Carbon capture in US forests
A new study by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) is underway to assess the role US forests and soils can play in limiting emissions through carbon capture. The first phase of the study found that forests in the lower 48 states currently store about 90 billion metric tons of carbon and continue to capture about 30% of the country’s fossil fuel emissions each year. The study also posits that if properly managed, our forested public land has the potential to capture an additional three to seven billion metric tons of carbon. Citing the study, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has called for further research into how carbon sequestration works and how land-management can be improved.
New York City’s MillionTreesNYC project is a step toward increasing the City’s current capacity for carbon sequestration through increased forestation throughout the city, including plantings at the Freshkills Park site. The City’s trees currently store 1.35 million metric tons of carbon at a rate of 42,000 metric tons of carbon each year.
(via The New York Times)
Revisiting the disposable coffee cup
58 billion non-recyclable coffee cups are used and thrown away each year. BetaCup aims to fund a design contest geared toward reducing or eliminating that waste. Ideas and donations for sustainable alternatives are accepted.
Brownfield remediation workshop this Thursday
The NYC Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation (MOER) is sponsoring a free workshop this Thursday on “Green Remediation and Sustainability.” The workshop is the third in a series of events aimed at encouraging brownfield redevelopment and will include an introduction to MOER’s Local Brownfield Clean-up Program, quantitative tools for measuring sustainability at brownfield sites and presentations on remediation projects at both the local and national level. Other program themes are “Energy Use Optimization,” “Waste and Fill Management,” “Concrete Recycling,” and “Sustainable Soil Preparation at Brownfields.” Register online for the workshop by 5pm today; view the agenda here.
Thursday, December 17th
9:00 am – 1:30 pm, registration begins at 8:30 am
CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Ave (at 35th Street), Concourse Level
Registration and Lunch are FREE
Matching recyclables producers and collectors
e-cycler connects people who want to collect recyclables for cash with people who need recyclables picked up, often in areas that lack municipal curbside recycling service. Providers of recyclables can request a 40% cut of the collector’s profit or can allow collectors to receive the full rebate at recycling centers (though e-cycler takes a small cut, regardless). The service allows users who have or anticipate generation of recyclable material to search by state for collectors of that material; it also allows collectors to search by state or pick-up radius.
(via Treehugger)
Canadian landfill to be world’s largest pollinator park
Honeybee (Apis mellifera), photo by macropoulos via flickr
City planners in Guelph, Ontario have approved a master plan to transform a 200-acre decommissioned landfill into the world’s largest pollinator park. The former Eastview Road Landfill, which operated as a municipal dump from 1961 to 2003, has been capped and outfitted with a methane capturing system that converts landfill gas into usable energy. Filled land, which constitutes about half the site, will host some recreational amenities but primarily shrub and meadow plantings that provide habitat for pollinator species such as bees, butterflies, bats and birds. These species are surprisingly vital to food production: pollination research suggests that three out of four flowering plants require animal pollinators in order to produce seed and fruit.
Pollinator populations have been in decline in recent years. Honeybees, in particular, have experienced what beekeepers call “colony collapse disorder“; other causes for decline include pesticide misuse, light and air pollution, hive destruction and farming practices that destroy habitat.
In conjunction with non-profit group Pollination Guelph, the city is developing a plant palette with a wide enough range of blooming seasons to accommodate both early and late pollinators. Other park amenities include toboggan runs, a trail network, demonstration gardens, basketball and volleyball courts, soccer and football fields, a natural ice rink and a playground.
Eli Cohen on sustainability and phytoremediation
Eli Cohen gave a terrific talk Monday night on his work, as director of Ayala Water and Ecology, using plants to remove pollutants and contaminants from water, soil and air. We’re grateful to the huge crowd that poured into the Arsenal gallery for the event, to Laura Starr and Yamit Perez for putting us in touch with Eli and, of course, to Eli himself for sharing his work and his thoughts.
One of his bigger themes, telegraphed by the title of the talk, “Sustainability in Practice,” was his strong belief that “Natural Biological Systems”– systems constructed of plants, soil, rocks and other natural materials and supported by forces like gravity and sunlight–are not only just as effective as more expensive, technological solutions to environmental remediation, but also, literally, much more sustainable. He walked through a number of Ayala’s Natural Biological Systems, which filtered and cleaned runoff and sewage from a variety of sites including private residences, a dairy farm, a landfill, a cosmetics plant and an entire city (Hyderabad, India). His full slideshow is available as a PDF (6MB).
You can stream the entire audio of the talk, below, as you page through the slides. You can also download that audio directly as an MP3 (71 minutes, 66MB).
Orange County Great Park launches first phase
A rendering of the Orange County Great Park, including the park's observation balloon. The completed park will implement sustainable design in establishing a canyon, a perennial stream, a lake, botanical gardens and an aviation museum.
The first phase of development is underway for 1,347-acre brownfield transformation project Orange County Great Park. $65.5 million will fund the expansion of a 27.5-acre “Preview Park,” which opened in 2008 and features an observation balloon providing visitors a high-flying view of the entire site. Scheduled to be complete by the end of 2011, the new phase of construction will develop 200 acres and include sports fields, arts and cultural space, a 100-acre farm, a 2,500-tree orange orchard, a community garden and an agricultural pavilion. The park is being constructed on the site of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, which operated from 1942 until 1999.
NYC tests hybrid garbage trucks
The New York City Department of Sanitation is testing out four models of hybrid diesel-electric garbage trucks as it considers how to upgrade its fleet. The trucks have been designed to look and operate like typical, all-diesel powered trucks but use 30% less fuel and produce 30% less emissions. They accomplish these reductions by generating energy in an electric motor when the trucks slow down and storing it in a battery to be used in tandem with the diesel engine. Garbage trucks are ideal for this technology because they make frequent stops, regenerating energy several times on each block. The city plans to assess the four models over the next year before beginning to purchase up to 300 new vehicles per year.
(via The New York Times)
Next Freshkills Park Talk: Monday, December 7th
Part of the Natural Biological System designed by Ayala Water and Ecology for the Hiriya landfill site at Park Ariel Sharon in Tel-Aviv.
We’re excited to restart our Freshkills Park lecture series, Freshkills Park Talks, this coming Monday, December 7th. Eli Cohen of Israel’s Ayala Water & Ecology will be speaking about his work designing naturally-based solutions to help remove contaminants from soil, air, and bodies of water and to rebuild ecosystems’ capacity for self-sustainability. Mr. Cohen has consulted on stream rehabilitation projects, gray water reuse systems, and numerous constructed wetland systems to remove heavy metals, salts, hydrocarbons and pathogens from agricultural, industrial, and landfill sites.
Key within this work has been his involvement in the remediation of the Hiriya landfill in Tel-Aviv, formerly Israel’s largest landfill and soon to become part of Park Ariel Sharon, a 2000-acre park that shares a number of parallels with Freshkills Park. Mr. Cohen will present a variety of innovative projects implemented in Israel and around the world, with emphasis on urban solutions.
December 7th, 6:30-8pm at The Arsenal, 3rd floor Gallery
64th Street and 5th Avenue, Manhattan.
FREE. No RSVP necessary.
Pulau Semakau
About 5 miles off the coast of mainland Singapore, adjacent to two mangrove habitats, a small island is being created out of the country's waste, section by section, at a rate of just under 2000 tons per day.
Semakau Landfill, the world’s first offshore landfill and Singapore’s only waste destination, has been described by Singapore’s government as “Scenic Waste Disposal.” The site has been open to the public for recreational activities since 2005 and has been envisioned as an eco-park featuring renewable energy generation and educational facilities. Commissioned in 1999, the landfill was designed to work in harmony with the bio-diverse surrounding areas; it physically connects the islands of Pulau Sakeng and Pulau Semakau. A perimeter bund includes an impermeable membrane, marine clay and rock layers, which prevent waste and its byproducts from leaching into the surrounding water.
Initially expected to reach full capacity in 2040, the landfill’s lifespan has been extended due to the country’s efforts at waste reduction. Singapore now has a goal of recycling 60% of its waste by 2012.
