11.1 The sustainable city  (Page 2/20)

Materials&Waste

Scientists are producing materials not previously known to nature with unpredictable effects on bio-systems. Some, such as dioxin, are highly toxic; others (e.g. xenoestrogens - which act as endocrine disruptors) have more subtle effects. In the future the government will likely continue to expand its regulation of the production, use and disposal of chemicals. Even heretofore benign processes, such as the production of garbage and greenhouse gases, will probably need to be controlled as civilization exceeds the capacity of natural systems to absorb and recycle our waste products.

Recycling and composting will reduce waste streams and “material exchanges” will take waste from one group and transfer it efficiently to others, thus reducing trash volume. Chicago’s Rebuilding Exchange , for instance, allows donors to take a tax deduction while it chargers buyers a greatly reduced fee to reuse materials that would otherwise be sent to the landfill. Although the Rebuilding Exchange is a physical location, similar material exchanges could be virtual as they connect seller/donors to buyers/users online. Old landfills might be mined as raw material use by a larger developed world (the addition of Asia’s billions) creates demand while technology drives down the cost of extraction. These modern economic realities, along with the arrival of useful technology, represent the rise of collaborative consumption .

Long before modern lighting and HVAC systems were developed, buildings relied upon natural light and ventilation. With support from a growing body of science supporting the public health benefits, contemporary designers are rediscovering the role biophilia – the human affinity for nature – plays in the spaces we occupy. When adjacent to residential areas, green spaces have been shown to create neighborhoods with fewer violent and property crimes and where neighbors tend to support and protect one another.

http://www.planning.org/cityparks/briefingpapers/saferneighborhoods.htm , Accessed 4/29/11