GC 2020
657 results found
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Tax meat, milk and eggs & stop subsidizing
United nations, World Watch Institute and numerous high profile climate experts have all agreed that animal agriculture produces more greenhouse gas emissions than the entirety of the transport sector. Yet our government will not stop subsidizing meat, milk and eggs making them "affordable" beyond the capacity of our ecosystem. We need to start taxing these products and stop subsidizing them for the sake of our future.
54 votesEcological footprint impacts of different food choices form part of the data gathering; examining the City’s regulatory and policy tools to encourage lighter footprint living is included as an action.
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Create a public bike sharing program (e.g. Montreal's Bixi, Paris' Velib)
Montreal has installed the Bixi bike system, similar to many European systems, of having publicly available bikes for a small cost downtown on major street corners. The bikes are incredibly robust, widely available, and highly convenient with bike stands every 2-3 blocks.
It encourages locals to bike (rather than take the bus or metro) and is great for short trips around town. It is very convenient as there is always a drop off location nearby, and there is no worry of getting your bike stolen. It is also a huge tourist attraction, making transport easier, cheaper and greener!
155 votesAn exciting idea that will be given serious consideration.
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Georgia Street Viaduct
The vacant dirt lots under the Georgia Street Viaduct should be turned into a desirable walkable blvd lined shops and cafes that face onto expo blvd and look out onto false creek (and hopefully the expansion of the science world park). Shops and cafes and plazas are sorely missing from this part of the city and having walked many times under this viaduct during Vancouver's common rainy days it is a pleasure! The viaduct is tall and broad and shields one from the rain while still providing the sense of openness. It would be so wonderful to have an outdoor…
11 votesHas been identified as a potential redevelopment zone
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Energy Retrofit Financing
Provide low-cost financing for building and home owners to retrofit our built environment with energy efficient measures and technologies. Look towards PACE & On-bill structures and incorporate energy management software to database and report the savings to all invovled parties.
44 votesFinancing tools (currently under development) may encourage building owners to improve the performance of their buildings
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Provide a second yard trimmings cart to residents at no extra charge,
I think the city of vancouver should provide a second larger yard trimmings cart to residents at no extra charge.
This would help residents be able to put more food scraps and yard trimmings out for collection by the city so instead of just collecting 1 cart, the city would collect two yard trimmings cart from each house.
7 votes -
Cash and tax incentives for the sale of excess power generated from the installation of solar power.
If you want people to follow more than dancing with the stars....wave the green in their face and the city will change. Tie into the grid and allow people the choice of where their excess power goes. If you are paid for the power but it's capped at a monthly amount the rest can be credited to shelters for the homeless and lower income housing. All as a taxable write off of course. The ideas are endless and so is the power!
15 votesPlan addresses incentives to increase accessibility and affordability of renewable energy
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Encourage each community to establish a community sustainability plan.
A community can create and build on its vision and formal plans by adopting specific objectives, guidelines, action items, regulations, and policies. Adopt continuous learning mentality (and policy) so that feedback can be used to assess effectiveness of decisions and actions and changes can be made accordingly. Want to create resilient, adaptable, and engaged communities.
3 votesNeighbourhoods in Vancouver have been undergoing community visions and plans for many years, and most communities now have these in place. They aren’t focused specifically on sustainability, but many have a strong sustainability focus: http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/cityplan/visions/
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hazardous materials amnesty day
I recently broke a mercury thermometer in my home and had to take it all the way to Delta, where they charge $100 to dispose of it responsibly. It was extremely tempting to just chuck it in the dumpster and have done with it, and I bet that happens much more often than it should. I hear both Langley and Chilliwack have days in October where they collect hazardous materials at people's homes. Could we do something like that in Vancouver? I think it would go a long way toward keeping hazardous materials out of the landfill.
3 votes -
Protect wildlife habitats
An important part of living in a "Green" city goes beyond clean air, water, & waste management. It also includes protection of our local wildlife. I am always shocked each year with the number of black bears that are put down by wildlife management staff. Is this the best "management" policy of our wildlife that Vancouver can come up with? It's time for Vancouver & its surrounding communities to get to the root of the problem, which is urban development infringing on wildlife habitats and depletion of their food sources. I always say, that if you want to live in…
16 votes -
Support locals to green under-served local parks
I lived next to Tatlow Park for many years (2nd ave at Macdonald). It's a stunning little park, with a daylighted stream, but it's actually pretty bare and has so much more potential to be beautiful. The city could provide matching grants if a local community self-organized to plant more native plants to further naturalize the park, or it could provide these plants at cost from a city-run nursury, and provide technical support to how to green the park in a way that balanced the needs of all residents. Our parks are beautiful but some could use more love, and…
5 votes -
local food production, vertically!
verticle farming can feed a whole neighbor hood in one city block!!
http://www.verticalfarm.com/designs.htmla glass skyscraper that is designed as a climate controlled environment that can grow food of all different varieties,
vertically.
weather hydroponic or soil medium, plants are hung vertically against the windows.
check this link!
makes so much sense!
less space used in this multi-leveled complex, and not subject to bad weather!
check this link above for designs !49 votesThis idea is not in the draft Greenest City Action Plan but may be contemplated in other areas of City work.
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Require businesses to be responsible for their own waste
Businesses that create large amounts of waste, and in particular those that encourage littering, such as fast food restaurants, should be responsible for reducing their waste - and for cleaning up what is littered onto City streets. While it is indeed the customers that are littering - it's still the businesses practice of creating large volumes of disposable trash that is the source. If they were responsible for cleaning it up and paying higher costs for its disposal, then they might reduce the amount of waste they produce. Only when it becomes more costly for businesses to create waste than…
234 votes -
Set up a Vancouver city treeplanting carbon offset program, adminstered by the city and implemented
A home owner can request a tree-planting in their yard; a qualified assessment is carried out to select the right species the right placement in the yard with guidelines to ensure the permanence of the tree. These guidelines would ensure any views for your neighbours, power-lines sewer lines etc.. everything to ensure the tree need not be removed in the near future.
The City then delivers and plants the tree with maintenance guidelines for the homeowner. The home owner gets a few dollars off their taxes every year that the tree remains growing(Audits required as in any tree-planting carbon scheme)…
27 votes -
Provide incentives to purchase electric vehicles (cars or bikes).
Many subsidies exist in the USA and Ontario. Vancouver will be one of the first markets to have the Nissan Leaf launch in, but we do not have any subsidies for EVs. Promote EVs now!
21 votes -
Paint bicycle lanes red
While concrete planters are very pretty and effective in protecting cyclists from motor traffic, they are also quite expensive and take up space to use everywhere. To increase the visibility of on-road and off-road bike paths, paving the bike routes will remind drivers there are cyclists coming by and raise the general prominence of this type of transportation while also allowing for a softer/ less resistance pavement to be used for smaller footprint/ lighter bicycles.
8 votesCity crews have marked potential conflict areas on the Dunsmuir separated bikeway—i.e. intersections, driveway paths, and bike boxes—in bright green. It’s intended to remind all users—cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians alike—to be a little more mindful in these areas.
This approach could be rolled out elsewhere if it is shown to be effective.
We have chosen the colour—a bright, reflective green that is visible even on dark, rainy winter days—as it is an emerging North American standard for cycling facilities. We’re moving away from the colour we used to use, red, since it has recently become the standard for transit. Blue designates special accessibility zones.
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Mandatory Lighting Controls for Commercial buildings
Why are there so many office lights on in commercial office buildings, when nobody is occupying those areas. Mandate the use of green lighting controls (Daylight Harvesting, Absence/Presence detection etc.)
25 votesThis is addressed in a retrofit pilot program
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Increase the number of facilities available for community kitchens/ food processing
Are people still interested in joining community kitchens? These were popular a couple of years ago but excitment seems to have died off due to a lack of available facilities.
Have community kitchen with themes- such as urban singles, local food etc...
Have these spaces double as urban food processing centres- have commercial kitchens set up to allow groups to come in and process large amounts of local food at harvest time so that it will be available for later us. Host workshops on various low energy food preservation techniques, nutrition, cooking, low energy cooking etc...
Install large size community…7 votesThe City supports a number of non-profits that have community kitchens. We are looking at increasing the number of the community kitchen opportunities in the draft plan
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Support graduated auto insurance
[Submitted via email by Ann Foster]
Support graduated auto insurance, with the fees based on mileage. For example: paydpilot.ca.
15 votesThe City is supportive of this idea, but implementation requires action outside municipal jurisdiction. The City has and will continue to advocate to the Province and ICBC for PAYD and/or other distance-based forms of auto insurance.
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rain water toilets
rainwater can be collected from eco-roofs or rain gutters use in toilets.
19 votesHas been approved on project by project basis.
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Divert sewer runoff into groundwater
Before 1850 when the rain fell on Vancouver, it soaked into the ground, which then fed the over 50 streams which crisscrossed the land. This water which supported a multitude of life then ran to the Burrard Inlet, False Creek and the Fraser River.
Today most of rainwater ends up on asphalt streets and the rooftops of buildings and this water runs into countless sewers which end up in the same surrounding water systems. As the water runs into the sewers, it picks up pollution from cars, residue from asphalt streets and tar roofs and many other small and large…
40 votesIn addition to the ones in place, the Draft Greenest City Action Plan recommends increasing the number of infiltration systems.
This link explains the types of integrated drainage that the City of Vancouver uses: http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/watersewers/sewers/enviro/protect.htm#drainage
