Sustainable Environment, Transportation and Housing

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced three steps to support communities' efforts to provide economic opportunity while reducing impacts on the environment. The actions will encourage state and local government to make their communities more sustainable by strategically aligning their environmental, transportation and housing investments.

The steps EPA announced for 2010 are:

• The creation of a new EPA Office of Sustainable Communities to encourage communities to take an integrated approach in making environmental, housing and transportation decisions.
• A new pilot grant program designed to help three states - New York, Maryland and California - use their clean water funding programs to support efforts to make communities more sustainable.
• A pilot program to clean up and redevelop contaminated sites, known as brownfield sites, in coordination with communities' efforts to develop public transportation and affordable housing.

Today's announcements build on the work EPA is doing with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Transportation through the Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities. The partnership is focused on ensuring that housing and transportation goals are met while simultaneously protecting the environment, promoting equitable development, and helping to address the challenges of climate change.

Brownfields Pilot Program

The brownfields pilot program announced today represents a key step in that partnership. Together, EPA, HUD, and DOT have selected five pilot sites across the country where there is a convergence of public transit and the need for affordable housing.

Cleaning and reusing this land and providing new housing choices will create jobs and new economic opportunities. The five sites selected for the Sustainable Communities Partnership Pilots are the

• Fairmount Line in Boston
• Smart Growth Redevelopment District in Indianapolis
• La Alma/South Lincoln Park neighborhood in Denver
• Riverfront Crossings District in Iowa City, Iowa
• Westside Affordable Housing Transit-Oriented Development in National City, Calif.

The Office of Sustainable Communities that EPA announced today will help create neighborhoods that offer good jobs, educational opportunities, safe and affordable homes and transportation options while minimizing their impact on the environment. The Pilot Technical Assistance Program for Sustainable Communities will further that goal by encouraging states to use their Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan program to better support communities that adopt sustainable strategies, like transit-oriented, mixed-use development.

More information on the Partnership for Sustainable Communities: www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/partnership.

More information on EPA's Smart Growth program

African dust is making it across the ocean.

Increasing quantities of African dust have blown across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean and Americas over the past few decades. During that time, the dust's composition has changed.

In this study, African dust air masses in Africa and the Caribbean were analyzed for persistent organic contaminants and metals.  These potentially toxic contaminants can originate from the burning of plastics, biomass and waste; widespread use of pesticides, plastics, and pharmaceuticals; and increased industrialization.

Multiple pesticides and other contaminants, including carcinogens, suppressors of immune systems, disruptors of endocrine systems, and nervous system or liver toxins were identified from all sample sites.  All are known to persist in the environment, accumulate in organisms, and are toxic at very low concentrations.

This study, "Chasing clouds of dust: transoceanic transport of synthetic organic pollutants and trace metals with African dust," is from USGS at the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 

In his book, "Heatstroke: Nature in an Age of Global Warming" (Island Press, 2009), University of California, Berkeley, biologist Anthony Barnosky. says that because of climate change, wilderness left to its own will no longer look like the natural areas we see today.

Our conservation strategies must be rethought, he adds, because business-as-usual will not preserve all the aspects of nature we have come to know, love and respect.

Setting aside preserves, for example, puts animals and plants in a bind: As global warming makes their current habitats unsuitable, surrounding human development prevents them from moving to more hospitable places. The alternative, assisted migration, smacks of creating wild zoos - quasi-natural areas like the dinosaur wonderland portrayed in the book and movie "Jurassic Park."

"The new twist in preserving nature is that we might have to come up with a separate but equal system, where we actively set aside some tracts of land as wildlands where people can experience this feeling of 'wilderness,' but recognize that the species that live in those places and the landscape are not going to be the species and landscape we are used to," he says. "Our kids are going to see very different things in those kinds of places than we do."

Warming already altering patterns of migration

Barnosky describes in his book how global warming is already causing shifts in the ranges of animals and plants, disrupting migrations and spawning, and stressing animals confined to parks and reserves.

While ecosystem change and extinction are normal, Barnosky reminds us that past climate change, such as cooling at the beginning of glacial periods and warming with the onset of interglacial periods, took place over thousands of years.

The current warming is happening faster, by a factor of about 10.

Global warming multiplies impacts of human activities

Global warming comes on top of many other environmental impacts that have been stressing the environment, Barnosky notes in his book. He wrote "Heatstroke," in part, because he "wanted to raise awareness that global warming is not just an add-on consequence as far as impacts on ecosystems and nature are concerned.

We are all aware of habitat fragmentation, invasive species, growing human populations, and the tradeoff between resources needed to sustain us versus resources to sustain other species.

People tend to think those are the big problems, and that global warming is going to heat things up a bit.

"In reality, global warming, as far as how it is going to change nature, is as big or bigger a problem than all of those other four, and especially when you put it together with all of the other four.

There are feedbacks that make everything much more severe. It is like multiplying rather than adding everything up."

Solutions to protect both species and wilderness

Wilderness must be protected, he says, if for no other reason than that it acts as a canary in a coal mine, "a barometer of how healthy the Earth actually is."

But imperiled species must also be protected as biodiversity resources, he adds, even if this requires assisted migration of not only the endangered species, but also the plants and animals these species interact with in their ecosystem.

One alternative that some scientists have put forward is Pleistocene rewilding, a wild idea to re-establish the large "megafauna" that dominated Earth during the planet's last major bout with global climate change, the period of on-and-off glaciation that took place between 2 million and 10,000 years ago.

Read more details about Barnosky and Heatstroke

Green means sustainable -- healthful, affordable, and easy on the planet. We bring you solutions that are not only about buying more products, but things you can do without to give you more time with your family and loved ones.

Green living is about making choices...and finding solutions to your specific needs for food, shelter, companionship and productive, satisfying work. We talk straight about green building, and green products. We have real solutions for real families. Stay tuned for practical green tips and techiques as well as resources to help you make going green a whole lot easier.

Green Living Solutions for Offices

Most people think it's hard to green your office -- but with our resources and tips, you'll breathe easier in not time! We make going green easier, fun and definitely better for our greater workspace and playspace, the earth.

Green workspace is about reduction, recycling and making good purchases of the everyday things like paper and paperclips, computers and travel. We'll get you started and you'll enjoy the creative potential of green living -- and we think you'll even want to take your new green expertise home with you!

Green Living Product Categories

• Low-energy Lighting
• Natural Light
• Alternative Autos and Transportation
• Yummy Food
• Furniture and Furnishings
• Green and Healthful Buildings
• Heat and Air Conditioning Efficiency
• Water Conservation
• Outdoor Living Spaces
• Living with Nature

Sometimes the ancient tug of the arts is the best way to get in touch with our deepest insights. Ecopsychology is a new approach to understanding nature as our habitat and part of our very being. It's an intriguing journey of discovery for modern professionals who are immersed in concrete, speed and business stresses.

Ecopsychology is on the cutting edge of a shift in how we see the world and ourselves. It views many of the problems we face today as being caused by our separation from our roots in the natural world. It finds many useful solutions through reestablishing connections to those roots. As a discipline, eco-psychology studies the interaction of human beings and their environments. As a therapy it seeks to return people to a balanced relationship with their environment.

-- Allison Ewoldt

Professional and In-depth Sources

Ecopsychology, or eco-psychology as it is sometimes called, is situated at the intersection of a number of fields of enquiry, including environmental philosophy, psychology, and ecology, but is not limited by any disciplinary boundaries. At its core, ecopsychology suggests that there is a synergistic relation between planetary and personal well being; that the needs of the one are relevant to the other.

International Community for Ecopsychology

A Novel about Ecopsychology

Sitting with the Enemy by Sarah Edwards

After years of pulse pounding stress and ambition, Rose and Mark Whitman's universe is rich, glamorous, high speed - and empty - a run-a-way train about to crash. They've lost meaning, magic, and soon each other ... until an unexpected turn on the tracks takes them to a remote mountain village and a community struggling to preserve an idyllic, but endangered way of life. Mark and Rose are drawn into a circle of friends who are confronted with painful decisions about what they're willing to do to save their community. When the village breaks into factions, violence erupts fed by fear, greed and prejudice and the group learns the true meaning of community - what destroys it and what preserves it and its role in the quality of their lives and the future of their children.

Enjoy a journey of gentle exploration...you'll smile a lot ... I guarantee it!

Carolyn

The use of natural resources in an unsustainable way is, in essence, "plundering" and the result is the rapid destruction of the very earth that sustains millions of species of interwoven species...life.

Ray Anderson, citizen and corporate leader, has come face to face with his role in today's industrial role in unsustainable business shares his thought process and his solutions in this excerpt from "The Corporation".

This is an inspiring look at business's role, and the paradigm shift that is needed to be responsible for the world we leave for our children and the millions of species who are part of this delicate biosphere of life.

The book Ray Anderson credits with opening his eyes to the free-fall to earth that is better known as "business as usual" is "The Ecology of Commerce" by Paul Hawkins.

He calls for a paradigm shift of how we view business. That we look at how we are plundering our natural resources and natural processes and leaving a mess for our grandchildren. And we need to create a new revolution -- moving beyond the industrial revolution to a new revolution. One that could be called a "productivity revolution" or a "sustainability revolution."

The GrassRoots Recycling Network has a vision of the world where waste is not waste - it is a resource. 

GRRN is the leading voice calling for Zero Waste (ZW) in the United States by promoting the message that we must go "beyond recycling" and go upstream to the headwaters of the waste stream which is the industrial designer's desk. 

Zero Waste means not only 100% recovery of society's discards, but also a redesign of the products and packaging of our lives such that everything produced for our consumer economy is non-toxic and designed to be recovered for re-use, recycling or composting.

GrassRoots Recycling Network is a national network of waste reduction activists and recycling professionals. GRRN sets ambitious standards for Zero Waste goals and policies. They provide opportunities for on-going  participation in campaigns and build coalitions to achieve zero waste policies, businesses and communities. They have a valuable website and an active email listserve (called GreenYes) of many hundreds of knowledgeable experts in both downstream recovery and upstream clean production issues.

What is Zero Waste?

GRRN developed the core message of Zero Waste in the mid-1990's as the new vision of the grassroots recycling movement, and has been successful in using that theme to connect recyclers, innovative corporate leaders, activists, and others both nationally and globally.

GRRN's Zero Waste message combines visionary thinking with real-world practice to go beyond recycling, and in the process have described some simple, important solutions to many pressing issues, such as

• corporate accountability
• local economic development
• air and water pollution
• resource depletion

CONTACT INFO:

GrassRoots Recycling Network
PO Box 282
Cotati, CA 94931

http://www.grrn.org

Sustainable South Bronx is fighting for "THE PROMISE OF AMERICA" by using the green economy to help people grow out of poverty and the dirty community that results from environmentally degrading industry traditions. Restoring the environment can also restore the people who live there because we are PART of the ecosystem. Unemployment, asthma, crises...they have personal and financial stake in the environment.  Their BEST program  trains youth for ecological restoration: urban forestry management, green roof installation, brown field restoration, etc.

Environmental Justice

through innovative, economically sustainable projects

that are informed by community needs.

VIDEO with Majora Carter, founder

 

Founded in 2001 by life-long South Bronx resident, Dr. Majora Carter, SSBx also addresses land-use, energy, transportation, water & waste policy, and education to advance the environmental and economic rebirth of the South Bronx, and inspire solutions in areas like it across the nation and around the world.

Watch video clips from the 2008 Aspen Environment Forum

http://www.aspenenvironment.org/live-from-the-forum

The Mayors' Alliance for Green Schools, a coalition of mayors seeking to strategically harness the leadership and creativity of mayors across the country has been formed to promote the benefits of green schools in their communities.

Developed in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the Alliance will work to accelerate implementation of programs supporting the 2007 U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) resolution calling for green schools for all children within a generation.

"As mayors, we know all too well that schools are the heart of our communities, as they represent the promise we make to our children and future generations, a promise of learning and of opportunity," said Mayor Diaz, President of the US Conference of Mayors. "With this alliance, we are coming together and reconfirming our promise to the health and learning of our children, and ensuring that future generations are mindful of the importance of protecting our environment."

"I've seen the enormous impact mayors have when they unite around a common goal," said Mayor Greg Nickels of Seattle, who launched the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in 2005, which advances the goals of the Kyoto Protocol and now boasts nearly 900 mayor signatories. "This new coalition of mayors will shine the light on the countless opportunities to make our schools greener, our students and teachers healthier and our communities stronger."
 
"As first responders to the needs of their communities, mayors are the vanguard of sustainable development in our country," said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair of USGBC, "and USGBC wants to do all we can to support them, especially in this critically important initiative. "We have Green School Advocacy Committees in 80 local USGBC chapters throughout the country, and we are putting them at the mayors' disposal to advance opportunities, programs and initiatives that champion green school causes and help them publicly celebrate their successes."

Together with Mayor Diaz and Mayor Nickels, Mayor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco, Cal; Mayor Will Wynn, Austin, Texas; Mayor Sheila Dixon, Baltimore, Md., Mayor Frank Cownie, Des Moines, Iowa; and Mayor George Heartwell, Grand Rapids, Mich.; have put forth a call to mayors around the country to join this important effort to support green schools for all children.

"This new Alliance dovetails perfectly with Baltimore's new Sustainability agenda," said Mayor Sheila Dixon. "It also will provide more ways to support our ongoing efforts to promote the health and well-being of our students as we improve the energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of our school facilities."

Mayors across the country are leading efforts to deliver the benefits of green schools to their communities. For example, EcoMedia is working with mayors in Miami and San Francisco to leverage innovative public‐private partnerships that create new opportunities for green school projects.

Other Alliance initiatives will work to:

• Develop and create public‐private partnerships with a local business to allow schools to plant a green roof, install a solar garden or start a recycling program.
• Help school districts green their existing facilities through the Clinton Climate Initiative's K‐12 Retrofit Program.
• Encourage state legislatures to create policies and incentives for green school improvements.
• Engage in a national dialogue about green schools, green jobs and green infrastructure.

Transportation costs can be reduced on the wheel and in the landfill when quality retread tires are used on fleets of trucks, cars and other equipment.

Retread Tire Solutions for Public Sector Fleet Managers in Cities, Counties and States

With the worldwide downturn in the economy facing cities, towns, counties, states, provinces and even villages everywhere, it is more important than ever for fleet managers to manage their tire costs, a significant part of the transportation budget.

Retreads can be the cost saving, and green answer.

Not only are retreaded tires very environmentally friendly, they are far more economical than comparable new tires. The larger the tire size the greater the savings. In fact, for most tire sizes retreads can cut your tire costs by 50% and sometimes even more!

Retread Tire Safety and Reliability

The safety and reliability of today's top quality retreads (quality matters!) has been proven by millions of vehicles throughout the world over billions of miles.

All major commercial and military airlines use retreads - even on the largest planes flying - as do fire engines and other emergency vehicles, school and municipal buses, taxi fleets, race cars, small package delivery services such as FED EX, UPS and even the U.S. Postal Service, along with all types of other commercial and passenger vehicles.

U.S. Federal Executive Order (13149) even MANDATES the use of retreaded tires on selected federal fleet vehicles.

Objective information is available for fleet managers who wish to evaluate the benefits retreads have to offer and much of it can be found on the Tire Retreat & Repair Information Bureau web site, www.retread.org.

Take a look at their extensive information about the true causes of tire debris (also known as rubber on the road & road alligators).

The Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau is a worldwide association and our materials are all non-commercial and available at no cost to interested readers everywhere.

Information about Retread Tire Solutions

They will send a CD and two DVDs to those who wish to learn more. Their latest DVD, "Reputable Retreading," contains a virtual retread plant tour, along with testimonials from public sector fleet managers and is very convincing to those who are not certain about retreads.

This nonprofit retread organization will also arrange a tour of an actual retread plant in your area. They encourage "doubters" to take a tour because it is very convincing to see how much care goes into the retread process.

You can do get the attention of taxpayers and the environmentalists in your area by using retreaded tires on your public sector fleet vehicles. Your agency can do well and good at the same time by making the switch to this recycled solution of tires -- definitely a problem for communities that must deal with the millions of discarded tires that end up in landfills!

To order the retread tire information CD and DVDs, or to arrange for a retread plant tour or for more specific information contact the organization:

Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau
www.retread.org
info@retread.org,
Toll-free: 888-473-8732. From other parts of the world call +831-372-1917