Living in suburban areas for all of my life, it is difficult to classify exactly how sustainability relates to such communities, namely because the focus of most aspects of said communities is cost-effectiveness rather than environmental protection. Sadly, sustainable practices are all but nonexistent in the "modern" suburb, instead reserved for hippies and farmers outside city limits (Austin being one of few exceptions to this assumption). Despite this, I feel that greater knowledge and use of sustainable practices could prove helpful in a variety of ways. For example, if individuals of a community adopt such practices, one would suspect the feelings of community and caring for others to grow, leading to a more positive and wholesome living environment for all, and tearing down the metaphorical fences that so prominently separate suburban households.
While suburban sprawl directly impacts the environment in negative ways, the makeup of a suburbs makes it hard for sustainable practices to occur, with the need to drive 10-20 minutes to get to a grocery store, etc. If more time and money was put into better city planning, then the suburbs will have the setup for sustainable practices. However, the short-term mentality of profit over the environment is to blame for the poor planning, which the cities will ultimately pay the price economically with increased environmental problems in the future.
ReplyDeleteFarmers are often forced into unsustainable practices due to industry demand for a high yield of crops in a short amount of time. They are not allowed to work with the land in a natural way, with numbers and efficiency being more important than quality. Increased demand for food produced from farms with sustainable practices is the most direct way to solve this problem.
People tend to label environmental activists as hippies, which is sad. Hippies are not always the most environmentally friendly. While some of the stereotypical hippie practices are environmentally friendly and sustainable, others are not.