Canada's communities are experiencing significant growth. However, growth brings with it challenges and issues we need to address; Mississauga is no different. However, there is a chance for innovation to overcome these challenges.

Mayor Bonnie Crombie has approached our team of young, intelligent urban planners to create a new, revised Mississauga – Mississauga

2.0. We would like you to present a plan for change that would overcome the challenges facing this great city. Our dedication will help Mississauga's growth more sustainable for the future generations.

Waste Management Expert

What are the issues or problems that exist in Mississauga regarding waste and waste management?

The Peel Region council has devised a plan to divert 75% of the waste that goes to landfills by 2034. The Council ended an incineration Energy-from-Waste operation that was already diverting 75% of garbage prior to 2012. They also halted construction of a second incineration plant because of pollution effects on residents. The biweekly collection plan raised the current 46% diversion rate to just above 50%. With plans to build an Anaerobic Digestion (AD) facility it would raise the diversion rate to 60%. Regional staff will still have to devise a plan to keep another 15% of the garbage, produced by Peel homes and businesses, from landfill. Regional councillors voiced concerns about increased havy truck traffic and pollution as well as a price tag that had moved north of $580 million when they cancelled plans for the incinerator and presented the proposal for a $100 million Anaerobic Digestion facility.

How is the situation unsustainable in Mississauga?

Landfills Landfills are unsustainable in Mississauga because they are harmful to the environment. They pose 2 main environmental problems like air pollution and groundwater pollution. When the waste is biodegrading it releases a more potent gas than carbon dioxide called methane which is released in the air and soil. As this toxic gases pressure increase it moves throughout the soil and air, which affects the surrounding communities and poses lung and heart diseases. The toxic gasses can seep through soil and since most landfills are situated near bodies of water, the toxins can poison the water and make it harmful for us and make it harmful for the inhabiting animals. The cost to ship the garbage to the landfill site cost $75 a tonne which mainly comes from taxpayers. It's both economical and environmentally harmful.

Environmental Impacts

Plastic and metals are the major source of the calorific value of the waste. The combustion of plastics, like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gives rise to highly toxic pollutants such as dioxins and furans, which may be present in the waste gases, water or ash. If it harms us it can harm animals as well. Burning the garbage creates 2 types of ash, fly ash and bottom ash. Fly ash produced in small dark flecks, typically from a furnace, and carried into the air, if not properly disposed of. Bottom ash has a lot more quantity because it is the residue of the combustion. Both of these ashes are toxic and have to be disposed of properly in a special landfill which is more expensive than regular landfills.

Health impacts

These problems will worsen if we don’t apply sustainable methods to the waste cycle in Mississauga, in other words destroy environment in Mississauga. • Breathing the air affects both workers in the plant and people who live nearby. • Eating locally produced foods or water that have been contaminated by air pollutants from the incinerator. • Eating fish or wildlife that have been contaminated by the air emissions. • Neurological damage • Disrupt reproductive systems • Thyroid systems • Respiratory systems

How do you propose to make Mississauga more sustainable within your urban planning committee?

If people have more trash, they should have to pay a price so that the extra garbage can be sent to a landfill or an Anaerobic Digestion facility. • Instead of burning the garbage just for land, we can burn the garbage for fuel in an Anaerobic digestion facility. In this facility the garbage is burned and used to heat up homes. In Broward county they burn thousands of waste and power 100,000 homes and eliminate 2.4 million barrels of imported oil! • In the Anaerobic digestion facility, the garbage is burned for fuel. With this method of waste management, we can clean up the ocean, (the pile of garbage the size of Texas in the Atlantic), other incineration facilities can be shut down but the workers can work in the AD facility. Since more than half of investments are spent on controlling toxic emissions the efforts can be put towards the facility since there would be only a few buildings.

Transportation Planner

*The brass at MiWay recently released a five-year plan that involves moving to a grid system and providing more efficient access to GO transit lines.

*The city has also identified Dundas as an "intensification corridor" in need of some form of higher order transit (most likely bus rapid transit).

*Although some residents might pooh-pooh these initiatives as wasteful, disruptive or unnecessary, the city should absolutely continue to identify and tackle ambitious and challenging transit projects.

*Transportation in Mississauga is very packed, especially when u have to go somewhere in a hurry. Although Mississauga is a very car like city. Many people in Mississauga are in deperate need of a car!

Busses and subways are handy but there are so much problem with it. First of all u have to pay for a buss and subway. Imagine someone who has an emergency they cant take a car and just leave they have to pay money for a ticket.

But that doesn’t mean car are any better. Although cars are free. You get a lot more traffic. For instance the 401. ITS ALWAYS PACKED!!!! Lets say u want to visit someone and you have to take the 401, its suppose to be a 20 minute drive but because of traffic it takes you 1 hour. That’s a major issue.

*To stop all these issues I will make buss fair and subway tickets free to the public because its not fair to them. I would also put a toll before going on the highway. Just 1 dollar. I will also make expand the highway even more. The 401 has 5 lanes for cars but I would at least make 7-8 lanes. And a separate lane for carpoolers. But a special lane for people who have a full car! Mississauga 2.0 has to make extreme changes in transportation other wise no ones gonna get anywhere!

Energy & Water Specialist

Water and energy in Mississauga. In Mississauga, water and energy is used through many ways such as in the industry, agriculture, and reaction. As you can see these two factors play a very important part in sustaining Mississauga, so it is important that we never have any problems affecting them and that that we always have access to such resources so that Mississauga can be a great safe and reliable country.

Issues & Solutions

Some issues that are facing water in Mississauga would be climate change and pollution, over consumption. Climate change in Mississauga affects the water because climate change leads to flooding, which is bad for the freshwater because the entire washed up flood water which is polluted gathers at the freshwater lakes, which won’t be suitable to drink. If we want to sustain our water and make sure we have the same access to water in the future we should stop over consuming water, municipal uses 11% of Canada’s freshwater which has caused water shortages. The main issue facing energy in Mississauga is our reliance on fossils fuels to give us energy. Fossil fuels make up a big part of the energy. Whereas we could use more sustainable resource as our main contributor.

Sustainability

To make water and water more sustainable in Mississauga there many factors to look at are to minimize water loss, safeguarding water to meet basic human needs, keeping scarce safe. To start off I would want to make the main contributor to be hydroelectricity, which doesn’t give off any emissions, which would also help the climate change problem. Also I would make sure that we are sustaining our water not over using it, and really think about the future and what the outcome would be from our actions today, which is one of the most important things to think of while managing a city

Smart Growth Coordinator (Urban Sprawl)

As a Smart Growth Coordinator, my job is to ensure our future Mississauga 2.0 is a city where it is environmental friendly, comfortable, happy place to live in.