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Actions large and small make a different in our environment
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Published: April 19, 2009
The word "sustainability" brings to mind images of wind and solar farms scattered across open, rural space. However, there are numerous projects around the United States aimed at sustainable communities. They include ideas for local power generation as well as more efficient management of electricity, water, land and other resources. Projects range from planting a community garden to designing and building a green city from the ground up.
Cities, such as New York, have plans to increase their sustainability. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced plans to build wind turbines on many of the city's buildings and bridges as well as in the surrounding waterways. He has a plan to rent roof space on public and private buildings to solar-power companies, which could sell the power to city residents.
New York's sustainability effort would provide other benefits, as well. In recent years, there have been massive blackouts in the Northeast as a result of interdependent power grids. These blackouts cost millions of dollars in lost labor. Having an independent source of off-grid power would protect the city from these disasters.
Reducing consumption is another way to promote sustainability. The recently passed stimulus bill includes funding for improving energy efficiency in homes. For example, $300 million is allotted for rebates for energy-efficient appliances, $6.3 billion for energy efficiency in federally subsidized multifamily housing, and $5 billion to weatherize more than 1 million homes owned by "modest-income" families. Additionally, there are mandates to upgrade the federal vehicle fleet to run more fuel-efficient vehicles and improve efficiency standards on new government buildings. These projects are estimated to save hundreds of millions of dollars a year in energy costs. There are also projects under way to help produce more goods and services locally, which saves on fuel used for transportation. Urban farming has become a topic of interest in many communities. One idea is to plant "Victory Gardens" akin to those planted during World War I and World War II.
Winston-Salem has joined the Cities for Climate Protection (CCP), a group whose aim is to "Achieve quantifiable reductions in local greenhouse-gas emissions, improved air quality, and enhanced urban livability and sustainability." A Local Action Plan for emissions reduction has been created to help the city reach these goals. The city is already taking action to accomplish this. The Hanes Mill Landfill creates biogas that is used to generate more than 37 million kilowatt hours a year of electricity, which is sold to Duke Energy as green power, offsetting 37,000 tons of greenhouse emissions. The Winston-Salem Police Department uses hybrid and electric vehicles as well as bicycle patrols to reduce emissions and gas usage.
The Local Action Plan outlines many of the measures already taken by Winston-Salem. One proposed goal is to promote conservation measures in existing and new commercial, residential and industrial buildings through education, partnerships, energy audits and design standards.
Wake Forest University has also been promoting conservation measures through education by increasing awareness of the importance of sustainability. This week is "Sustainability Week" and will feature ways that the student body and the campus facilities can decrease the environmental footprint. One way is by replacing gas-powered golf carts with electric ones. Also, Styrofoam containers used for to-go food items will be replaced with biodegradable materials. And, a wide range of changes in course content are taking place though the initiatives of WFU faculty.
Sound energy policy truly is a matter of thinking globally and acting locally. While it may not be possible to completely re-engineer your area to include personal-transportation networks, a community garden may be well within your reach. Neighborhood recycling initiatives and compost piles save energy and benefit the community. Making a soda can from recycled aluminum uses a fraction of the energy and is as strong and safe, and homegrown produce always seems to taste just a little bit better.
■ Juliane Rose is senior studying biology at Wake Forest University. Alexander Johnston is a fourth-year student studying industrial engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
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