Creating a Livable & Sustainable Community
A sustainable community is one in which economic, social and environmental development and other activities meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It is one in which resources – food, fiber, water, energy – are renewed as quickly as they are consumed, and one in which waste is processed as quickly as it is produced. With programs and initiatives such as Sustainable Waterloo Region, the Regional Carbon Initiative, our Climate Action Plan, and TravelWise, our Region is not without environmental leadership. However, a sustainable community involves the participation of all citizens in embracing a vision of the future that balances economic, social and environmental needs. We have a way to go in engaging and involving all our citizens, and Regional Council must make that goal a priority.
The Ontario Round Table on Environment and Economy provides six guiding principles for sustainable development: planning that anticipates and prevents potential environmental degradation; full cost accounting which incorporates environmental and resource costs in all financial and budget decisions; decision-making based on accurate, objective information that gives equal consideration to short and long-term outcomes; treating resources as part of ‘natural capital wealth’, which means not depleting them without replacing, reusing or recycling them; changing lifestyles and consumption patterns to create a more sustainable culture; and protecting and enhancing natural ecosystems and habitats.
Regional Council should adopt and act upon the Ontario Round Table on Environment and Economy’s guiding principles. It should establish as a priority the protection, preservation and restoration of the natural environment. It should insist upon true-cost pricing economics. It should support local agriculture and business products and services. Council should develop clustered, mixed-use pedestrian oriented eco-communities. It should encourage the utilization of advanced transport, communications and production systems to reduce energy use. It should maximize conservation and develop local renewable resources. And Council should establish recycling programs and recycled materials industries.
Public education is the first step Council must take to promote citizens’ adoption of sustainable lifestyle practices, and public education strategies should emphasize the true long term costs of failing to do so. The second step should be providing significant incentives to encourage citizens to try to reduce their own energy consumption. Assigning increased user fees for practices which are unsustainable (such as failing to compost and recycle waste), while more heavily subsidizing practices which are (such as using public transit) are examples of effective incentives. And the third step must be reinforcing these efforts by providing excellent sustainability programs and services to ensure that citizens’ experiences are positive ones.
The Ontario Round Table on Environment and Economy provides six guiding principles for sustainable development: planning that anticipates and prevents potential environmental degradation; full cost accounting which incorporates environmental and resource costs in all financial and budget decisions; decision-making based on accurate, objective information that gives equal consideration to short and long-term outcomes; treating resources as part of ‘natural capital wealth’, which means not depleting them without replacing, reusing or recycling them; changing lifestyles and consumption patterns to create a more sustainable culture; and protecting and enhancing natural ecosystems and habitats.
Regional Council should adopt and act upon the Ontario Round Table on Environment and Economy’s guiding principles. It should establish as a priority the protection, preservation and restoration of the natural environment. It should insist upon true-cost pricing economics. It should support local agriculture and business products and services. Council should develop clustered, mixed-use pedestrian oriented eco-communities. It should encourage the utilization of advanced transport, communications and production systems to reduce energy use. It should maximize conservation and develop local renewable resources. And Council should establish recycling programs and recycled materials industries.
Public education is the first step Council must take to promote citizens’ adoption of sustainable lifestyle practices, and public education strategies should emphasize the true long term costs of failing to do so. The second step should be providing significant incentives to encourage citizens to try to reduce their own energy consumption. Assigning increased user fees for practices which are unsustainable (such as failing to compost and recycle waste), while more heavily subsidizing practices which are (such as using public transit) are examples of effective incentives. And the third step must be reinforcing these efforts by providing excellent sustainability programs and services to ensure that citizens’ experiences are positive ones.