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PEE Module 11

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41 views6 pages

PEE Module 11

Uploaded by

cristelmendoza1205
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Module 10

Eco-Friendly Communities

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the essential components of an eco-friendly community


2. Conceptualize an eco-friendly community

Note to learners: This module contains useful links that will give you further explanation
about the topic.

INTRODUCTION

Most of us are living in communities that are very dependent on fossil fuels,
plastics, synthetic fertilizers, and other things that are not sustainable. We turn on our
smart TVs to binge-watch our favorite shows. We are so addicted to single-use plastics
because they are cheap. We eat foods largely produced by energy-intensive agricultural
practices. Most of the times, we do things without thinking that these simple activities
can directly or indirectly contribute to environmental problems that we have talked on
the last modules.

As organisms, we need to use and consume resources. Nature provides us with


what we need. But as the human population grows, resources become limited. How can
we cope with this problem? There is no magic pill for that, but there are lots of pills to
choose. One of these is by turning our community into an eco-friendly one.
LET’S LEARN!

When we are thinking about solving environmental problems, we become


human-centric – we worry about what we should do for us humans. We worry about
where to live, what to eat, and how to live. But as you have learned earlier, we cannot
live on our own. Oftentimes human lives weight more than any other species in the
world in terms of planning and decision-making. We need others; not only your family
and friends but also other organisms around you. We are talking about community and
not just human population only.

Community is an interspecific group of interacting population. And so, we should


keep in mind that planning to be an eco-friendly community involves other species too.
It is very difficult to solve human problems and environmental problems at the same
time. Mass unemployment, transport crisis, lack of basic services, and uncontrolled
Credit: Sowparbee.com
human population growth seems bigger problems than pollution, deforestation, and
localized extinction of species. But there are a number of communities that are
managing and have managed to solve both of these problems, and that is by going eco-
friendly.

Our current community structure is not sustainable. And being eco-friendly


means being sustainable too. What makes an eco-friendly community? Let’s have a
look at Curitiba – an eco-friendly community in Brazil.

Credit: Pinterest

Aerial view of the City of Curitiba, Brazil. Curitiba has managed to harmonize human
settlements with nature.
Browse This
Read Frontier’s article about how Curitiba became Brazil’s most
sustainable city by visiting this link:
https://frontier.ac.uk/blog/2018/06/28/how-curitiba-became-brazils-most-sustainable-
city

Watch This

Watch WRI’s video presentation


about Curitiba, Brazil by visiting this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9YJ4xDRIiA

Mobility is important to a community’s inhabitants. It makes them productive by


reducing travel time, providing extra time for themselves and their families. It also
makes goods and services more accessible. Reducing travel time also cuts carbon
emission because vehicles spend less time being stuck in traffic while their engines run.
Prioritizing mass public transport increases mobility by reducing private vehicle volume
on the road. Bike lanes and spaces for pedestrians are also keys to mobility. In Curitiba,
this was given focus. There are other components that make a community eco-friendly.

As small towns grow, they became cities. Cities are where two-thirds of the
world’s population will live by 2050, but many cities are already straining at the seams
with immense problems on every level. And reading the word “city” makes our mind
picture it as crowded, polluted place with high-rise buildings and noisy thoroughfares.
But cities can become eco-friendly too. This is by evolving into what we called smart
eco-cities. Smart eco-cities combine ICT and green technologies to solve or prevent
environmental problems. This combination makes resource consumption more efficient
and therefore reducing waste and improving the city’s living condition.

Renewable energy sources are also vital for a sustainable eco-friendly


community. Some examples of renewable energy sources are biomass, hydroelectric,
geothermal, wind, and solar. Another renewable energy source that catches the world’s
attention is hydrogen fuel and some automobile companies like Toyota and Hyundai is
making progress in developing hydrogen-powered cards.

Watch This

Watch DW’s video presentation about


hydrogen-powered cars by visiting this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AripPVLZZvQ
A single source of renewable energy is not enough to satisfy the current demand
for clean energy and therefore a combination of the aforementioned renewable energy
source is needed. Europe is the leading continent in terms of shifting from non-
renewable to renewable energy sources. As mentioned earlier, mobility is an important
factor in making and sustaining an eco-friendly community. Spain is currently testing the
reliability of wind-hydrogen tandem to power its transportation sector.

Browse This
Read DW’s article about how hydrogen and wind
can power Spain’s cars by visiting this link:
https://www.dw.com/en/hydrogen-and-wind-allies-for-sustainable-energy/a-19330382

Efficient waste management is also very important. Wastes are by-products of


every system, natural or artificial. Nature has its own way of managing its wastes
efficiently. But human system produces wastes that overwhelm the capacity of itself to
the point that we dump our wastes outside it, causing environmental problems. How can
we efficiently manage our wastes? About 40,000 tons of municipal solid wastes are
generated by the Philippines alone in a day. Surely, the 3 Rs of proper waste
management are not enough. We need innovation in terms of waste management. And
a Southeast Asian country is efficiently managing its wastes by burning it. Yes, burning.
Guess the country. It’s Singapore. How?

Watch This

Watch Nas Daily’s video presentation about how Singapore


efficiently manage its trash by visiting this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxeVB3gB0NA

Where are we, in the Philippines, in terms of being an eco-friendly country? The
Philippines has among the highest trash collection rates in Southeast Asia yet it is the
world's third biggest source of plastic leaking into the ocean. Walking by the streets of
your community will tell you that. The Philippine government has legislated a number of
laws to address environmental problems but these are not enough. If we want the
Philippines to become an eco-friendly country, collaboration among the government,
businesses, and ordinary citizens is important.
Credit: Department of Energy
The Philippines has a long way to go in terms of shifting to renewable energy sources.
The infographic from Philippine’s DOE shows that the country will still be heavily
dependent on non-renewable energy sources.

There is a government-private megaproject that aims to be the Philippines’ first


sustainable green city – the New Clark City. Formerly known as Clark Green City, this
planned eco-friendly community is currently undergoing development and is located
within the Clark Special Economic Zone in the towns of Capas and Bamban at the
Tarlac province, Philippines. It has an area of approximately 9,450 and will
accommodate up to 1.2 million people. It is managed by the Bases Conversion and
Development Authority. It is not an administrative city; rather it is a “business district”
like the Bonifacio Global City. Out of 9,450 hectares of the city, only 3,500 hectares will
be developed, leaving the rest for green and open spaces, making it a green city.

The BCDA signed a 50-year contract with Filinvest to develop the 288 hectares
of land allocated for the project. BCDA also managed to make partnership with foreign
firms to develop Clark Green City such as Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment
Corp. which plans to connect Clark Green City to Manila as well as surrounding cities by
rail, and IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute which will assist the BCDA to
come up with "smart and disaster-resilient" features for the planned community. In
July 2020, the BCDA and the Department of Agriculture are planning to put up an Agro-
Industrial Hub in New Clark City aimed to support farming communities, and strengthen
food security in Luzon. The New Clark City promises an opportunity for people to live
and work in a city that is safe, prosperous and sustainable while caring for the
environment.

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