by 11 people |
Urban Sprawl Stinks. Find Out Why.
As people spread out and destroy natural habitats, they hurt the environment in dozens of ways, large and small. Read these articles about the many ways that the spread of the human race hurts the environment, wildlife, business, and the people themselves.
In case you might have missed it below, I've added to my voting list below a link to PBS's NOW series, the current series of which focuses on how sprawl has created exurbs where the McMansion owners can't afford to drive to work have no mass transit, and are losing their homes. High-powered stuff. The site offers a dozen or so links to sites where you can read more about the dangers of poor land use and lack of planning. I highly recommend them, as a whole.
While the focus of this lens is on sprawl issues, you can find information on other environment issues as well. There's an article on reducing light pollution and another on e85 conversion kits, for example. Explore and learn how you can help save the planet, one small step at a time.
If you can't get enough green info, check out my lens on plasma gasification recycling and the Environmental Causes group here at Squidoo. There are 200 other lenses in the group covering everything from wind turbines to organic gardening. You will find tips on living green, recycling, and reducing your carbon footprint.
For those of you who understand things better visually (or who are unfamiliar with his book), watch the five-minute video from Dr. Shoup illustrating The High Cost of Free Parking. I discovered that link in the newsletter from the National Center for Biking and Walking. The newsletter and their site as a whole offer fantastic and useful information.
How You Can Help the Environment
One Change at a Time
For a general overview, please see this article about the negatives of urban sprawl. For more specific issues, check out the articles listed below.
How Parking Lots Contribute to Urban Sprawl
Parking lots push development farther and farther more...2 points
Driven to Despair . NOW on PBS
NOW investigates the connection between high gas p more...2 points
Fighting Urban Sprawl: Mixed-Use Development
How do we eliminate commutes, parking problems, an more...1 point
Dealing with Light Pollution in Your Community
Light pollution causes health problems and concern more...1 point
Why reducing consumption remains the most effective way to help the environment
Do your part to conserve resources. Find out how more...1 point
Three Tools Against Sprawl
Practical advice on how to fight sprawl in your co more...1 point
How Urban Sprawl Ruins Roads
Sprawl isn't just bad for the environment, it's ba more...1 point
Salon.com Explains How Free Parking Hurts You
This article and its ensuing discussion cover the more...1 point
Is Urban Sprawl Making You Fat?
Living in suburbia means that convenience and a se more...0 points
E85 Conversion Kits Debated
The EPA banned flex-fuel conversion kits years ago more...0 points
Wildlife Photos
The Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education is o more...0 points
Unique Botany Facts
This wide diversity makes it easy for people with more...0 points
Carbon Footprint
Carbon exhibits remarkable properties, some parado more...0 points
There's Only One Earth
Someone has to take care of it. Why not you?
It seems that everything people do hurts the environment. If one person drove a car or dumped sewage in a river, it wouldn't make a difference. With so many people hurting the environment in so many different ways, the earth doesn't have the time or resources to heal.You can help to reverse environmental damage. Start at home and spread the word. This lens is a part of my attempt to do that.
I also have a lens on using plasma gasification to eliminate landfills and a group of environmental lenses with hundreds of tips and ideas. Add your own lens to the group, if you think it fits.
Related Materials: Books on the Built Environment
The High Cost of Free Parking
Amazon Price: $49.36 (as of 11/28/2009) 
Sprawl Kills: How Blandburbs Steal Your Time, Health, and Money
Amazon Price: $11.43 (as of 11/28/2009)
Lots of Parking: Land Use in a Car Culture (Center Books)
Amazon Price: $21.50 (as of 11/28/2009)
Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream
Amazon Price: $12.92 (as of 11/28/2009)
This Land: The Battle over Sprawl and the Future of America
Amazon Price: $20.28 (as of 11/28/2009)
Bloggers on the Environment
- Today in Biofuels Opinion: “If the land that went into urban ...
- Today in Biofuels Opinion: ?If the land that went into urban ?sprawl? had been used for biofuel, 1/2 of all US passenger vehicles could now be running on it.? The Associated Press: ?Cambridge Energy Research Associates said Tuesday that oil ... That's the same amount needed to provide the US with biofuel. About 28 million acres were placed into Conservation Reserve Protection (CRP) meaning this land could potentially be used for biofuel production if proper conservation ...
- 100 Green Lectures Link and List
- Anthony Flint discusses the negative effects of urban sprawl on the environment. Planning for Sustainable Development. These lecture notes are rather brief, but include awesome links to real examples of sustainable development going on ...
- Friends for Our Riverfront: Online Job Site Recommends 10 Greenest ...
- Philadelphia monitored urban sprawl carefully, which allows almost a third of its citizens to commute via public transportation. Over 1500 Philadelphia residents purchase clean power and the city supports citizens who want to generate ... San Francisco supports a successful recycling plan but has also introduced a composting program that fuels alternative-energy cars and trucks. San Francisco also became the first city in America to ban the use of petroleum-based plastic ...
- Biofuels are a Scam: The New Conventional Wisdom at Long Last ...
- On the most serious note of all: anybody who thinks that all of this biofuels and "conservation" nonsense has anything to do with "saving" the planet is really misinformed. ..... That should be urban sprawl. reply to this ... For her, there *is* no acceptable alternative energy source, because it is *wealth* itself that is evil. I don't know what percentage of the environmentalist movement she represents, but there *are* people who really and truly do want to take us back ...
Comments, Feedback, or Suggestions?
Please let me know if you've got a terrific article or an idea on which you'd like to see me write.
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- geothermalminnie geothermalminnie Sep 14, 2009 @ 5:20 pm
- It's so true that everyone assumes everyone else will do something about the problem. It doesn't really take much to make a difference. Just a little recycling and turning off the lights would help. Thanks for the informative lens!
Minnie
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- 1GeorgeAlexander 1GeorgeAlexander Feb 18, 2009 @ 5:50 pm
- We're learning about this in my Urban Planning class right now. Environmental issues tend to be as simple as the classic free rider problem; everyone assumes someone else will do something about it. Therefore, nothing gets done.
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- EditionH EditionH Sep 16, 2008 @ 12:04 pm
- Great material in this lens- I wish our local politicians would understand the myths of urban sprawl
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- totalhealth totalhealth Aug 20, 2008 @ 2:49 pm
- great lens for a good cause. good luck
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- chemrat chemrat Apr 12, 2008 @ 12:58 pm
- Thanks for your kind and supportive comments about my environmental blog, Chemistry for a sustainable world, and new lens, Solar Power. I'm still trying to understand how best to use Squidoo, and have set up a group too (Sustainability and the environment, where I feature this lens), so your lens is a great example. I may need to study it more, though!
On sprawl, I have close personal experience and feelings about. I grew up in Tucson, Arizona, but left for college in about 1976. I've returned almost every year, and the place is completely transformed. People have built homes way up into the foothills of the mountains that are National Parks, on old ranch land. There is no decent public transportation, traffic is awful, driving distances are enormous just around town, and habit has been destroyed for desert creatures. Meanwhile, there is un-used and under-used land right in the main part of town. It is sad for me to see.
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- DR. SEAN REIF D.C. DR. SEAN REIF D.C. Mar 12, 2008 @ 11:04 am
- AWFUL - the commonest form of fertilizer
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- libra_girl libra_girl Jan 8, 2008 @ 9:19 am
- Great stuff! Would you be interested in my save the trees lens?
http://www.squidoo.com/save_the_trees
Hope so, every little helps
Donna
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- DR. SEAN REIF D.C. DR. SEAN REIF D.C. Oct 26, 2007 @ 4:13 pm
- Change is inevitable. Things do change. But the concept of Zoning Ordinance envisions “no-change”. It IS POSSIBLE by AMENDING our Zoning Ordinances. As land, and the space above it, become more precious we feel the necessity to make better use of it and to plan more carefully.
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