Hope Or Despair

I believe that sustainable development can exemplify both hope and despair. Throughout the class there have been some great examples of sustainability and communities which truly represent this to the fullest extent. I have hope for sustainability because I see a growing trend in it just from the everyday examples I see. For example, I was watching the local news the other night and a story came on about the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and how they were making a goal of being the “greenest” Olympics yet. This was being implemented by a series of sustainability initiatives regarding going greener, providing accessibility and integrating sustainability into the operations for the Olympics. I have kind of kept my mind tunneled with regards to what sustainability can be applied to but ultimately it can be applied to anything, and it is great to see this being incorporated into situations that I would not even consider. Sustainability is on the rise and I am seeing it more and more even in everyday life, which is great. However, a lot more can be done though in order to make sustainability a long term plan for the entire planet this is where I have a sense of despair.

Politicians and the economy are holding us back from the true sustainability that can exist in the world today. The narrow mindedness and clashing between politicians and the whole topic of sustainability are what is preventing this from being a revolution and turning the planet around for the better. All of these projects and developments can continue with their own plans to sustainability but however they must comply with the current system of bull headed politicians while being surrounded by the over consumption of everything by typically the majority of the population. Also, there are far to many opposing views and battling theories on what should/shouldn’t be done. A key example in Chris Turners Geography Of Hope is the simplistic story of the Lorax and the once-ler and how the deforestation of the truffula trees eventually lead to the collapse of the entire community. There is a clash between the lorax, whom believes that the trees are there to stay and are not meant to be harvested and turned into thneeds and the once-ler, whom is like every other businessman and is looking to make a profit. However the third variable in this story is the consumers of the thneeds. Silly I know, but it is a big revolving cycle. The once-ler has overproduced and used up all of this resource due to the overconsumption of the thneeds. This example, simple as it may seem, can be basically applied to the world today. There is to many opposing views and not an overall goal in place in which everyone can adhere do. Another example that I feel like I should mention is how David Suzuki requested a simple meeting with Stephen Harper in order to discuss a sustainability plan in which Harper blatantly refused. More fuel for my fire I guess, not everyone is on the same page!

In conclusion, I do have hope for sustainability but yet I feel despair at the same time. There are some major gains I feel within the small scale of things and there are lots of examples that can show this locally such as developments like dockside green and even how the Olympics have integrated sustainability into their operations. However, it goes back to the big picture and how things are not advancing in this large scale. Politicians, the profit hungry businessman, and the overconsumption of everything is whats hurting us. If these large scale factors can find a common ground with the much smaller environmentalists then perhaps sustainability can truly exist and turn into an actual reality.

My Stuff And Consumption Habits

My Stuff And Consumption Habits

The sermon conducted by William McDonough titled the design, ecology, ethics and the making of things opened up my eyes on how things are manufactured and do not necessarily reflect sustainability whatsoever. He states in the sermon that we must honor the earth for which it gives us all things that society needs to survive. The things that are made must not only rise from the ground but return to it, soil to soil, water to water so in which everything that is received from the earth can be given back freely without causing any harm. I believe that this is a good moral to stand by however it is not done whatsoever with regards to the massive “consume and throw away” morals in which we live in today. A prime example is the big corporation box stores such as Wal-mart etc etc. The entire baseline that stores like this run on is to provide the cheapest product and prices to the consumer to buy and have to throw away within a very short time scale. Therefore they will go back repeatedly in order to keep buying these cheap products while the old gets thrown in the trash only to reach a landfill. This is a never ending cycle, especially with certain types of products. Electronics comes to my mind, generally because with most things such as ipods and computers, within a short time they become obsolete and not worth a penny to anybody.

My stuff and consumption habits are generally that of which would not be desired by William McDonough. I like to have nice things, am always influenced by trends and “the next new thing” out there. I have a large array of old electronics and clothes which usually end up being thrown out or placed into storage to sit where they will probably never be used again. Also, now that I am a full time student and not making my own income I have also resorted more to heading to Walmart to buy these cheap consumerables. I would make more conscious decisions if I had the income to do so, like buy something for a bit more that I knew would last a lot longer and also items that are more environmentally friendly, but right now I have been kind of forced to buy based on quantity, not quality.

However, I am just one person in a large world full of consumers whom probably do not think about the effects of buying these cheap items. The norm of the society nowadays is to buy the things that are the cheapest so that they will have more money to spend on other stuff, seems like a no brainer to me. However, the problem with this scenario is that the products that are made with the environment in mind, out of non-toxic materials and built to last generally cost a lot more. Therefore these products do not sell nearly as well as their counterpart and this cycle continues on.

In order for things to change, a total shift in society needs to happen and quite frankly, I don’t see this happening. People are more concerned with making their dollars stretch to the absolute maximum and purchasing these cheap/disposable items seems to be the most feasible solution for your everyday consumer.

Synthesis Of Presentations

Recently, our class presented a variety of presentations based from Chris Turners Geography of Hope. Each chapter from the book emphasized a different area with regards to sustainability and ultimately a key piece to the puzzle in making a sustainable planet. Each individual team got assigned an appropriate chapter and topic and had to present on them. The areas that were assigned involved energy, transport, urban planning, green buildings, international development, smart design, making change, economics and sustainable communities. Generally, each of these topics had their own aspects to sustainability however the topics did overlap a lot onto others. After hearing the presentations, I felt like each area of sustainability was not necessarily dependent on another but involved key concepts from other topics. A good example of this is the theme that we presented on, which was urban planning.

Urban planning involves many other areas to sustainability that were presented on by the other groups. For example, the buildings that are built into new developments can be designed to be LEED certified, which branches out onto the smart design aspect of sustainability. The buildings can also be designed to implement many “green” processes and applications such as green roofs, solar panels, or possible wind power to take it off the power grid which would branch out to the green design and energy categories. Older buildings can be retrofitted with new and improved processes and energy efficient materials/appliances which also incorporates green design and energy.

Another key to urban planning is to reduce the need for transportation and promote the use of sustainable transport such as taking transit, carpooling, riding a bike or walking. Sustainable transport can increase the social capital and interaction within a community and create positive interactions and more time being around the community and not isolated in a vehicle by yourself.

Urban planning also is related to the development of a sustainable community. Urban planning is a framework that starts off the process in a sense by creating a community that revolves around mixed use, keeping money within the community(sustainable economics), and designing with sustainable living in mind. By having this initial infrastructure created in a community, the development of a sustainable community becomes a lot easier to maintain. Urban planning supports and is a vital constituent of a sustainable community.

All concepts presented from the class presentations were all individual components which related to sustainability. Even though they reflected on different aspects, I especially noticed that our topic consisted of examples that were used in the other presentations and overlapped significantly. Our topic, which was urban planning, reflected many examples that were touched on by the other groups such as energy, transport, green buildings and smart design.

A Local Example Of Sustainability

After viewing all the presentations as well as working on our own, which involved urban planning and sustainability, one local example really jumped out at me as it seemed to emphasize sustainability to the fullest. This example of sustainability was Dockside Green.

Dockside Green is a new and revolutionary development which is located near the downtown Victoria Harbour. There are many different features of this development that exhibit sustainability as the overall goal of dockside green is to contribute environmental efficiency into any area in which they can. They also further contribute to sustainability by creating dockside green as a closed loop system, which in theory uses waste from one source to fuel another. The buildings have also been designed to conform to a mixed use platform where they serve multiple purposes such as businesses and homes, thus keeping things contained within the area and contributing to less travel for individuals. Another key concept to dockside green is incorporating the triple bottom line into their development. This in turn creates a healthy community within dockside green while supporting economic/social aspects and minimizing the impact to the environment.

The power generation at dockside green uses a biomass system which is where wastes that are generated by the community are reused in a sense for heating purposes. This is an example of cradle to cradle as the waste generated by the occupants of dockside green is taken and used for another purpose, instead of being expelled into the ocean. The buildings also have many energy efficient techniques such as energy efficient appliances, compact fluorescent lighting and meters located in each of the rooms which monitor power use.

Another area that dockside green has made sustainable is transportation. Dockside green has invested into a car share program where one car is available for every 90 residents. There is also a mini transit system that will take people to key areas downtown and also bring them back. BC transit routes have also been incorporated into dockside green. There is also numerous artistic bicycle racks located throughout the community which promotes biking. The galloping goose trail runs through dockside which provides a suitable pathway for pedestrians to travel by bike throughout the city. Dockside green has been developed to be very pedestrian friendly and eliminate the use of vehicles in the area.

Another area of sustainability for dockside green is the building materials used. The environmentally friendly building materials used come from methods that use sustainable practices. The carpets used within the buildings are environmentally friendly and 100% recyclable. Also, there is bamboo flooring and cabinets used in the development which grows much faster and is not needed to be fully harvested when compared to traditional hard wood. The wood frames are made from triton wood, which is harvested locally in BC. A goal of the construction of dockside green is to reuse/recycle 90% of all construction wastes instead of throwing it away or burning it.

Dockside green has supported a mixed use in the development of their community. Buildings have been created to have both residential and commercial use. Also the development has applied to various incomes and ages in order to result in a more balanced community which all types of residents can live in. The community design of dockside green has been intended to encourage outdoor activities, interaction with neighbours and the overall support of local businesses. This can create a positive social capital that benefits sustainability.

Overall, Dockside green has focused sustainability into all aspects of the development. Whether it is the overall cradle-to-cradle power generation for the site, implementing environmentally friendly building materials or incorporating energy efficient design into their buildings, they all contribute. Transportation has been revolved around community interaction while promoting more “green” solutions such as walking, biking and carpooling. Also, the mixed use design of the buildings is a major factor which contributes to supporting local businesses, minimizing the needs for travelling by car, and increasing the social capital and interaction within the community. This platform created by dockside is a great example of sustainability within a community and I feel that when future developments are in the planning stage, they should take these principles into consideration which will create more tightly bound communities (socially and economically) while benefitting the environment at the same time.

My Social Capital and What Affects It

Social Capital is a fairly broad term that can be looked at in many different ways and also be defined in many different ways. According to “Social Capital: The Missing Link”, the definitions of social capital have evolved and changed throughout time. Also, it has become recognized that social capital is the missing link with regards to fully determining the process of economic growth. I guess until recently, economic growth was thought to have only consisted of natural capital, physical or produced capital and human capital. However, now that I think more about it, social capital does have a large influence on economic growth. Some of the examples in class revolving around economic growth can further show this.

Generally in society, there has been a decline in social capital. The commitment to voluntary organizations is on the decline and people are not as involved in this as they were in the earlier 19th century. Generally, it has been shown that states having high social capital generally have a more productive and prosperous society and economy. This can be correlated by how educational performance is higher in states that have a higher social capital. Also areas such as poverty and crime are generally less in areas of higher social capital. But why is this?

Social capital can take place in such forms as bonding, bridging and vertical types. The bonding between families and friends within a community gives safety and security. People are in higher spirits when they share a bond with others and when this is present, more can be accomplished. By bridging the connections between networks in high social capital areas, change will readily occur and happen at a faster rate. The drive to accomplish tasks is there with a high social capital. By having these vital connections, the benefits of teamwork within the community increase, thus resulting in greater productivity which drives economic growth.

Now that I have gone completely off of topic, I will now get into the real deal for this blog post, which is my social capital and what affects it. My social capital is pretty basic at this point in my life. Work has been put on the backburner as well as any organizational networks such as being part of a sports team. Basically, my social capital consists of family, friends and school. All of these are connected and can be dependent on one another. In one sense, these networks can be negatively affected from one another. One example is the amount of time spent on school which is time taken away from the other important parts of my social capital. However, this can also be positive due to the fact that friends and family can be there for support and a shoulder to lean on when times get tough. This crossing over of networks provides a stability in a sense. When one part of my social capital becomes stressful, the others are there for support and backup. My social capital can also be affected on a much larger scale due to things such as the economy, government, the world around me and such communication networking tools such as the internet. These are networks that I am also a part of and can influence me by what happens to them and if changes are made within them. I feel that social capital has a large amount of influence on whether or not a society can be sustainable. The general ideal on this is the higher amount of social capital, the more positive relationships exist within a community network. By this occurring, a more positive outlook on things can lead to further development within a community in the form of collective action. This can be directly related to the sustainability of a community or on a much larger scale, a society.

Sustainability of RRU

Upon reading the sustainability plan of Royal Roads University, I gathered that it is very diverse and covers many areas regarding climate change, reducing waste, as well as implementing systems that would improve the sustainability of Royal Roads University. Key initiatives of the plan include reducing the GHG emissions by 50% by 2020, become climate neutral by 2010, Go off the power grid, and to identify the best practices in order to become a leader in sustainability. Earlier this week, we were introduced to a few representatives of Royal Roads University whom shared their inputs on the sustainability of RRU and what their groups were doing in order to accomplish this. One of these representatives was the supervisor of the Royal Roads custodial services. I was amazed at how one aspect such as janitorial/garbage services could put forward so many sustainable ideas. The custodial service at RRU really takes pride in what they do and how they can benefit the environment. There are no harmful chemicals or disinfectants used on campus and all cleaning is done using microfiber cloths and water. I was skeptical at first with this cleaning method but microfiber cloths absorb all bacteria in contact and are then washed using a specialized washing machine which sterilizes the cloths and makes no need for the use of detergents. Also, the microfiber cloths have a life of 500+ washes, which is by far much more sustainable then using paper towel to clean the hundreds of desks in the campus. Also, the paper towel which is generated from bathrooms, kitchen, etc is recycled and turned into compost instead of being diverted to a landfill. A full scale recycling program was put into effect and the money generated from refundable bottles was used as donations for scholarships as well as to various charities such as the united way.

Another part of RRU with regards to sustainability is the Habitat Café. They have also put forward many different ways in order to be sustainable and environmental friendly. The wastes are not left for the consumer to sort but instead are sorted in the back of the kitchen in order to eliminate the addition of unnecessary wastes which would not belong in the compost. The majority of the cups and cutlery are made up of biodegradable materials such as corn plastics and corn lined cups. Different incentives have been also discussed with regards to reducing the amount of coffee cup sleeves disposed of. Such an incentive that was introduced was to bring in a coffee sleeve to enter in for a draw. The kitchen also uses cage free eggs and prawns were eliminated from the menu due to this not being an ocean wise choice.

Steve Grundy also talked to our class with regards to the sustainability plan of RRU. He commented on the solutions for meeting as well as how progress was being made to do this. I felt that the overall success of meeting the criteria for the sustainability plan seemed very difficult. The major problem was generating the funding needed to put through a plan and that the solutions discovered were slowly eliminated due to the infeasibility of them. Solar power proved to not be very efficient due to the high amount of carbon present in the photovoltaic cells used. Wind power and wave power were also eliminated because there are not enough of either present on the campus to provide the necessary amount for efficient generation. Another solution was the anaerobic digestion of wood wastes which produced methane. The methane generated would be burned and the heat could be used as the source of power. However, this method also seems infeasible because the large amount of wastes needed for this project. A viable collection program would have to be introduced and the public would have to be on board for it to be successful.

All in all, I feel that Royal Roads University is putting forward many different and great ideas which demonstrate sustainability to the fullest. The janitorial and kitchen staffs have put forward many ideas and have put these programs into full force. This can aid in the overall sustainability plan of RRU and help it become a reality. However, I feel doubtful that the campus can meet all initiatives lined out in the sustainability plan. It can be done, but like all things, a source of money is needed to put this through. Also, the many different ideas discussed with regards to finding an alternative source for power generation have all been slowly eliminated from the list due to either the feasibility or funding needed for the project. RRU has put forward many green initiatives and is by far exceeding any other university that I have heard of trying to do this. However to be fully sustainable and meet the targets outlined in the sustainability plan for the campus, many factors must be solved which regretfully appear to be without a solution at this time.

How Can I Tell What Is Sustainable

Sustainability can present itself in many shapes and forms. The characteristics or sustainability are quite vast however they all can be categorized and all have one major goal present at the end. Sustainability consists of many separate parts and subparts which all must work together in order to fulfill sustainable development. It must address the needs of the environment, social, and economic aspects. These aspects must have an equilibrium present with the negative feedback loops that sustainability presents. One example of this is how the cod stocks on the east coast have been over fished which has lead to the sustainability of these stocks to no longer exist. The threshold has been surpassed and a tipping point has occurred. The overfishing of these areas without allowing the proper time for recovery to occur has caused the collapse of this fishing industry. This example would not fit into my view as being sustainable.

Sustainability is a complex system. Sustainability is being challenged every day by humans and society. The fact of sustainability seems to be quite an unreachable feat due to the many factors that can halt it in its tracks. Mainly the overdeveloped countries seem to have unsustainable attributes attached to them. The increase in pollution, the unsustainable use of resources as well as the closed minded attitude regarding climate change can lead to a further unsustainable situation.

Sustainability to me involves a much simpler system. After reading the introductory chapter in the geography of hope, I was introduced to Samso, a tiny island nestled in the most populous regions of Denmark. This smaller and less evolved community reflected on the simpler things in life such as selling fruit, growing potatoes and of course drinking beer. This island was nestled away from outside influences and evolved and created its own destiny, which was becoming a revolutionary renewable energy dependent community. However, I am kind of contradicting myself. The island did boast a largely fossil fuel dependency initially, but they had the will and determination to make the change and make the island no longer dependent on fossil fuels. This happened in the short time span of 10 years and the island cut down its CO2 emissions substantially (140% drop). Typically, I thought sustainability would greatly affect the area and make living more difficult. However, Chris Turner explained it best by saying that the island still functioned just as well as it did before. Cattle still roamed in the fields, boats still bobbed on the waters. All the functional aspects were the same as they were before. If anything, sustainability created more opportunity by putting Samso in the limelight and showing the world of what determination and willpower can accomplish. Samso is a prime example that sustainability can occur and can be successful. It truly opened up my eyes to the concept of what is sustainable and how more overdeveloped and “money hungry” countries should step back and take a look at how a much more simpler and straight forward approach can tackle a major problem in which we face today. Samso cannot take all the credit for their accomplishments. The entire Danish government should be saluted in order for seeing a problem and taking the initiative to solve it. Just reading about how they invited all the dozens of islands to take part in this process and also provide some funding for the process is unbelievable. I have a hard time seeing this occur in the western world in which we live in. I feel though that this method proved to be successful and that other countries should look at this as an opportunity to do the same.

The Cost Of Inaction

Climate change is a very urgent global challenge which can affect the concept of sustainable development greatly. The rising release in greenhouse gases are leading to drastic weather changes such as hurricanes, heat waves and floods. These weather events affect the basic resources in which society needs in order to fulfill sustainable development (water, food, health and the environment). So basically, sustainable development and climate change are related. Climate change is directly affecting the success of sustainable development as a whole.

A large and global plan should be put into effect in order to tackle climate change. According to the Stern Review, A global effort which can span the next 10-20 years will have a large effect on the rate of climate change occurring. If no action is made, the effects of climate change can be expressed as losing 5% of global gdp each year. If the situation is more critical this can escalate up to 20%. However by us acting and implementing processes to tackle climate change, this can be limited to only a 1% gdp per year. Taking action is by far the better choice. If nothing is done with regards to climate change, we will continue to dig our own grave.

I feel that a meager 1% of the gdp per year in order to try and control a situation that can affect the entire global population is quite minimal. The cost of us doing nothing is by far a worse situation. Society’s priorities are by far out of sync with climate change. For example, the global priorities slide which we were shown in class made me really look at and evaluate if people and governments spending habits are taking sustainable development into affect. For example, the spending in Europe on ice cream in 1998 was a staggering 11 billion US dollars; where as the military spending on a global basis was 780 billion dollars. This is absolutely ridiculous when the cost to provide the basic necessities in which society would need to function is far less. To provide basic health care and nutrition for all would cost 13 billion US dollars. Our priorities are not realistic. Money is being spent foolishly on wants, not needs. This is not sustainable development.

The Stern report made a very good argument on how climate change can be tackled and in what ways it can be accomplished. However, this must be done on a global basis. All countries must be willing to participate. An international framework must be set that should include key areas including emissions trading, technology cooperation, action to reduce deforestation and adaptation. Emissions trading can help promote reductions in emissions by governments putting a cap on how much carbon emissions can be released. This should be made a regulatory law, therefore companies will have to follow suit and obey, resulting in a decrease of greenhouse gases released. An increase of funding will also need to be put into the research and development of new low-carbon technology. An international effort of R&D will make it occur faster and these technologies can be put into production quicker. Deforestation, a large player in climate change should be reduced as it is basically taking away a resource that is a large carbon capturer. And finally adaptation by developed countries providing assistance overseas and fully factoring in climate change with development policies.

I feel that the Stern Review makes a lot of good points and overall is what we need to do in order to curb climate change. However, I have a strong doubt with the whole “global participation” factor. A lot of time and effort would have to be made in order to get every country involved. There would also be a lot of opposing ideas and not everyone would agree with the framework for reducing climate change presented. Under developed countries will not have the funding in order to do their part and will have to rely on more developed countries for support. The more prosperous countries may not be willing to assist and thus will create more conflict. Also, if a plan is presented and all the countries participate, what will be the success rate of the countries staying faithful to it? An example that comes to mind is regarding the Kyoto Protocol and the USA. George Bush withdrew the Unites States from the Kyoto Protocol due to the fact that it would be detrimental to the economy of the United States. Another reason was because the protocol was exempt from developing countries. Due to the situation our planet is in right now, climate change must be addressed. By this happening, sustainable development will prosper. However I feel that there are a lot of negative variables that can affect this from moving forward. The cost of inaction on a global basis will be detrimental to the economy, society and the environment. However, I do not see a full scale plan being put into effect any time soon due to the many opposing views that countries and organizations have with the action that should be taken. Past efforts put forward have had a degree of success but have not been able to withstand one key variable, which is time.

First Blog Post - What Is Sustainable Development To Me

What Is Sustainable Development?

Sustainable development to me means that development of the earth and society are kept balanced with regards to the use and replenishing of non-renewable/renewable resources. By this occurring, future generations will have the opportunity to use these resources to meet their own needs. Resources need to be used for everything as it is basically impossible to create a product without relying on a resource present on this planet. The key concept to this though is to being able to make sure that the resource used is accounted for and/or used in a way that can maximize the lifespan of it. An example of this is the use of trees for creating plywood that would be used for building construction. The organization/company responsible for the use of the natural resource should be held accountable to make sure that the portion that they used would be replenished. So, the company would plant trees in order to sustain the amount they used for the creation of the plywood. By doing this, sustainable development would occur. What is used is replaced so that future generations can have the opportunity to use it and continue the cycle.

If this actually was the case and everything that was used was taken in account for and made sure to be replaced back into the earth, everything would run remarkably smooth. There would never be a shortage of a renewable resource, a non-renewable resources existence would be maximized and made to last as long as possible, and technology as a whole would develop and evolve. The world would advance readily and develop for future generations while maintaining a balance of the resources used.

To me, this scenario seems farfetched. Companies and corporations as a whole do not follow the term “sustainable development”. The majority are looking at making the most profit by doing as little as possible. A good example of this is major oil companies, whom make many promises that they will do many great things for the areas in which they work in and the communities that surround these areas. Millions and millions of dollars are spent this way, which is good and helps out the communities greatly. However, this is “sugar-coating” the actual reality of the situation. They are not seeing the whole picture. Oil production has hit peak oil, which is where production has exceeded known reserves found. This should set off an alarm and make the companies reevaluate their protocols. By seeing this startling reality, I feel that these oil giants should maybe reflect more on how they can minimize the need of oil and try to research and find a different resource that could be used in place of oil. By doing this, the future of their company would be more secure as well as oil production would be slowed down which would make the resource last a lot longer for future generations. All the blame cannot be put on the companies however. It is a large cycle that revolves around the supply and demand of oil. Many companies are dependent on oil for their products to work or be made. Society in general is taking this non-renewable resource for all it has to offer and is not slowing down and re-evaluating what can happen once all of this resource has been used up.

This blog post has ended up to be revolving largely around oil and oil production. I didn’t really intend to finish it like that, however I feel that the use of oil is a major concern and needs to be changed. Society, government as well as oil companies should look at ways in order to minimize the need for this resource. It is a non-renewable resource and at the rate it is being extracted and consumed is not following my idea of sustainable development. If this does not get re-evaluated, future generations will not have the opportunity to use this resource to further better themselves and advance technologically within their own generation.