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How can we reach our 2020
Greenest City Targets?

GC 2020

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657 results found

  1. Make it more difficult to get around the city in a car (ex. tolls, road blocks, etc.)

    Sometimes people need to be pushed in the right direction, and by making cars less convenient people will be forced to find other transportation methods! If cars became increasingly annoying to use, because of cycling road blocks, tolls for driving downtown, less road space, etc. then who would want to use cars? People will have to look elsewhere for easy, fast transportation.

    8 votes
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  2. Align Capitial Spending to Pedestrian & Cyclist Injury Reduction

    Implement annual monitoring, reporting, and targets for injury reduction of pedestrians and cyclists, align capital spending towards injury reduction and away from increasing SOV capacity.

    17 votes
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  3. 14 votes
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    The City does not have jursidiction in this area, though the best way to send price signals to discourage the use of air conditioners may be through sales tax administered by the provincial government.

  4. Host an sustainability ideas series (e.g. films, lectures, how to sessions)

    Sustainability is a complex and difficult topic. Many people get a sense about what it is, some don't get it at all and many others think green consumerism (e.g. cloth bags, CFL lightbulbs) is all that's required to build a friendly and safe global future. A multimedia ideas series, perhaps at community centres, would be a great tool to inform people about what is actually required (e.g. reducing overall consumption) for us to build a sustainable global civilization.

    10 votes
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  5. Smart appliances to reduce energy use

    Offices that leave lights and computers on all night, and appliances that have transformers and use phantom power, waste electricity. The city should use and promote smart appliances that monitor their use and switch to a low-power state when not in use.

    23 votes
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  6. 8 votes
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  7. Develop a Vancouver Food Action Plan

    An Action Plan would provide an overall strategy to guide the City’s response to urban agriculture and food system issues.

    177 votes
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  8. Expand the use of electric trolley buses and electric vehicles

    One third of Vancouver’s greenhouse gas emissions come from vehicle use. Vancouver’s electricity is powered by relatively clean hydro-electric sources. Expanding the use of electric trolley buses and electric vehicles can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions related to vehicle use.

    195 votes
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  9. Reduce reliance on natural gas by large industrial users

    The City could work directly with large industrial users of natural gas to identify cost effective energy efficiency improvements.

    1 vote
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  10. Separate organic matter out of the waste stream and convert it to biogas

    When food scraps and organic matter decompose in landfills, methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is created. If captured properly, methane can be used as a fuel source (known as biogas). Biogas is considered carbon neutral since, unlike natural gas, it does not add any new carbon to the atmosphere. Separating organic matter out of the waste stream and converting it to biogas lowers the greenhouse gas emissions associated with our waste, creates a new fuel source, and makes recycling easier.

    29 votes
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    The City has already started a food scraps collection program for neighbourhoods where yard trimmings are collected. These materials are currently composted. With more organic waste diversion, the City will explore opportunties to implement technolgies that produce biogas like gassifiers and anaerobic digesters.

  11. Extend food waste collection program to include apartments and condos

    While the curbside food waste program is terrific, detached homeowners already have the option of composting in their yards. Extending the program to include apartments dramatically reduce municipal waste and will finally make composting available to the growing number of Vancouverites living in high-density buildings (which is also great for the environment).

    770 votes
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    The City supports Metro Vancouver’s plans to ban food scraps from the incinerator and landfills by 2015. The City will collaborate with Metro Vancouver to develop and implement a plan to ensure apartments, condos, businesses and institutions have access to food scraps collection programs before the ban comes into effect.

  12. Encourage deconstruction to recover used building materials & reduce construction waste

    Construction waste accounts for a huge proportion of waste in our landfills. The majority of materials can be reused, recycled or repurposed. Deconstruction offers job creation opportunities and supports a new market for used building materials

    202 votes
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    The Draft Greenest City Action Plan includes an action to develop a building deconstruction policy. The City is piloting a building deconstruction project and is exploring options for an incentive program to encourage deconstruction.

  13. Work with existing district steam heating systems to switch to renewable energy sources

    Half of Vancouver’s greenhouse gas emissions come from burning natural gas to heat our buildings. The large district steam heating systems found at the hospitals and downtown are significant users of natural gas. Converting these existing systems to renewable energy sources would reduce reliance on natural gas and help to lower our greenhouse gas emissions.

    11 votes
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  14. Eliminate residential curbside recycling collection of packaging materials

    BC is a world wide leader in extended producer responsibility (EPR) policy. Also known as "product stewardship", current legislation covers items such as tires, paint, beverage containers, and electronics. High recycling rates of these materials are achieved through consumer "take back" programs, where recyclable items are returned to retail stores or taken to depots. EPR policy is centred on the notion of placing waste management/recycling responsibility of products that become waste squarely on the shoulders of the industries that produce these items in the first place. The benefit of EPR is that it shifts the costs of managing these items…

    11 votes
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  15. Profile & demonstrate clean technologies in wastewater treatment & nutrient recovery

    The City can help to showcase local green businesses and improve their profile in the market place through demonstration projects. One idea is to support the development of a community wastewater treatment facility that captures nutrients from the wastewater stream to process into an environmentally friendly fertilizer. Metro Vancouver wastewater treatment plants currently produce biosolids which are rich in nutrients and can be used to fertilize lands to improve vegetative production, but this program needs further partnerships to reinforce and expand the model.

    Links

    MetroVancouver Nutrifor program: http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/wastewater/nutrifor/Pages/default.aspx

    Vancouver firm Ostara: http://www.ostara.com/

    15 votes
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  16. Change the Building Code to require water efficient fixtures in a wider range of house renovations

    The building code specifies the kinds of efficiencies required by water fixtures in all buildings. Currently a home owner has to be undertaking a significant renovation ($95 000 value) before permits are required. The code could be changed to lower that threshold (to $50,000), thereby increasing the number of homes that would be required by law to install fixtures with a high degree of water efficiency.

    12 votes
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  17. Change the Building Code to require rainwater collection & water efficient irrigation systems

    Outdoor water consumption represents a significant portion of residential water use. In particular, the watering of lawns and gardens is one of the more water intensive of outdoor water activities. Requiring installation of rainwater harvesting devices for irrigation purposes would decrease the dependence on treated water for irrigation purposes. In addition, specifying the installation of water efficient irrigation systems would further reduce water demand.

    314 votes
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  18. Introduce water conservation rebates to encourage purchase of water-saving fixtures and appliances

    The City could introduce water conservation rebates to encourage the purchase of appliances and fixtures that use innovative water-saving technology. High efficiency toilets and fixtures, rain sensors, rainwater harvesting, water efficient appliances among other initiatives are proven to reduce water consumption.

    Water efficient rebate programs would be targeted towards homes and businesses built before 1995 when the City Plumbing Code began to mandate high efficiency fixtures. Since this time, the City Plumbing Code has required low flow toilets, showerheads, and aerating faucets in all new construction. The industry standard for new toilet installations is now to use six litres of…

    33 votes
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  19. Require residential water metering

    The City of Vancouver could expect to achieve about a 20 % reduction in water use if residential meters were installed. However, the average water bill for single and two family homes would increase by about 30 %. These costs are related to the installation and maintenance of the meters and to the fact that the majority of the cost of water is related to the filtering and distribution infrastructure - the cost of which remains the same regardless of how much water is used.

    In other cities where water meters are used for billing, people have a better understanding…

    196 votes
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  20. Enforce lawn sprinkling restrictions during summer months

    In the summer months, water use can double, with most of this water being used on lawns. Sprinkling restrictions have been in place since 1998 without strict enforcement. By implementing an education and enforcement strategy, Vancouver could expect to achieve a 15 % reduction in outdoor water use.

    The cost of an education and enforcement program would be off-set by the revenue from the ticketing program. Additional revenues could be reinvested into other conservation measures, like incentives for low flow toilets and shower heads.

    32 votes
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