How sustainable is my community?

Withhin the past few years there has being talks of sustainable communities in Britain.  Sustainable communities are communities planned and built to encourage sustainable living. It comprises sustainability aspects which relate to development such as:

·         water transportation

·          energy

·         waste

·         materials

The Sustainable Communities Act 2007 was put in place to promote the sustainability of local communities. In addition it also helps the council to think of new ways of improving the quality of life and wellbeing in their local areas.  In the community I live in I personally think that it is partly sustainable. It is also known for its crime rates. Many people living in the community do not know each other and most of them keep to themselves.

Every household is given a recycling bag; many people try their best to recycle. There are only a few amounts of people that own a bike, most people chose to drive or take public transport. There are lots of local shops around, this helps lots of the people as, it is only a walking distance from their house. There is a big park where the children and adults can play and spend time as a family. There is a centre for young children and youth to go into; this keeps them from getting into trouble. The majority of young people and children attend schools. There are two nurseries one which is private and another which is owned by the local council.

Most of the houses are not central heating and all have hot water. Most people try to turn their lights down when it is not in use. The local council has thought of new ways of getting people more improved in reducing their CO2. The market square is not a long walk from most of the houses, so people walk to the market.

 There are different services which are provided in my community:

·         bupa services for the elderly

·         nurseries

·         primary schools

·         after school clubs

·         GPs

Furthermore most of the people have access to health care. In order to make the community sustainable, they are breaking all the old houses and building new ones which will be more sustainable and will be less of a risk to the environment. The once that are not being broken down are getting new heating systems and other things. In addition the council has placed bins for people to put their dog waste in.

Every year they hold an event where all the people living in the community can get together. In order to make the community more sustainable, they have the bin men to come collect each of the household’s rubbish, also people are fine if they do not recycle. They get some of the children and adults to help pit up rubbish that people have left on the ground. In what the government classifies as a sustainable community, I will say my community is not a sustainable community. Many people are not bored about what their action does to the environment.           

How sustainable is my lifestyle?

Many people live different lifestyles, and are not aware of the implication of their action on the environment. For example people that live in undeveloped countries have less knowledge of how their actions can affect the environment. Whereas some people do but chose not to acknowledge it, people who live in developed countries have the knowledge but they chose not to do anything about it.

There are only a few people that are willing to do something to change the environment.  Although I am aware of the implications of my action has on the environment, I choose to little to help change the environment. I try my best to switch off the lights, cooker, iron and taps when I finish using them. I also try to get more information on how I can be more sustainable, and others thing I can do to help the environment.

The government has developed different strategies to help people become more sustainable.  Within my house hold we use energy saving light, as the years have gone on many people have started to use more of these bulbs. They use up 80 per cent less electricity than a standard bulb, but produce the same amount of light. By using theses lights it helps people save money as well as help the environment. I try to recycle as much as I can. In addition I try to walk rather than taking the bus or a car.

The way people live their lives is having a major impact on the environment; the amount of co2 is growing by the day. There has been an escalating loss of biodiversity, from the rainforest to fish stocks. This is causing most of the animals to lose their home. The governments are trying to get more people to use less waste. As time as gone by it has become more obvious that humans are the reason why we have this problem, and it is up to us to solve this issue. I would like to do more to help change the environment, by doing more than I already do. 

References

 http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Home-improvements-and-products/Lighting

http://www.scottsdalecc.edu/green/how_does_recycling_work.html

http://www.sustainableisgood.com/blog/2009/01/salazarrecycle.html