introduction
WE ARE A GROUP OF URBAN PLANNERS WITH A MISSION TO CREATE A SUSTAINABLE MISSISSAUGA. TODAY, WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT HOW TO IMPROVE THE WATER AND ENERGY, TRANSPORTATION, WASTE MANAGEMENT SITUATION IN OUR CITY. WE ALSO HAVE A SMART GROWTH COORDINATOR WHO WILL INFORM YOU ABOUT THE SUSTAINABLE EXPANSION OF OUR CITY AND HOW TO AVOID URBAN SPRAWL.
Efficent Transportation
Issues and problems about current transportation in mississauga
The current issues about transportation are Mississauga is too spread out which makes people having to drive more in cars and long distances than walking or cycling or using public transit. Driving causes harmful gases because when people drive, cars release many harmful gases into the air such as Carbon Dioxide also known as CO2 which can lead to greenhouse gases. Since a lot of people is driving, this causes cars to increase in price for the new models, gasoline is expensive because people need gasoline to drive their cars and car insurance having a high cost since they need this in case of car accidents. Also people are taking a lot of space in the city for their cars since people need to find places to park their cars and there are places where you can't park your car, which some people who don't follow the law will get tolled which adds more cost in their lives. With this many cars on the road, there has to be at least a few car accidents on the road in a daily basis mostly with people who drank and drive and they are the cause of the car accidents because they're drunk.
SUSTAINABILITY of the current situation
The current situation is not sustainable because of few reasons. Greenhouse gases get released into the air from people's cars that are releasing the harmful gases that are using gasoline for the car's fuel because the engine uses the gasoline to make the car move, then it turns the gasoline into harmful gases and releases into the air and if this keeps happening then the ozone layer that reduces the Sun's temperature will break because there are too much greenhouse gases in the air. Also there would be a lot more car accidents happening and if it actually happens then people are going to buy new cars, gasoline to refill the fuel for the car, and new insurances which isn't good. Also traffic on the road harms people's lives since the harmful gases are releasing a lot more and a lot faster than they are when the car is driving and when people stop their car on the road, they can breathe in those harmful gases such as carbon monoxide(type of toxic gas) and slowly it would make people go ill because they breathe in too much toxic gas.
Solutions to efficient transportation
There are many solutions that can solve the current issues and the sustainability of the current situation. Firstly, hybrid or electric cars can replace gasoline cars because they do not use gasoline but instead they use electricity so they would not harm the Ozone layer and us humans breathing in the harmful gases that will make us go ill and less people would want to drive these cars than gasoline cars but we have better options later on since it wouldn't feel the same. Secondly, public transits like bus or subway/train would help a lot because if you don't feel like driving or you just drank some alcohol or feeling sick, you can sit in the bus or subway/train and they will take you to wherever you want. In Mississauga we have Miway and GO Transit and public transits uses lesser fuels than normal cars and we can also decrease the price for the bus and subway tickets so more people would use public transit. Thirdly, walking or cycling would be even better than using public transit since you are exercising and you would not have to spend money on public transit and in Mississauga we have bicycle lanes besides car lanes so it would be a lot safer, speaking of cycling, there is a system in Toronto called bike share which if you forgot a bike or don't have one or too tired of walking, you can pay to use the bike to your destination and park the bike at one of those stations which is decent since you don't have to buy a bike which we need to imply here in Mississauga. Lastly is carpooling, carpooling is when you drive in a car with other people that you may or may not know so they don't have to drive in a car as well, this greatly helps since it reduces the amount of cars that will be on the road so there would be no traffic jam which people would spend lesser time on the road and people who sat in the car can pay the driver who is driving the car for the gasoline or later on electricity money for the car.
In conclusion, there are issues and problems that are currently happening in Mississauga and they're not sustainable which we have a lot of solutions to solve the current unsustainable issues happening right now. It only depends on if people would actually want to "use" these solutions to make Mississauga a better place.
Waste Management Expert
What are the issues with waste management in Mississauga?
70% waste produced by Mississauga goes to landfills. Some of the garbage goes to our water systems. The food waste we dump out can attract Pests which can spread diseases. When we illegally dump chemicals and waste, it can contaminate the water or land. This affects our drinking water and the soil we use to grow food on. If we consume the water and food, it can give us a huge negative impact on our health. Everybody wants to live in places that are clean and healthy. If there's garbage everywhere, no one would want to live, visit, or invest there because it's dirty, smelly, and feels unsafe. It's quite expensive for costs such as hiring labor, buying machines and equipment, energy, training, transportation & disposal, site preparation, cleanups, etc. In the process of waste rotting, it can generate methane gas which is explosive and contributes to the greenhouse effect. Wastes resources: When we throw away things we don't need to it wastes resources. Landfills produce 25% of Canada’s carbon emissions. Dangerous items such as broken glass, razor blades, needles and other healthcare wastes pose risks of injury or poisoning, particularly to children and people who are engaged in waste sorting and handling. waste also causes problems, because plastics tend to produce toxic substances, such as dioxins, when they are burnt. Leachate produced as waste decomposes may cause pollution. Waste can travel with rain water to rivers and streams the waste can produce E. coli this can infect the fishes and the plants. This can also spread diseases between people that eat the fishes.
How is this situation Unsustainable
This is unsustainable for the future of Mississauga because poor waste management can cause bad effects on the environment. If most of our garbage goes to the landfills including which most people put hazardous materials such as batteries into the garbage this can damage the land and the surrounding environment. For example, a battery is in the landfill for a long time when the batteries stay in a landfill they can leak out mercury. The mercury will then seep into the ground kill all the insects and the plants. Then it will evaporate when the weather gets warm mercury atoms spread into the atmosphere. Then it falls on the ground with precipitation and contaminates water. Then the bacteria in the water changes mercury into a even toxic chemical called Methylmercury which can kill and spread diseases in fishes and plants. Another reason that this is unsustainable is because the worker that handle materials like garbage or hazardous material in the garbage can get sick or die if the batter is not sealed and the mercury seeps out. This can economically affect us two by no one would want to live, visit, or invest in a place which is dirty and can spread diseases. Poor waste disposal can cause surface water contamination, soil contamination, pollution such as (garbage in fresh drinking water lake or river).
Waste Management-Solutions
Since most garbage goes to the landfills these are some ways that you can reduce the landfill waste. Firstly, you should donate Clothes that are in a usable condition that you don’t wear or are small. Each year large percentage of food is thrown out uneaten. Instead of throwing out food you should donate the food. This can help feed many people who don’t have food. Eat more locally grown food because as a large of amount of food is being shipped from another country most of the food rots on its way which is thrown out making the leftovers more expensive. Some food looks good but it is close to rotting, when people buy these kinds of foods and don’t cook it for one or two days it rots causing the people to throw the food out. Therefore, you should eat locally grown food which is fresh and cheap. Eat things with less packing. Most things that can be bought with less or no packing are fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are healthy, mostly inexpensive avoiding packaging costs and help save the environment by using less or no plastic for the packaging. Another way to reduce garbage is by reusing things such as plastic bags and reusable water bottles. This helps decreasing the plastic waste and the plastic production which also produces a lot of waste. Don’t buy more than what you need this helps save money. Recycling is very important it helps reuse items and save the environment.
Energy and water specialist
water-Issues/unsustainablility
Mississauga currently has many water issues that we need to deal with head on. For starters, Mississauga has access to one of the biggest of the 5 great lakes (Lake Ontario) but we are still running out of water, and fast! Water is an unsustainable resource because of the ineffective management of one of our most precious resources. The over consumption of this resource has led to the deprivation of water. The average person in Mississauga uses about 329 litres of water a day compared to the average resident of Munich, Germany uses about 100 litres a day. Water quality is another concern as water pollution is increasing due to untreated water returning to lakes by ground run off. In 2016, the region of peel began adding a storm water charge to the hydro bill, which makes up for the costs of wastewater management and water quality. Many scientists are also claiming that we’ve been significantly underestimating our water footprint because of one crucial factor, “evapotranspiration”. Evapotranspiration is essentially water that is lost to the atmosphere by evaporating. We are experiencing water shortages because we are interfering with the natural ratio of evapotranspiration to precipitation. Mississauga’s increasing population is directly leading to global warming and thereby more water is getting evaporated than precipitation. Evapotranspiration brings the total human water footprint up by a whopping 10,688 kilometers per year.
energy-issues/unsustainability
Energy issues that Mississauga is facing are the following:
- Rising energy consumption
- Overheating through power lines
- Billing increase
- Environmental impacts
- Overall climate change
As the days goes by Mississauga is using more and more energy to fulfill our needs. Thus, the over usage of electricity causes overheating in the power lines and a billing increase. Energy is unsustainable as all of the non-renewable energy resources such as petroleum, nuclear coal and natural gas are exhaustible. These resources are not only expensive but are also not efficient by any means. Though nuclear energy is sustainable it does create waste which is radioactive for decades to come. In Mississauga, petroleum and coal are one of the most used energy sources on a daily basis.What this tells me is that Mississauga relies heavily on gas based transportation to commute. When there is gas, there is carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide emissions can cause global warming which is another problem Mississauga must deal with.
Now that I have identified the problems that Mississauga is currently facing I will explain how our committee plans to make energy and water resources in Mississauga more sustainable.
water-solutions
The first thing my committee plans to do is make sure that companies and factories do their best to save as much water as possible. They can do this by installing a filtration system or just clean the waste water instead of dumping the water into the land. This will help save groundwater as it is one of our most pure sources of water with need of minimal purification. To improve water quality, Mississauga has a plan called Source Water Protection Plan, which is implemented by the Credit Valley Conservation to protect local watersheds that lead to Lake Ontario. One way to conserve more water is to collect the rainwater and reuse it for toilets or other areas that are not in need of drinking water. We will also take advantage of storm water by harnessing its power and use it to generate electricity. To avoid problems like E.coli in the water we will change the water supplying pipes and sewage by every 3 to 4 decades. Another way, we can help is by educating the people of Mississauga about this crisis. We can do this by showing them statistics, theories and possible outcomes of wasteful habits.
There are also little things that can help water to be more sustainable in Mississauga:
- Find and fix leaks
- Buy water-efficient appliances
- Use a front-loading washerInsulate hot water pipes
- Switch to a low-flow shower
Energy-solutions
To make Energy more sustainable we will be monitoring regular energy use by civilians and collect data, use energy efficiency audits, renewable technologies and work with our community to promote energy conservation. To reduce the use of non-renewable energy we will look to solar energy, wind energy and hydro for help. These energies are much more efficient compared to non-renewable resources. Solar panels are the easiest way to lower carbon emissions released into the atmosphere. Another way to lower the carbon emission is by using bio fuel, which is basically a fuel derived directly from living matter. This will help prevent global warming unlike the non-renewable resources like coal and petroleum.
With that said we will:
- Replace all street and parking lot lights with new LED lights
- Cover the Hershey Center with photovoltaic solar panel
- The solar panels produce 25 kilowatts of energy and will reduce 1 kg of carbon emissions for 25 years.
MISSISSAUGA 2.0 - Smart Growth Coordinator
Hello! My name is Areez Habib and I am an urban planner interested in sustainable development. My goal is to avoid urban sprawl. Urban sprawl is the encroachment of an urban center into the surrounding rural land on the edge of a city. Some characteristics of urban sprawl include low density dwellings spread over large areas of land. It is basically unplanned, disorganized growth on the outskirts of a metropolitan area. Some of the causes include: lack of urban planning, lower land cost, infrastructure technology, rise in standard of living and income, population growth and consumer preferences eg. people wanting bigger houses. Urban sprawl has a negative impact on the environment, non-renewable energy consumption, natural resource depletion and finally, the social aspects. What I want to achieve is sustainable development. Sustainable development is development that is conducted without depletion of natural resources. It is meeting the needs of today without compromising the needs of future generations. Sustainable development will improve the standard of living by conserving the environment, consuming less energy, using resources efficiently and protecting human health. The solutions I have come up with to minimize the impact of urban sprawl are: incorporating medium to high density development in urban planning, integrate mixed use zoning which includes residential, commercial and industrial to “keep it local”, and develop a transit system first, around which residential and commercial planning occurs. I will explain below how these solutions will have a positive impact on the environment, energy consumption, natural resource depletion and on society.
Urban sprawl has a major effect on the environment. Some of the negative impacts on the environment with a low-density development include: CO2 vehicle emissions since cars are driving longer distances; contamination of the water supply from fertilizers and pesticides used on large lawns; loss of ecosystems and wildlife habitats due to urban sprawl. However, a high-density development would lower CO2 emissions by reducing congestion since more people will be using public transit which is more feasible and efficient in a high-density neighborhood. Furthermore, high density development will incorporate smaller residential lots that will require less maintenance for lawns and not encroach onto nearby wildlife areas. Also, investment in a transit system and high density development go hand in hand because a transit line will automatically cause a higher density development closer to it and therefore limit urban sprawl.
Some of the negative impacts on energy use with a low-density development (urban sprawl) include: more heating and cooling energy for larger homes, more petroleum use due to greater travel distances, more street lighting due to a greater road network. In contrast, high density (urban) dwellers have one third the carbon footprint of low density (suburban) dwellers because less energy is used to heat and cool smaller living area. Also, since public transportation will be more viable in a high-density development as explained above, petroleum use will be reduced since less people will be using their vehicles.
Some of the negative impacts on availability and use of natural resources with a low-density development with bigger detached home lots include more use of infrastructure materials to accommodate a larger network of roadways, water, sewage, electricity, heating fuel, telecommunications and waste management systems. Also, greater building construction materials are used on larger homes. In addition, urban sprawl will reduce land availability taking over nearby farmlands making us more dependent on outside food sources. On the other hand, municipal services cost 40% less in higher density compact communities with smaller homes, multi-unit buildings on smaller lots. Thereby, less expansion will be required having less of an impact on surrounding farmlands.
Some of the negative social impacts associated with urban sprawl are: longer commute times which deteriorate quality of life, disrupt family dynamics (spending less time with your family) and put you at a greater risk of a car accident since you are driving longer distances. Moreover, there is a negative health effect on people who do not get enough exercise since they rely too much on their vehicles to get around. In addition, larger property lots incur greater property taxes and property values which puts a financial burden on people. On the contrary, a high-density development will make public transit more viable as illustrated previously resulting in shorter commute times due to less congestion and the efficiency of public transit in a high-density setting. Secondly, incorporating smaller lot sizes in the urban design plan will improve the affordability of living accommodations.
Another important factor in achieving sustainable development is a mixed zoning to include residential, recreational, commercial (retail and office), and industrial zones to avoid building bedroom communities. By incorporating industrial and business development in the medium to high density developments, there will be greater opportunity to access local jobs (living close to work). Thereby lowering commute times, which in turn will improve the quality of life by allowing people to spend more time on other activities such as leisure and family time. In addition, by diversifying the tax base, the city will not be solely dependent on residential property tax because tax revenue can be generated from business and industrial sources. Furthermore, mixed-use communities which incorporate residential and retail space in nearby areas will encourage people to walk to run daily errands and foster a sense of community by bolstering local inter-connectivity. A recent study has shown that the average household spending on transportation in “walkable urbanism” (high density) is 9% compared to a whopping 25% in “drivable suburbanism” (low density).
In conclusion, high density and mixed-use development minimize the negative impacts of urban sprawl. Also, this type of urban design offers a sustainable community setting which embraces aspects of working, shopping and playing; thereby “keeping it local”.
Waste Management
Issues
conclusion
That concludes our report. We hope you are better informed about sustainable development and have learned how we are going to make mississauga a better city.
Credits:
Created with images by stux - "fog outlines pine"