This week's readings have exposed me to what a multi-pronged approach city greening is for addressing many sustainability issues. When the Bloomington Commission on Sustainability mentioned they were considering planting shade trees as an energy conserving strategy I thought it was rather lame. Of course I am completely grateful for the ginormous poplar tree on the southside of my house. It offers shade in the summer and in the winter when its leaves are down it does not obstruct much sunlight. This is a great strategy for diminishing cooling needs in the summer.
Bloomington has many other city greening projects that I am probably unaware of. One I like is the planting of native species along the creek in Bryan Park. This has created a wonderful habitat for local fauna. Bloomington also has a great farmer's market as well as many thriving CSA (community supported agriculture) options. Occasionally I meet people who are worried about the messy appearance of a vegetable garden in their yard. I tell them; this is Bloomington, the person with the biggest garden wins.
I think I will visit other classmates' blogs to see what is happening with water stewardship. I do know that Bloomington has had its share of water pollution from PCB's and toxic coal ash dumps. For more information go to:
bloomington.in.gov/documents/viewDocument.php?document_id=3001
bloomington.in.gov/documents/viewDocument.php?document_id=3013
I have to agree -- when I heard that BCOS wanted to promote the planting of shade trees I thought "this is what we have to offer??" but after reading Roseland and seeing some statistics on the way trees impact energy, I was impressed!
ReplyDeleteAlso, unrelated to this particular post, I just wanted to say that I loved the poll at the top of your blog! That's a fun way to tie everything we've talked about together.
I have to start telling people that too: The person with the biggest garden wins! A competitive way to get neighbors and the community involved, while supporting homegrown foods!
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