Lufa Farms

According to the reading Biophilic Cities by Timothy Beatley, a biophilic city refers to a city that is focused and surrounded by nature. These cities work to restore nature and to integrate nature innovatively into buildings. An example of a biophilic city is Montreal, Canada. An urban innovative project situated in Montreal, Canada is Lufa Farms. Lufa Farms, the world’s first commercial rooftop greenhouse, aims to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to consumers all year round. The produce is grown in a controlled environment with zero pesticides used. Rainwater is also collected to grow the crops and water is recirculated for irrigation. Since the produce is delivered the same day it is harvested, the fruits and vegetables are guaranteed fresh. With its limited packaging and minimal use of transportation, Lufa Farms is very eco-friendly and significantly reduces their carbon footprint.

Some of Montreal’s sustainability plans for the years 2010-2015 was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adopt sustainable development businesses, and to take better care of the environment. Lufa Farms fulfills some of these objectives by reducing the amount of energy and resources they use to grow their produce since Lufa Farms uses significantly less space as compared to conventional agricultural places. Because Lufa Farms also capture rainwater to use to grow their produce, this urban innovation project goes hand in hand with Montreal’s sustainability goals.

References

http://lufa.com/en/our-story.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-roof-greenhouse-yields-fresh-veggies-1.1073645

http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=7137,78111572&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

Construction and Demolition Waste

According to the article Measuring Urban Sustainability, Alberti emphasizes the way cities are managed and how we recognize urban patterns affecting the environment are keys to global sustainability. Chicago for example has implemented many environmental regulations. One of these is the recycling of construction and demolition (C&D) debris promoted by the Department of Public Health. The separation and recycling of C&D debris helps reduce disposal fees for contractors and property owners and also protects the environment from contaminated or dangerous waste materials. Construction and demolition debris takes up about 30% of solid waste being deposited in landfills and by recycling C&D, less landfill space is used up.

The purpose of the recycling of construction and demolition debris is to reduce the amount of debris being generated and also to recycle and return C&D materials that weren’t used to the economy. This regulation was implemented because the Cook County Board of Commissioners recognized that waste materials from construction and demolition sites made up a large part of the landfills and that most of the debris could be recycled. The recycling of construction and demolition waste has definitely been productive. Each year in the United States, about 500,000 tons of C&D waste are being recycled. Contractors and businesses are also saving money by recycling or reselling unused waste materials instead of paying for the disposal fee.

References:

http://illinoisenvironmentallaw.com/permits/cook-county-approves-new-reuse-and-recycling-requirements-for-construction-and-demolition-waste/

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdph/supp_info/environmental_permitsandregulation/construction_anddemolitiondebrisrecycling.html

https://us130urbansustainability.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/campbell_greencities.pdf

Air Polluted City

One of the many public health concerns in the Chicago area is its air pollution. As the reading “Physical Activity, Sprawl, and Health” expresses, many residents in developed countries face health problems such as respiratory diseases. In 2014, the American Lung Associated gave Chicago an F for its air quality. The ALA also ranked Chicago as the 14^th most air polluted city and the 20^th most ozone polluted city in the nation. In order to reduce the amount of smog and poor air quality, Chicago has taken action to control its city’s air quality. Before businesses can construct buildings, an Air Pollution Control Permit is needed to inform residents certain equipment and work areas can potentially contaminate the air. On the other hand, the Array of Things was a plan set up by the city to monitor the levels of air quality through sensors in the lampposts. The data collected can help analyze the different types of air pollutants in the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide.

Although the solutions implemented by the city of Chicago are applicable, many smaller scale solutions can also be done. A potential plan to alleviate the levels of air pollution in the city would be to create more bike lanes on the roads and to inform the public about the hazardous effects of the polluted air. The people of the city would be affected because they will be forced to change their way of transportation. This way, less people would be driving or taking public transportation which would produce less greenhouse gases and make the air quality better. Informing the public about the side effects of air pollution can persuade them to drive less and walk more.

References:

http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/news/article/monitoring-air-quality-and-the-impacts-of-pollution-679

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdph/provdrs/environmental_permitsregulation/svcs/apply_for_an_airqualitypermit.html

http://chicago.suntimes.com/uncategorized/7/71/177452/chicagos-air-quality-gets-an-f-from-lung-association

My Sustainability Impact

As one of the reading material (City and Nature) expresses, nature and city go hand in hand together. With human activities continually triggering environmental problems such as air pollution, our urban habitat will be even more negatively affected.  Going into my third year at UIC, one of the sustainable impacts I have made is to walk and bike around campus instead of driving or taking public transportation.  According to The Environmental Impacts of Transportation, public transportation in urban areas has been linked to many environmental problems such as releasing toxic air particles into the atmosphere and contaminating soils along with causing erosion.  On the other hand, biking or walking has been proven to reduce one’s carbon footprint and also to reduce the bad air quality (Huffington Post).

Although I have made some sustainable impact on UIC, I have also made some unsustainable impact such as taking 15-20 minute showers at the UIC gym.  The amount of water I use adds up every day which would in effect reduce the water supply and use up more energy.  To better sustain the urban area and to reduce our carbon footprint, awareness of environmental problems should be informed to the public as well as recycling daily and reducing carbon emissions by walking or biking.

References:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/13/bike-to-work-infographic-benefits-health_n_1145815.html

https://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch8en/conc8en/ch8c1en.html