Author: Ann Privorotskiy

The UAE is always working on the coolest and most innovative projects in the world. My initial response to the paper was shock because I was surprised that no one was making this a big deal- like, it’s the first zero waste, zero carbon, and zero car city, and I’m fairly certain there’s not many students outside of our class in Baruch who have heard about this initiative. We’re always talking about how important it is to educate the future leaders of the world about sustainability so they can make it a priority, so I thought it was really great that the city would incorporate a university offering masters and PhD programs in science and engineering, with a focus on advanced energy and sustainable technologies. It’s clear that this project wasn’t an inexpensive one seeing as how the city hired two of the world’s most prominent architecture and engineering firms to design Masdar.

Some of these initiatives sound like ideas we mentioned in class but rendered implausible for lack of funds or support or other reasoning, so it’s really interesting to see these ideal scenarios, like fully using renewable energy, being put into practice. The zero car aspect of this city was the most interesting one to me, because walking and bicycling will be the primary modes of transportation. I don’t really understand the mechanisms behind the two electric transportation systems but they sound significantly more advanced than anything we have here in the states. One criticism of the Masdar City project is that it is inherently unsustainable because it involves constructing a brand new city in a resource intensive location. While I can see the validity of that criticism I think Masdar is an important first step towards a more sustainable world because it would set a great precedent for other countries. I’m excited to monitor the success of this project in the coming years and hope that some day we’ll be able to implement similar practices to our city.

 

This is an article I’m using for my paper as well, and I think it has a lot of really good references to other publications that have to do with the same topic. Light pollution is without a doubt often over looked, much like noise pollution. We’ve discussed on several occasions why this may be the case, and why people choose to prioritize which types of pollution they care most about addressing when studies show them all to have deleterious effects. Me personally, I think light pollution is something I would have no control over in the grand scheme of things. Like sure, I have control within my own home regarding which lightbulbs I use and when my lights are on, but not like I can tell Times Square to chill out with the constant billboard lighting 24/7. Light pollution is also something that’s never really talked about and definitely needs more research done to make a point. Lack of education is a big issue- we hear about air pollution all the time, especially in school at a young age when we start talking about global warming. Sure, light pollution may not correlate with global warming but there are a number of studies that prove the correlation between artificial light and other health problems.

I think melatonin is a really cool hormone that doesn’t get enough credit- it really does orchestrate everything from how we wake up to when we fall asleep. Melatonin not only regulates our biological clocks, but also aids in regulation of other body hormones. In females, melatonin regulates the release of reproductive hormones which helps set the pattern for menstruation and fertility. Another study linked patients with Alzheimer’s to low melatonin levels. The obvious problem with melatonin disturbances would be lack of sleep, which is probably the most concrete health effect of light pollution. We always make jokes and take talk of insomnia lightly but our bodies really aren’t equipped to be living off of 5 hours of sleep a night. When my parents see I’m spending an all-nighter they never fail to chastise me and tell me that my lack of sleep now will catch up to me when I look 50 in 15 years. In my opinion we need to educate people on the severity of light pollution because that’s the only way to teach them to care. In terms of solutions, I’ve read it’s best to use low wattage lightbulbs, use motion sensors to turn off lights that aren’t being any help to anyone, and try to aim and shield light fixtures that you’re implementing on your property outside your home.

My first thought was that it was very bizarre that the recommendations of AASHTO are not based on rigorous and up-to-date research. It’s like there’s some secret conspiracy behind why they want us to stay off of bikes? Like why wouldn’t they be doing their job and actually trying to promote people to partake in a greener and healthier method of transportation…? Anyways, I think the topic of bicycle riding in America is a really interesting one and I’m surprised we haven’t spoken more about in class. It’s pretty embarrassing to see how little bicycling our country does in comparison to places like the Netherlands, where 27% of all trips are via bike. The benefits of bicycling are dispersed throughout a variety of areas like mental health, physical health, less fuel emissions from cars leading to a greener environment, and so forth. With all that in mind, it’s puzzling why biking isn’t more heavily promoted.

In New York in particular I can kind of see why people are so hesitant about bicycling. The city streets are constantly packed with cars and bicyclists are often seen as a nuisance rather than people who are making smart decisions regarding their methods of transportation. I can’t find statistics on the increase of bikers with the implementation of Citi Bike, but I would imagine it being fairly high considering the amount of people I regularly see on those logo’d blue bikes. I don’t want to just be a hypocrite preaching about the greatness of bike riding when really…it’s not my primary mode of transportation. If you’d ask me before reading this article why I don’t ride my bike I’d probably say that I don’t feel safe. After reading that apparently there’s only a 2.3% crash rate, I realize I can’t use that as a valid answer so I change my reasoning to laziness and convenience I guess. Like I could bike to a good amount of places I choose to take the train to because I can nap on the train and I don’t have to do anything on it and it just takes me where I need to be. Reading this article made me want to hunt down my helmet and consider taking my bike out.

P.S. Thanks for the punny title idea from your poster project

The first thing that stuck out to me about this experiment was that rather than having two different types of areas (urban and green area) this experiment explored three: an urban environment, a park, and a woodland. Using two different green areas is a good way to differentiate which green areas are more effective in providing restorative benefits, and whether this difference is significant enough for people to take it into account when looking for places to unwind. From what I understand, the forest area did provide more benefits but not to an extreme amount. This results of this experiment obviously weren’t shocking because we’ve mentioned in class all the health benefits that nature provides us with and all the negative health effects that pollution gives us. I don’t think the issue is that we’re not aware enough of the benefits of the outdoors, it’s just that we don’t care enough to engage with the outdoor world for the sake of our stress levels and mental wellbeing. Being stressed in New York means nothing- we’re all stressed. In fact, if you’re not stressed, you’re probably doing something wrong.

In the big picture, people are all aware of the things they’re doing to their bodies that’s causing them harm, and they all know what to do if they want it to stop. No smoker thinks that putting a cigarette to their lips is a great idea for their future, however, it’s what they want to do at the moment, so they do it. Constant levels of stress are deleterious for not only your mental wellbeing, but can also have a serious impact on your organ functions as well- primarily your heart. Another reason we choose not to go outside to deal with our stress is because there’s so many other alternatives that are more easily and quickly attainable. For instance, if your stress or anxiety is keeping you up, you can go to your local pharmacy and easily pick up some melatonin supplements. These supplements are by no means a long-term fix, whereas regularly getting some fresh air would probably be. I feel that our solutions to our stress related problems are all “bandaid” fixes, and being outdoors is a solution that would probably be the best longterm.

I thought this article was very nicely organized as it went from a brief overview of green architecture, to challenges these projects are facing, to what can be done to promote this change. I liked how the article not only discussed the environmental benefits that green architecture would provide, but also touched upon the economic activity and competition that it would attract. It also went as far as claiming that these green spaces would increase social interaction between citizens by serving as places for congregation and reaffirming citizens’ feelings of belonging. I thought that was a little far fetched because we primarily discuss benefits of such projects in terms of environmental and sometimes economic benefits, but to say that it would benefit human relationships is a bold statement, but nonetheless, one that made me think.

I liked the mentioning of the Green Core City of Baku because it’s always cool to see how other places in the world value things like green architecture, and compare these values to our own in New York. It was evident that Baku’s City Council placed a lot more importance and thought into upgrading their city’s ecological performance, than New York ever did. The numbers in Table 1 were surprising to me because they showed how much change can be made over a period of only 5 years; over 100 new green areas were implemented between 2005 and 2010. The beached within the Green Core City of Baku undergo regular checks that incorporate sand and water analysis, ecological sifting of sand, and collecting and recycling waste materials in the area. It’s difficult for me to imagine projects like this becoming a regular part of New York City life. The city of Baku has achieved metropolitan status, not like that of New York City, but it’s still up there. If Baku can take the time and effort to promote greenery in it’s city, we should be able to do the same in ours.

I thought it was really cool that this article is only from a few months ago because it shows how recent this development happened and how the issue of water pollution after a storm is still very relevant in New York. To read that 30 billion gallons of raw sewage and polluted storm water are discharged from hundreds of pipes into local waterways each year was pretty surprising because you’d think that if it’s that prevalent we’d be building infrastructures like this playground on a more regular basis. I really liked how because the project was done on school property, it was able to serve as an educational tool as well as one that fights water pollution. It became a school project sort of and the students had to learn about sewer overflows and visit a playground that had already been renovated. They participated in design workshops and had to devise a list of both absorbent and recreational items.

Rather than just having the project not concern the students at all, I think it’s really cool that the kids were able to be fully aware of why this construction project was happening and what function this new playground is intended to serve. As one of the teachers from the school mentioned, the playground is not only serving to minimize storm water runoff, but also serves as it’s own little ecosystem. If the kids see projects like this going on first hand it’s something they’ll remember in the future and hopefully support when they’re adults.

PS: The third grader that said“I’m excited about the grass so we can just lay down and relax during recess. Before it was concrete, and you would scrape yourself” made my heart melt. I hope he doesn’t get scraped again.

I think noise pollution is an interesting area that’s often overlooked when talking about the environmental issues in New York City. I liked how this article broke down noise pollution by source, neighborhood, day of week, and even time of day. The statistic showing more complaints on Saturday mornings than on Sunday mornings leads me to speculate why that’s the case, but the statistic that Midtown is the noisiest neighborhood was no surprise to me. I got kind of irritated when I read that people call to complain about things like air conditioners and barking dogs…it’s like…really? I have a theory of my own that majority of the people that call 311 to complain about noise are not native New Yorkers. They’re probably people from other parts of the country or the world that haven’t really grasped the meaning of “the city that never sleeps” just yet.

Agreeing to live in New York is like a silent contract. People like to be selective regarding what they do and don’t like about the city’s constant buzz. Everyone loves the fact that they can get takeout at 3AM but choose to get annoyed when cars are honking and trains are running 24/7. I feel like native New Yorkers for the most part are, or at least should be, sort of numb to the noises of New York. It’s something you have to learn to phase out and become numb to because it’s never going to stop. If you’re annoyed about construction noises waking you up then yeah that sucks but maybe invest in some ear plugs? Or if the train wakes you up early in the morning how about next time you choose not to reside across the street from the station? Maybe I’m coming off as a little insensitive but if you call 311 to complain about a conversation that’s too loud for your liking, you should probably relocate to Kansas. While I think it’s a bit unnecessary for people to complain about noise pollution in regard to sources like ice cream trucks, I can definitely acknowledge that noise pollution can inhibit functions in local animals and maybe even affect other areas of New York wildlife.

Hey guys!

Here’s my paper for Monday:

http://spl.stanford.edu/pdfs/2015/Bratman%20LUP.pdf

Enjoy your weekend 🙂

As others have already mentioned, one of the key concepts this article stressed was the importance of teamwork and collaboration. It’s unreasonable to propose that any progress can be made within the Hudson Estuary community without everyone willing to invest themselves in this project. As we’ve read in previous articles, government can pass as much legislation as it wants, but that won’t make people care enough to abide by it. I thought how it was pretty cool that the article mentions the various institutions that the Estuary Program collaborated with because it really solidified the idea that no matter how great a single organization may be, if it has the aid of other organizations, it will be ten times more powerful, effective, and efficient.

While every aspect involved in the restoration initiative is important, I was particularly interested in the education, river access, recreation, and exploration section. I think it’s really admirable that the community has a yearly “Day in the Life of the Hudson River” event because it’s a great way to give people more perspective on the topic in a fun and interactive way.Participants catch fish in seine nets, track the river’s tides and currents, collect core samples from the river bottom and examine water chemistry. Giving students and adults in the area the opportunity to engage with the river hands on is a great way to make them realize that they have a connection, and therefore an obligation, to keep the estuary at a certain level of cleanliness. It’s understandable to think that if students were merely learning about the issues the estuary is facing from a powerpoint and a monotonous lecturer, they’d feel no motivation to take action and be engaged in the restoration effort. Making the effort into a day of play is a great way to bring the community together and unite them on a cause that needs attention.

I think this article did a great job of providing context in regards to the correlation between urbanization and resource management. The direct trend is that the more advanced we get, the more wasteful we get, and it appears this is happening at an exponential growth because technology is breaking barriers on a daily basis. The rapid increase in population that we’re expected to face over these next few decades will obviously not help alleviate our struggle with managing our resources. As the article mentions, our exploitation of resources has been a trend for centuries. It’s easier to think that our seemingly innocent actions have no consequences, than face the reality of the future damage we’re provoking. I liked the provided definition of sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” When I read that I kind of thought it was a little funny because it seems like such an implausible idea to convince people to do something as selfless as putting aside their present needs for a future generation.

I kind of feel that with a topic like resource management and urban planning, there’s only so much that can be done before we just completely screw up so bad that it’s irreversible. It’s like we’re running on an hourglass and our last sand grains are slipping through the center as we only begin to take serious consideration about our actions. The article mentions that one of the issues is that people have difficulty seeing eye to eye in terms of what the issue is and how it should be approached, and these disagreements obviously only drag more time and limit us in terms of what we can start working towards. I think renewable energy is completely under researched and giving the proper grants to the right people, scientists can come up with some really great ideas. Sure it’s easy to blame our problems on our advancements in technologies, but who’s not to say that technology can help us out of it as well? Another issue is that perhaps if being environmentally friendly wasn’t so expensive, then maybe more people would be willing to implement greener practices in their lives. Like why should a solar power system have to be priced like it’s a luxury item?