The Neighborhoods of Tomorrow

Every day in class a few students are given the opportunity to "show and tell" something they found interesting in the world of Urban Planning. On Tuesday one of our classmates shared the following video about an apartment building remodeled:

I was extremely impressed by the drastic change and feel this apartment building had, and all they did was enhance what already existed. They didn't tare the building down, they envisioned what it could be.

For this post we were asked to compare the housing and neighborhood where we live to those described in the reading and in this video and the video at the bottom of this post. I put the other video at the bottom of the post because the narrator is horrific, and background music makes me want to vomit therefore making it hard to watch. Despite his voice and the music there are some cool examples of what we could do here in Orem, Utah.

In that video it states that "Freiburg is...a window to the future," and it is because they use solar energy and have built their city to be strongly oriented towards "walking, bicycling, and public transport, with car-free areas and high levels of accessibility for people of all ages."

The streets are clean and the buildings are colorful, attractive, detailed, and made efficiently. The city looks as though nature is there with dots of civilization, instead of Orem's civilization with dots of nature.

Before I get into the topic of the post, and answer the question we were asked to answer (Are you satisfied with the way the buildings and neighborhoods that engage your life, fill your spirit, preserve your wallet, and allow you to sit more lightly on Earth?) I wanted to share some of my observations, and I guess in sharing them I will be answering the question and getting right to the topic.

In the link that was shared with us WorldHabitatAwards.org it states that Freiburg "is a compact city with car-lite systems, and seeks to be a city of short distances."

In the spring, summer, and fall I bike all over Orem, which is 18.3 square miles, and never feels like a city of short distances, in a car on foot or on a bike. Freiburg, which is 59.1 square miles three times the size of Orem is. Both cities receive massive amounts of sunlight and have a massive road leading through them, but that is where the similarities end.

Orem's population is less than a fifth of the amount of Freiburg, and is built to be a car-heavy system.

"Two-thirds of Freiburg’s land area is devoted to green uses. Just 32% is used for urban development, including all transportation. Forests take up 42%, while 27% of land is used for agriculture, recreation, water protection, etc. 

Freiburg made the saving of resources the most vital factor for all future planning which included the clear prioritization of public transport over individual traffic and goals to reduce energy consumption of buildings and realize future planning areas through self-financing schemes. 

Freiburg’s success owes much to its democratic strength. Three key factors are direct citizen participation, dynamic planning, and consensus."

This all stemmed from Freiburg coming to a giant crossroads of rebuilding. Orem is currently in that phase, and more than ever needs help on those three key factors, citizen participation being the most lacking despite Orem's history of planning.

I am not satisfied with how Orem is developed, and am participating in trying to reshape it. The consensus of Orem residents is they are too busy to care about what is happening around them leaving me one of the few to try and push for this redevelopment to be geared around efficiency of transportation and energy, and addition of green spaces and good methods of pedestrian, bike, and public transportation.

Street sweepers come fairly regularly to wash our streets of the oil, and garbage that stain them. The streets of Freiburg are pristine because the people take care of them. We in Orem seem to want to have that work done by others. We want it "washed away" from us so we don't have to deal with it. House are inefficient and UGLY for the most part, boxy and boring to look at. Lack of easily accessible green space is a huge problem and the smoke cloud that Orem alone causes due to high car traffic could create bad enough inversion to block our view of the mountains and sun.

I would love to bike all year around by streets are plowed of snow onto the sidewalks making it even more difficult. Hills make it almost impossible to cross the line that runs north through Orem at about 800 West, and cars dominate our paths making it dangerous for bikers. Do I want change? Oh course, this city could drastically use designers like those in the video above to remake its buildings to be more attractive and drastically more efficient.

Where do you or I start? Here: CityofOrem.MindMixer.com

Environmental Policy Alliance

The other day in our Green Communities class we had the privilege to watch the video below (Breaking up with fossil fuels is hard to do). It is both eye opening and comical. Eye opening because I didn't realize the extent of the amount of fossil fuels we are using, and this video helped me realize how quickly we are burning it up.

For those of you not familiar with the battle between renewable energy and fossil fuels let me briefly explain it. Lets say you work on a fixed income, meaning every month you make x. You can technically spend more than x, because of credit. Is it smart? Definitely not, because eventually it will catch up to you. That said fixed income is like fossil fuels, because we aren't going to get anymore, and we are using it up faster than the Earth can produce it. Renewable energy is exactly what the name implies...it renews itself. Examples of this type of energy are wind, water, sun, etc. Wind doesn't run out and when we use it we don't reduce its availability.

The video was put out by the Environmental Policy Alliance, implying that they actually care for the environment and that they are a good company. Going to their website you would be confused as well to what they actually do. After reading through the site, they spin everything to make it look like the "Big Green Radicals" are evil and in all this for profit.

"Big Green Radicals, have become big business. With the top organizations bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars...These groups have huge influence and are among the most powerful lobbyists in Washington. Their main goal is to use regulations, lawsuits, and congress to fundamentally shift how society and our economy work."

This is funny, because after doing some research I verified that the BIGGEST lobbyists in Washington are companies in the transportation, housing, defense, cell phones, medical, tobacco, and entertainment industries as you see above.

Let me clarify what he said in the video because it is tricky:

• Big Green Radicals have become big business - If a big business is one that brings in 11 Million - 100 Million that what does that make Exxon Mobil a company that made a profit of 32.5 Billion dollars and lobbied 208 Million dollars, that is more than all of the Big Green Radicals (who brought in not profited the amounts listed in the video) combined.
• With the top organizations bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars - One company outside of the ones listed here brought in over 100 million dollars, which would make the two companies bringing in, yes you guessed it 200 million dollars. Because it is two hundred it is now plural, and therefore not a stretch of the truth to say the top companies brought in hundreds of millions of dollars.
• These groups have huge influence and are among the most powerful lobbyists in Washington - They have huge influence because they back their information with research, and they are among the most powerful lobbyists in Washington, because all the fossil fuels lobbyists are there. Literately they are among them, that is what you would say about anyone who is in a general group. They aren't the most powerful lobbyists, but are hopefully becoming them because of their facts.
• Their main goal is to use regulations, lawsuits, and congress to fundamentally shift how society and our economy work - Isn't this exactly what the fossil fuel companies already did? Why would they be angry that green companies are doing the same finally?

Here is the ridiculous video that I mentioned at the beginning of the post:

Breaking up with fossil fuels is hard to do, because those companies don't want to spend money to adapt, and have the real power in Washington. They make it seem like we have no other alternative, but not only do we have a huge list of alternatives to everything mentioned in this video they are cheaper, more environmentally sound, and safer for those who create the products. I don't want to sound like a "Big Green Radical" but you can do the research yourself and see how ridiculous this company is.

Biophilic Cities

Today we were asked to reflect on our observations of how an attention to biophilic places can be part of a restorative urbanism.

For most of us this is probably a little if not a lot Greek, so I decided to explain all the terms used here before I actually reflect on my observations.

"Biophilia is a term popularized by Harvard University myrmecologist and conservationist E.O. Wilson to describe the extent to which humans are hard-wired to need connection with nature and other forms of life. More specifically, Wilson describes it this way: 'Biophilia…is the innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms. Innate means hereditary and hence part of ultimate human nature.' (Wilson, 1993, p.31). To Wilson biophia is really a 'complex of learning rules' developed over thousands of years of evolution and human-environment interaction."

From that definition a biophilic place, is a place where nature is more prevalent apparent or visible. Now that you know the first part of the above sentence I will focus on restorative urbanism.

Definitions:
Restorative - "having the ability to restore health, strength, or a feeling of well-being."
Urbanism - "the lifestyle of city dwellers."

So a definition for restorative urbanism could be as follows...

Restorative Urbanism - having the ability to restore health, strength, or a feeling of well-being to the lifestyle of city dwellers.

The foundation of what these terms mean is set and we can finally respond to the topic of the post which is: to reflect on our observations of how an attention to biophilic places can be part of a restorative urbanism.

How can the attention to these places be part of restorative urbanism? Simply put plant life or nature restores health and a feeling of well-being. In a moment I am going to ask you to close your eyes, but you have to read this first. What I want you to do is imagine yourself sitting in a field. The sun is shining and there is a gentle breeze. You can hear the faint rustle of leaves and birds chirping. The grass is warm and soft as you lay down and let your skin soak up the sun. Now close your eyes. (Because your eyes will be closed, imagine this for a few minutes then open them and read the rest.)
...
...
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How do you feel? I felt relaxed and calm. I felt at ease and the cares of the world even for a brief moment floated away. The same will happen on the beach, in the mountains, in warm midwestern rain storms, etc. This is an example of biophilia, so if we were to take these types of things and integrate them into our urban spaces how could those urban spaces change for you?

Just think of the DMV, and add plants, an indoor garden, and an aviary. Now how does one of the worst places on earth feel? The point of this is the disconnect we have with the real world is harming our satisfaction in our quality of life. Let us restore a higher quality of urban life by infusing it plant life or rather regrowing it. 

In closing, I wanted to add this list of concepts that help us integrate nature into everyday living:

Important Ties to Place. There are considerable place-strengthening benefits and place-commitments that derive from knowledge of local nature; from direct personal contact; enhanced knowledge, and deeper connections = greater stewardship, and willingness to take personal actions on behalf of place and home;

Connections and Connectedness. Caring for place and environment, essential for human well-being and in turn essential ingredient in caring for each other;

A Need for Wonder and Awe in Our Lives. Nature has the potential to amaze us, stimulate us, propel us forward to want to learn more and understand more fully our world; Nature adds a kind of wonder value to our lives unlike almost anything else;

Meaningful Lives Require Nature. The qualities of wonder and fascination, the ability to nurture deep personal connection and involvement, visceral engagement in something larger than and outside oneself, offer the potential for meaning in life few other things can provide;

Also here are key qualities of biophilic cities:

• Biophilic cities are cities of abundant nature in close proximity to large numbers of urbanites; biophilic cities are biodiverse cities, that value, protect and actively restore this biodiversity; biophilic cities are green and growing cities, organic and natureful;
• In biophilic cities, residents feel a deep affinity with the unique flora, fauna and fungi found there, and with the climate, topography, and other special qualities of place and environment that serve to define the urban home; In biophilic cities citizens can easily recognize common species of trees, flowers, insects and birds (and in turn care deeply about them);
• Biophilic cities are cities that provide abundant opportunities to be outside and to enjoy nature through strolling, hiking, bicycling, exploring; biophilic cities nudge us to spend more time amongst the trees, birds and sunlight.
• Biophilic cities are rich multisensory environments, the where the sounds of nature (and other sensory experiences) are as appreciated as much as the visual or ocular experience; biophilic cities celebrate natural forms, shapes, and materials;
• Biophilic cities place importance on education about nature and biodiversity, and on providing many and varied opportunities to learn about and directly experience nature; In biophilic cities there are many opportunities to join with others in learning about, enjoying, deeply connecting with, and helping to steward over nature, whether though a nature club, organized hikes, camping in city parks, or volunteering for nature restoration projects.
• Biophilic cities invest in the social and physical infrastructure that helps to bring urbanites in closer connection and understanding of nature, whether through natural history museums, wildlife centers, school-based nature initiatives, or parks and recreation programs and projects, among many others;
• Biophilic cities are globally responsible cities that recognize the importance of actions to limit the impact of resource use on nature and biodiversity beyond their urban borders; biophilic cities take steps to actively support the conservation global nature;

Found at http://biophiliccities.org/

Lynch Element Photo Examples: Ballpark Area (SLC)

In our Green Communities class we have been asked to evaluate specific and generic communities. I am currently taking a class on oral, verbal, and visual communication in urban planning as well. Our assignment today had us take pictures of the parts that make up our communities.

Kevin Lynch who studied under Frank Lloyd Wright (one of the most noted architects of all time) at Yale University came up with the idea of elements of a community or city. He called this the mental mapping of the community's citizens. The five elements of any community can be broken down as follows:

1. Paths: The streets, sidewalks, trails, and other channels in which people travel. Lynch noted that paths were often the predominant elements in people’s image with the other elements being arranged and related along paths.
2. Edges: May be barriers, more or less penetrable, which close one region off from another, or they may be seams, lines along which two regions are related and joined together.
3. Districts: Areas characterized by common characteristics, these are the medium to large areas, which observers mentally enter ‘inside of’ and/or have some common identifying character. Distinctive physical characteristics might include ‘thematic continuities’, such as texture, space, form, detail, symbol and building.
4. Nodes: The strategic spots in a city into which an observer can enter, and which are the intensive foci and from which the person is travelling.
5. Landmarks: Landmark’s key physical characteristics was singularity some aspect that is unique or memorable in the context. Some landmarks – towers, spires, hills are distant and are typically seen from many angles and from distance, over the top of smaller elements. Other landmarks – sculptures, signs and trees are primarily local being visible only in restricted localities and from certain approaches.

For our assignment today we were asked to take pictures of our assigned community and describe them. Below I have the images I took and the reason why I took them. I am not a professional photographer, but I still think the images of the Ballpark community are quite interesting:

Path Image: is of the TRAX line running past the Ballpark stop. There are a couple cool elements here: I placed the person in orange just right of center as he creates a main focal point. The TRAX line lead to a point just left of center to help balance the person in orange. The image is heavy on the right side, but is balanced because of the mountain in the back creating a line across the mid section of the image helping create a balance of the heavier right side. The contrast between the bright blue sky and the darker brown ground also creates interest.

Edge Image: is of I-15 and the rail line running beneath. 900 South crosses the rail line, and goes under the I-15 bridge. I-15 is an edge of it's own, but the rail line helps to enforce that edge. In addition to the rail line the shadow cast from I-15 also helps define the edge. (I had to wait around a while to get the picture with a train in it so the guard posts would be down as well.) Other interesting things with this photo...in the top right corner you see the bright red sign, that is there on purpose. The shadow line seems to cut the image in 1/2 leading up to that sign. Rail lines have started to make a resurgence, and Union Pacific is one of the biggest, the sign's message makes it a little comical, and again balances the image as most of the weight literally and figuratively is on the left.

District Image: I chose this image to represent the neighborhood district in the Ballpark area. Not only is this image highly typical of suburban neighborhoods, it was highly typical of the neighborhood district of this area. Again you will see the image cut in half with the sidewalk running from the bottom right corner towards the top left. The dark trees fade to the lighter sky and the snow towards the center of the image helps create additional focal points. In usual fashion this image is broken into thirds with the first third being the berm on the left, the center third being the sidewalk and the third section being the grass and houses.

Landmark Image: is of Smith's Ballpark, Home of the Bees. The Smith's Ballpark sign is the center focal point with the large entry way pillars again breaking up the image in very distinct thirds. Your eyes are first drawn to the sign then the pillars, then up toward the sky as the pillars act like giant arrows. The colors draw attention, and although simple the picture has a lot of character.

The next time you walk around your community, see if you can identify it's paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. Some places might fall into multiple categories, but it will be a fun experiment for you to try.

Cycling in Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City a City for Bikes? This was the first thing that came to mind when I thought about today's proposed topic. (We were asked to describe our observations of how a commitment to the justice of bicycle mobility may or may not be transformative in Salt Lake City. In other words how would Salt Lake City transform if we mad the walking pedestrian and the bicyclist first priority instead of the car in SLC.)

Salt Lake City is the 124th largest city in the US for population and the 66th as far as size. Portland a more walkable bikeable city is larger in size and population, so size isn't an issue. If there is a will there is a way.

The next argument I though could come up was how Salt Lake City is in the mountains and hilly. Denver, Colorado is #5 for most bikeable cities and is arguably more mountainous or at least equal to Salt Lake City.

We have a good transit systems and are ranked #22 in the nation for that, which helps us become a city primed and ready for bikes! There are some hills in the city, but there are not only ways to negate the hills, but maybe a little cardio would do us some good.

I two sister-in-laws who have three children, and I think about them when I try and imagine a city based on public transportation, walking, and biking. The thing is you have to imagine the people that will use the space you are trying to develop or plan. If you fail to take thought of all who use the space when developing a plan, your plan will most definitely fail.

I put myself in the shoes of those trying to use the space. For this example I will be in the shoes of my sister-in-laws specifically.

Grocery shopping and taking your kids around, how will that work? These are the questions that have always stumped me in the above type of design. At least I was stumped until I saw this video:

Would this work during the winter? Maybe not as well, but that is where public transportation comes in. Am I saying all of this will work today, with the culture we have? Honestly, not really because it will take a giant culture change in the US for this to become extremely successful. It is possible though. Once people see this as the cool or popular thing, that also saves them money and puts them in better health, it will still take developing the habits and the infrastructure to make it stick.

As I said before it is possible, as there are already solutions to every question one could potentially ask. Are all those solutions best suited for our needs? I think with a little creativity, community involvement and brilliant design and marketing we could make it work within the next 10 years. You might not think this realistic but I don't. Our generation has a crisis of the imagination, and it isn't because we don't have fantastic imaginations. It is because we don't use them.

In 10 years time we could make massive culture shifts, as we have already done it. 10 years ago, how many people owned cell phones or computers? Think what kind of culture shift that had. So I say again it is possible but it is going to take all of us to do it.

This kind of shift would bring economy back into balance as we wouldn't need to spend that $20K for a car, then spend another $1K - $2K on gas and oil changes per year. That isn't even taking into account tires, windshields, and other things that go wrong with the car. Talk about a lot of unneeded debt!

If it was not only safe to ride bikes and walk people could use the money to improve their homes, have a change of clothes, and for some...eat. This would drastically bring our social circles closer together and help to rid our country of the horrid economic gap we now experience. Imagine cycling in Salt Lake City, it's not out of our grasp!

Dumb Design: Mobility

In class Tuesday we discussed the things we saw in our surrounding environment that we thought had a dumb design; and collaborated on how we would fix those issues. Then we were assigned to write again about dumb design, except this time dumb design in mobility.

On my way home from school, I was sitting on the TRAX train and saw the accordion space between the two trains. On one side of the accordion section was seating facing the outcrop of the train to protect the accordion section. The seat closest to the wall was something I had noticed before, but never really questioned until this class. The seat barely fits a smaller person and rarely have I ever seen two people sit together on the seat because of how uncomfortable it is. This was my first example of dumb design in mobility.

The next thing I saw was a walking/biking trail in the new neighborhoods being developed in Vineyard city. This trail is choppy, and difficult to maneuver in sections as the plants have started taking over the territory of the trail. Most people bike, run, or walk along the street as it is more comfortable, and the road isn't, as of yet, highly used. Roundabouts are used to slow traffic in some areas and the walking/biking path looks like an after thought placed in to appease residential complaints for the lack of a sidewalk.

We were asked to "photograph the condition to illustrate your blog, and create a well crafted analysis and description of your design or policy solution."

As far as the seating on the TRAX train I have built a SketchUp model of what I propose for future train seating construction. This allows people to actually sit in the space next to the accordion and more room for people to stand and hold the railings in that space. As of now people just stand hovering over the empty seat. We could also replace the seats facing the accordion section with a bike rack for better bike storage.

When thinking about the redevelopment of the new Vineyard neighborhood roads, they placed in a winding walking path, to I guess make it more interesting. The back and forth bends are fairly frequent and it looks a bit overkill. I would straighten out the path and cut back the plantings on it's edge. Then I would shrink down the lanes from two lanes to one going both ways and add a curb or island protected bike lane on the road so people get in the habit of sharing the road. This would help keep the speeds down on the road even when more commercial and residential developments are built.

I am not sure why we still build residential roads with two lanes both ways and still avoid adding bike lanes consistently, but I wish that would stop. I realize that the second lane "adds infrastructure" for greater developments, but keep it to one lane with a bike lane and walking trail. Cutting back lanes makes people mad, designing a enjoyable bike, car, and pedestrian street makes people feel ownership because they can use it for more than just driving. When we drive on roads we don't get attached as much to the place as if we bike or walk. Add details and green space so everyone can enjoy the street.

Dumb Design

In our last Green Communities class we were asked to blog about dumb design. It was easy to think of things that were considered "dumb design," however, difficult to think of something interesting to write about. After racking my brain for some time, I sort of gave up. This morning, I got in a dumb design and drove to the Frontrunner station. Sitting on the train I looked out over the fields and mountains trying to come up with something. That is when it hit me, the dumb design I choose to write about is our homes.

The thing that brought this to my attention was the front door. In most homes it is placed smack dab in the center. Why? It isn't for symmetry, nor is it for convenience for the owners of the home. Most people drive, and even if they ride their bike it is stored in the garage or near the driveway, why not put it closer to that?

The next thing I thought about was storage, that is to say dressers and closets drawers etc. If we spend so much money for homes when we buy them why aren't they built with better closets and storage already built in? Why do we have to turn around and by dressers and other things that cost hundreds to thousands of dollars to add to it all? If we are already going to spend the money on the home why isn't it built more with the user in mind? One potential answer is people like rearranging things and would rather be able to move things for a fresh look to their home. I get that and think it is a valid argument. There still are other storage pieces I wish homes were naturally built with, especially in the garage.

As I continued to think about how many inefficiencies our houses have, I thought about water usage. Water from our toilet is "flushed away," water from our sinks go down the drain away from our sight, water from the shower washes away dirt then also down the drain away from our sight, why isn't any of this water reused in the home? Why doesn't it come out at a more conservation minded flow?

Questions to think about:
Why aren't homes built with better natural insulation right off the bat? Why do we rely some much on electricity and not as much on natural light? Why haven't we put more time and laws into place that force us to use more sustainable energy? Why in school, were we taught that it doesn't cost that much for electricity so it doesn't really matter if we leave the lights on? How have we come to the point where every "waste" goes away from us into someone else's backyard? Why aren't we made more aware of what our waste truly does? Why hasn't recycling been made standardized in our homes, and cities? Why are doors usually made to swing out? Why do we build our homes the way that we do?

The Image of a Green Organic City

We were asked to imagine what it would feel like to be part of a green organic city. Before I describe that, I wanted to get into what it would look like to help you better feel it also.

Picture the last city you were in or the city you currently are, now add a mixture of larger windows and solar panels on the sides of the buildings where the sun hits most. Then, add edible plants and vegetation of all kinds on all their roofs, and outcropping surfaces. These changes would better heat, cool, and power those buildings.

Next, remove most of the cars and add protected bike commuter lanes. Then add public transportation and run that, as well as stop lights and street lights, on solar power. In between bike and car lanes, and walking paths place sections of edible vegetation. Build or remodel current buildings to be recycle centers, and have them located in every district with recycling bins on several street corners. The recycling centers in every district will also have attached community centers with recreational facilities. These centers will have classes on the reuse of products, bike maintenance, gardening, healthy eating, exercise, finance, and other social, economic, and environmental life skills.

Each neighborhood district will also contain a centralized community garden or energy garden. These gardens will be evaluated and planted with crops or energy sources that best fit its environment. The community cultivates and maintains the gardens and the crop, the crop being energy or food, and is shared with the city as a whole. Revenue generated by the crop will be spent on upkeep of gardens, community centers, recycling centers, and district redevelopment.

With this image of a green organic city now I am able to move onto what it would feel like to be part of it, and allow you to feel and help develop it as well. The first feelings that come to mind after describing this green organic city are: fulfilled, clean, peaceful, healthy, fun, enriching, included, safe, and empowered.

This type of city would not only be self sustaining as a whole, every district or community would be a crucial part to a greater economy, healthier environment, and social equality. We would all work together in our communities to make them better, and make other communities within our cities better. We would be united and feel a part of something.

I know that this idea might sound like communism or socialism, or whatever words others would put to it, but what it really is meant to do is bringing responsibility and choice to everyone the opposite of potential critiques. Making us finally accountable for what happens in our neighborhoods, it is making us see and be able to control our own futures.

What is your image of a green organic city?

Soliphilia and the Zero Waste Project

I have been racking my brain to see how I can make a difference today in the world in which we live, in class on Tuesday a young lady came in and spoke to us about the Alta Sustainability Leadership Awards. Although this didn't give me an idea it did solidify a feeling I had the other day to finally put a project into play in order to improve the world around me.

The thought that popped into my head was "Zero Waste", a post that I was trying to write but couldn't get the right angle on how to write it. Today we were asked to write about soliphilia - the love of and responsibility for a place, bioregion, planet and the unity of interrelated interests within it.

This idea of the zero waste stems from my soliphilia for my neighborhood, Orem, Utah County, Utah, the United States, and the world. I have been made aware of my waste and want to participate in not only reducing my waste, but eliminating what I don't recycle. Everything can be reused or repurposed, my problem has been knowing how to do that.

That is why I'm creating the Zero Waste Project. The Zero Waste Project is basically getting educated and making changes in our lives to reduce product purchases and our carbon footprint, reuse products, and recycle everything.

I have almost no clue on how to go about doing this, that is where the other part of soliphilia comes in. We need to work together to get educated, then make a change.

Things I know:

How can I reduce product buying and my carbon footprint?
First a carbon footprint is the measurement of amount of carbon your activity emits on a daily basis.

- Was is this bad? It's bad because the amount of carbon dioxide we emit is messing with the delicate balance in our atmosphere. Too much carbon dioxide = more trapped heat, and that leads to a lot of potentially negative effects.

(Before I started studying Urban Ecology, I had heard the term carbon footprint, but didn't really know what it meant. This part is to help those of you who don't know what it means.)

To reduce our carbon footprint there are a lot of things we can do. Drive less, turn off your car instead of letting it idle, use less of the AC and heater, turn off lights, only plug your phone in when you need to and don't have it plugged in over night, (this one is tough but) watch less tv/netflix, use natural light more, turn off your computer, unplug appliances you aren't using, close the fridge door faster or don't let it stand open, try switching to solar power to charge phones and appliances, or switch your home to solar power better insulate your home, bike more, walk more. There is a ton we can do!

As far as products,

How can I reuse products?
I have a few shirts that have holes in the elbows. I can give them to the DI, mend them, or make them into something else like a blanket, bag, dog toy, scarf, bracelet, braided rug, dish towel, pajama pants, pillow or pillowcase, doll, belt, sling, home decoration, bean bags, beanie, Halloween costume, bibs, patches for other shirts or coats, etc.

Shoes can be donated: Nike's Better World

Here is a list of other ideas on how to reuse your stuff: Ways to Repurpose Old Things

How can I recycle everything?
It's not easy right now to recycle everything, but we can start small and grow from there.

Orem does a recyclables pick up every other week, they just came by this past week which gives us a little bit of time to prepare. Call Orem city and they will get you a blue recycling can, it needs to be the blue one, because everything else gets taken to a landfill.

There are hundreds of ways you can get started in this process, if you have other easy, creative, and/or fun ways please share in the comments below!

The Dilemma

In class last Thursday we were broken up into groups of four and each given separate roles in a particular dilemma. One role was a city council member, a second role was a city planner, a third role was a single parent, and the last role a family with a new born on the way.

City Council Member:
The city council member had just received funding for a new school that was to be built a few miles from a higher trafficked highway, and a single parent development that was to be within 300 feet of the highway. They received the funding for that project and were asked to begin the process of designing it and building it. The commercial buildings near the highway bring in a great amount of revenue.

City Planner:
City planner has studied and knows that housing built within 300 feet of higher trafficked roads places children especially those under the age of three at high risk for health problems. It is the city planner's job to make sure all projects that are carried out are done so with all parties in mind, with a focus on improving the social, economic, and environmental health of the city or communities.

Single Parent Family:
The parent currently lives in a not as good neighbor hood and sought out a realtor to find a place in the neighborhood where their friends family lives. They have put down a deposit on a dream home in that neighborhood, and then were informed by the realtor that the neighborhood wouldn't be safe for the kids to live in because it is in close proximity to the high trafficked highway. The parent has 12 hours to back out and get their deposit back.

Family with Newborn:
The family loves their home, and neighborhood. It is in close proximity to all the highway entrance for easy access to work, the grocery store, parks and other amenities. It is their dream home, and if what the realtor says is true, it isn't safe for their newborn, and they won't be able to sell their home if others find out.

After receiving this dilemma and having read over our roles we first established the problems or concerns of each party involved.

Problems:

• The single parent needs to find a new place to live preferably near their friend, and get their deposit back
• The family has to figure out how to sell their home if it comes out that it is bad for children. They also need to find a new place to live, that could still be similar to their dream home.
• The city council member now knowing this information needs to find a new place for the housing development, potentially losing their funding.
• The city planner needs to figure out a solution that will appease all parties and still be in line with what is best socially, economically, and environmentally for the city and communities. The city planner needs the residents to speak up in order for the housing development to be moved from its current planned location.

We were given 40 minutes to come up with possible solutions to these problems. At first it wasn't easy, we all played our roles and tried to get the best outcome for ourselves. After all our problems were on the table we could start discussing potential solutions.

Solutions:

• Single parent first should get their deposit back.
• The neighborhood where the family lives should be rezoned for commercial use, allowing the family to sell their home.
• Those in the neighborhood informed and encouraged to install HEPA filters and other precautions to reduce potential toxins.
• The city to build a green screen buffer between highway and residential areas until redevelopment is completed.
• The new development tabled until better location(s) can be found for the development
• The current place for the new development rezoned for commercial use, boosting economy further, as well being an appeasement to maintain funding for the development and allowing it to be changed to mixed-use housing with certain portions being designated for single parent families. (Also allowing the single parent family to move to one of these new developments with their friend family.)
• In further redevelopment of the city bike lanes can be added, bus public transportation increased, and car pool lanes added to promote alternative modes of transportation or reduced traffic on the highway. (Eventually adding in more permanent public transportation systems making the city a more walkable place.)
• Introduce these issues into the education systems of the city.

Several other solutions were submitted, but as a group we decided on the listed solutions above as they were the solutions with the best possible outcomes for all parties. There will come a time when each of us will play one of these roles, I share this with you all in hopes that it may help you achieve the best possible solutions for your future community as well as understand the process and needs of other all decision making parties. (The process is below.)

Process:

1. Identify all affected parties
2. Collaborate and list all the potential issues that may arise
3. Think through all possible solutions and their scenarios
4. Decide upon best possible solutions
5. Implement short and long term strategies to help you achieve those solutions in the quickest and most effective time frame.