GC 2020
657 results found
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Neighbourhood drop-off areas for dog waste
There are so many dogs in the City now that the waste could be separated + composted or otherwise dealt with. Also options to plastic bags...
4 votes -
Create green collar jobs for local residents, especially low threshold opportunities
Use the principles of community economic development to create job opportunities for those with barriers to employment, including incentives for green businesses that provide local employment and procurement of local goods
7 votes -
Free parking for scooters and motorcycles!
Create free parking for scooters and motorcycles, especially in congested areas like Downtown! It just makes sense: Two-wheeled vehicles take up less space on the road and are more fuel-efficient than cars. We just need safe, affordable and accessible parking.
Vote to support free scooter and motorbike parking!!!
13 votes -
Put turnstiles into all sky train and Canada Line stations - collect easy revenue for Translink
Many more people than we realize are using sky train lines without paying. Meanwhile Translink is short the funding they need to expand the transit network and enhance existing service. This seems like an easy step to increase revenue, and would possibly reduce costs by not requiring Translink staff to be checking tickets on trains.
12 votesTransLink jurisdiction. TransLink is planning to instile turnstiles in stations in the very near future, with smart card technology coming to the region by 2013.
http://www.translink.ca/en/Be-Part-of-the-Plan/Projects/Electronic-Fare-Cards.aspx
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15 votes
The draft Greenest City Action Plan includes strategies to make energy efficient new buildings more affordable through fee-bates, code relaxations and financial tools.
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create landscaped outdoor furniture
Improve outdoor spaces to encourage pedestrian activity and animation of public spaces by creating a series of fun, large-scale landscaped furniture, like grass sofas & loveseats... See the example in England:
http://inhabitat.com/2010/07/26/gigantic-lawn-lounges-sprout-throughout-england/new-6-28/
2 votes -
Develop more useable and green school grounds
School grounds could be more attractive, green, home to habitat. Encourage more greening and beautification of school grounds with plantings, more trees and arboretums. Encourage community gardens on school grounds for educational and aesthetic purposes.
73 votes -
Prioritize cycling infrastructure and policy
Vancouver will not convince anyone of being the 'greenest' city without a huge modal shift towards cycling, walking, and public transit.
Cycling infrastructure is already improving (e.g., new Dunsmuir two-way bike lane), but policy needs to improve (e.g., a transportation hierarchy, with pedestrians followed by cyclists at the top).
Also, we will NEVER get the general population cycling daily without repealing mandatory helmet legislation. It just won't happen -- it's too inconvenient.
73 votes -
Allow greenouse enclosures around courtyards/patios (ie. do not count these in floor space ratio)
Promote more variety of local food growth and longer growing seasons by encouraging greenhouses to transform underused residential courtyards and patios into personal food production centers. The City Development By-Laws currently discourage such greenhouses by counting them towards the total floor space of the building, preventing them from being added to existing houses, and forcing developers to choose between an extra room in their house or a greenhouse (guess which option most people would choose).
79 votes -
Pedestrianised Streets
Make the following streets pedestrianised:
Granville St--in the zone dedicated for transit use. Transit can remain on its current routing along Seymour and Howe. (Issue a refund to Translink for their contribution to the redesign)
South of Smithe, re-allocate two lanes for cycling (four motor vehicle lanes is overtly excessive).
South of Nelson, remove the car parking on the sidewalk! That has to be the ***** design imaginable. That space should be for pedestrians, not for perching motor vehicles. This is effectively creating a 6-lane arterial on Granville.Gastown, and;
Robson--from Granville St., west to Jervis St.
47 votesThe Rediscover Granville program was a big success in 2009, and the City will be looking to continue and build upon this work in future years. More broadly, the draft Greenest City plan will include directions to explore pedestrian-only and pedestrian-priority streets in the downtown core. Potential locations will be identified at a later date (e.g. as part of the transportation plan update).
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/currentplanning/granvilleredesign/rediscover/
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Use and Promote recycled paper
We could require the City of Vancouver to develop a policy stating that it will only use recycled paper. Encourage the use of recycled paper throughout the city, and when that is not possible - give preference to Forest Stewardship Council certified Products. We could then require that a portion of our newsprint that is collected to be used in newsprint here in Vancouver - and require a minimum recycled content in newspapers that are distributed in Vancouver (like California!) - which will reduce our climate footprint.
6 votes -
Get rid of refrigeration energy hogs
Refrigeration consumes ridiculous amounts of energy. More energy-efficient appliances help, but we could do a lot better than that:
No matter how energy-star compliant, fridges consume energy in proportion to how much they have to cool the air. Our houses are warm places year round. Coastal BC on average has cooler temps outside in the shade year round, including being very close to perfect fridge temps about six months of the year. Why are our fridges inside our warm houses? Build fridges into house/apartment kitchens such that most of the appliance projects outside, with just its insulated door in the…
2 votes -
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 votesThe 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.
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46 votes
Requires support from the provincial and federal governments. The draft Greenest City plan will advocate for new sources of funding for improved transit (e.g. congestion pricing, vehicle levies).
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Plasma incineration
Incinerate garbage with plasma arc gasification technology, which breaks down waste primarily into elemental gas and solid materials, which may be reused. May also be net producer of electricity.
An analysis would need to be done to see if viable specifically for Vancouver's needs.
3 votes -
Revitalize the False Creek Flats
False Creek used to end all the way out before Clark Drive as tidal flats 100 years ago, before the construction of a bulkhead near Quebec street to keep the tide back. These tidal flats formed an important estuary system for the salmon-spawning creeks which flowed into False Creek and is essential in bringing back any of these lost streams and the salmon they support.
Deconstruct the bulkhead and allow the tide to wash in and out through a series of tidal canals. The canals could lead to estuary parks where streams like Brewery Creek and China Creek could pour…
70 votes -
Grow Indigenous Trees on Empty Lots
In the denser areas of our city where there are lots of building more than 4 stories, we should plant some pocket forests of indigenous conifers such as cedar, douglas fir and hemlock. These trees grow quickly. They would add oxygen, wildlife and calm to congested areas.
This sounds like a far-out idea, but it is totally possible. It is especially possible in the Downtown Eastside. Our inner cities need more trees and fewer highrises to contribute to the health of the residents and the earth.
9 votes -
Stormwater/Rainwater capture
Kitchener/Waterloo has just introduced a innovative system to reduce the volume and increase the quality of stormwater runoff.
In 2011 they will reduce the property tax and then charge every land owner a "Stormwater Levy" based on the quality and quantity of stormwater coming off of their property. In 2011 this will be a revenue neutral program.
However, there will be a CREDIT program to reduce your stormwater levy by reducing the volume or increasing the quality of the stormwater leaving your site. This creates an economic incentive for the landowner to implement some of the water recycling programs that…9 votesIncluded in the Draft Greenest City Action Plan.
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City of Vancouver Eco bonds to help home and business owners with green upgrades.
ECO bonds are helping cities throughout the US with renewable energy and efficiency upgrades to their homes and businesses. By leveraging the lower borrowing rates of the city, Vancouver can help citizens get over the high up-front costs of green retrofits by deducting an additional amount from property taxes over a long term - say 20 years - period.
14 votesFinancing tools (currently under development) may encourage building owners to improve the performance of their buildings rather than rebuild
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Create a separated bike lane along Kingsway
It is an incredibly direct route leading from Broadway corridor to Burnaby, but currently has far too many lanes of car traffic to feel good cycling along it.
37 votesThe city’s new 10-year cycling program master plan will soon be in development, and hopefully completed within the next year. A big part of the work ahead is to identify where separated bike lanes might be appropriate.
Lessons learned from the downtown trial will be an important input into the plan. The results so far support evidence elsewhere that separated bike lanes are a great way to make cycling more attractive on busy streets.
For more information, visit http://vancouver.ca/cycling .
