Geographic Context in Planning: Approaches to Environmental Sustainability 

Introduction

As consumption levels continue to grow, so does the environmental degradation it causes. In order to maintain a liveable environment, environmental sustainability must be a primary focus in the coming years. Cities such as Toronto, Ontario, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Vancouver, British Columbia have all created their own ways to protect the living environment of all citizens. These cities have all responded to a variety of sustainability issues such as waste management, climate change, and energy usage. Each of these municipalities has created their own goals for a sustainable future, but all have the fate of generations to come in mind. Sustainability on a National ScaleEven though environmental sustainability effects every region differently, the federal government has mandated a basis for sustainability objectives. In 2015, the Canadian government signed the Paris Climate Agreement, leading Canadians towards the fight against climate change. In this agreement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% from the 2005 levels by 2030. More national goals such as the ones expressed in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy for 2016 to 2019 are working towards “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. With these obligations as a basis, cities are creating localized plans to take on environmental sustainability in ways best suited for their community and its needs.

Toronto, Ontario

In recent years, Toronto has set a goal to become one of the highest listed sustainable cities globally. They hope to inspire the community by implementing contemporary programs and policies that focus on waste, climate change, and energy consumption.

Waste Management: With such a high population in the metropolis of Toronto, waste is undoubtedly a large issue. With over 900,000 tonnes of waste being managed annually, a great quantity of energy and resources are being used to manage this unnecessarily large amount of debris. In an attempt to reduce this problem, the municipal government has implemented a variety of waste reduction movements. Much like Vancouver, the city of Toronto is focusing on the amount of divertable items in landfills through the reuse of old belongings. The intention for these programs is to reduce the amount of waste in landfills by 70% by 2026. One of these campaigns is the Second Hand Sunday event held semi annually where residents can leave unwanted items on the curbside for other citizens to collect. After the event, residents are encouraged to donate remaining items to a local second-hand store. In essence, it is a city-wide free garage sale to reduce the amount of reusable items that end up in landfill sites.

This event reduces the ecological footprint of the society by allowing citizens to acquire new items without the use of additional resources, as well as collect much needed items for local charities. The community also has multiple other landfill diversion programs such as community composting, Urban Harvests to reduce the waste of surplus produce, and The Sewing Program which teaches basics on how to repair damaged clothing. Initiatives such as these provide easy alternatives to simply disposing of items for locals. This overall creates less garbage in landfills and reduces the amount of energy consumption. Climate Change:Another main issue that Toronto is addressing is climate change. Unlike Halifax and Vancouver, Toronto does not experience the impact of sea levels, instead it is mainly felt by the citizens in way of heat waves and hot spots in highly urbanized areas. To provide resiliency for citizens, the Climate Change Risk Management Policy was introduced which requires the city to integrate this resilience into decision-making. One solution to climate change was introduced in 2017, when City Council agreed upon a long-term strategy reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Their goal is to reduce 80% by 2050, with a short-term goal of 30% by 2020. Currently, they are on track, exceeding the previous goal set for 2012 by 6%. In order to achieve these goals, many checkpoints have been placed along the timeframe. By 2030, all new buildings are to be built to emit no greenhouse gasses as well as built within walking distance of public transit, 45% of city-owned vehicles are to be low carbon, and city facilities are required to be zero-waste. More long-term goals include retrofitting old buildings and receiving 75% of the city’s energy from renewable sources.

In order to have such a successful impact on climate change, the city must also focus on energy consumption. Energy Usage:In a response to the provincial Green Energy Act Regulation enacted in 2012, the city of Toronto published an Energy Conservation and Demand Management plan in 2014. In order to achieve their goals, the recommendations from The Power to Live Green report were adapted. With the use of over 100 million dollars so far, the city has installed wind, solar, and facilities to reduce their emissions. In 2012, $53 million was spent providing energy for 19 million square feet. To reduce the amount of energy consumed, the city sorted all facilities in the area and created a reduction action plan for each of them. As seen in Appendix A, the municipality also created renewable energy plans for each facility. To increase awareness of renewable energy sources in future generations, the Toronto Conservation Authority has created the Power Trip Trail, an interactive hike aimed towards students that teaches about renewable energy sources. By focusing on the citizens that will continue on with the current goals, Toronto will be able to see to it that long term goals are met. With Toronto’s ambiguous goals and success to this date, a hope for a green future is possible. Halifax, Nova ScotiaWhile Halifax is a less urbanized area than Toronto and Vancouver, sustainability is still a top priority for the overall wellbeing and continuation of the area. To recognize the issues that Halifax needs to address, an Environmental and Sustainability council has been created to advice council in their decision making. This committee focuses on waste management, energy security, and other sustainability topics. Waste Management:The Stantec Waste Resource Strategy has taken many steps towards sustainable waste handling since 1995 when it was first implemented. Unlike the other cities, Halifax is directing their focus purely onto the diversion of waste, not the reuse of materials. By 2013, this strategy helped to redirect over 50% of waste from landfills, and is continuing to increase the amount of waste being diverted.

In order to further this cause, the provincial government is working on banning organic waste from landfills, and is controlling the import of nonlocal waste to their facilities. Through public participation, the landfills hope to reduce to 300kg per person annually, resulting in less than 125 million kilograms of waste for the city of Halifax. This would be a significant accomplishment considering that the average Canadian disposes of over 700 kilograms of waste annually. Climate Change: Another section of Halifax’s impact on environmental sustainability is the reduction of climate change. Similar to Vancouver, Halifax is a coastal town that is highly impacted by rising sea levels caused by climate change. As shown in Appendix B, the city is only an average of 50 metres above sea level, leaving many oceanfront buildings at a high risk for flooding. As show in Appendix C, only three metres of flooding, a very possible reality, consumes a large majority of the waterfront, including multiple treasured landmarks. To counteract the devastating effects that climate change may bring, the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) has created a corporate plan for 2012-2020. Their goal is to be 30% below the emissions rate of 2008 by 2020.

A more in depth reduction estimate can be found in Appendix D. Since 67% of the emissions in Halifax are from municipal buildings, the city has decided to focus on their own buildings before expanding their initiatives to the public. After 3 years of retrofitting, the local government was able to prevent over 7000 tonnes of Carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere, which is almost 13% of the total emissions reported in 2008. In order to continue with reducing emissions, the city also needs to focus on energy usage.

Energy Usage:In the Canadian Atlantic region, Halifax is currently one of the top cities for energy efficiency. Following the HRM Community Energy Plan, the “HRM intends to achieve the most significant improvement to energy sustainability, security, renewable technology, and environmental emissions among similar sized cities in Canada over the next ten years. ” Their success towards this goal is heavily reliant on the Alderney 5 Energy project. This facility captures thermal energy from the sea water and stores it using geothermal technology, which then is used to power air conditioning units in nearby municipal buildings. The city is also receiving overwhelming public approval for their Solar City project. This program helps citizens by financing the installation of solar energy systems for their residences. To continue with the success in decreasing the energy consumption of the city, the HRM is continuing to explore more solar energy options, as well as more combined heat and power opportunities.

Vancouver, British Columbia

In an urbanized centre such as Vancouver, the impact of waste, climate change, and energy consumption are key factors that are currently restricting their ability to become environmentally sustainable. To combat this, the municipal government has implemented the Greenest City initiative. Much like Toronto, their goal is to become the greenest city internationally through support of all those working and living in the area. Waste Management:In urbanized coastal cities such as Vancouver, many issues surrounding litter and ocean pollution are large barriers to environmental sustainability. One of the key initiatives that Vancouver has put into effect is the vision of becoming a zero waste community by 2040. One fundamental method to accomplishing this goal is reducing the amount of single use items in the community. This initiative covers a variety of issues, mainly surrounding takeout containers, and enforces a requirement of reduction plans being created by businesses. Unlike the standardized goals set across the entire region of Toronto, this alternative way of creating individual plans makes the goal of being zero waste more attainable because each directed plan accurately fits the capabilities of each corporation. To combat plastic bags, the city is requiring all businesses to create a reduction plan specific to their company by 2020, and to place a bag collection station in each business by 2025. The city has also created an additional plan to fully prohibit the distribution of plastic bags if the reduction targets are not hit by 2021. With 22% of litter in Vancouver being from disposable cups, the municipality has also addressed this issue. The policy includes a reduction plan as well as a bylaw that requires all cups to be recyclable or compostable that will be enacted in 2021. The city has also seen a steady increase in the amount of composting done throughout the city. As seen in Appendix E, composting bins are have been increasing in sales since 2001, this is due to the subsidized rates Vancouver places on these bins. Another very innovative waste reduction movement is the city’s demolition permit requirements. In an attempt to reduce the waste and reuse materials, bylaws surrounding the demolition of buildings have been implemented. In order to legally demolish a building, residents must submit a development permit, a Recycling and Reuse Plan, as well as a Recycling and Reuse Compliance form after completion. To complete the “green demolition”, demolition crews must recycle or reuse a minimum of 75% of the materials. This initiative concept is the first of its kind in Canada and its success could bring more sustainability to other Canadian cities by using the same ideas.

Climate Change: In British Columbia, climate change has a very high impact. With wildfires currently displacing many residents, the province is in desperate need of finding solutions. As the temperature increases diseases are spreading, heat waves are affecting more residents, and coastal cities such as Vancouver, comparable to Halifax, are being heavily impacted by rising sea levels. When sea levels rise, coastal communities experience issues such as flooding, straining on their sewage systems, and stresses on the fishing economy. With such devastating impacts, climate change has become a key focus for the city of Vancouver. Unlike many other cities, Vancouver is primarily focusing on being adaptive to the changes instead of trying to reverse the effects.

In the Adaption Plan, possible consequences are addressed with actions for a solution. For instance, to prevent damage from heavy rainfall, the city plans to alter their sewage and stormwater infrastructure to increase the capacity. In response to hotter summers and extended drought seasons, the municipal government is implementing water conservation programs and education, with the goal to lower water consumption per capita by 33%. With ever changing climate conditions, the city of Vancouver is constantly adapting to protect the environment and their citizens. Energy Usage:Alongside climate change resiliency, Vancouver is focusing on their Neighbourhood Energy Strategy. This project aims to cut carbon emissions while transitioning to all renewable energy sources. Vancouver is already a leader in the emission reduction field, with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions per capita of any major city in North America.

The municipality believes they can continue on this path and become completely unreliant on nonrenewable energy sources by 2050. To accomplish this goal, they have decided to focus on three key matters; reducing energy use, and increasing the use and supply of renewable energy. To reduce energy use, the city is improving their bike paths to make active transportation a more appealingoption. Similar to Toronto, the city is heavily encouraging the use of public transit and more environmentally friendly vehicles through public awareness. The municipal government also plans to change their bylaws to increase the requirements for building insulation. In order to increase the use of renewable energy, Vancouver is planning to connect more buildings to the Southeast False Creek Neighbourhood Energy Utility. This utility secures thermal energy, similar to what was done in Halifax, and uses it to provide heating and hot water. The city is also focusing on solar energy by increasing the amount of rooftop panels around the city. With sunshine almost 300 days annually, the use of solar panels is utilizing a valuable resource that is almost effortless to access. In response to climate change and energy usage, the provincial and municipal government has decided to increase carbon tax as well as assess how to change business licensing to include energy efficiency. With a variety of methods in mind that target a variety of issues, the city of Vancouver is progressing towards a better future in a sustainable environment.

Conclusion

Although Toronto, Halifax, and Vancouver have different approaches to becoming increasingly sustainable, many key issues being targeted remain the same. All three cities offer innovative programs and policies that are leading them towards a healthier future. With a primary focus on waste, climate change, and energy usage, Canadian citizens are aligned with their goals to a sustainable environment.