Water Conservation: How is Bloomington Affected

The water issues facing Bloomington are rather unique. With the climate and rainfall that is associated with Southern Indiana, one would not expect Bloomington to be in a situation where they should be at all concerned about their water supply. However, the unique feature of Bloomington’s water distribution is that it all comes from one source, Lake Monroe. Since the city and surrounding area only has one water supply it becomes that much more important to conserve it. In that sense Bloomingtonians should be concerned and informed about their water supply.



Conservation goals from Bloomington’s Water Conservation Plan include increasing customer water use efficiency, developing and promoting a water conservation ethic within the Cit of Bloomington Utility (CBU) and its customers, increasing the water efficiency of CBU supply operations, and establishing regular monitoring and evaluation of the water conservation program.
The recommended tools to use for the city’s conservation program are very familiar, and similar to Roseland’s Policy Instruments, including; economic/financial incentives, policy implementation/regulation, expenditure towards water management and finding an alternate supply, and voluntary instruments of public education.
There are also economic, environmental, and equity issues at play here that Bloomingtonians should be aware about.
Economically, water conservation in the short and long term would serve to keep utilities prices low, for industrial, commercial, and residential uses. In addition to lowering service prices, conserving water would lower household bills as well. Such devices as low flow toilets and showerheads can quickly earn back their cost in savings.
Rainfall in Bloomington this summer neared historic lows, and currently Southern Indiana is in a drought, due in part to these meterological circumstances as well as overconsumption. The continued water use pattern will only add to further lowering the water table. As the volume of the lake decreases, the concentration of pollutants that comes in from ground water become higher, decreasing water quality.
Equity is also an issue here. It is important that clean and affordable water be provided for use for everyone. With a raise in prices and/or decrease in purity, that equity is gone, and those who cannot afford other water sources will adversely affected.

Water and Sewage: Solar Aquatic Systems

With increasing knowledge that clean water may be a finite resource if we continue our manner of consumption, water conservation and reclamation technologies/techniques are at a scientific premium. Water use must become increasingly sustainable if we expect to move towards a future in which water rationing is not the only option. One such sustainable method for water reclamation are solar aquatic systems (SAS). SAS are a biological approach to reclaiming and purifying water from sewage and sludge. By using plants and microorganisms in a greenhouse setting SAS can filter out and consume contaminants. This process mimics that of natural wetlands for processing waste, however SAS is a much more compact and efficient device for removing contaminants from sludge than wetlands.


SAS in action, compact and efficient

It is important to note that the use of wetlands to mitigate and purify sewage and sludge requires large areas of land, in order to fully replicate the natural properties of a wetland. In constructing these reclamation wetlands we are taking away from land that could be used for other purposes, as well as bringing in the tools, materials, and labor to construct a man made wetland. In that respect SAS is more sustainable because it creates less of an ecological footprint once put into action, since it can be more compact than a wetland the inputs for constructing a SAS are much less than a wetland. Using a natural wetland for mitigation however, would have much less of a ecological impact, however, natural wetlands are hard to come by in many areas, and in areas in which there are no natural wetlands the construction of one requires far more resources than putting in SAS.

A man-made wetland, note the area used to create this wetland, and how it most likely required the clear cutting of the forest it is in the middle of to make room for it.

Peak Oil

The peaking of production in liquid fuels and other energy sources in the near future will reshape our everyday lives. It will profoundly affect our community most in the areas of sustenance, transportation, land use, housing, and municipal services. We must all begin now to build other, more resilient supports for our common life. These supports will consist of understandings, agreements, assumptions, physical structures, and cultural practices that will recognize lower energy availability not as a problem, but as an opportunity and a condition to which we must adapt ourselves individually and collectively.
- Bloomington Peak Oil Taskforce
Redefining Prosperity: Energy Descent and Community Resilience

It feels as if it has only been a short time since the dollar gallon of gas, streets full of Hummer SUVs, and never ending supplies of oil were running rampant in this country. In fact, I remember when I first started driving; I could fill up my 16 gallon tank for about $15.50. What we see nowadays is a far cry from the past. The growing knowledge of peak oil, has such accentuated the desires for this commodity that anyone still committed to their Hummer is most likely spending $50 on a trip across town.

It is no question that we as a country and planet, dependent on petroleum, should be concerned about peak oil. When the oil production begins to decline the exorbitant prices for oil, and general scarcity which will occur, will greatly change our lives if not carefully planned for ahead of time. If not carefully addressed, peak oil could make personal transportation a luxury, greatly deplete national energy reserves, and effects many everyday products. The price of the myriad of products made with oil/petroleum will cease to become affordable, and that is only on a personal level. Nationally it could strongly affect the economy as well as create violent resource wars over the waning amount of product. There is a strong feeling in the scientific community that we could see peak oil within the next 15-20 years, however if demand for oil shrinks along with supply it could greatly reduce the effects of peak oil.



That is why it is integral to set up community commissions, because to really have an effect changes need to occur at both personal levels (driving less, consuming less plastics, reducing power usage) and community levels (more efficient and increased public transportation, promoting larger bicycle populations, converting to sustainable energy sources). By increasing the social capital, equity, and knowledge of a community, it will be even easier to make transitions. Coming up with smart solutions, and eliciting civicminded peoples to bring about change could very well hold off peak oil. However, it is inevitable that we as a planet will inevitably use up our oil supplies, so even if changes are made, suitable substitutions will eventually be required for petroleum based technologies and products.

Reflections on Greening the City and Urban Ecology

Tucson, AZ

I found the concept of Greening the City to be more closely associated to what I originally thought the practice of sustainability was prior to taking this class. Thanks to the readings and discussion we have undertaken I know understand the different forms of capital and community action now necessary to commit to a sustainable community, while bioregional practice overlays more strongly with the scientific aspect of sustainability. Coming from a background strong in ecology and environmental science I was waiting to see where my expertise would fit in to community sustainability, and with bioregional practices I see that opportunity, to use my knowledge of natural systems to help develop techniques that are applicable to specific sites/ecosystems to renew the natural systems and process, which make the system thrive.

One of the benefits of increasing green space is a reduction in the urban heat island effect. This is something that I have been able to experience first hand. Growing up, I lived in a more rural part of Tucson, Arizona, which at the time had not experienced much development, so it experienced the typical desert summer night. After a day of scorching 100°+ temperatures the sun would set, and the temperature would drop back down to make for an enjoyable relatively cool night. As development in the city saw a dramatic increase, and I moved into the more urban center of the city I noticed an extremely unpleasant change. Now, during the summer evenings, the temperature barely fluctuates, as the concrete, asphalt, and brick radiate out the heat, which it absorbs throughout the day, leaving the evening as abhorrently hot as the day.

An infrared image of Phoenix, Arizona


As Roseland points out there are a plethora of benefits to creating functional green space in urban areas. The difficult part thus becomes achieving an integral level of greening. To be able to implement some of tools and technologies for greening the city there are numerous policy instruments that can be used, and here Roseland shows us that regulation and voluntary instruments seem to be the policy instruments of choice. It is here that you can really see aspects of policy, biological science, and social science, converging to create a sustainable community. The biological sciences explain the ecology of an area, describe the necessity for returning these urban areas to some aspect of an ecological norm, and give us the knowledge and technologies for greening the city. The social sciences describe the ways to bring communities together, create cohesiveness, and determine the manner in which to motivate the citizenry to elicit change. The policy is the last tool, as it takes the concepts from biological sciences and the information from social sciences to give people incentives (legal from regulation or financial) and information to ensure that the change happens. This truly shows the multidisciplinary manner in which sustainability must be addressed.

The Precious Commodity of Water

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100910130557.htm

Dynamic breakthroughs in technology are creating new methods of extracting drinking water from air, detecting leaks in distribution systems, and clean and purify sewage waters.

With the ever increasing need for sustainable water practices, it is possibly technology and not supply/abundance could be the ultimate limiting factor in conserving potable water supplies. Yet, in the long run maintaining a sustainable water supply will come down to both intelligent management practices/policies and innovative technologies, which will enable us as consumers to really get the most out of a drop of water.

Ecological Footprint

One’s ecological footprint is directly related to carrying capacity. The carrying capacity for an ecosystem is the population, or number of a species, that the area can support with out having detrimental effects. The ecological footprint of a person is the physical area required to support themselves with regards to energy production, food production, and other goods and services. If a group or population has a fairly large ecological footprint their carrying capacity for the area they occupy would be much smaller than a population with a small ecological footprint. The best way for a population to increase its area’s carrying capacity is to lower its ecological footprint.

The calculators used:

Global Footprint Network Calculator: Personal Footprint

National Geographic Greendex Calculator

look at food consumed, specifically beef, poultry, and fish, distance the food travels, textiles consumed, paper products consumed, electricity consumed, methods of travel, and type of living space. All of these are successful proxies of one’s ecological footprint. The two differ in that the Greendex calculator also attempts to see what your mindset in the future will be by asking if you plan on doing certain things in the foreseeable future, such as buying energy saving appliances, or luxury automobiles, or large houses. Also both calculators attempt to address recycling the greendex by asking if you repair things or simply throw them away, and the Personal Footprint calculator asking if you recycle and what.



Some things that I see that are left out would be specific questions about recycling such as; do you recycle curbside or at a recycling center, do you compost waste, and what percent of your monthly waste is disposed of as “trash” as opposed to recycled or dealt with in another manner. Also there were many questions about transportation but not a direct one such as do you carpool. It was asked if you have a passenger, and how often, but not the amount of passengers or distance for carpooling. One other question that could have been asked would have been are you active in the community, and what types of activity, this would not directly be related to ecological footprint, but would be related to sustainability.

After calculating my footprint I have to say I am very disappointed in the number I saw from the Personal Footprint calculator. I think my actions that have the most impact on my large number deal with my travel and electricity usage. My family lives in Arizona, so I have to make that 6 hour flight a few times a year. Alternatively I could use a train, but the time it would take out of my small vacations would be too much. If only there were a highspeed rail system in this country. Additionally my car travels are significantly high because my girlfriend recently moved to Indianapolis and I drive there once or twice a week. One thing that I can change with my driving habits is to use the bus more when doing in town driving. I often ride the bus to class when not hurting for time, but I could ride it more if I woke up earlier, and I could ride it to downtown instead of driving. Alternatively I could use a bicycle until the winter months come. As for my electricity, my footprint will go down drastically once my air conditioning is no longer needed, but I could make a more concerted effort to not leave my laptop plugged in, and better insulate my apartment. All together, I feel I could reduce my impact significantly in the future, but as a student, living on a small income, far away from my family, I can only do so much at the moment. Hopefully in the future I will not have that excuse.

Changing Community Policy

Community Policy

110° summers, an ever depleting groundwater table, no major reservoirs within a hundred miles, a desert ecosystem, and palpable lush green lawns thriving throughout the year. This picture is inherently flawed, but this is the norm for those who can afford it in Tucson, Arizona. Without community policy in place for water use, those citizens who do not mind paying outrageous water bills can consume water at astronomical rates in a city where water should be viewed as a scarcity. However, with no current water use policy in place there is nothing keeping those who choose to misuse their resources from doing so.
If I were to change some community policy in my hometown it would be regarding water use during the summer months, especially when rainfall is below annual average. There is policy currently in place, which requires the city to conserve and plan for sustainable measures, such as the use of grey water for golf courses and management of the Central Arizona Project, but nothing regarding homeowner usage. There are a couple of policy instruments that could be used to address this issue.
Voluntary instruments would aid in reducing homeowner water usage. Information is a powerful tool, and it is likely that many homeowner do not know the amount of water they are using to maintain their yard. A program aimed at increasing knowledge about natural desert landscaping would spread information about positive alternatives. In addition simply supplying information about the detrimental overuse of water could sway many homeowners to better ration their use. Along those same lines providing technical assistance to show homeowners how to get maximum efficiency from irrigation systems would curtail unnecessary usage.
In conjunction financial incentives would be another useful policy instrument for establishing change in the patterns of homeowner over water use. Pricing along a curve would be one option, where in once a homeowner passes a sustainable amount of water usage based on square footage or property acrage, the chargers would accrue at a greater rate. Along the same lines taxing on those who go over established water use amounts would achieve the same results. However, financial incentives would not be as useful as voluntary instruments in this case because the majority of homeowner who overuse water are not handcuffed by financial restraints. Therefore, I feel that a policy using information and technical assistance would be best to curtail the overuse of water in my desert community.

A recent article about the plights facing Arizona’s water policy due to budget cuts
http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/article_7eb61ffd-331a-5956-887f-af9de9ea32be.html

Bloomington Sustainability Indicators

9/13/10

Sustainability Indicators

From the Bloomington Commission on Sustainability “2008 Sustainability Trends Assessment Report for the City of Bloomington” http://bloomington.in.gov/media/media/application/pdf/5917.pdf

The indicator of Annual Rate of Bus Ridership addresses more than one aspect of sustainability. By looking at the total numbers of ridership in a year, this indicator is a proxy for the proportion of people using public transportation opposed to private transportation, and can also be used as a proxy for proportion of people who use more sustainable modes of transportation such as bicycling or walking. Besides the obvious issue being taken into account here, of using sustainable modes of transportation and reducing the need for non-renewable resources, this indicator also shows something related to sustainability and not directly measurable, a form of social capital. In a society where people tend to not have their first social interaction of the day until sitting at their desk at work, riding the bus puts individuals into a group setting, one which may not be ideal for a social gathering, but which still provides more group stimulus than a car ride where in the only entertainment is the radio.

Since the data appears as total ridership it is inherently flawed because it does not take into account riders who use the bus system more than once a day, or use different busses to make connections. Therefore we can assume these numbers to be generally inflated. However, what may be more important here is the trend. Which shows that ridership for both Non-IU riders and IU-Students has steadily risen over the past 3 years, argueably this could be due to increased population in Bloomington or increased student population. This also serves as a poor proxy for the proportional measures mentioned above, but until a more through and direct indicator can be made for percentage of Bloomington residents who use sustainable transportation modes over private motor vehicles, this indicator can tell policy makers a good deal about the sustainable nature of transportation in the city.

Annual Rate of Bus Ridership would be described as a forward looking indicator according to Maclaren. It describes progress being made increase the use of mass transit, which in turn decreases the use of fossil fuels (a non-renewable resource), and moves towards intergenerational equity. It lacks a distinct reference point, but clearly shows a trend moving towards sustainability. Maclaren may not have described this as an integrating indicator, yet based on the arguments above that this indicator also indirectly measures some of the social dimensions of sustainability, and could thus be seen as an integrating indicator as well.

Interesting to Know 9/10

A discussion about sampling forests in Honduras, in Forest Ecology class, led to an interesting observation. Professor J.C. Randolph was in Honduras sampling forest area there. They were using a random point method that they had mapped up while in the states using both topographic maps and data from remote sensing, both methods using fairly recent data. Upon arriving in Honduras, Professor Randolph and his team begin driving through the country, through a poverty stricken area, and into the forest. After driving for a while they near the point they are searching for only to discover that a large field has been recently cleared in this vast rainforest. They find a man there and learn that the area has been cleared for farming coffee. I found this incredibly interesting because it fits in with what we have been discussing about how poverty affects sustainable development. To this farmer the rain forest was not a resource. It was holding him back from obtaining a valuable resource, the money that will be obtained from the sale of the coffee beans. It was an interesting how the farmers poverty led to the destruction of a resource, so that he could continue to live and afford food and shelter. This was a great example of sustainability issues that are facing the ""southern" nations.

Discussion Questions 9/9

Sustainable Urban Reader

Brundtland Report

The common definition of sustainable development that was drafted by the Brundtland Commision after 3 plus years of work is “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. This definition is often criticized for a few reasons. One is that it is considered too touchy feely, and not scientific enough. On top of that it is vague. It states what the goals of sustainable development are, but not the means to achieve it, or how to measure it.
The statement “The Earth is one but the world is not” can be interpreted as a take on cohesiveness. The Earth is one living entity, however the “world” is broken up. It is separated by physical and imaginary boundaries, and divided into nations, states, provinces, etc. This is an important statement because it stresses one of the difficulties with sustainable development, in how difficult it is to get the world to work as a whole.
Another statement made in the report is that “poverty itself pollutes the environment”. This is because of what stems from poverty and the environment itself that is created from poverty. Individuals and nations who are hungry, poor, and wanting have immediate concerns far beyond the scope of sustainability. It is far different for those who are impoverished to destroy their surrounding ecosystem, because they need those resources at that time to survive. Their immediate needs, due to their poverty, lead to degradation and thus pollute the environment.
The commission recommends that renewable resources not be depleted past the limits of regeneration and natural growth, this way stocks of resources maintain sustainable yields, but this can only happen after taking into account the ecosystem and the effects of the resource on the ecosystem to determine what a sustainable yield is. For non-renewable resources the commission recommends that the rate of depletion take into account the importance of the resource, the availability of technology to account for the depletion of the resource, and the likelihood of substitutes becoming available. The commission understands the need to use non-renewable resources, but it is integral that they are not depleted until effective measures are in place for replacing the resource.

Something that jumped out at me as very interesting was in the Brundtland Report, was in the first section the report mentions how “the onus lies with no one group of nations”. It goes on to describe the issues faced by developing nations due to environmental degradation. Followed up in the next section, the report discusses how impoverished peoples are “forced to overuses environmental resources to survive from day to day”. I found this very interesting because I feel like the average American views sustainability as an issue only seen in developed countries because of overuse of resources such as energy and fossil fuels. The fact that many people only view “Northern” cities as catalysts for environmental degradation keeps sustainability from being looked at as a global concern, but only as a hemisphere concern.
In talking to peers and family members this sentiment seems to be the same, which creates a problem. Global problems may in many cases be best addressed by starting locally, but for sustainable development to make an impact it must address the whole world, all nations. Since many of these “Southern” nations are victims of their own impovershment, it is important that we understand that this is a global issue, in order to tackle the problems that face both Northern and Southern nations. What good is it to stop development and control pollution in all the developed nations, if the developing nations are continually forced to overuse resources in order to maintain?


The End of Nature

The greenhouse effect is a phenomenon wherein solar radiation that would normally be returned to space through the atmosphere is held in the atmosphere by greenhouse gasses, such as carbon dioxide. By hampering the escape of this solar radiation the greenhouse gasses in effect heat the earth’s surface.
Ocean’s play a significant role in climate change, scientists at one time thought that the oceans would be infinite sinks for carbon dioxide, absorbing however much mankind was able to produce. Oceans do serve as a sink for carbon dioxide, but to nowhere near the magnitude scientists once thought. In fact with the amount of carbon dioxide currently being pumped into the atmosphere the difference made by the oceans is fairly slim.
The current atmospheric level of carbon dioxide is around 360ppm.
Coal burning emits more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than any alternative energy source, with no end in sight for coal use and production.
How we eat affects climate change in that some of our food sources contribute to the production of greenhouse gasses. The vast amount of meat we eat comes from cattle, and these cattle have certain bacterial species in their rumens which allow them to digest cellulose. These bacteria produce methane which is a greenhouse gas. If the numbers of cows and feedlots were low this would not be an issue, however with the increasingly vast number of livestock on the planet this contributes mightily to the greenhouse effect. In addition rice paddies are grown in conditions that are habitable to the same type of bacteria, again contributing to massive methane production.

The Rio Declaration

Principle 7 refers to “common but differentiated responsibilities” in regards to developed and developing states. This not only applies to but is imperative for the United States to understand. As a world wide leader it is our responsibility to understand that the efforts our nation is making to become more sustainable will differ greatly from those of other nations, and in many instances the United States can aid these developing nations in achieving goals that lead to restoring the Earth’s ecosystem. It is the developed nations responsibility and prerogative to aid other nations whose technology, resources, and understanding may not be up to par.
Principle 13 could be referred to as the “polluter pays” principle. It says that “states shall develop national law regarding liability and compensation for the victims of pollution and other environmental damage”.
Principle 20 states that “women have a vital role in environmental management and development. Principle 21 addresses how the creativity and ideals of youth should mobilize for the achievement of sustainability. Principle 21, addresses how indigenous peoples, and their communities, play a vital role in environmental management and development.
Principle 25 says “Peace, development, and environmental protection are interdependent and indivisible”. This is because in reality you truly cannot have one of these without the others. If there were not environmental protection there would not be peace, because states would war over resources. If there was no development there would be no peace because we would run out of land, and if there where no environmental protection there could be no development because all lands would eventually become unsuitable for development.
Globalization is viewed as a positive in the Millennium Declaration because globalization is one of the steps needed to combat environmental degradation. Globalization leads to states becoming more closely associated not just opening talks, but opening resources and methods to aid in lowering environmental degradation.
These 6 values are actually quite similar to my own. Freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature, and shared responsibility are all tenants of the way I wish to live my life.
Of the proposed measureable objectives I feel that the 1st is most important. To halve the number of people making less than $1 a day would be incredibly influential. There a numerous things beneficial to the environment that could occur from this. These people would have more money to spend on essentials such as food, shelter, and clean water. This would reduce a lot of pollution and destruction of resources that often occurs from impoverished peoples attempting to make up for the lack of these things. The most achievable objective would be to reduce maternal mortality by three quarters. The advances in the public health field as of late have been astonishing, and with continued support from developed nations this objective can be attained.

Sustainable Communities

Urban form and the ecological footprint of our communities have both been impacted by American’s love affair with the automobile. Since the car first came about it gave people the option of living in the countryside while driving into the city. This option of ease and convenience eventually led to what we now see as urban sprawl, the city growing out to meet the country. The automobile meant that no longer did a city have to plan for residents to travel only a few miles a day, but now anywhere from 20-100 in a days work. In addition the majority of American’s own cars, cars which when driven contribute to the use of fossil fuels. The amount of petroleum consumed by motor vehicles has created a distinct addition to our ecological footprint.

Some urban forms that are most sustainable are mixed use zoning, streets devoted to walking, cycling, public transport, and heavy reliance on renewable energy sources. This doesn’t compare well to conventional urban development, which is typically seen as the antithesis to some of these ideas, most notably streets dedicated to walking and emphasis on renewable energy sources.

One of the relevant topics that came across in this chapter was community mobilization. Throughout the readings so far in this course it is beginning to become very clear that community involvement is one the corner stones to sustainability. In chapter 1 of the Roseland book it discusses civic mindedness. In our first reading from the reader, Howard is no scientist, but a concerned citizen. In the Jacobs reading, she discusses the need for cities to have close-knit communities, which offer constant support. These ideas are again echoed in the Brundtland Report in which they describe how “development involves a progressive transformation of economy and society”. That societal transformation is community mobilization and civic mindedness.

Discussion Questions 9/7

Sustainable Urban Reader

I would most closely associate McHarg with Howard based upon the scientific manner in which they attack the problems that each are dealing with. They differ because of the time and place both write from, Howard late 1800's England, and McHarg, with his Scottish backgroun, but primarily writing about 1920's North America.

McHarg characterized suburban growth as the hamburger stand, gas station, billboard, sagging wires, parking lots, car cemeteries, and subdivisions. He describes the fate of older suburbs as havens for race, hate, poverty, rancor, despair, urine, and spit. All living in the shadows. He exhibits an extreme distaste for suburban growth and suburbs.

The 8 natural processes that performed work for man according to McHarg were: surface water, floodplains, aquifers, marshes, aquifer recharge areas, steep lands, prime agricultural land, and forests and woodlands. These maps were used to derive the place of nature within the metropolis.

The main effect of development efforts after WWII for developing countries according to Frank wherein the metropolitan status generates development, while the satellite undergoes under development. He proposed the mechanism of the relaxation weakening, or absence of ties between metropolis and satellite leading to an involution. This increasing polarization is still occurring today.

Meadows unique new “first” associated with the model they use in Limits to Growth is that every assumption they collect from a person is transcribed in precise form for analyzation, and that the implications drawn from these assumptions can be traced by a computer.

Most people are likely to pay attention to problems regarding family or business, city, and neighborhood, that would take place within the next week, according to Meadows team. This hampers our ability to tackle such global issues as climate change and environmental degradation, because it is too large in scope and too far away in time to see results for the vast majority of the world’s population.

The three conclusions reached in Limits to Growth are that (1) if the present growth trends in world population, industrialization, pollution, food production , and resoursce depletion continued at the same rate as current, the growth limits for this planet will be reached in the next hundred years. (2) It is possible to alter these growth trends and establish a sustainable condition. (3) If people wish to attain the latter they must start working on it sooner rather than later.

Daly connects “growthmania” and “hyper-growthmania” to GNP by stating that people view economic output as a good thing and fell that there is not enough of it, however GNP has its costs and when determining if the costs of GNP growth outweigh the benefits , people do not take into acciont the growthmania, or costs of growth. Where as counting the real costs as benefits is hyper-growthmania.

Daly’s argument for a stead state economy is that the world is finite, and the ecosystem is in a steady state, and if the human economy is a subset of this steady state economy, there will exist a leveling out point, where the subsystem becomes a steady state.


Sustainable Communities

Roseland defines sustainable community as a community continually adjusting to meet the social and economic needs of its residents, while preserving the environment's ability to support the community.

The positive effects of half the global population living in cities include such things as large nearby labor forces, high areas of income, decreased necessity of private transportation, and high accessibility to resources. Negative impacts include high rents and cost of living/land, high concentrations of impoverished areas, decrease in rural features such as parks, streams, or lakes.
Roseland refers to the developed world as northern cities and the developing world as southern cities. He sees these northern cities as being unsustainable and southern cities as being under developed. Southern cities are impacted by problems with regard to meeting basic needs, since they are lacking infrastructure. Northern cities meet their needs to an excess and have issues with over use and pollution.

North American cities were built assuming abundant and cheap energy and land, which would be around forever. In current urban form this can be seen in many over populated cities, where growth now occurs upwards instead of outwards. In cities such as Bloomington and Indianapolis, this does not seem to be the case. Bloomington has ample amounts of land, but its population is quite low, as well as the population density. In Indianapolis they have been using numerous sustainable techniques for some time, and have kept growth outward for the most part, as the city continues to expand. The use of a canal for a water source shows some concept of knowing that not all land is for development, as they have made a concerted effort to keep the city from becoming a metropolis.

In comparison to other cities in the world North American cities have an ecological footprint far outweighing those of African and South American countries. If all of the world had a similar consumption rate to that of North America there would be a need for 3 planet Earths to account for the necessary resources.