# What's YOUR city doing to "go green"?



## Chicagoago (Dec 2, 2005)

Chicago has been introducing multiple new environmentally friendly programs lately. Here's the latest proposals:

City puts bounce in sidewalks

By Azam Ahmed
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 27, 2006, 1:36 PM CST

*How "green" can Chicago get in the gray of winter? How about recycled rubber sidewalks and solar-powered bus shelters?*

*The city today unveiled rubber sidewalks made from recycled tires as part of a test to determine if the environmentally friendly material can hold up to the constant beating of foot traffic and the brunt of Chicago's weather.*

The 550 feet of grayish rubber manufactured by a California-based company, *which uses 100 percent recycled tire rubber*, has been put down in sections on the west side of Sacramento Boulevard where it meets Franklin Boulevard in the Garfield Park neighborhood, near the Chicago Center for Green Technology.

Among the other benefits of the sidewalks, according to the city, is that the *rubber doesn't crack and shift as much as concrete sidewalks*, which constantly are splitting and lifting up. *The 2 by 2-1/2-foot rubber panels can easily be taken out of the ground to deal with tree roots or ice and be repaired*, said Cheri Heramb, the acting commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation.

But the rubber has not yet been thoroughly tested in a Chicago winter, she said.

"We're going to evaluate how durable these are, how prone to theft these are, and how they stand up to snow and ice," Heramb said at a news conference this morning at the site.

The rubberized sidewalks cost roughly two to three times more than regular concrete sidewalks, she said.

"I'm not sure these will be used throughout the city, but it's certainly something we can use for parts (of the city)," Heramb said.

*Officials also unveiled the first Chicago Transit Authority bus shelter capable of providing lighting with solar power. The shelter, near the same intersection on Sacramento Boulevard, is the first of roughly 100 shelters the city plans to erect across neighborhoods over the next year, she said.*

Heramb said the city expects to save about $200 a year per shelter in electrical costs. 

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Interesting, I hadn't heard of the city looking into these before today. I know they have had programs for awhile to utilize solar energy for city buildings, and the mayor has been a HUGE fan of "green roofs". I believe there are over 2 million square feet of green roofs in the city now, including 20 projects that came online during 2006.

This winter the mayor has set up 23 places in the city for Christmas tree recycling for the parks department, opened the Household Chemical and Computer Recycling Center and created the Bird Agenda.

The Bird Agenda is set up to help migrating and domestic birds. The Chicago Park District already owns and manages over 7000 acres of bird friendly green space which includes 490 acres of dedicated natural areas. These areas contain 16 lagoons, 10 river edge parks, 4 savannas and woodlands, 3 wetlands, 7 nature and wildflower gardens, 4 dune habitats and 4 bird sanctuaries. The mayor has worked with skyscrapers downtown to turn off outdoor and decorative lighting during migration seasons, as well as setting out 18 priorities to create bird friendly habitats.


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## spongeg (May 1, 2006)

green roofs seem to be gaining popularity here - one suburb has even passed a new bylaw that buildings over a certain square footage - such as big box stores - must have green roofs

the most famous green roof is the vancouver library

















walmart has applied t build a store in the city of Vancouver (the first and only one - not counting the suburbs) and they are planning a green design with wind mills, green roof and skylights etc.


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## MDguy (Dec 16, 2006)

MY town just plants trees all the time. We've been named tree city USA for many years.


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## djm19 (Jan 3, 2005)

LA has this million trees program right now. And of course things like transfering so many cars and buses to cleaner energy, better fuel economy. And bulding transit, hopefully get more cargo onto the Alameda railway, and off the freeway.


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## Taylorhoge (Feb 5, 2006)

NYC is beginning to change all the cabs to hybrids and the newer buses are hybrids or they run on ethonal,The largest park in North America is being built in Staten Island.Im not sure of other things but there are alot more


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## Eureka! (Jun 7, 2006)

Giving rebates on things like solar, water tanks etc Making the new city council 6 green star, more recycling, encouraging building vertical to reduce taking up land for sprawl, tv ads, planting trees...


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## eusebius (Jan 5, 2004)

Arnhem is building underground, thus saving space; waste deposit transport; cleaning waste water before it hits the central sewage system and reconstruct roads and squares in order to give priority to public transport.


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## andypandy (Apr 28, 2004)

Some areas in Sydney are getting rebates to put water tanks on houses/apartment buildings, reduced suburban sprawl, restrictions on water use and an interesting project called earth hour 

http://competitions.f2.com.au/enter.cgi?competition=earth_hour 

It will involve all office buildings in the city turning off their lights.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Recycling is start to appear in Hong Kong, and sewage fees are going to increase substantially over the next decade for cost recovery. Bus companies are buying new buses that adhere to Euro III and IV standards, while dirtier taxis are converting to LPG and I believe trucks are going the same route as well. The key is to coordinate with factories in the mainland as Hong Kong's pollution problem is mostly due to China.


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## SM247 (Dec 5, 2006)

CNG buses, tree planting, rainwater tanks and other water management initiatives in Brisbane.


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## TalB (Jun 8, 2005)

Glassy buildings are a good example of green energy especially if they are made from the glass that was made to absorb more sunlight durring the day thus cutting the use of electrical lights.


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## guinessbeer55 (Jul 25, 2006)

my city has always been green...


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## BalWash (Sep 24, 2006)

My county just required all new buildings to meet new "Green Building Standards."


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## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

Paris Bercy 1983


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## andypandy (Apr 28, 2004)

BalWash said:


> My county just required all new buildings to meet new "Green Building Standards."


Sounds like a good step but it depends what the "Green Building Standards" are. In any case we need these things to be enforced by governmnt because developers on their own won't to anything that may impact the bottom line.


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## groentje (Apr 15, 2006)

Deinze? Nothing much. Probably they just plan to make the Gaversesteenweg bigger, as to ease traffic :roll:


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## Martuh (Nov 12, 2005)

They did something about it a couple of decades ago. It even has a green reputation


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## lionchild (Dec 10, 2006)

spongeg said:


> green roofs seem to be gaining popularity here - one suburb has even passed a new bylaw that buildings over a certain square footage - such as big box stores - must have green roofs
> 
> the most famous green roof is the vancouver library
> 
> ...


I was hearing on the news a few weeks back, and some organizations was saying that these "green" roofs on condos and other buildings will create another leaky condo fiasco. I think it's a good idea, however, what's your take on this issue?


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

But having flowers and trees at the top of buildings will help absorb moisture and rainfall, lessening the stress on the roof. Wouldn't that reduce leaks?


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## Maroon Grown (Dec 22, 2004)

TalB said:


> Glassy buildings are a good example of green energy especially if they are made from the glass that was made to absorb more sunlight durring the day thus cutting the use of electrical lights.


this is exactly the opposite in the warmer parts of australia (brisbane, gold coast etc) where buildings are now being designed to keep sunlight out, whilst still allowing enough in to provide more natural light. unshaded glassy buildings absorb heat from outside and place more strain on air conditioners.

as for other things, rainwater tanks are a MASSIVE thing lately as our water supplies are down to 23% capacity.

australian cities are generally very green landscape wise. a large difference to many large cities of the world is the vast expanses of green throughout the suburbs and even in the CBD's. building design is taking a forefront position with mostly every development now implementing green technologies.

as for our power consumption and production, it isnt as great. we burn coal and consume more electricity per person than most european countries. also, our cities are still quite car dependant despite massive PT infrastructure projects under construction or just built. we are finding it hard to shake off the car as our cities are so sprawled.


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## Sister Ray (Apr 22, 2006)

When I first visited Seoul about 6 years ago it was unremittingly grey with patches of green few and far between (mountains excluded.). I remember thinking "What this city needs is about 2,000,000 trees to be planted."
When I moved there to live about two years ago I noticed it had much improved in terms of urban foliage. Apparently Mayor Lee Myeong Bak, in his wisdom, had instigated a campaign to plant exactly 2,000,000 trees. It is still not a lush and verdant city by any means, turns out Seoul actually needed about 5,000,000 trees, but it is greatly improved.
Also Mayor Lee's famous transformation of the Dong-il expressway into the Cheongyecheon stream has also done wonders for the urban environment of the old downtown.


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## Chicagoago (Dec 2, 2005)

City plans global warming-themed street art

By Emma Graves Fitzsimmons
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 6, 2007, 12:32 PM CST


One hundred globe sculptures will be scattered along the lakefront this summer from the Field Museum to Buckingham Fountain.

Like the popular Cows on Parade, each five-foot-wide globe will feature an artist's design.

*But this new exhibit, "Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet," will have an environmental message: It aims to bring awareness to the dangers of global warming.

From recycling to wind power to nanotechology, each artistic sculpture will be dedicated to a practical solution to reduce climate change.*

Mayor Richard Daley unveiled plans for the exhibit this morning at a breakfast seeking donors to add to the growing list of corporate sponsors involved in the project, which is the brainchild of a local philanthropist.

Daley has attempted to make the city more environmentally friendly with programs such as adding hybrid buses to the city's fleet, and building "green" libraries, police stations and public schools. A United Nations report released this month finding that humans have "very likely" caused the Earth to become warmer confirmed the urgency of the issue, Daley said.

"We all share responsibility for global warming," Daley said. "We can all be a part of the solution."

*The globes will appear on the lakefront from June to September. They will then be auctioned off to raise funds to pay for the expansion of conservation clubs at Chicago Public Schools.*

The globes will be accompanied by plaques with messages—some from well-known people such as former President Bill Clinton and actress Jodie Foster, organizers said. A few of the globes will surface at Navy Pier and possibly along Michigan Avenue and in Millennium Park.

The program will also include a business roundtable to discuss corporate responsibility and a contest for children to design paper-mache globes for display at the Chicago Children's Museum.

The globe exhibit is being coordinated by philanthropist Wendy Abrams with the city, the Field Museum and Exelon Corp.


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## LordMandeep (Apr 10, 2006)

they want to charge a 25 cents to anyone that wants a plastic bag at a store.


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## spotila (Oct 29, 2004)

here in NZ some stores already charge per plastic bag.. not sure if that's a good thing or not.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Hong Kong is also considering a plastic bag tax to reduce waste.


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## Chicagoago (Dec 2, 2005)

I don't understand why Illinois can't implement a glass/can/plastic containder deposit like we had in Iowa. I know they have them in many other states.

I worked at a store where people returned all their bottles/glasses/cans and it was unbelievable how much you got back. We would have a huge semi truck every 3 days that was filled to the brim with massive bags of pop cans, etc. We were just one little grocery store in Iowa. The amount that was recycled must have been insane.

Chicago city alone has as many people as the entire state of Iowa, and with the suburbs and rest of the state that's 13 million people. You could seriously reduce waste by charging a 5 cent deposit on these things. It was so hard to throw away a pop can when I came to Chicago. In Iowa it would be a sin. If people don't feel like returning them themselves, there are PLENTY of homeless/bums who would scrounge around and take them back for the nickel apiece they would receive.


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## Karakuri (Dec 5, 2006)

In Lyon more and more buses are replaced by eletric buses:


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