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![]() What Would a Green Future Look Like?
1, 2, 3 Energy in the future will derive from pollution-free, renewable sources such as solar power, hydrogen, hydroelectricity and wind. Moving toward this goal, the North Carolina Solar Commission has developed two solar-powered houses that each have a total monthly bill of only $25 for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning. In Iowa, the Midwest Wind Energy Program generates more than 325,000 kilowatt-hours of energy with wind turbines, and saved consumers $950 in equivalent coal use in May 1996.
4 Thanks to the Internet, telecommuting from home will be both environmentally sound and feasible. Redmond, Wash., has already made big gains in improving air quality with a telecommuting program that reduces highway travel by 23,400 miles per year.
5 Inexpensive, efficient mass transit, plus bikes and electric and fuel-cell-powered vehicles, will alleviate traffic congestion and space shortages and enhance air quality. Honda Corporation is testing a system in Japan that allows communities to share electric cars and bicycles. In Copenhagen, public bikes are financed with advertisements on the wheels and frames.
6 An environmentally friendly future will not know the meaning of waste: Everything will be integrated into recycling programs. Hot water left over from power generation will heat buildings, as it does already for 70 percent of structures in Copenhagen. Other waste water can be treated by fish, plants and snails in solar aquatic water treatment systems, a system already in place in Bear River, Nova Scotia.
7 While e-commerce provides a no-emission purchase with the click of a mouse, environmentalists worry that the increased consumption it brings about will prove inconsistent with a green future. Malls, on the other hand, will be a two-way operation: When you're through using any product you buy there, the stores will be required to take it back for recycling. Compact cities will have retail centers within walking distance that use local products. The city of Civano, Az., already has a retail space that is integrated with offices, a school and parks.
8, 9 Rooftop and backyard gardening will increase local food production and provide healthy alternatives for city residents. To reduce pesticide use and cut down on fossil fuel pollution from transporting food long distances, San Francisco activists and policy makers are supporting local organic farms. Following their lead, we will use natural pesticides and fertilizers to cultivate crops instead of chemicals. To reduce irrigation and water waste, agriculture will also focus on indigenous plant species.
10, 11 Green communities of the future will dramatically conserve energy and water. Homes, such as those constructed for the sustainable community of Civano, Az., will be built with eco-friendly materials such as straw and adobe and will use water harvesting roofs to collect rain for use in air-conditioning systems. Furnishings such as carpeting will come from recycled materials. Builders will leave mature trees and native plants intact or replant them.
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