GC 2020
178 results found
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Ban beach police on quad vehicles
If the City really wants to be the greenest in the world, it should not equipped its beach police with quad vehicles that pollute the air (overall when they stay iddle in the middle of the beach) and with noise. Beach police should walk or bike and let people enjoy a vehicule free area. Ironic, that we ban smoking on the beach but our own city police is emiting greenhouse gas...
11 votesVancouver Police Dept. are planning to pilot zero-emission quad (ATV) vehicles in 2011.
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Mandatory 2 day "Green Building" 2 day workshop for Contractors & Sub Trades
Educate the small business tradespeople in Green Building technology and methods. Workshops would be geared to specific trades/phases in building/renovations e.g. demolition/salvage/recycling options, energy efficient design/products, sustainable and non toxic building materials and reducing what is sent to the landfill. Make it mandatory to attend every two years in order to operate in Vancouver. Offer the courses free to contractors, plumbers, electricians, painters, carpenters etc. Perhaps the province could also provide a tax incentive for attendance to offset their lost revenue.
10 votesWill not be mandatory but are exploring ways to promote, support and develop training & job creation opportunities as part of the draft Greenest City Action Plan.
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47 votes
Council members cannot be mandated to eat vegan meals, however they may accept a friendly challenge. Like other Vancouverites, they may also be swayed by communications and education about the ecological footprint impacts of various dietary choices
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Implement Vancouver Zoom Your Roof Project
Since building heating is one of the biggest uses of natural gas in BC it should be a priority to reduce this footprint. In Belgium communities are implementing a project where residents can easily see how effective their insulation is. This lets people actually see for themselves whether investing in insulation would be worth it for them.
More info on Belgian project:
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/011446.html
http://infosthetics.com/archives/2010/07/zoom_into_your_roof.html1 voteBuilding labeling and energy audits will help building owners and occupants understand how their buildings are performing and where they are losing heat. While we may not implement the “zoom in” program per se, these other tools included in the draft Greenest City Action Plan address same issue.
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Increase bike parking in high density residential areas
There is a real lack of bike parking in higher density residential areas of the City. Whenever I’m visiting friends in the West End I see bikes locked to trees, random railings and street signs. Encourage apartments, condos and co-ops to install visitor bike parking to make it more convenient for visitors to arrive by bike.
9 votesThe City has recently been focusing on increasing bike parking supply on key commercial corridors, such as Commercial Drive and Broadway. Once these areas are complete, we may consider opportunities to expand this program into high-density residential areas. However, we would start by encouraging building owners and managers to increase their own bike parking supply.
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9 votes
Staff are reviewing this idea and will be implementing changes at some locations quite soon.
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change building code to allow ventilated service areas
Apartments and condos would have ventilated service areas, where people would be able to hang clothes on clotheslines, instead of using electrical driers all year long for drying any amount of clothing. Also, a tank with tap for manual washing of small loads of clothing will save water and will add up to hygiene.
1 voteWhile not specifically addressed in the draft Greenest City Action Plan, this strategy will be consider as a means of promoting conservation
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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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Allow, educate, and encourage households to use greywater
In many countries, grey water is used by households and other buildings to collect run-off from roofs, washing machines, sinks, and bathtubs to water gardens and flush toilets.
Allow and encourage people to install alternative plumbing systems to make this possible. In Australia, there is an entire sector of the plumbing industry dedicated to installing and maintaining these systems.
41 votesIncluded in the Draft Greenest City Action Plan.
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Redistribute food that is still edible
A large amount of fine produce is thrown out or composted, especially from "gourmet" grocers who only sell produce of highest quality.
Restaurants often throw out food, because they are unable to sell it the following day.
There are many people in this city who cannot afford, or who do not have the skills to prepare good food.
Divert this waste from the food industry towards feeding people who could use the food.
32 votesThe City supports various community food recovery initiatives currently being planed or already in place. Food recovery is included within the draft Greenest City Action Plan
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Provide a one-stop clearing house for information relating to local food in Vancouver.
A local food directory could support residents in participating in the local food economy, advising them of all the various initiatives that are going on relating to food production, processing and retail in Vancouver.
6 votesThis idea is in the draft Greenest City Action Plan
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Include a class/wealth analysis in ecological footprints
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, BC office, released an interesting report that breaks down GHG emissions according to wealth. Surprise! The wealthier emit more GHGs. This gets at a critical justice issue about who is most affected by ecological changes, and who is responsible for causing those changes. This is a local issue as well as a global issue.
Check out the report here:
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/reports/docs/CCPA_BC_ghg_emissions_distribution.pdf4 votesMay be included in research and data gathering to help develop targeted engagement strategies and ecological footprint reduction actions.
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Bring Life to our Rooftops
The roofs of Vancouver are an un-tapped resource from both a social and biodiversity perspective. The City could initiate a program to encourage the conversion of existing flat, inaccessible roofs to useable, productive greenspace. This could include omitting rooftop access points (stairs & elevators) from height restrictions, providing tax breaks to buildings that eliminate rainwater runoff to the sewer system, or establishing financing mechanisms and consultation to support stratas and individuals undertaking renovations.
The scale of conversion could range from installing standard green-roof systems to rooftop decks with planter boxes to full scale rooftop agriculture. This would help bring back…
148 votesCurrently exploring an approach to addressing cool roofs, green roofs & walls.
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Reuse centres in every neighbourhood and at Waste Disposal Sites and Transfer Stations
Hornby Island does it, so can we! The idea is simple - create a designated place for people to drop off useful items for other people to take home, for free. Yes, it requires a little bit of management to make sure our community spaces don't get over run with old computers, but this can be a great way for people to get stuff they need, and to reduce waste going to landfill.
Fernwood, in Victoria, has a little gazebo in their neighbourhood square to drop stuff off. Montreal has the legendary ongoing, city wide, garage sale. And Hornby Island…
20 votesThe draft Greenest City Action Plan includes an action to develop reuse centres.
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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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Provide home owners with a tax rebate for installing compostable toilets.
The availability of composting toilets is growing, with a variety of kinds to suit home owners' purposes. Our clean water sources in Canada are abundant, but also the equivalent to gold on an international scale: we should treat it this way. Let's not flush our potable water sources down the toilet. Composting toilets use little to no water at all. We should provide incentives for Canadians to make this change.
12 votesNot specifically part of Draft Greenest City Action Plan, but efficient fixtures and incentives are.
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Variable Property Taxes based on FSR
Many SF homes built in the city today have huge footprints. Real estate economics shouldn't govern the size of homes. Reward existing homeowners and new home builders by allowing property tax discounts for greater green space surrounding their homes. Smaller homes with larger proportion of the land landscaped in trees or gardens increases the quality of city life.
5 votesIncentives are being considered for homes that are built sustainability and to be energy efficient.
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Heat pumps not electric baseboards in all new homes!
Electric baseboard heat is the single largest use of electricity for most condos. They are egregious wastes of electricity and provide inferior heating characteristics. Virtually all are installed with manual thermostats which wastes much more energy. If programmable heat pumps were required as the building code standard electricity consumption could be reduced dramatically, and heat pumps also have the ability of providing air conditioning during our global warming summer heat waves.
18 votesThis idea is included in the draft Greenest City Action Plan
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High Speed Rail to Seattle
From waterfront station tunnel underground to YVR then the line would follow parallel to highway 99 and then follow the I-5. Traveling an average speed of 250 km/hr you could reach YVR in 3 min at 4.10$, the border in 14 min, Bellingham in 23 min at 29.00$, Everett in 46 min at 58.00$ and finally Seattle in 57 min at 71.63$..... Imagine the possibilities of being able to travel to from downtown Vancouver to Downtown Seattle in just under an hour. Not only would this create green jobs, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it would also…
626 votesThis idea is not included in the Draft Greenest City Action Plan, but it is supported in principle. Convened a high speed rail summit in July 2010 to discuss this proposal
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Encourage Eco-Industrial Parks & Eco-Business Zones
The city can develop an eco-business strategy to help build networks of businesses who work together to : reduce their impacts, resource consumption rates, strain on public infrastructure, and, of course, costs.
Eco-Industrial Parks and eco-business zones are effective models for greening new and existing industry/business activity: By acting collectively, and taking lessons from natural systems, we can create new green business opportunities and transform existing employment areas to use less resources like water & energy, and to attract progressive new green businesses to town.
12 votesNeed to research eco-industrial practices. Strathcona is implementing at a neighbourhood scale. This idea is included in the draft Greenest City Action Plan.
