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10 Practices Showing That "Sustainability" Is More Than Just A Buzzword!
10 Practices Showing That "Sustainability" Is More Than Just A Buzzword!
10 Practices Showing That "Sustainability" Is More Than Just A Buzzword!
You may wonder if sustainability is just another marketing ploy or whether it is being
seriously practiced. Since landscape architecture harmonizes the relationship between
nature and built space, you should also be looking for a response within this field to see
if it is worth using sustainable methods to produce your space to live and work.
So, to better understand how individuals, designers, environmentalists, and
communities are using this concept, you should read the following 10 practices that are
among the most important examples of sustainability.
10. Preservation of wildlife habitats
When starting to plant your garden or a larger green space, the first thing you need is to
clean the site, removing all the existing plants, right? If you said, no, thats wrong, you
already know the first basic rule of sustainable design. Indeed, you should keep the
native plants and only remove the invasive species to avoid disruptions in the natural
processes in your yard.
Large scale conservation project. Landscape of Samburu, Kenya; image credit: Piotr Gatlik / shutterstock.com
To make your roof a successful green space, you would rather use the Scandinavian
tradition of planting hardy species, such as several kinds of grass that can thrive with
low maintenance. But, if you are really interested in a more complex garden,
professionals can help you make it sustainable by selecting adequate plants, calculating
the roofs load, designing efficient rainwater storage and drainage systems, and
analyzing whether the cost and maintenance suit your budget.
Regardless of the type of garden roof you decide to have, it will improve your buildings
thermal performance and link it to the green surface net that is reducing the heat island
effect in cities.
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A simple diagram to show the various parts and functions of a Rooftop rainwater harvesting system. The process shown in
the figure makes the collected rainwater suitable for drinking or common household use. Credit: CC 3.0, by Adityamail
The crucial point in maintaining your living walls will be to design the watering system
and, although there are several solutions for that, the most common are those based on
the recirculation concept, which uses water more efficiently.
5. Selection of plants according to the place
We cant deny that some exotic plant species fascinate us with their beauty, and that we
would like to have them in our gardens. But, as you have already learned from the first
practice, the sustainable method calls for planting native species. This can unite private
spaces with some public parks that are restoring the local wildlife. The good news is
that you can get seedlings without cost from the many non-profit organizations that
distribute them as an incentive to sustainable planting. So, this step will make your
garden affordable and align you with community efforts to bring natural life back to
urban spaces.
4. Reduction of the use of electrical energy
Of course you would like to use your outdoor space for resting or social gatherings at
night as well as during the daytime. And all the efforts to reduce your footprint will have
been useless if, at the moment of designing the lighting system, you waste energy. The
right choice is to make the place even greener by combining devices such as motion
sensors, dimmers, and LED (light-emitting diode) or other energy-saving light bulbs,
such as solar powered. Although they may be still pricey, you will see a reduction in
your energy bill, so your investment will have a payback.
Will constructing green areas, according to what we are talking about so far, be enough
to guarantee the sustainability of our spaces? You must agree that, if the ways of
transportation we use to access the parks, gardens, or green buildings are polluting and
expensive, they will soon end our natural resources.
So, regardless of your location, why not opt to ride a bike, walk, or use public
transportation instead of relying on cars all the time? If your city is not yet bike-friendly,
its a great opportunity for you and your community to work to make that happen. The
use of bikes as the main form of transportation can reduce gas emissions and provide
the benefits of exercising outdoors, as countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium
have been proving for years.
1. Urban agriculture
At this point, you must have already noticed that the best way to produce outdoor
spaces without negatively impacting nature is to keep them integrating to its cycles. And
it wouldnt be different in relation to our nutrition: You can help to reduce the use of
energy to transport vegetables to the city if you grow your own produce in your garden.
You can also join one of the organizations that develop urban agriculture through public
gardens, providing a social and hands-on way to learn eco-friendly methods of
producing healthy food.
Although each of these practices can help you to produce more pleasant spaces and
manage our resources responsibly, your green contribution wont be effective if you
work on just one aspect while ignoring the others. Each is worth being adopted only if
you are engaged in the whole process. And the commitment that professionals and
communities are having with this subject proves that sustainability is not just a green
wave that is ending soon, but a stream whose direction we all should follow.