People and the Planet- topic 5:

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People and the Planet- topic 5
changing Cities
5.1 What are the environmental issues facing
cities?
5.1b) There are tensions between cities as
generators of wealth and as eco- friendly
organisms
Let's look at London...
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RECAP
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Produces 9 of UK GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
4th largest urban economy in the world
What will this mean for London? Good? Bad?

• As prosperity increases more people will come to
  live and work, needing more energy, food, homes
  and transport- this will put strain on people and
  the environment

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• London is part of a GLOBALISED NETWORK of supply
  lines
• It is linked to many other places through-
• Visiting tourists
• Businesses from other countries locating there
• Where the food comes from
• Where goods sold in London are made
• Where all London waste goes
• Where the workers are from
• Where does all our energy come from?

• 81 of Londons food comes from outside the UK
• 20 of Londons water comes from outside the
  area, water is transferred here from Wales
• All Londons energy sources are imported

and more
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49 million tonnes of materials consumed
OUTPUTS WASTE 40.9 million Tonnes of CO2 27
million tonnes of food, construction And
demolition Materials, Manufactured goods,
chemicals, etc Inorganic waste into
landfill Organic waste into Rivers 28 of all
water is lost through Leakage 18 of all energy
is wasted MANUFACTURED GOODS 14 million tonnes
of manufactured goods, Food, building Materials,
etc
INPUTS FOOD 6.9 million tonnes pr. Yr WATER 866
billion litres pr yr 94 million litres of bottled
water in 2260 tonnes of plastic ENERGY 13.2
million tonnes oil equivalent made up of 21
electricity 23 liquids 55 gases lt1
renewable CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS 20 million
tones WORKERS 3 million daily commuters

• In your books, explain
• how each of the
• following people would
• see this situation
• Environmentalist
• Economist
• Londoner
• Will the 3 ever agree on the problems with London
  as is now? Why? Why not?

64 billion Passenger km travelled each year- 69
by car
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The burden of waste

• Producing increasing amounts of waste seems these
  days to go hand in hand with prosperity
• Londons waste has traditionally been sent to
  landfill sites
• Burying waste was a cheap but difficult option
• Since 1960s waste has been transferred out to the
  surrounding home counties
• 70 of Londons waste goes out of the city
• BUT EU has set limits on amounts of waste that
  can go into landfill
• Councils are now encouraging more recycling BUT
  that creates own issues

Camdens recycling is mostly sent abroad, 10 of
papers are sent to Malaysia and 90 to
Indonesia. A 1/5th of mixed papers are sent to
China, remainder ends up in India Plastic is sent
abroad too. Only steel, aluminium and glass are
recycled in UK processing plants. Many experts
say this is NOT a bad thing, all the ships that
come from China to the UK laden with goods would
return home empty if they were not taking away
our recycling
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What about all the waste?

• Londoners produce 2 million tonnes of waste a
  year!!!
• 680,000 tonnes of Londoners rubbish is
  transported down the Thames each year

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Where does London waste go?
Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and
Oxfordshire take 8 each
22 goes to landfill in Kent
33 of Londons waste goes to Mucking in Essex
This is an aerial view of Mucking, Essex-
Europes largest Landfill site- located 35 miles
east of London- it takes 20 of Londons waste
Hertfordshire takes 13
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• The UK sends more waste to landfill than any
  other nation in Europe.
• We dump nearly 20m tonnes of rubbish in the
  ground.
• Germany, by comparison, sends less than 500,000
  tonnes to landfill.
• We recycle or compost only one-third of our
  municipal waste, lower than the EU average.
• Austria manages nearly 60.

EU directives and new legislation means the UK
needs to drastically reduce the level of waste it
sends to landfill over the following
years. Mucking was due to close in 2007 as it was
almost full, but the only alternative was to set
up an incinerator at Belverdere, near Bexley in
Kent. This incinerator was designed as an energy
from waste power station. This would have
provided electricity for 66,000 homes and could
have consumed almost all the annual 680,000
tonnes of waste But the plan upset some and was
put on hold, Muckings life was extended to the
end of 2010- locals werent pleased
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What a waste?

• Read pages 209-10 of textbook, then answer these
  questions-
• Why do you think increased wealth and prosperity
  creates more waste?
• Why has landfill been used for waste in the past?
• Outline some of the good and bad points
  highlighted by Camdens recycling
• How much waste does London produce in a year? Why
  is the figure so high?
• How would you feel if you lived in Mucking?
• Why cant London have a landfill site?

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Incineration vs. Landfill

• Look at the table at the top of page 211.
• In pairs, talk through the advantages and
  disadvantages of both methods, then outline the
  main arguments for and against each method of
  waste disposal in your books
• Then decide which method is the best by writing a
  letter to Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
  outlining the best option for London's waste.

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Is London taking over?

• London as a city is growing- its sprawling and
  spreading into surrounding areas
• An example of this is the Thames Gateway project-
  a new development of housing, shops, schools,
  business premises.
• To support these developments on primarily
  Brownfield land (previous industrial land) more
  power generating facilities will be needed, much
  of this power will be from renewable energy
  sources like the London Array Wind farm. This
  wind farm will have 270 turbines and supply 25
  of Londons electricity needs
• 2 new coal fired power stations are also planned
  to be built in north Kent to replace outdated
  ones and fill the demand for extra power

What is urban sprawl? Why can the development of
the Thames Gateway be seen both as good and bad?
Economy vs. environment?
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• All of these aspects make London as it currently
  is UNSUSTAINABLE for now and into the future
• Some Questions about London-
• Why is London important to the UK as a country?
• Why do some say Londons importance is its
  downfall?
• Draw a diagram to show the multiple ways London
  relies on other places
• Explain or draw a diagram to explain the inputs
  and outputs of a major city like London
• Explain why waste is a major problem when trying
  to reduce Londons eco-footprint

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Practice Question

• Using examples, explain how the footprints of
  cities often extend way beyond the city
  boundaries (4 marks)
• Think about where the waste goes
• Where all the goods come from
• Where the residents live, etc

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People and the Planet- topic 5
changing Cities
5.2 How far can these issues be resolved
sustainably?
5.2a) Cities have huge potential for reducing
their eco- footprints
Let's look at London...
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Attempts to reduce a citys eco-footprint

• The following is a list of ways to reduce the
  eco-footprint of cities and increase
  sustainability.
• Individual actions might include
• Food practising policies buy local food- thus
  reducing transport and so emissions
• Use of farmers markets (eg Loughton) as above
  a reduction in imported food demand
• Allotments development of city gardens/farms
• Recycling waste reducing need for
  landfill/incineration eg kerbside recycling in
  Redbridge
• Using public transport/car sharing, reducing
  greenhouse gas emissions
• Cutting back on electricity consumption (lights
  heating etc) reducing energy production
• Holidaying at home thus avoiding air-flights

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• Local government action might include
• Promoting public transport eg London and the use
  of Oyster cards and free travel for U 19s.
•  Promoting the use of bicycles
• Urban gardens/farming part of planning (eg Havana
  in Cuba urban gardens in Havana provide 90 of
  fresh fruit and vegetables needed in the city)  
• Sustainable energy management (eg Bedzed in S
  London
• geothermal energy powers the whole of Reykjavik
  in Iceland.  
• Urban design (eg Bedzed in S London) 
• Waste management eg Seoul S Korea and Copenhagen,
  Denmark. In Copenhagen they no longer use
  landfill as a general solution to waste. To
  reduce waste and recycle as well as using
  incinerator energy all reduces the eco-footprint.
  Waste thats is used in energy a plant is used to
  produce heat and power. Now landfill only accepts
  3 of Copenhagens waste. 39 is incinerated and
  59 is recycled. All this has been achieved by
  using less packaging, encouraging reusing
  products and introducing composting schemes.  

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How is London trying to reduce its eco-footprint?

• How is London reducing waste?
• All London councils have adopted stringent
  recycling policies in order to cut landfill as
  the Government charge penalties if they put too
  much waste in landfill sites (charge 48 per
  tonne). More waste is now recycled in Redbridge
  including compost and plastics. However this is
  VOLUNTARY and there are no penalties if you do
  not recycle- unlike Seoul in South Korea (see
  following slide). London only recycles about 10
  of its waste and it could recycle at least 80
• Waste is recycled in Redbridge using kerbside
  collection for plasticsglasspaper etc and
  compost. Nearly 20,000 tonnes of solid waste and
  composting were recycled in Redbridge. It
  recycles 19 of waste produced which is better
  than the average for London.
• Recycling also saves energy as it takes 95 less
  energy to recycle an aluminum can than to make a
  new one.
• Redbridge also runs a furniture recycling depot
  which sells unwanted items very cheap prices.
• Car sharing polices also reduce C02, there is a
  car sharing firm in London called Zip car.

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• What is green consumer behaviour? How can this
  occur in Redbridge?
• People can change their shopping behaviour by
  only buying products that have been made in the
  UK and that have recycled packaging. People
  should only buy what they need. People can also
  become a green consumer by buying organic and
  Fair Trade items. This encourages people to have
  an ethical approach to shopping. This means that
  you have to think about more than just the price.
  
• Also buy eating foods in season so farmers in the
  UK dont use lots of energy growing food in
  heated polytunnels that would not normally grow
  in our climate
• A farmers market allows people to buy
  good-quality produce locally often organic, which
  has low food miles and low packaging. You can
  also meet the producer and find out how things
  are produced. An example of this is in Loughton,
  where they have a farmers market the first Sunday
  of the month. There are others around London
  too..
• Use a metal reusable water bottle. This means
  that you dont buy a plastic water bottle
  everyday- you can reuse the same one- Also
  plastic takes energy to create so by not buying
  plastic bottles everyday you are reducing the
  energy you are wasted. In 2009 at Hammersmith
  station and London tower shop the government are
  testing refilling points for people with reusable
  bottles. This should hopefully encourage people
  to use metal bottles or reusable bottles.
• People can recycle their waste to become a green
  consumer. This is good as waste can be burnt and
  then converted into electricity. An example of a
  city trying to increase recycling is Soeul, the
  capital city of South Korea where they charge
  people to get rid of solid waste so this
  encourages recycling.

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• Is BedZed a sustainable solution for London?
• The Beddington Zero Energy Development (BEDZED)
  near Croydon, Greater London, is the largest
  carbon-neutral eco-community in the UK. It is
  built on reclaimed land and focuses on social and
  environmental sustainability, while promoting
  energy conservation.
• It is known as eco-town and is built on a brown
  field site (an area that has already been built
  on) so when it was built, it did not damage any
  eco-systems.

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• BedZED includes 82 homes (34 for sale, 23 which
  are shared ownership, 10 for key workers and 15
  affordable to rent). It also includes commercial
  buildings and a childrens nursery.
• BedZED is socially sustainable. This means that
  it benefits different groups of people.
• For example, key workers. Key workers are people
  that society needs and that need to live close to
  where they are working and not miles away. Other
  examples are people with low income and working
  families. BedZED is good for working families as
  there is a childrens nursery and for the low
  income people there are 15 houses with affordable
  rent.
• BedZED is helping to reduce Londons
  eco-footprint because of the different ways
  BedZED reduces energy consumption.

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• Urban Design reduces energy demand
• Solar panels on all buildings with better
  insulation and triple glazing
• Building materials store heat when weather warm
  and release heat when cold (this will mean less
  energy needed to cool and heat building)
• Houses built south facing so will receive more
  hours of sunlight on windows and the solar panels
  and buildings have vents that make homes cooler
  in the summer
• Building materials are natural, recycled or
  reclaimed material (so less energy used in making
  materials)
• All light bulbs low energy
• Energy tracking devices in kitchen (so people can
  see how much energy using)
• If all the above measures were incorporated in
  new buildings in London there would be a
  reduction in Londons eco-footprint. HOWEVER
  although new buildings have to be energy
  efficient by law most of Londons buildings were
  built before this.
• The BedZED model can also help London reduce its
  CO2 emissions
• Car sharing polices this reduces the number of
  cars on the road and so reduces the harmful
  exhaust emissions
• Encouraging use of electric cars by having local
  free electric charging points

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Reducing Londons massive Eco-footprint

• Produce a piece of work to show how London is
  trying to reduce its eco-footprint and become
  more sustainable
• Include information about-
• BEDZED and other eco home developments
• How waste is being managed in a more sustainable
  way, i.e. recycling
• How transport use is being changed to be more
  sustainable and better for the environment
• How can we help London be more sustainable on an
  individual/ family level?
• Use pages 212-15 in textbook

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Lesson 2 and 3 Project idea- London- a changing
City

• You have the next 2 lessons to produce a mini-
  project all about London and how its a changing
  city
• Include information on
• The main reasons behind its relatively high eco-
  footprint
• Information on its inputs and outputs of the city
• What are the issues regarding Londons waste?
• How is Londons urban sprawling creating impacts
  on other areas?
• Comment on how Individuals and local governments
  can help reduce Londons eco- footprint
• How can London be made more sustainable into the
  future and reduce its eco-footprint? Include
  information about
• A) waste reduction
• B) BEDZED
• C) controlling and or limiting transport