We’ve all heard about ecological footprints.
We’ve all done the surveys. In college, I was over three planet Earths. Currently,
as a grad student, I’m 4.1 Earths. But
how can that be? I consider myself as a sustainable person. I would like to
believe I’m doing my part in conserving whatever natural resources the world holds, but I still need 4.1 Earths. But I live in New York
City! I don’t own a car and I take public transportation everywhere! I became a vegetarian (okay, pescetarian) a month ago! But 4.1 Earths? That is still 3.1 more Earths than the
world has, and I’m not the only human being living on it. And sadly, I am
actually conscious about my impact on Earth. How will this number differ if I
actually did not care, not one bit?
As Wackernagel and Rees explain in their
analysis of an ecological footprint, city developments are “among the most
spectacular achievements of human civilization”. But place a glass dome over an
urban region, and the population will disappear within a few days. So no,
simply by living in a city does not mean you are ‘off the hook’ on being
sustainable, as many would like to believe.
“I don’t own a car and ride the subway everywhere, therefore I don’t
need to do anything else. “ Wrong. New York City residents still have the
option to purchase cars (in fact- my family just bought their first car 2
months ago), we can still buy
our gala apples that were grown from New Zealand, and we certainly can fly to
anywhere in the world from any of our THREE airports. Simply by living in one
of the largest urban areas do not necessarily deem an individual to be very
sustainable, nor should New Yorkers stop striving to become someone even more
green.
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| Imagine NYC is this mini-terrarium... (terrarium made by twirlingbetty, a fellow blogger) |
On a broader level, how does New York City think
it is doing in sustainability? A quick search on the NYC’s sustainability indicators, show that NYC has sustainability targets for 2030, and it is
currently on the trajectory to reaching those targets. Some city goals
include ways to create more affordable and sustainable city housing and neighborhoods,
ensure New Yorker’s living within walking distance to a park, and clean up all
brownfields. While my personal project may be to eat no meat, and others to
purchase less or eat more locally, the city also has their own sustainability
goals. Although NYC is viewed as fairly sustainable, globally, everyone has to
do their part to encourage a more effective and efficient use of current resources.
That might mean New York City has to find methods to clean up their brownfields
and perhaps use it as residential land space. After all, Staten Island is one giant
landfill, and has a population of almost half a million people. Creative ways to use a past dump site? Yes, please. Tax deductions for greenroofing New York City buildings? Why not? Competitions to design micro-apartments to downsize lifestyles? Perhaps. There is no reason why New York City and its residents should not continue to strive to be more sustainable, because like me, while 4.1 is low, it certainly does not mean perfect.
