and ensuring everyone has equal rights and opportunities. It is also about how we view ourselves in respect to the physical environment. This course has raised my interest in environmental studies and I look forward to taking more enviro courses.

Carl Honore: In praise of slowness summary

     Carl Honore discusses in his presentation the need for us to slow down in our daily lives. When we rush and try to speed things up we become careless and we forget about the impacts of what we are doing. In the west we view time as linear, once it is gone its gone. From this is born the idea that time is money and therefore we try to find ways to speed things up and do things faster, but when we do this we often forget to enjoy ourselves and don't give others the time they deserve. This results in poor or broken relationships and a lack of communication.
     A new "slow" movement is spreading across the world. It started with the whole slow food idea, that we need to get away from fast food and return to more traditional foods which are healthier. There are now "slow" cities being built where the infrastructure is focusing on slowing down and recreational leisure sites such as parks and walkways. There is a slow sex movement which is focusing on better quality sex as opposed to "quickies". Some European country's are reducing the hours worked in a day, they are finding the productivity actually increases along with quality of life. Not everything we do needs to have a timer on it. This is not saying that for somethings slow is best, there are situations where we need speed and to do things quickly. What we need to do is find the balance and be able to shift gears depending on the situation.

Life and Death of the Salt Marsh summary

     John Teal and Mildred Teal's article is about the ecological significance of salt marshes. Salt marshes vary depending on the region upon which it is found. In the north the marshes are covered in a dense grass. The roots bind the wet mud into a firm surface. In the south the marshes are covered by only one grass which is much more separated than in the north. The roots however are developed into an intricate mass holding the squishy mud together in a layer that floats above a more liquid layer. At low tide the salt marshes is a vast field of grasses, but at high tide it becomes a floating sea of grasses where much water is visible. This environment provides a refuge for marsh animals that cannot stand submersion in salt water.
    We are destroying these marshes by dredging, filling, and building. We also destroy them indirectly via pollution. We need to implement a method of preserving these marshes which includes safeguards against increased pressures for further development due to our ever increasing population.

Environmental Justice for All summary

    Robert D. Bullard's article is about environmental discrimination against racial minorities and the poor. In 1991 the idea of what "the environment" is was broadened to include where we live, work, play, worship, and go to school, along with the prior understanding of it to be the physical and natural world. Since the early 1920's through to 1978, over 80 percent of Houston's landfills and incinerators have been located in or close to Black neighbourhoods, thus exposing them to many harmful substances. Similar discrimination's against the Black community have been made all across the nation, weather it be dumping of oil laced with toxic PCBs along roadways, or hazardous waste landfills these are all predominantly located in or along Black communities, even though Blacks make up only 20 percent of the region's population. In 1996 after five years of organizing, the EPA was finally convinced to relocate 358 Pensacola, Florida. families dioxin dump, thus marking the first time a Black community was relocated under the federal government's giant Superfund program.

Our Stolen Future summary

    Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers article discusses the disruptive developmental effects of environmental hormone mimics. The process by which chemicals are tested on animals with high dosses to determine potential health concerns has been questioned by many. As it is commonly argued "mice are not people", while this may apply to testing for carcinogens where scientist have an incomplete understanding of the mechanisms that induce cancer, it can`t be said for testing of synthetic hormone mimics because scientists have a very good grasp on the mechanisms and actions of hormones. It has also been discovered that in most cases of testing for hormone and endocrine disruptors an extremely high dose causes less damage than lower doses. This adds a further complication to determining whether a synthetic chemical is dangerous or not.

Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment summary

     Sandra Steingraber discusses in her article the need for further research on environmental factors in cancer incidences. She discuses how she has cancer and so does many members of her adoption family, however her biological family doesn't have history of cancer in it. This is proof that cancer is inherited  from the environment as opposed to being passed down through family genes. She also discusses the process by which cancer forms. Also discussed is the various substances that are known to cause cancer, however what is not known is how these substances behave when they are combined. Unfortunately most cancer research is focused on inherited cancers which make up only about 10 percent of known cancers. Cancer research needs to focus more on environmental factors that are causing cancer. We need to take on the approach of not using toxic substances unless their is no other way of accomplishing the task.