Urbanism.

Urbanism has always been an integral part of our development. After the industrial revolution, cities became the primary focus of our urban fabric. Dense settlements (mostly the workers) developed around the industries. Neighborhoods were mostly mixed use and walkable. Public transit was mostly the popular mode of commute. But with the urbanization, the industries grew stronger. Great deal of pollution occurred. Health hazards were overlooked. Communities grew denser, quality of life begin to deturate, and with the invention of a car, the focus then shifted to the suburbs. We began living far away from the polluted and crowded cities and started commuting tremendous stretches between our work and home. Our automobile became an integral part of our life style and our built environment. We thought we found answers to our solutions by keeping our residential developments segregated from our industrial and commercial development.

However, our life was not going to be that easy. Soon we began to learn the cost of suburbanization the hard way. Our new life style and the increased use of automobile (and all of our work and non-work auto commute), gave rise to more grave issues such as urban decay, traffic congestions, monoculture, soaring green house gas emission, global warming etc, which are now posing greatest threat to our own future. I think we have come to a full circle. Today we seem to be reviving old values of urbanism once again. Increased densities, walkable neighborhoods, community open spaces, mixed income housing, mixed uses, transit oriented development, multi-modal transit and increased transit ridership, are the concepts we are trying to imply to reduce our auto dependency and reduce our carbon footprint. This can also help add visual, cultural, social diversity to our urban fabric, and also to bring down our cities to the human scale. This will no doubt help us achieve our goal of reducing our harmful impact on our own habitat. Here we have to walk a fine line to make sure that urbanization does not cause population explosion, environmental pollution, congestion, sanitation hazards etc and that our urbanization does not take over our natural world, destroying our agricultural farm lands, forests and various natural habitats to accommodate its needs. We have to strike the right balance or else we will be stuck in the same vicious circle all over again.

Trying to find out more about how we can strike this balance, I came across a very interesting term – ‘Rur-banism’ .  The term was introduced by the designers of Goa- 2100, a planning project for one of the sprawling Indian city. Rur-banism attempts to address the difficult task of better integration between the thriving urban areas and surrounding rural areas which in fact provide a vital support in terms of food and natural resources. It represents urban area as a symbiotic partner with nature and rural culture, and a net producer of resources and values than a parasitic consumer¹.  In rurbanism along with buildings, neighborhoods, transportation systems, and other vital parts of the urban centers, ‘transition areas’ at the urban and rural boundaries are given utmost importance. The interdependence between the rural and urban form is made visible and celebrated. The natural habitat and green spaces are envisioned to be the both connectors and the separators of the urban area. It is believed that the city will not colonize the world around it, but thrive in a peaceful harmony.

I believe we need to engage ourselves in rebuilding our world. Rur-banism and similar soulful concepts should be examined and applied in the right context to transform the way our future cities will impact our earth. 

Powered by Trash.

I hope everybody agrees upon one thing. We are complex species. Our world is multi- layered. Our building methods are tedious. Our food, complex and processed. Our clothing is factory made and our transportation methods- highly advanced. Our every single act of "living" needs energy and our every single life cycle process generates tremendous waste. 

If we look around us, every species have its own uniqueness. Some species have unique migratory patterns, some have peculiar eating habits, some have unique vibrant colors, while some have unique eating patterns. I wonder if consuming energy and creating waste is our uniqueness. 

More than 250 million tons of solid waste is produced each year in the United States. Out of which, more than half is discarded in the landfills. Our life cycle processes create so much waste that it has to be either tucked away in landfills or burned in incinerators. Most of the other countries in the world do not have this kind of " luxury". Many developing countries face a gigantic issue of waste management and waste is seen floating in piles through roads, slums, water bodies, open space, etc. Waste is far less important to be discarded properly. It affects our environment, contaminates our natural habitat and disturbs our ecological balance.

Can we somehow bridge this gap between the energy we consume and the waste we produce?

-Enter Denmark. 

For many small and dense countries around the world, [especially Europe] like Denmark, creating landfills is not an option. There is no physical space where the waste material can stay for hundreds of years to come. "Abandoned and forgotten" waste material is creating a new movement throughout the country. Which has helped Denmark cut energy costs  and reduce dependence on oil and gas. They now use their solid waste as an effective source to generate electricity and heat for most of the neighborhoods in the towns such as Horsholm and Copenhagen. District heating, steam for industrial purposes, district cooling is managed at such "waste-to-energy" creating facility along with creating electricity. Any type of waste that is non-decomposing, can not be recycled or upcycled through economically and environmentally safe processes is used as a source of energy.

There are two primary methods through which energy is produced- 

1. In the landfills, through landfill gases- Inside the landfill, as the waste keeps decomposing, it collects landfill gases. the gases are collected in the underground wells and are used to generate electricity. One ton of waste can generate 65kWh of electricity.

2. Burning of waste material to create energy- Waste is combusted on a moving grate while air is added to the process. Little or no pre-treatment of waste is needed. Waste is burned to heat a boiler that generates steam for moves a turbine and generates electricity. One ton of waste can generate 590kWh of electricity.

 In the landfill gas collecting process methane gas is generated from garbage, while in the incinerator process, carbon dioxide is produced. Methane being recognized as highly potent for global warming, Denmark has invested considerable research and finances to design type 2 incinerators. They use the  cutting edge technology in filtering and prevent hazardous substance such as Hydrochloric Acid, Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Dioxide,other heavy metals, etc. from escaping back in the atmosphere. Every waste incinerating plant has emission levels upto twenty percent less than that are allowed by law. It is their claim that a waste incinerating plant burns more cleanly than that of wood burning fire places and backyard barbeques in the neighborhood homes. Denmark now regards garbage as "clean-er" energy source, and has about thirty operational plants. 

Integration of the "waste-to-energy" plants in the neighborhood. 

One of the commendable parts, according to me, about the waste to energy program is the integration of this concept on the grass-root level in the community planning. Waste-to -energy plants are integrated in the community development at the design stage. They are not an after thought. They are stretigically placed in the master plan so that electricity and heat both can be pumped in the communities at the optimum economic value. Yet they are away from the main neighborhood activity areas. They appeal to the aesthetic sence of the community because they are designed as sculptures, confirming to the vernacular architecture. They are served by dedicated garbage carrying routes. As a result, heating and electicity costs in such communities are considerably lower. Neighborhoods are quite self sufficient in managing the waste it creates in this manner. 

There are pros and cons to each technology we use. 

Incinerating waste has its own by-products or more waste. Besides electicity and heat, there are other by products such as flue gas, waste water, bottom ash, fly ash and residues from flue gas treatment. The glue gas and waste water have to be cleaned according to the strict environmental standards prior to their emission, while bottom ash and fly ash and the other residues need specialized treatment facilities.Secondly, We need to sacrifice "not in my backyard" attitude, since such plants can only be effective if they are located close to the community. 

But most importantly we need to take responsibility for the waste we create. No energy source [except for natural] can be entirely clean. The fact that many countries are looking at garbage waste as a clean-er source of energy is worth taking note about and researching further. Can waste be looked at as a  sustainable, indegenious raw material that is forever available? More energy generation for our consumption needs can never be sustainable. Energy recovery systems such as waste-to-energy concepts have potential to create energy independence for small communities if not for the entire countries. And that self sustainance according to me is a key to survive in the post hydrocarbon world.

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Trash to Treasure - EarthShip Construction.

What can you achieve with the discarded rubber tires and rammed earth??

Earthship Construction 

TerraCycle- A Green Revolution.

TerraCycle – The only company which manufactures numerous (approximately 350) products made entirely form waste and packaged entirely in waste.  Their motto – Outsmart waste! Their vision- Derive value from the waste and pass on those profits to the retailers and consumers.

The first ever product of TerraCycle, was a result of the founder’s vision to collect the organic waste from university dining hall and feed it to the worms. Worms decomposed the organic waste (at an amazingly fast rate) and produced poop, which had high percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. Just right as a nutrient for plants. Further liquefying the fertilizer proved to be user friendly, yielded more fertilizer from the waste. It made spraying on the plants easier, proved very easy to be absorbed (by the plants) and proved to be the best natural fertilizer there is for plant growth. This product, which was entirely made from the dining hall organic waste, was then packaged in another discarded material. TerraCycle researched that at least 200 million soda bottles of all sizes and shapes are used and discarded each year and all that was needed, was thorough cleaning of the bottles. No tedious process of crushing and melting the plastic bottles to extract plastic polymers which could be then molded into new bottles was needed. Neither was using tremendous amount of energy, transportation and fuel. The spray heads for the bottles were purchased from a company (that rejected a huge shipment because they changed their brand color) at a very cheap cost. The upcycled waste in the upcycled bottles was then finally packaged in the boxes of other products (turned inside-out) and the boxes were shipped to the final destinations. The product is still manufactured in the exact same fashion.

Since the business model demanded repurposing used bottles, Terracycle asked people to collect bottles for them. They set up ‘bottle brigades’ at local schools, churches and drives. There they interacted with the students and the people and educated them about importance of the reusing the bottles. A small donation was made for each bottle that was reused, which worked in the favor of schools and churches as a fundraiser. Community awareness and participation is still the back bone of their green business model.

TerraCycle products such as liquid fertilizers have practically no raw material costs since they are generated entirely from organic waste.  Process of upcycling has not just helped TerraCycle conserve energy and labor, but has also helped them to be economically viable. Their product is all natural, greener than most of the artificial fertilizers available, extremely effective and readily available in supermarkets (like Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc.) to the consumers without having to pay the premium price of ‘going green’. This marketing strategy has successfully helped TerraCycle reach out to the millions of consumers and also create a continuous cycle of demand and supply for their product.

Taking Waste Management to the next Level-

Terracycle has not just created a line of products made out of waste, but it has also created a radically new approach to manage our waste.  They are now an integral part of product planning for numerous leading brands. The brands like Target, Cool-aid, Kraft-Capri-sun, Honest kids, etc.  have launched “sponsored waste program” with TerraCycle to be socially responsible for their brand waste. Terracycle has set up hundreds of brigades across the country where people collect the non-recyclable materials like plastic bags, juice boxes, candy and various other wrappers, etc.  for TerraCycle. They have managed to upcycle this waste by applying innovative methods to re-purpose them into Target tote bags (from their plastic bags), handbags, pencil cases, backpacks, homework folders, lunch boxes, etc. (out of used juice boxes), rotary composter, rain barrel (out of used wine oak barrels), seed starter planting pots (out of used yogurt cups), Christmas ornaments( from used CDs), art pieces out of (e-waste generated by computers and cell phones).  The examples of ‘sponsored waste program’ are numerous and their vision is ever expanding!

Their products are simple, fun, re-invented from waste, have same or better features as the competition, easily affordable to everybody and have saved 52 million juice pouches, 5 million energy bar wrappers, 1 million soda bottles and 10 million cookie wrappers from ending up in landfills. They have actively educated, involved, and encouraged communities for collecting used products and have helped the giant waste generators take responsibility for their brand waste. They are environmentally friendly and one of the fastest growing and profit making businesses in America. 

TerraCycle, according to me, is setting up the most revolutionary model for future green products and green businesses within and outside of America.

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http://www.terracycle.net

Szaky, Tom. Revolution In A Bottle. New York: NY, The Penguin Group, 2009

Why Sustainable Building Methods Matter-

We are one of the millions of species nature put on the face of beautiful Earth. Nature provided each species with a unique ability of survival. I believe our survival technique is our brain power. We have evolved from being primitive and living in the caves to not just building shelters, but building homes, building cities and even countries. Our nesting instinct is the strongest. Our built environment-  intense. It needs a great deal of time, labor and money. Our building methods are far more severe than how nature builds. It involves using a huge amount of natural resources and artificial materials. It consumes tons of energy and creates unfathomable amount of waste. It alters our natural environment and  exerts tremendous pressure on our real home, our planet Earth. 

We cannot rewrite our past, but we can most certainly make a shift from the present day’s unsustainable practices. As the most progressive species on earth it our utmost responsibility to create our built environment in harmony with our natural environment and make it conducive for life of the future generations to come.

Its quite true that we really need to take care of the grater problems and the smaller problems take care of themselves. When we decide to be the responsible species, and work hard towards making our home a better place, we include ourselves in the sphere of benefit as well. I believe specifying a sustainable materials is one of the important steps towards the big change we wish to make in our built environment. Specifying sustainable materials (which are renewable, naturally occurring, are sustainably developed and easily bio degradable) and specifying green processes (which will constantly work to minimize the adverse impact of manufacturing) can be our hope of mimicking nature’s way of constructing a world . A world, which is made up of -non (less)toxic, low energy consuming, non (less)polluting, reusable (thus waste reducing), multifunctional, durable and biodegradable products. A world, which is full of lush green, fresh, bright , vibrant and peaceful environment. Instead of  waste, pollution, toxic and contaminated environment.

When we began making informed decisions about the materials, the manufacturing processes and how we construct our world it can only help us on a personal level by offering us a healthier environment, cleaner air to breath, reduced levels of toxic fumes to breath, increased sense of well being, and a truly safe environment that all of us deserve.

The durability, long lasting quality, energy efficiency, and renewability of the sustainable materials can also bring about the cost benefits, which in fact is the primary factor in our decision making.  Therefor specifying sustainable materials is extremely vital , especially in the Architecture and Planning community. It can be a first step towards restoring our ecological, geological, environmental as well as our social and economical balance.

Reinvent and Redesign!!!

This exercise has made me realize few very important things besides the obvious fact of water conservation and water reuse.

It made me think about the disconnect between our present and future. And that, we HAVE to look beyond today to realize what is good for us tomorrow. I will always be an avid supporter of the two principals that I think I learned from this personal exercise- 

1. We have to reinvent the products that we use , not for just one product life but for the second or a third one too. I hope in future we can have soaps or body wash, that are not hazardous to us and our environment. I hope a simple filtration system is really enough to reuse our bath water for the plants. The ingredients that are not harmful for our skin are in fact the nutrients for the plants that they wont have to filter out. 

2.Using a home-made filter is definitely an eye opener, but it is most certainly not sufficient for the current times. We have to redesign our systems to  incorporate the technology for "recycle and reuse"  from the very beginning!

That is how, according to me,  we can claim to be "technologically advanced" species. 

consumption-easy, conservation...hmmm...not so easy!

Until now my life was easy. 

I have always used water with utmost care. We have a low flow-flush toilets in our apartments. And the water saving shower head. We mostly take showers than long baths. We keep turning the tap off while brushing the teeth, water our small patio garden only as much needed. And then we realized this was never going to be enough!

The project challenged me with an opportunity to take the water conservation to the next level! What is better than using water carefully? Re-using it! Conservationists have always insisted on recycling and reusing our grey water. Water that we use once for bathing, cooking and dish or clothes washing. Water that we can not drink,  but can certainly use for other purpose, such as flushing the toilets, gardens, washing cars, etc. 


Fact is we can not use this water without at least being filtered once.Good news is its not all that difficult! Researching, reading and building the sand- gravel water filter has been quite educational for me. What I realized was - that was not the hard part at all! The hard part was to use it!


I am not going to lie about how ridiculously inconvenient it is to collect the bath/shower water. To pour it mug by mug into the water filter and keep doing so till the sufficient amount of water is filtered to save at least one flush of potable water. If an average water consumption for a five minutes shower is approximately ten gallons, we should be able to save a number of flushes a day, but due to the water storage problem, lets just say we do manage to save at least two flushes everyday!


Does not look like a lot at this time, however,  I am a firm believer that EVERY SMALL ACTION MATTERS and that is sufficient enough for me to keep going on, for now.