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How can we reach our 2020
Greenest City Targets?

GC 2020

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178 results found

  1. 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.

  2. Control energy efficiency of systems in buildings, rate it as a standard like A, B, C, D, ...

    Control, approve and publish the rate of energy consumption and carbon emission of the mechanical equipments in all of the buildings that encourage the people to utilizing the sustainable energy and environmental pollution free system and equipments.

    6 votes
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  3. Invent roofs with adjustable reflection coefficient

    Expanding on the suggestion by Hashem Akbari's to combat climate change by painting all roofs and paved surfaces in the USA white, our idea is to develop roof materials that can change their reflection coefficient by changing their colour to cover a range from black to white. Regions like Vancouver, with warm summers and cold winters, should have white roofs in the summer and black roofs in the winter, to minimize air conditioning and heating energy needs throughout the year. Roofs with adjustable reflection coefficient could be "dimmed" from inside a house as simply as a light. Smart house technology…

    6 votes
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  4. Regulate Marine Traffic Emissions

    Emissions from marine vessel traffic are not regulated as strictly as emissions from land-based emitters. These emissions have been growing steadily in the Vancouver region. The city should push for stricter guidelines to ensure that measures implemented to reduce air pollution caused by cars and heating, for example, are not offset by emissions from marine traffic.

    5 votes
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  5. Burrard Street bridge bicycle lane

    Add a designated bicycle lane going into downtown on the Burrard Street bridge. This would also encourage walking by allowing pedestrians back on both sides of the bridge.

    3 votes
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    The City is starting a design process for the structural upgrade of the Burrard Bridge, which will include designs to create permanent separated bike lanes on the bridge. This design process will consider configuration options for the bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

  6. Metered bike lockers

    Metered bike lockers that can be rented by the hour.

    9 votes
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  7. Reduce residential encroachment on agricultural land

    In order for us to have more local food in our supply chain we need to protect the agricultural land we have in the Lower Mainland including the Fraser Valley. Right now residential and commercial land zoning is encroaching too much on our prime agricultural land. Soil is a resource that must be protected!

    71 votes
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  8. 24 votes
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  9. Have all of the city's fleet of vehicles be electric and plug-in hybrid (when possible).

    Have electric vehicles for short distance trips and plug-in hybrids for longer trips. Also, have all new heavy trucks (like garbage trucks) be diesel hybrid.

    39 votes
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  10. Green school/Demonstration Centre

    The two biggest barriers I see for people choosing to ignore green principles and continue in a throw away mentality is 1) Education 2) Ease of change. People need to understand and it has to be cheep and easy to do---guess what, It is!!!!!! Lectures, pamphlets, workshops--these are all good things--but seriously lets stop yapping and just start doing and showing. There is no better way of understanding what and how things can be done then by actually doing it. By sight, by touch and by participating.
    Lets build a demonstration centre on a vacant lot which aims to discover…

    15 votes
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  11. SMS (text) mobile phone alerts for bike route changes

    Few things deter cyclists and would-be cyclists like our too frequent unannounced changes to safe biking routes due to construction and other inconveniences.

    Using the city's database, cyclists could subscribe to a 'push' SMS message services that would alert them to any changes to their preferred route(s). The messages would also provide alternate safe routes.

    3 votes
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  12. Grants for passive houses and buildings

    The term Passive house (Passivhaus in German) refers to the rigorous, voluntary, Passivhaus standard for energy efficiency in a building, reducing its ecological footprint.[1] It results in ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy for space heating or cooling.[2][3] A similar standard, MINERGIE-P, is used in Switzerland.[4] The standard is not confined only to residential properties; several office buildings, schools, kindergartens and a supermarket have also been constructed to the standard.

    20 votes
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  13. Celebrate Sufficiency

    Over-consumption is at the heart of many of our environmental problems. One way to induce a reduction in consumption is to celebrate our sufficiency. Sufficiency, in this case, refers to a sense of completeness or wholeness. If we feel complete, there is less of an inclination to fill our faces with stuff we don't really need.

    7 votes
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  14. Educate young: Add agriculture, renewable energy, sustainable development to highschool ciriculum

    Inspire the youth to take action and educate on the importance of sustainable living practices.

    26 votes
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  15. Encourage Influential People such as James Cameron (Avatar), to disclose impact of big corporations

    on the environment, and encourage change. James Cameron is the Director of the movie Avatar which had a message of how big corporations, Mining are affecting the environment and raping the earth.

    4 votes
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  16. mobile community gardens in empty lots

    Community gardens could be setup in the gated empty lots around the city. The lot owner could put up a sponsorship sign so they get the free advertising of supporting something helpful to the community. The garden could be setup in a way that it could be moved to another lot when the original lot was eventually put to another use.

    32 votes
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  17. Playing Movies Like Avatar, in Major Public Places, showing the reality & impact of big corporations

    Making the largest impact in the shortest time, can make the difference. Continue funding Movies like Avatar which expose corporate America's environmental habits, and showing them on large public movie screens and starting change from the top. Companies with thousands of employees and systems, should be forced to change there habits, to reduce there carbon footprint. Public awareness may force the change that might otherwise take years.

    4 votes
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  18. Create a Senior Citizen's Sustainability Advisory Panel to mobile seniors knowledge on sustainabilty

    Not sure that more degrees/planners is gonna make much difference...need solutions now...I say learn from the Cuban urban food production experience - they turned to the knowledge of all the seniors in Havana who knew how to grow food as most grew up in rural areas prior to revolution and then migrated to cities. WIthin 6 months, local seniors were teaching ourses at universities while the food geneticists and experts were in teh classroom learning how to do things without oil/fertilizer. There are many seniors in Vancouver who know how to grow food, fix machinery and make the most of…

    16 votes
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  19. Create a "Greenest Block in the City" award - winner gets a kickass prize!

    Modelled after Greenest Block in Brooklyn, where every block in Brooklyn competes to have the best gardens and grow the most food - friends in Brooklyn go nuts for this - lots of fun - winning block gets a great prize like street improvements from city - see"http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2010/08/presenting_the.php

    24 votes
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  20. Ban grass lawns

    Green lawns look nice but they consume a vast amount of water, we could reduce the amount of water used if we a) had maximum sized lawns allowable in private residence. b) Banned the planting of grass for lawn areas, there are a number of plants that you could use to create a green walkable space that consume little water to sustain, why then do we waist so much water on grass lawns, alternate style of ground cover could be looked at.

    7 votes
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    The City does not limit the amount of lawn, but does limit the amount of impermeable surface allowed. We encourage alternatives to lawns through the water wise landscape guidelines. Strengthening education programs in supprt of alternatives to lawns is part of the plan.

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