Hope for the Future...

So what hope is there for the future? Well After writing the various entries in this blog I have come to my own conclusion. There are many ways the future will play out and each decision that we make will impact that future. Even the choices single people make will have an effect. A single person can influence their community; their community can influence the local government or municipality which can than influence the regional government and so on and so on. Yet change in the sense of what is needed seems like a fairytale. Change is something that our society fears and resists.

http://www.treehugger.com/roger-lewis-cartoon.jpg

I will never understand the resistance to this type of change. Everything about sustainable development would make our society better. Improving the lives of the people that live in our cities through a sense of pride and high social capital, protecting natural environments and bringing green space into our lives, reducing traffic and the accompanying air pollution and the list just goes on and on. Yet people don’t want this. They would rather live in suburbia and commute through a 65 minute traffic jam twice a day to and from work; madness. It all boils down to the willingness and awareness of the mass population. As long as the masses do not care, there will be no change and no hope.

http://climatesanity.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/cartoon-from-trenberth-ams-paper.jpg

There is always the hope that future generations will be more aware of these types of issues and that the young are the future. I see no hope with the new generations and the young. Look at the pathetic excuses that are passed off as entertainment. Young people are more concerned about what happens to some useless douche bags on the MTV show Jersey Shore than what is going on in the world.   This is a corporate and government design, keep the masses stupid and ignorant and they will do as they are told. John Lennon said it best in the song working class hero “...keep you doped with religion, sex and TV...” this is literally what is going on. We are so distracted by the fabricated world that is presented to us that we can’t see through the bull shit. We are unable to realize that the purpose of all the spending and the wanting and the advertising is to perpetuate the cycle of economic growth. Growth of the economy must never be risked. The almighty economy must grow no matter the cost. Any and all consequences to growing the economy are acceptable but effecting growth of the economy is outrageous. We are peons and it is sad that as I write this I realize that I’m no better than the people I criticize.... (Well at least I take the bus every day, that’s a start).

“... An entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't...” Tyler Durden

http://thesexypolitico.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/polyp_cartoon_economic_growth.jpg

http://www.holon.se/folke/kurs/paradigm/whatyou.jpg

There is a theory called the natural step, it is a wonderful theory. Basically it states that in the face of increasing demand for natural resources and declining supply of resources we will be forced into “taking the natural step” and be forced into using only a sustainable supply based on a sustainable demand. The problem with this theory is that it implies that we have common sense and good honest leadership. The reality is that in the face of declining resources and increasing demand, we will go somewhere else and take their resources. When those run out we will keep moving on like bacterial colonies feasting on the growth medium until there is nothing left.

http://www.toonpool.com/user/1295/files/apocalypse_now_164695.jpg

Change will happen to slowly, even if we got on the right track which is near impossible since each country has its own agenda and that agenda always seems to revolve around growth. The majority of people don’t want change. In fact they despise change. What is the hope for the future? The reality is that we will not change until something drastic happens we are the living in a world where convenience overrides common sense. It will take a true global disaster to bring on the necessary change. Our society is happy in its ignorance, until something happens that will wake the world up like a massive global food shortage or severe drought nothing will be done. I say prepare yourself for the worst, let the ignorant masses fend for themselves. Natural selection is going to make a comeback...wow when did I become so depressing?

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What's being done?

In order for society to overcome the negative impacts of our current un-sustainability, we need to implement solutions that in the long term will create a sustainable society. In order to get to the large-scale implementation, we must fist apply sustainable practices on the small scale or in way a “pilot project” scale. By testing out various concepts on the small scale, we gain an understanding of the potential success and the potential problems that projects may encounter. By identifying these successes and failures on a small scale we can look at how the same solution can be applied on a much larger or global scale.

http://www.treehugger.com/cartoon-obesity-america.jpg

There is no shortage of ideas for improving sustainability. Ideas exist for a variety of problems from food security to energy. Ides are fine in theory however it is important to look at examples in practice in order to truly gain some insight on the potential we as a society have in terms of increasing our sustainability. I will provide a number of examples here in order to demonstrate some sustainable initiatives that are actually in practice today.

http://protransit.redhawk-tech.com/In-General/uploaded_images/CARTOON---SUBSIDY---Car-vs.-Transit-712328.jpg

My Favourite types of projects tend to be the larger scale solutions, such as entire sustainable communities or eco villages. These types of projects tend to be easier to relate to while at the same time demonstrating the advanced technology we have developed in order to overcome many of the issues of the past. There are many other small scale projects as well that deserve as much merit as the large scale projects.

I will start with a local example, Dockside Green. Dockside Green is a condo village here in Victoria, BC. The entire project from beginning to end was planned with sustainability in mind. Built on old industrial land it does not take up new space instead using a brown field space. The buildings are LEED platinum standard, which implies that they are built to the strictest codes in terms of energy efficiency and sustainable products used. There is an onsite water treatment facility that reduces the demand on city infrastructure and cleans wastewater from the complex and leaves it as good as or better than when it was first used. Electricity is also generated in a number a couple of ways, most notably wind and a cogeneration plant. The plant turns waste construction wood into energy by heating it and gasifying it, generating heat and electricity. This not only makes Dockside Green net zero in terms of electricity but also helps prevent waste from going to the landfill. This project is most exciting because it represents what all future developments could be like. There are brown fields and unused spaces throughout our cities. These spaces can be utilized and maximized in a way such as Dockside Green. The issue with Dockside Green is that because it is one of a kind, it has become very popular and thus the prices have become out of reach for most. check it out!!

http://docksidegreen.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/dockside-lead01.jpg

http://www.terrain.org/unsprawl/25/images/dockside_siteplan_3d.jpg

Another cool project is the Wind Walk community in southern Alberta. This is a new by development Mike Holmes that isn’t finished yet. It is actually designed to be sustainable from the beginning of the project to the end. All the homes are built to the highest standards of efficiency. Electricity will be generated through solar, wind and a co generation plant fueled by waste gas produced by the onsite wastewater treatment plant. The whole community is designed to be completely walkable with all needed amenities within walking distance of the homes. This community really represents what we could be doing, there are hundreds of new suburb projects going up across the country, if they all were designed like this we could achieve a huge improvement in our development and become far more sustainable. There are dozens of cool sustainable features which you can check out through the link below!!

http://www.holmeshomes.ca/windwalk.php

http://www.holmeshomes.ca/_images/hh_windwalk-homeImage.jpg

The take home message is that we really do have the technology and the ingenuity to overcome unsustainable thinking and behavior. Hopefully these projects gain popularity and we will see demand for sustainable communities increase!!!!

Consumption: My Stuff...

Human consumption is one of the most unsustainable practices that society takes part in. There is no way to avoid consumption. We must consume in order to survive; it is the way of life. The problem is that consumption in its current form is shameful. In the western world we consume far more than our fair share, far more than we need to survive. This is the hardest topic to discuss when talking about sustainability. We are all guilty of over consumption, whether we like it or not. Check out the VIDEO!!

We as a society have become so used to the way we consume that it may not even cross our minds that there is a problem. I personally am as guilty as anyone in terms of consumption. I love electronics, anything from new computers to video games. I regularly purchase these types of products (among many other things). I don’t often think about the fact that my X-box is made from toxic metals that were likely mined from the third world. I am also a victim of Wal-Mart. As I am a student I face a certain level of self-inflicted poverty. Purchasing my groceries from Wal-Mart saves me over $50 a week and with an income of less than $100 a month how can I afford not to shop at Wal-Mart. I hate Wal-Mart; I know that all the goods at Wal-Mart are shipped from China and that I am not paying the true cost of my goods but like many north Americans the savings are just too appealing to avoid.

 http://www.redstaplerchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/evil%20wal%20mart.jpg

Is our habitual consumption our own fault? Well yes and no, we have become extreme in our consumption but consumption was designed and planned in order to grow the economy. Companies purposely create products NOT to last!! If you never needed to replace your stuff companies would go out of business. In a way we never had a chance to avoid over consumption. It is a sad legacy handed down from the post World War II generations, which will be one of the hardest things to deal with in terms of future sustainability.

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It is imperative that our habits change, especially when you look at the amount of energy and resources that go into our products. Many of the products we use regularly are to us cheap and replaceable. Everything from the dollar store is more or less useless crap, which has a very short useful life. However the true cost of those cheap $1 products is not being paid for by the people shopping at the dollar store, rather it is the people and environments of the developing world who face the true cost of providing us an endless bounty of cheap useless dollar store products.

http://www.walocaust.com/site/files/walocaust_eagle.jpg

Can we change? Until we start demanding healthy environmentally friendly products, nothing will change. We need to boycott Wal-Mart and other cheap imported goods and demand corporate responsibility in order for this problem to truly be changed. It is extremely unlikely this will ever happen. How can the majority of people justify NOT shopping at these cheap retailers? With the largest percentage of the population in the lower middle class, every dollar counts and you cant beat the prices at Wal-Mart. Its one of the most depressing realities we must face, until something drastic (such as extreme oil prices) occurs, NOTHING will change, convenience will always beat common sense in our day and age.

My professor showed this video in class, I just thought if by chance someone was actually reading this that they should see it and pass it on!!

Sustainable Cities

I have been looking forward to this topic. I am very interested in the idea of “new urbanism”. It really provides the antidote for the terrible feeling of being in the suburbs. I was born and raised in the suburbs of Toronto, in the “city” of Brampton. It is hard to call the place I grew up a city, due to the fact that in reality it is just an endless grid system of suburbs. The transit system is pathetic at best, and with a population around 450,000 people there is traffic everywhere. There are no central areas for community development or social interaction (unless you consider the two Wal-Marts we have within a 15 min drive of each other a social experience.)  Development is surging in Brampton with suburbs continuously encroaching and consuming the farmland to the north. The combination of suburban development coupled with strip malls containing (it is very possible that we have more Montana’s, Kelsey’s and East Side Mario’s than anywhere else in Canada) the same damn stores and restaurants has left the city I grew up in a bastardized suburban wasteland. It is for this reason that I find the concept of new urbanism and sustainable cities so refreshing.

Suburban Scene

http://parsnipdanslaville.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/suburbia1_thumb.jpg

New urbanism and the idea of sustainable cities focus on people and the ability to interact and develop social capital. These cities provide a dense functional and pleasant environment which is walk-able and full of green space; in essence, a place that you are happy to be. A sustainable city will have goods and services available within walking distance and provide a thorough public transit system that will allow a person to not rely on a car (imagine no more traffic jams!!). The “densified” urban area would have stores and markets with apartment’s right above mixing the use and diversifying the area. The energy in the sustainable city will come from clean and renewable resources and the city will be self reliant in terms of local food and energy production. Most importantly, there is a focus on social gathering. Creating major hubs or nodes for people to WANT to come together and make connections. Check out the link and video for some more info!!

http://www.newurbanism.org/

Comparing the ideas above to a place like Brampton, it sounds a little like a utopian fantasy. There are issues with utopia however. The biggest issue is that in order for these cities to become a real solution we would need to retrofit our existing cities or build entirely new ones. In terms of retrofitting our existing cities it seems highly unlikely that the upfront capital would ever be provided. Not to mention that the sheer size of the project would be insane. It is more likely that to change our current cities we will need to “fill in the gaps” and “densify” what we already have. This will not solve the current problems with our cities but may help improve them. Check out this research paper for detailed info on increasing suburban density!!

http://plone.itc.nl/agile_old/Conference/mallorca2002/proceedings/dia25/Session_1/s1_Loibl.pdf

Are there any new sustainable cities being planned? Well in fact there are many examples of sustainable cities being developed. For example the Chinese city of Tanjin which will be home to 350,000 people. The majority of the city will be powered by solar and geothermal and will incorporate huge amounts of green space. 90% of the transportation will be achieved through the use of public transport. Another example which is extremely ambitious (and perhaps slightly flawed) is the United Arab Emirates city of Masdar. The city will incorporate solar power as its primary energy source. Masdar is planned to be completely car free incorporating an extensive electric powered subterranean transit system along with some interesting electric personal transit vehicles (check link below). The city will be home to 50,000 all within a traditional walled city. The idea of a sustainable city in the middle of the desert is a little bit hard to believe and there are some issues that I’m sure will have to be faced, mainly water security. There are many other examples of planned cities and projects. My next blog post will detail more cases of sustainable development in practice much like these!! Check out the video below for info on Masdar!!

On a more obscure and slightly sci fi note, the architect Vincent Callebaut has created a number of designs for sustainable for cities for numerous countries. These amazing designs may be a bit far from our current reality, but they represent a potential future solution to the many sustainability issues our current cities face. One of the most interesting concepts is the floating “lily pad” ecopolis environmental refugee camp. Essentially a giant man made floating island that will house the many people displaced by the future climate change consequences. The island city will incorporate numerous energy generation systems and will be totally self sufficient. This sounds farfetched right now, but who knows where the future lies. Check out Vincent Callebaut’s website the various projects are quite amazing!! http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/07/10/lilypads/index.html

http://vincent.callebaut.org/projets-groupe-tout.html

Sorry about the subtitles, But the video out lines some of the awesome ideas!!

One could go on and on about the potential for sustainable cities. There is endless room for improvement of our current cities. The important thing to keep in mind is that the sustainable city will increase social capital while at the same time protecting the natural environment as much as possible. This is achieved through smart and thorough planning which avoids traditional sprawling suburbs. This would bring back the idea of “great” cities like those in Europe. Cities we can be proud to be a part of and proud to pass on to future generations.

Powering the Sustainable Society

Powering society is one of the biggest sustainability issues we as a people face. Energy consumption in a variety of forms has sculpted our society and our way of life. Everything from how we get to work to how we get our food relies heavily on cheap and abundant sources of energy. To date that energy source has been fossil fuels. Although there is a huge amount of work being done on alternative renewable energy sources it doesn’t seem as though fossil fuel is going anywhere quickly. There is a variety of alternative choices people can make to avoid using fossil fuels; however these choices tend to be far greater in cost which is a massive barrier for the average person. Even if the average Joe wanted to be totally environmentally conscious, the shear cost would likely make it impossible for him. Let’s look further at the pros and cons of current energy and the pros and cons of renewable energy sources. Check this link out for very detailed info on North American energy use!!!!
http://www.pi.energy.gov/documents/NorthAmericaEnergyPictureII.pdf

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/Canada/images/tec.gif

Currently oil, coal, and natural gas are used in massive quantities in order to power our lives. Oil is mainly used in the largest quantities in order to allow us to get around. It is actually a little depressing when you think about. Our entire city structure relies on oil, the (poor) design of the suburbs, the sprawling cities; our food coming from thousands of miles away, the list is endless. We are addicted to oil. Why is oil a problem though? Well as with all fossil fuels, in order to harness the potential energy they carry they must be burned. The process of fossil fuel combustion is probably one of the most filthy practices we as humans regularly partake in. The emissions from our cars and power plants are not only full of CO₂ which contributes to global climate change, but there are a number of other chemicals that are emitted. SO₂ which contributes to acid rain, ozone and NO_x which create local air pollution problems such as smog, and also generate particulate matter which contribute to a number of respiratory problems. Not to mention the fact that in order to obtain these fuels requires massive amounts of energy and effort which usually results in extensive environmental degradation; all that just to cover our transport needs, but what about electricity? Check these links out!!
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/coalvswind/c01.html
http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/air/aq4kids/cars.asp

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 Well in North America most electricity is mostly generated by the combustion of coal, another filthy fuel source. Burning coal emits immense amounts of CO₂ and sulphur compounds which contribute to climate change and acid rain. Coal combustion also produces particulate matter which is terrible for human health as stated before. Worst of all coal extraction is devastating natural environments. Entire mountain tops actually removed in order to extract coal for burning. Lastly natural gas is used in the majority of homes that require winter heating and water heating. The CO₂ emitted by natural gas use contributes to climate change.

All of these fuels contribute to severe environmental degradation. While at the same time they are all finite. This means that there is a limited supply, which means there will be a point when they will run out. Many experts claim that we are at or close to the “peak” of oil and even natural gas. This means that prices are only going to go up from this point on. This means that serious changes need to be made in our energy consumption. These choices should be made while they are still voluntary as opposed to being forced.

So what can be done? In the coming section I will discuss alternatives to the three main uses of energy: transport, electricity and heating. I will also delve into the likelihood of these options being viable in the foreseeable future.

Transportation is a huge issue since we as a society would likely collapse without being able to drive or eat fruit from Chile in the middle of winter. Now aside from the obvious and quite simple solutions of walking, biking or public transportation (which clearly will never become the most popular mode of transport, since that requires a certain level of effort that our society doesn’t seem to be willing to expend. Which may explain the ever growing issue of obesity in North America, but that’s a whole other issue.) There are potential solutions to making our automobiles “petrol free”. I am most certainly pessimistic in most cases, but this topic actually seems like a positive one. Electric cars are on the market! And unlike the early 90’s when they first came out and failed, we actually are in an appropriate political and social climate for EV’s to become popular. Electric vehicles represent the ability to reduce a massive amount of fossil fuels that we as North Americans use. 


                      CHEVY VOLT

http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/production-chevy-volt_021.jpg                       

                                                                                                                                               NISSAN LEAF

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In Canada 55% of our energy for transport is used in passenger vehicles. If all those vehicles were electric, we would see a dramatic decrease in fossil fuel consumption. The reason I am optimistic is that only a few years ago hybrids were introduced, and now they are extremely popular. Hopefully the same will happen with full electrics. On the other hand they are very expensive and they are lacking infrastructure such as charging stations. On the pessimistic side however, the number of light trucks (pickup trucks) is increasing more and more each year. It is hard to gauge whether or not electrics will make up a large percentage of the cars on the road any time soon. North Americans love trucks and SUVs, as much as I love the idea that electric vehicles are on the market I have a hard time believing that they are going to save us from our oil addiction.

http://leftwingconspiracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/motivator73981307.jpg

Electricity is another huge user of fossil fuels. The two solutions to providing enough electricity to the masses that I see working is for massive scale renewable energy like wind or solar farms, or micro generation systems which provide each dwelling with enough power to sustain themselves. The upfront costs involved with each dwelling getting their own solar or a wind system basically nullifies that possibility. The payback period would be too long for most people to put out the upfront capital. Massive solar and wind farms take up huge amounts of land and are at this point inefficient at producing the necessary amounts of electricity compared to the cost of their implementation. These links provide some more background on the issues involved with solar and wind power!!
http://www.weatherquestions.com/Solar-power.htm
http://www.aweo.org/problemwithwind.html

http://www.windpowerninja.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/texas-wind-farm.jpg

http://www.ontariosolarfarms.com/images/solar-farm.jpg

As for heating homes, there are few alternatives to the natural gas furnace in the truly cold states and provinces. Heat pumps can work in a climate such as Victoria BC, but the rest of Canada gets far too cold to rely on a heat pump. High efficiency pellet stoves could be used however they are unlikely to become popular enough for the majority of people. Geothermal systems would work, if they weren’t insanely expensive and didn’t require the large amount space. I think currently there isn’t a viable alternative to the furnace; rather energy saving retrofits will be the answer. By increasing the efficiency of homes we can save the most energy in terms of heating. This can be done through increasing insulation and installing high efficiency furnaces. MORE LINKS!!
http://www.alternative-heating.com/alternative-home-heating.html

http://mercuryrefrigeration.ca/uploads/images/geo%20graphics/heat%20transfer%20diagram.jpg

I think the take home message here is that, although there are some potentially promising alternative energy solutions on the horizon, the real key to powering the sustainable city will come from the changing of human behaviour. If sustainability is embraced by the masses the transition to clean energy will be much easier. Unless people take it upon themselves to make energy wise decisions the demand will not be great enough to drive the prices of technology down. Reducing our dependency on cars and reducing our energy use are the most important things we can do in terms of ensuring sustainable power and energy. 

Sustainability and Communities

Sustainable development faces an enormous number of challenges that must be overcome before a real change is ever experienced. The scale of the issues involved with the current way of life on a global scale creates a barrier that is so large that no solution seems to be able to have any effect. In order for sustainable development projects to reach a global scale, they must first be successful on much smaller scales. In my opinion the community scale is by far the most important platform for sustainable solutions. A community is more than just people living in close proximity to one another. Communities should be rich with interaction and the common strife of bettering and enriching lives and the community itself.

The way a community interacts and functions can be directly related to the idea of social capital. Social capital is defined by the University of Washington as:

“...the connections in a social network, and the trust, reciprocity, and resource-sharing qualities of those connections. It can be activated by individuals to gain social support or social leverage, or by collectivities to facilitate organization and collective action.”

Check this out for some background info!!

http://www.bettertogether.org/socialcapital.htm

This idea is vitally important in understanding the potential for sustainable development at the community level. It is also a key indicator of the current problems that many communities face today. When a community contains many of these strong connections, it is much more likely that grassroots type movements can be achieved. Strong sense of community will drive the demand to improve communities.

While social capital is important for sustainable development on the community scale, alone it could easily fail. In my opinion, proper education of sustainability issues is also vital for communities to become sustainable. The same social capital that could easily engage the community could easily facilitate the suppression of sustainable initiatives. An empowered community that does not understand the need for sustainable development (like improved transit or renewable energy) could easily prevent such changes from being developed.

http://www.tgnobby.com/ballog/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/angry-mob.jpg

So what components make a sustainable community? The major components of a society are the natural environment, economy and social health. All of these factors must work together effectively in order for sustainability to be achieved. What this means that if we balance these three things together, sustainability is achieved. No one of these factors can outweigh another. This kind of thinking starts with individuals making a commitment and sticking to these ideals, influencing those around them. If successful, communities can achieve great strides in movement towards sustainability. For a very cool example of just how this could work check out the link below for the One Tree Orchard community!!

http://www.onetreeorchard.ca/

http://www.ydec.ca/sustainable_development.jpg

“...Sustainability must be community-led and consensus-based because the central issue is will, not expertise; only a community-based process can overcome the political, bureaucratic and psychological barriers to change...” Round Table on the Environment

Over Consumption vs. Over Population

Sustainability can be defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future. That seems relatively simple. Unfortunately, this is far from reality. In the real world, our world, living within our means seems out of the question. But what is contributing to our inability to live in a manner that fosters a healthy future? Well some people believe that there are two large contributors to this problem, over consumption and over population. While both of these factors are unsustainable, which one is has the greater impact? Well the fact is that they are both major contributors. It would be impossible to really decide which is worse; however each factor contributes greatly to the problem of not living within the carrying capacity of the earth.

http://stor.pt.cx/anabela/2010/12/07/overpopulation/

There clearly is a divide between the western world and the third world. In the west we have more money, more freedom, social welfare and consumption habits that are unimaginably high. In the third world (or developing world) they unfortunately have few of the luxuries we have yet they have the largest and denser populations. We in the west consume per capita far more than our share, and per capita in the developing world they consume far less. The fact that in the developing world they have so many people results in a massive level of consumption. So again we hit the wall; both overpopulation and over consumption are horribly unsustainable.

It took until the 1800’s to see the human population hit a billion people. Since then we are now facing a human population of around 6.9 billion people. By 2050 the UN estimates our population will be at about 9 billion people. The UN also states that 95% of population growth is happening in the developing world. This scale of growth is alarming since the statistics about the quality of life in these developing countries do not favour the folks living there. At the current population more than a billion people lack basic needs. Nearly three-fifths have no basic sanitation. Almost a third lack access to clean water. A quarter has no adequate housing, and a fifth go without modern health services. Not to mention the fact that due to lack of central services, most of the people in these areas use wood as fuel to heat their homes and to cook. This means rapid deforestation for no other reason than pure survival. Who can blame these people? They are struggling to survive and provide for their families; the last thing on their mind is biodiversity or the health of the forest.

http://www.portlandphoenix.com/archive/features/01/04/13/feat_population.html

So why is it that people in the third world continue to procreate at such high levels? Well it comes down to a couple simple social factors. In areas with low child survival rates, families generally try to have many children in the hopes that at least some will survive. Another factor is that as women in developing countries gain more rights and higher education, they tend to have smaller families. In order for the high birth rates to decrease this means the developing world will need to have their standard of living generally increased. Check out this link for some detailed info!!

http://www.overpopulation.org/whyPopMatters.html

http://mindprod.com/environment/population.html

But wait...if the standard of living is raised then consumption will increase...well let’s look at over consumption then. Over consumption is a western disease. Consumption is the driver of the economy and our society. We are all consumers. Consumption is inevitable, however the rate at which the western world consumes is astounding (details of our consumption and stuff will be touched on in another post). We devour resources as if it were our God given right without concern or knowledge of the impact it has. We are just so complacent and comfortable with the current system that any change is not going to come easy. Some extra info on western consumption available in the link below!!

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/resource-overconsumption-not-population-growth-real-environmental-problem.php

It is not entirely the fault of the general population. We live in a society where success is measured by growth. Growth can only be achieved by consumption. This is a vicious cycle in which the planet will eventually lose.

http://evolvingprimate.wordpress.com/2008/11/04/a-case-against-overconsumption-and-overpopulation/ 

We cannot look at these issues separately. By solving only one problem we in effect will still be left with a massive issue of un-sustainability. If we curb population growth by increasing the quality of life and education, people will have more money to spend and thus the consumption patter will continue. If we only change over consumption habits, the massive population growth would still result in massive consumption. In my opinion in order really solve these issues, over consumption must first be curbed in the developed world since we have the resources and frankly no goddamn excuse not to. Then through a system of shared technology and knowledge we can increase the standard of living in third world sustainably in hopes that this will reduce birth rates and thus curb over population. That would be an ideal world; the reality is that these issues are not just a discussion topic. These are realities that will likely be faced in our generation; taking this lightly would be a foolish mistake by all governments and their people.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/2230059724/

Sustainability at Royal Roads University

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/be/Rru_crest_color.png/150px-Rru_crest_color.png

 Since I will be discussing sustainability, I guess it is appropriate to examine what my University is doing to become more sustainable. Royal Roads University in Victoria BC has an interesting history. The campus contains many heritage buildings that have their own unique stories. These stories will not be told here (check the link below for some background on RRU). I will be focussing on the future of Royal Roads by looking at what the school is doing to become a more sustainable institution.

       

Let’s examine the sustainability plan that Royal Roads from 2008. The goals of the plan are quite ambitious with a plan to reduce green house gases to 50% below 2007 levels by 2020, becoming carbon neutral by 2010 and going off the grid by 2018; some very bold promises. There are more initiatives than I could properly explain in this post being worked on to become more sustainable and meet the set out goals. Rather than explain them all, I will discuss some of the big money big impact ideas; energy, transportation and buildings.

https://sustainability.royalroads.ca/sites/default/files/web_files/Sustainability_Plan_summary.pdf

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/mfl/lowres/mfln1678l.jpg

In order to meet energy goals, RRU is planning to build a waste water treatment plant. This will not only treat and clean wastewater from the school and neighbouring community, but the gases that are released by the treatment process will actually be used to produce electricity for the University and even put power back into the grid to help power neighbouring homes and businesses. This energy production will exceed the amount used by the school which will actually make the University grid positive. The school has just put solar hot water heaters on some of the buildings in order to reduce energy demand for the showers for staff and students furthering energy efficiency.

 http://www.worldofstock.com/slides/TAW4205.jpg

 The next topic is the buildings on campus both new and old. The most notable feature of the university is Hatley Castle. The 100 year old castle looks gorgeous and compliments the scenery of the 500+ acres which make up the campus. Unfortunately, the heritage building isn’t exactly efficient. It is heated by a seriously noisy and inefficient radiator system (seriously, I wrote an exam in there and I could barely concentrate with all the clanking and creaking). The insulation, lighting, ventilation and hot water systems are all outdated and contribute to a lot of wasted energy. The school is planning to upgrade all the heritage buildings with over one million dollars in funding from the government. These upgrades will cover all of the above stated issues and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 317 tonnes a year and save $55 000 in energy savings! Not too shabby.

http://www.royalroads.ca/rru-news/royal-roads-gets-1-million-retrofit-its-heritage-buildings

http://www.royalroads.ca/news-release/1-million-awarded-royal-roads-help-save-energy-lower-emissions

http://images.theglobeandmail.com/archives/RTGAM/images/20081218/campusNoBA1218/Castlesnow500big.jpg

That covers the old building, but what about the new? Throughout my time at RRU, there has been a construction site at the front of the school. A new building has been in the process of being put up, the first new building on campus since 1995. When it is finished it will not only expand the learning space on campus but represents energy efficient building practices, built to LEED gold standards. The building is called the learning and innovation centre and features countless sustainable technologies. Emphasis on energy efficiency and green technology make the project a sustainable solution to need for more space for the ever growing student population at RRU. Check out the link below for all the details on the LIC!!!

http://www.royalroads.ca/about-rru/the-university/news-events/inroads-newsletter/2009-january/Royal-Roads-University-Learning-and-Innovation-Centre.htm

http://www.royalroads.ca/NR/rdonlyres/8696D4CF-44CB-40EE-8151-C2F4F69B548F/0/NORTHEASTVIEWOFBUILDINGpub.jpg

The future Robert Bateman center is being planned for construction on the RRU campus. This building will be designed as a net zero building that is actually supposed to improve the natural environment. This sounds great in theory but it is far too early to talk about the greatness of this “educational building/art gallery”.  If you want to check out some of the ideas for the center, check out the following link!!

http://www.batemancentre.ca/pdf_v.php?pg=04

http://www.royalroads.ca/NR/rdonlyres/F8D125B5-6433-43F8-A667-403A36B2F5CC/0/WindowsGallery.jpg

http://tenerife-training.net/Tenerife-News-Cycling-Blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/cartoon_singerliterail_sm.gif

Finally, it brings us to the thorn in the side of the RRU sustainability plan, transportation.  Nancy Wilkin, the director of the office of sustainability, spoke in my class recently. We discussed with her some ideas about sustainability on campus. Transportation was a huge issue that came up. Due to the location of Royal Roads, the majority of staff and students drive to campus. Unfortunately this accounts for a huge portion of the University’s carbon footprint. Speaking from experience, taking the bus to RRU is not great but it’s also not too bad. I live in the downtown Victoria area, getting to campus takes me about 40 min which I have no trouble with. It would seem however that there is no real incentive for most people to partake in the public transport. It currently is very cheap (cheaper in fact than my monthly bus pass) to park at the school. This literally provides no incentive for people to take alternate modes of transport. In order for the university to overcome this, new bus routes must be acquired in order to service RRU much more. Currently only one bus runs right into campus, this is the same bus that goes into the University of Victoria campus. This bus also bypasses most of downtown. I don’t understand the logic of having a bus go from University to University, how many people could possibly be commuting from school to school. It would make far more sense to have multiple bus routes enter the school campus from downtown and across the west shore (which also has poor bus service to the campus). Another factor would be to raise the cost of parking; there must be some sort of incentive to not want to drive...

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTtczgwu8HrFv2ej0Mk7YCf8R_58Ud4VbyDGRf_wcMS02tt06EI4KPjFPFD15Q9ECy_5DY6waR6XOWJLGEOJ14bU7NT8FVwnTCDey21edAoYG7PNTCqcl1fyj9MYYJx4OH4YMgIdG0R4/s1600/cartoon_bike_dreaming.jpg

Anyways, the message here is that as an institution, Royal Roads University is doing more than their part and becoming a leader in sustainability. Again there are many more things that could have been touched on here from composting programs and recycling to carbon offsetting. Check out the first link for the detailed plan!!

The Cost of Inaction.

Sustainable Development: The Cost of Inaction.

Everyone knows at least to a small degree that mankind has caused damage to the Earth. You don’t have to be a scientist to quickly ascertain that throughout history man has placed his own short term needs ahead of the long term survival of the planet and its ecosystems. So if it’s so easy to see then why in the 21^st century do we face the same glaring issue, a lack of long term thinking. Perhaps this stems from the fact that the scale of the damage is too daunting for most people to even begin to try and comprehend.

So what are the costs of inaction? Can they be easily quantified or measured? In our day and age some of the effects of our actions are common knowledge. Global warming, acid rain and the hole in the atmosphere have become common issues that our society is generally familiar with. But these are not the only costs the planet will bear as a result of unsustainable living. The costs of our own inaction are not only limited to the natural environment, in fact many of the negative results of our actions threaten human health and our way of life.

The root of human existence is planted in the natural environment; a fact which is neglected by many. Society refers to the environment in a way that makes it seem as though it is “out there” somewhere. What I mean is that it is not often recognized that the environment is everywhere not just some place outside of our day to day lives. Everything is within the environment, people, towns and cities are all a part of the environment. Our lives are directly connected to the planet and the various systems which have evolved over billions of years. The fact that in the past two centuries we could cause such intense damage to these systems is hard to comprehend.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1027610/Ministers-industry-accused-exploiting-world-food-crisis-relaunch-campaign-GM-food.html

The greatest threats to the environment stretch beyond the well known hole in the ozone layer or global warming. In fact there are so many possible consequences to humanities collective inaction that this blog is not nearly going to do justice to the situation. Some of the biggest “costs” to the planet and society include deforestation, water pollution and shortage, invasive species, loss of biodiversity, air pollution, soil degradation, food shortages, and massive population growth and not to mention the previously stated climate change, ozone depletion and acid rain which in themselves will cause a number of severe impacts. All of these threats are directly related to human activity yet they have the potential to be minimized.

When the true effects of our inability to think long term are laid out in this manner it is extremely hard to really grasp their true impact. So let’s look briefly at some of these impacts to provide a little bit more “depth” to the scenario.

One of the most obviously unsustainable practices on earth is clearly deforestation. The global forests are vitally important to the ecosystems of the earth. They are a massive carbon sink which in theory could counteract CO₂ emissions. The forests provide vital habitat for animals and millions of organisms. There are many reasons that the world’s largest forests are destroyed many of which are avoidable. The clear cutting of forest for agriculture is a common practice in South America, one that is just devastating. This leads to massive soil degradation while at the same time removing habitat for native organisms. It is said that at the current rate of deforestation, all the worlds’ rainforests would be depleted in a hundred years (National Geographic, 2010).

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview.html

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/healy082/architecture/

Climate change is a major problem that humans are greatly contributing too. The changing of the planets climate has already caused sea ice to melt, sea levels to rise and even seen precipitation levels increase in some areas. But the true costs of global warming are interconnected. As temperatures rise drought will become more extreme in many areas of the world causing food shortages (while at the same time populations are expected to grow intensely, more on that in another blog). Sea level rise will also exacerbate this problem by displacing millions of people in countries like Bangladesh and creating environmental refugees. Extreme weather events are expected to become more common and severe again creating disaster scenes like hurricane Katrina. This will impact humanity in ways that cannot yet be clearly defined.  

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-effects/

http://hubpages.com/hub/Global-warming-a-real-threat-or-a-scam

The loss of biodiversity is another huge area of concern as climate change, deforestation and other human threats increase. There are many reasons why this is of concern. Plants and animals play a vital role in the worlds ecosystems. Humans rely on these plants and animals for more than might at first seem apparent. Mass extinctions of species could impact food supplies across the globe leaving the poorest and the worse off without food. It is not the single species themselves that cause the problem but a collapse of entire ecosystems due to habitat loss and climate change. For example the oceans are being overfished at an alarming rate. If key species in the food web are wiped out, like a predator species such as sharks, than the entire ocean ecosystem will collapse leaving nothing left for anyone. This could however be stopped, if the natural ecosystem was respected and fishing was done sustainably then the stocks of fish could be maintained forever. Another interesting fact is that many pharmaceuticals are made from plants from the rainforests. Yet there are so many species that have yet to be even discovered or fully studied which could provide crucial medicine. Yet we destroy the biodiversity of the rainforests before there is even a chance to make these discoveries.

http://www.rferl.org/content/UN_Conference_Confronts_Dramatic_Loss_Of_Biodiversity/2193667.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/loss-of-biodiversity-threatens-livelihoods-of-worlds-poorest-836754.html

http://www.surfbirds.com/mb/Features/biodiversity-and-birds.html

Lastly, one aspect of un-sustainability that the majority of people neglect to consider is the concept of peak oil. Peak oil is the theory that human kind has reached a plateau in oil production. Basically we are using oil faster than we are finding new reserves and our known reserves have “peaked” which means their production from this point on will only decrease. This is cause of great concern if you consider the way we live. Our society is based on the idea of cheap oil. If oil prices soar many of the conveniences we take for granted will no longer be possible. The implications of costly oil are huge. Our food, transport and even our products will all be affected. The very way of life the western world has come to enjoy would essentially “run out of gas” (lame pun totally intended). As the prices sky rocket, people will not be able to afford to fill their cars with gas and thus could not drive. The suburbs would become a ghetto type scene since only the poorest people would not be able to move to the expensive downtown cores for work. Since gas prices will be so high commuting would become far too costly for people and living close to work would become essential. Our food could no longer be shipped from the other side of the planet. Our agricultural practices will grind to a halt since our fertilizers and pesticides are derived from petroleum. As oil prices sky rocket and we as a collective society have not made the necessary preparations and transition to a sustainable society we will face a serious set of challenges in adapting to the new world we have created for ourselves. For more details on peak oil check out these links!!

http://www.peakoil.net/

http://www.oildecline.com/

Or this video!!

As you can see the costs of inaction are absolutely huge. As a society it is time to influence decision making in whatever means necessary in order to prevent these terrible possibilities from happening. It is unlikely much of the damage could be reversed, but we can minimize the future damage and allow for a much more positive future. The “take home” message here is that the costs of inaction are far too great and far too complex to risk not acting. We must act and begin to think sustainably and put ourselves back into our environment and treat it as our home. Otherwise our home may just fall apart.

http://www.product-reviews.net/2007/02/05/global-warming-cartoon-funny-see-photo/