How to Make Your Neighborhood More Sustainable

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Even as environmental concerns and green living grows in popularity, there are still some people who believe that just one person can’t make a difference. However, many people don’t live in solitude, but in communities among numerous other families, and fellow Earth residents. Instead of tackling the job alone, band together to make the neighborhood more sustainable and earth-friendly.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

Neighborhood
Location to gather and brainstorm ideas

Step1

Gather the neighbors together. Decide on a location, depending on the size of the neighborhood and have a sustainable potluck dinner. Encourage everyone to bring a dish that was prepared with sustainable ingredients. This means the food was raised in a way that is healthy for consumers, animals and the environment. All workers were treated compassionately and provided a fair wage, and the food production supports and improves rural communities. At the dinner, propose sustainable ideas that the community can implement.

Step2

Start a community organic garden. Neighbors will benefit from locally grown organic produce that can be maintained by neighborhood volunteers. Gardening is one of the most popular hobbies so volunteers should abound. Funding can come from paid subscriptions that allow recipients to receive seasonal produce on a regular basis. Tearing down fences and making use of isolated and underutilized backyards for a common green area was suggested by authors of “Superbia! 31 Ways to Create Sustainable Neighborhoods” Dan Chiras and Dave Wann. If that’s too drastic, brainstorm to figure out other areas of the community that can made into functional land.

Step3

Know that a community house purchased jointly by the neighbors can be turned into a local convenience store that sells home-baked goods and arts and crafts is another Chiras and Wann suggestion. The house would not only provide employment for neighbors and serve as a gathering place for neighborly interaction, but it would also cut back on the need “to burn a quart of gasoline to pick up a quart of milk.”

Step4

Help maintain the garden and cut back on waste by starting a community compost pile. Select a location near the garden since the compost will be used to fertilize the garden. This is done by collecting organic waste material from around the community and placing it into a compost bin. For a list of organic matter see the link below. Worms can be added to aid in the break down. What forms is a nutrient-rich plant food. Compost helps to improve soil, suppress weeds, conserve water and fight plant diseases, according to "Mike McGrath’s Book of Compost" by Mike McGrath.

Step5

Figure out who works near who and create a car-share program. Also, organize weekend outings to the mall, zoo, park, or other places around town. Not only will this cut back on the amount of CO2 emissions, but it will help form bonds between neighbors that may have never existed before.

Step6

Reduce landscape irrigation by implementing water conservation systems. Landscape irrigation accounts for nearly one-third of all residential water use, equaling over 7 billion gallons per day, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. And over 50 percent of that irrigation goes to waste due to evaporation, wind, improper irrigation design, or overwatering. One water-efficient technique is harvesting rainwater. “Water harvesting not only reduces dependence on ground water and the amount of money spent on water, but also reduces off-site flooding and erosion by holding rainwater on the site,” said Patricia H. Waterfall, county extension agent at the University of Arizona Cooperative. It’s done by catching the rainwater in storage tanks and using it to irrigate landscapes and gardens.