The Ecopolitan

The Greening of America Starts in Your Neighborhood

The campus of a Lutheran college in inner-city Minneapolis was recently transformed--almost literally--into an ecovillage, as neighborhood activists swapped ideas about how to make the Twin Cities greener.

Several hundred people climbed out of bed early on a Saturday morning for the Neighborhood Sustainability Conference, organized by the local green network Alliance for Sustainability. I was on hand to share stories from my recent book The Great Neighborhood Book, but I also learned a lot about inspiring backyard revolutions around the country.

Alliance for Sustainability President Terry Gips former Director of Ecological Affairs at the Aveda Corporation, outlined how a growing number of cities now see themselves as eco-municipalities, including Madison and three other towns in nearby Wisconsin.

• Santa Monica, California, for instance, has implemented new policies that resulted in a 17 percent increase in transit ridership, a 10 percent increase in public space, and mandated new organic gardens on the grounds of every public school.

• San Francisco has banned polystyrene take-out containers from restaurants.

There was also exciting news on the local front.

• Food at the conference was served with compostable plates, glasses and utensils provided by the local Eureka Recycling Company.

• The Twin Cities Free Market is making the "reuse" part of the three green Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) much more practical with a handy online service where you can easily connect with other people and trade worthwhile items you no longer need. Sometimes it's as easy as putting out your garbage for someone else to pick up.

© The Green Guide, 2008

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The best green architecture is actually an old building

Green architecture has become a hot new trend in the real estate business, which is great news. Buildings account for a sizable share of greenhouse gas emissions and consume a significant amount of energy.

The city of San Francisco is taking steps to enact the most advanced green building code in the U.S., estimated to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere by 60,000 tons by 2012 while conserving 220,000 megawatts of power and 100 million gallons of drinking water.

Yet a debate is now emerging about what building practices are the most green.
Aaron Peskin, president of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors (city council) points out, "The greenest building that exists today is one that is already built." He wants to make sure the city's new green codes do not foster a wave of teardowns. Demolishing buildings to erect new ones--even green buildings--generates huge volumes of solid waste, creates pollution, and consumes energy and natural resources.

Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, calculates that even a new state-of-the-art green building using 40 percent recycled materials will take 65 years to recover the energy lost in demolishing and replacing an existing building.

"Durability is the most sustainable thing an architect can do," says Philip Bess, professor at the Notre Dame School of Architecture, who played a key role in preserving Boston's Fenway Park baseball stadium.

"Sustainable architecture means buildings that people love," adds his Notre Dame colleague David Mayernik. "They won't be torn down."

© The Green Guide, 2008

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It’s All Happening at the Park

New York is inconceivable without Central Park. Vancouver would never be the same without its famous urban forest, Stanley Park.

And I can't even imagine my home, Minneapolis, lacking the lakeside parks where I skate and ski in the winter, swim and canoe in the summer, bike and walk all year-round-- all right in the middle of the city.

Let's face it: Urban living would be a lot less pleasant and fun without the great, green spaces created by visionary civic leaders in the 19th century.
City parks are an American treasure in the same way as our world-famous national parks.

Thankfully, the vision of creating great parks for the people is being revived in the 21st century. USA Today reports that a new wave of urban parks is now being created, thanks to voters' willingness to approve referendums that fund the purchase of remaining open space in metropolitan areas.

Memphis, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; Atlanta; Staten Island, New York; and Irvine, California, are among the places getting major new parks-- all of which will be larger in size than Manhattan's 843-acre Central Park.

The excitement is about more than just big parks. Detroit has boosted its ailing downtown by turning Campus Martius into the city's new hot spot. Although less than two acres, it attracts throngs of people for concerts, ice skating, gardens, fountains and a café, drawing $500 million of new investment into neighboring blocks.

© The Green Guide, 2008

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