GC 2020
657 results found
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nTio2
Replace power washers by employing the green techology of the self cleaning coating "nano Titanium Dioxide (nTiO2).
It's a better way to keep buildings clean while protecting the environment and it's available here in the lower mainland.1 voteWhile we don’t have information about this product, an education program that includes the appropriate use of power washers and alternatives to their use is part of the Draft Greenest City Action Plan.
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City-sponsored "Sustainable Living" marketing campaign
Make it catchy, relevant, interactive, funny and shocking. Think of the new "Old Spice" marketing campaign impact. AWARENESS is key - people don't know unless you tell them. Focus on things like:
- civic engagement and participation
- community pride and unity
- alternative transportation
- connect our consumption habits to waste and wastewater output
- showcase local success stories
- encourage everyone to do their part
There's tons more we could cover, if you have ideas, share them in the comments!
5 votesThis idea is included in the Draft Greenest City Action Plan.
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Build Salt Marshes
Salt marshes are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, and certainly some of the most productive that occur here on the BC coast (where we have a distinct lack of tropical rainforests and reefs). Salt marshes are nurseries for fishes and invertebrates, and provide an immense amount of food for other animals - especially migrating birds.
However, as the Vancouver coastline has been developed and re-developed many of these valuable habitats have been destroyed. This is not entirely a sad story, as much of the Vancouver shore has been redeveloped in to the Sea Wall and other community…
18 votes -
Payment for ecosystem services
Build a world-leading payment for ecosystem services program for the freshwater. A multi-tiered water user system that redistributes money from water users to watershed managers to restore and manage the watershed so that it continues to purify water naturally!
6 votes -
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 -
Increase overnight rates for energy consumption in offices
Every night thousands of lights, computers, printers and other office equipment are left on needlessly in empty office buildings across the city.
By imposing a tariff on this sort of waste, business might be forced to evaluate their policies and work to reduce energy waste.
Of course, some equipment must be left on – servers, refrigerators etc. – so the tariff would need to scale and offer exemptions for critical equipment.
BC Hydro estimate that 40% of employees in B.C. leave their computers on after working hours and this wastes 500 gigawatt-hours of electricity (http://www.bchydro.com/powersmart/technology_tips/managing_energy_costs/computer_power_management.html?WT.mc_id=b-10-08_computers)
82 votesBC Hydro and other energy utilities make rate proposals to the BC Utilities Commission who are the regulator for energy rates. For more info check out: www.bcuc.com
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Plant additional trees on wide boulevards
Additional trees could be planted on streets with wide boulevards such as Charles between Nanaimo and Renfrew.
48 votes -
Foster a friendly ‘greening of the cities’ competition with other major west coast cities.
Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco all aspire to be greener cities along with Vancouver. Finding ways for the west coast cities to compete, share and inspire each other will have a positive effect in driving each other to achieve greater results more quickly and in the spirit of mutually beneficial competition. Perhaps an annual competition with progress indicators, for example.
5 votesThe “Greenest City in the World by 2020” is fostering this competition with cities globally, including those on our coast. Expanding it to a global outlook pits us against less industrialized cities, as well as cities in rapidly developing countries, and makes the contest much more interesting and challenging.
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19 votes
This has long been a priority at the municipal level. Regionally, support is required from higher levels of government (e.g. Metro Vancouver, TransLink, Province of BC) as other municipalities.
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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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Reduce light pollution
Relatively easy to correct and largely the result of bad design, light pollution is a common problem throughout the city. Make sure that lights are designed to focus light downwards and not allowed up into the night sky where it disrupts the diurnal patterns of many species (including people).
14 votesAddressed in LEED requirements; not mandatory
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Waste to resource programs
Have the remaining 19 Vancouver Business Improvement Areas adopt the Strathcona Business Improvement Area’s recent waste-to-resource program throughout the city to find opportunities to convert waste from one business to a resource for another business.
6 votes -
Provide apple trees to residential property owners
Supply interested property owners with suitable types of apple trees. For instance, farmer and City of Richmond Councilor Harold Steves (whose family Steveston was named after) has developed four apple cultivars for Vancouver that could be grown year round and provide abundant local fruit.
13 votes -
Develop a restoration economy
Promote preservation and redevelopment rather than new development whenever possible in order to minimize destruction of natural and cultural heritage. Capitalize on underutilized and abandoned infrastructure. Revitalize places that have already been developed. Create incentives for the preservation and restoration of buildings rather than tearing them down. This could include incentives for improvements in energy efficiency; community access to services; and improvement or creation of habitat around buildings, for instance.
27 votesDeveloping financing tools, training, and regulations that encourage and support the growth of a retrofit workforce
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Disposable Deposit
Each and every disposable container should have a 50 cent deposit on it; a coffee cup with a lid = $1.00, a plate, fork and knife $1.50 etc.
15 votes -
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 -
car free communities
create car-free communities and/or buildings where tenents get a break on rent and/or local transportation costs.
11 votes -
Plant trees lots and lots of trees!
Plant trees lots and lots of trees. There are so many streets and areas in Vancouver where trees have died and not been replaced and areas were trees simply have never been planted. One just needs to have a walk on the seawall to notice that there are so many lots already allocated for trees that are instead filled with grass. Trees equals shade, less CO2, and a greener and more beautiful city. Come on Vancouver its time to green up one tree at a time!
42 votes -
Sodium Carbonate CO2 Scrubbers
See http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/big-idea/13/carbon-capture. If Vancouver could allocate land and funding for prototype scrubbers, it would not just be the Greenest City, but its local action would have a global impact - as removing CO2 from the air benefits the entire planet.
6 votes -
meatless mondays
Like the title say, reduce meat consumption on Mondays. This would help reduce out footprint enormously. Furthermore, we would be the first city in Canada to adopt such a policy, the second in North America (after San Fran.) and the third in the world. It would be non-binding, that is great if you do it, OK if you don't. Read more here: http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating-recipes/blogs/san-francisco-joins-meatless-monday-bandwagon
Thanks!!!42 votesLow footprint food choices are not the same as vegan food choices in all cases, the analysis is more complex than this. Generally a low footprint diet is local, seasonal food, and limits consumption of red meat, dairy, and some grains. Low footprint food choices is included in the draft Greenest City Action Plan and will be discussed in ongoing community engagement work.
