How can Seattle further sustainability? for Questionland Seattle

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How can Seattle further sustainability?

Pretty broad question I know. I'm working with Sustainable Seattle and want to get a feel for what people are thinking about in terms of sustainability for seattle. Remember all aspects of sustainability are: economy, environment and social.

Cameron Plommer asked in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report

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Personally, I'd like to have a yard waste bin at my apartment building. Most apartment buildings don't have them, and this is a pretty simple thing to fix.

I'd also like better public transportation (i.e. trains), but this is not such a simple thing to fix. I'm glad Seattle is finally trying though.

e.strange answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report

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Fnarf

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Most answers to this question come complete with overwhelming quantities of built-in fail. See "get rid of TV" below for a classic example. An answer like that is really no different than "fukk u sustanabilty is 4 fags" in terms of its utility.

Think about what you mean. "Sustainability" is vague. Come up with a list of concrete goals, and then think about how to achieve them. If I were you I'd blow off the "social" aspect, because it CAN'T lead to concrete suggestions.

Start with "environment". What do you mean by that? Air pollution, water pollution, ecology, energy use, global warming. Seattle can't do anything about global warming. Seattle can do something about air or water pollution, but the real effects will probably be minimal without a clear understanding of WHY. For me, it comes down to something more generally called "ecology", how the different systems work together. It doesn't make sense to reduce pollutants in the water, for instance, if you aren't also thinking about what other effects there are in the water, from, say, low oxygenation. And of course, the real problem here is that Seattle isn't the problem: it's the vast miles of suburbs and exurbs that are the problem (habitat loss, parking lot runoff, etc.)

The main things Seattle can do, they're already doing to some extent. Encourage density: density reduces the earth impact of individuals. Better manage the waste stream: recycling food waste is a big step. What I would say is the biggest thing to tackle next is energy. Everything comes down to energy eventually; electricity from coal, gas, oil, or dams (harmful to river ecology and fish); oil from terrorists or Canadian shales (devastating; you couldn't find a less sustainable practice on earth).

How can we reduce energy use? Drive less. But we need to get around, so we need transit. Buses = shit, unfortunately, but alternatives are very expensive. Painting everyone's roof white makes a huge, huge difference in hot climates; what about here? I don't know. Use the tax structure; maybe increase taxes astronomically over some amount of KWH per month.

In general, "sustainability" solutions that require a significant change in the way people behave without any incentive for them to change that behavior will absolutely and always fail. See the TV example. The working of the world is moving powerfully in the other direction; TVs have been getting better, bigger, and cheaper for sixty years, and the programming is also getting much better. So "get rid of your TV" is a major loser of an idea. "Drive less" is hard, too, because that's not the way our culture is evolving -- or ANYONE'S culture (the number of cars worldwide is probably going to DOUBLE in the next decade or two).

Fnarf answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report

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I'm probably going to get massively flamed for this, but to me, the #1 way to lighten our load on the planet is simply for there to be fewer of us. In other words, discourage rampant breeding. There are just too many people, period.

Geni answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report

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Get people out of their fucking single occupancy vehicles.

Cato the Younger Younger answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report

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Easier access to locally grown foods is something I would like. I love the farmer's markets but it would be nice to have more than one day a week in my neighborhood (U District) to get fresh local produce. I'm also really interested in the Clean Greens Farm & Market but haven't made it to their market. I like the concept of CSA but as a single person it's too expensive, and sharing with someone you don't live with is too difficult.

Maybe we need more co-ops around - I love Madison Market but it's too hard for me to get there on the bus right now. The Fremont PCC is nice but the bus ride is longer than I want to do on a weeknight. Unfortunately I wind up shopping a lot at Safeway and Trader Joe's and eating crappy food.

asteria answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report

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Danny Oberg

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Obama's Transportation Director announced this major change last week:

LaHood proposed that new funding guidelines for major transit projects be based on livability issues such as economic development opportunities and environmental benefits, in addition to cost and time saved, which are currently the primary criteria.

In remarks at the Transportation Research Board annual meeting, the Secretary announced the Obama Administration’s plans to change how projects are selected to receive federal financial assistance in the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) New Starts and Small Starts programs. As part of this initiative, the FTA will immediately rescind budget restrictions issued by the Bush Administration in March of 2005 that focused primarily on how much a project shortened commute times in comparison to its cost.

"Our new policy for selecting major transit projects will work to promote livability rather than hinder it," said Secretary LaHood. "We want to base our decisions on how much transit helps the environment, how much it improves development opportunities and how it makes our communities better places to live."

This looks like a golden opportunity for Seattle. Will we be able to get all of the light rail, rapid Bus, and bus transportation community to respond to this invitation with a creative offer? Could we use this to speed up onstruction of already planned lines? Get funding for expansion? I hope our plitical leaders respond with enthusiasm.

Danny Oberg answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report

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You've struck my Hippie Button!! -Create community gardens and composting areas that people can create themselves but add a bonus such as a cut in bills or taxes. -Fix these squiggles of bus routes into an actual grid that is easy to understand. -Bike Lanes and racks or boxes in crime areas. -Create new laws so that the buildings being put in have green roofs and apartments included so we don't choke out the people who belong in the city or overuse the storm drains. -TREES!!! Natural Washington TREEES!!! Maple, Cedar and Pine. There are other species that are care free and don't reproduce in this climate such as Willow and Northern Catalpa. -Replace the grass in the parks and green squares with Washington clover that is self sufficient and several types only reach 1/2" and need mowing once a year. -Teach children the importance of green while they are in primary. -Community farmers markets that are low in price to rent and the food should have a low tax and cost for all.

Scott answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report

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I love the idea of increasing access to or awareness of locally-produced products: food, services, products, etc. I know "buying local" is becoming something of a tired cliche these days for lots of us -- but, I've also seen tons of mostly lower-income folks (including many of my student peers) completely unaware of the concept of buying local. I think what'd be most helpful is an easy guide for considering local options -- for whatever we might need.

And yeah, I know that's a pretty tall order, but I figured I'd toss that out there. Good luck!

James answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report

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Plant more plants?

Kristin Bell answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report

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Bedbugs flown into Seattle in suitcases from around the world have immense carbon footprints. If we increased reuse of indigenous resources through some sort of local bedbug exchange or barter facility, I bet we could eliminate the need to import bedbugs entirely.

capicola answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report

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Lilting Missive

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Ideas like composting, teaching middle-school children about "green" lifestyles, better bus service, better bicycle infrastructure, are all very trendy and cutesy but basically useless. As a society we've dug ourselves into a huge energy hole, and those sorts of things are mostly just a way for people to feel good about themselves. Nothing wrong with that, but they won't solve any problems.

In order for any community to be more sustainable, major, life-shaking, routine-breaking, changes need to be made to our way of life.

Getting people out of their single ocupancy vehicles, as another poster already said, is a huge one. That means having a majority of the population take public transit or use non-motorized vehicles.

Close off downtown to single occupancy, or even all motor vehicle (other than buses and delivery vehicles) most of the time.

The food system is totally screwed up, but locally we could create incentives for people to not buy processed crap. Tax uselessly packaged things like bottled water.

Get rid of television. It is essentially a platitude for people who don't really want to try, and massively contributes to our energy guzzling way of life.

Obviously improving things like building practices, encouraging gardening and other local food production, help, but the huge stinkers in this problem are the food and transportation as established, ideological, systems. People are very afraid of changing something like that.

Lilting Missive answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report

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