What is “green” as it relates to community and environmental planning?

Question

I'm going to write a scholarship essay on community planning and it asks you to define "green", I've got a good idea but I'd like to know what other people think. (Other than the obvious fact it's a color on the spectrum).

Answer 1

Living in harmony with our environemt so we dont leave a "big footprint"

doing less damage to the earth than we (as a people) have been doing in recent years..

Answer 2

Green refers to the color we think of when we imagine a better litter free world. In other words when you think of "green" you think of trees and grassy hill sides. Instead of junkyards and smoggy, car infested cities. So "green" fits the description your trying to express.

Answer 3

Green means environment friendly methods, fuels, process, chemical etc.  

Atnything that does not have an impact to the enviroment and is recyclable and sustainable.

alvin88

Answer 4

We can not go back to the low tech past but we can learn from our past.

Community planning should include multi-use buildings and neighborhoods. If we travel less we leave a smaller carbon footprint on the earth. If we shop locally the produce is fresher and not as likely to picked prematurely. All transportation of local goods are less expensive and again leave a smaller carbon footprint, ie a greener environment.

Having neighborhoods that have everything you need at hand is an old world way of doing things but very economical. And Green.

Answer 5

I think the most important thing is making it pedestrian friendly.  Most people never consider walking from their house to the grocery store because "it's too far" even when it's only a mile or two ago.  That's because it's not a pleasant walk.  On the other hand, the Las Vegas Strip is three miles long and people walk back and forth on it all day because it's pedestrian friendly: there's scenery and most crosswalks are marked and signalled well or have been replaced by bridges.  

Here's a bad example:  when a new light rail line in Hillsboro Oregon was built they were all bragging about a pedestrian friendly neighborhood called Orenco Station.  This neighboorhood was build half a mile north of the station.  Most people who used the light rail drove to the train station's park and ride lot instead of walking.  Instead, they should have built the neighboorhood right next to the station (with a sound barrier by the tracks).

Answer 6

Green is referred to plants, trees and anything that gives us oxygen.  We need plants to clean our polluted air.

Please check out "NASA's Clean Air Plant Study".

"Common indoor plants may provide a valuable weapon in the fight against rising levels of indoor air pollution. Those plants in your office or home are not only decorative, but NASA scientists are finding them to be surprisingly useful in absorbing potentially harmful gases and cleaning the air inside modern buildings.

NASA research has consistently shown that living, green and flowering plants can remove several toxic chemicals from the air in building interiors. You can use plants in your home or office to improve the quality of the air to make it a more pleasant place to live and work - where people feel better, perform better, any enjoy life more."