My name is Sara, and I am from Houston Texas which is a pretty busy city that is constantly moving. The main mode of transportation in Houston is to drive. Well it is one of the biggest cities in the nation, and with everyone driving, we really pollute the air and add to global warming. I think it would help if we had more bus services to transport people or if we had trains or something like other big cities. For example, New york is huge, but they have metros and stuff. It would help if Houston did that too. If it does not work with the city planning then I think the city should promote buying eco friendly cars like hybrids. Hybrids help the environment and could help us reduce the polution we add to the air. The car might not even have to be a hybrid, but just having eco friendly cars in general could really help! Below i have posted a link that says what the most environmental friendly cars are.

Living in Texas you know its winter when you go to school bundled in sweatshirts and fuzzy socks. Now I know that 60 degrees Fahrenheit might not seem like much to those of you who live in constant cold climates but here in Texas it’s a big deal. Now in the winter season I want to be nice and warm. Doing this requires using a heater which can greatly increase your carbon footprint. This parlays into using the air conditioning when its hot in the summer. Both use a lot of energy and can be quite costly. That’s why in the winter I always make sure I have a good supply of warm clothing and blankets. Also if you have a fireplace that isn’t a gas fireplace (because they use a lot of energy) then you should really use that. I have found that my fireplace can defintely warm up a whole room and sometimes quicker than my heating system. Now when it is hot outside and you need to cool off try to use a small fan if you have one. You could also make a cool refreshing drink which i have found can always cool me off. Anyway the main point is to find ways to reduce your carbon footprint by reducing the energy use in your house. If you have other tips on saving energy please comment and share!

Founders of cities may find it challenging to properly plan and achieve their goals when setting up a sustainable organization, especially in urban cities. You may ask yourself, “What can my community do to increase the responsibility, actions, and opportunities to make a city green?” It’s simple. We all need to work together. If we all work together everyday to help our economic, cultural, and daily lives, then we can all come together to make a change in our cities and how they affect the atmosphere. Living in a very populated city, we could all start by walking or biking anywhere that we can. If this doesn’t work for you, then you can make a carpool with someone instead of individually polluting the Earth. Another thing that majorly affects our city is electricity. We should start our journey of change by starting with the little things. We should immediately unplug that cell phone when it’s finished charging. We could also turn off the lights when we aren’t using them. If everyone takes part then who knows? Maybe our cities may turn to solar power!
Our ideal city is a place where we want to live; it’s a place of choice. Many may think these changes are insignificant, but if we come together and make a change then think of the many lives you may be saving in the future! We have the ability to make our world a better place. The only necessity we need is to become motivated to help our Earth, the same place our descendents will live. They are our future. They will be affected by the choices that we make.

Living in California, I see many different kinds of cities. There are huge urban centers like LA and San Francisco but also small farming and mining towns. To create a sustainable city, I think one must think of what makes both of those places enjoyable but also sustainable. For something to be both liveable and “green” you must take many ideas and put them all together. My city would be one with plenty of parks for the public to get away from urban life, and a priority on public transit. If the people have access to mass transportation and the city builds bike lanes throughout the streets, they will be less encouraged to drive cars and release more emissions. My city would promote solar energy on all buildings, and have all construction projects be LEED certified as low energy and low waste. Some buildings could even have gardens or “living roofs” on their roof such as the City Hall of Chicago. The grocery stores would cooperate directly with local farms instead of large corporations for meat and produce and host farmers markets on the weekends. Finally, the city will actively participate in activities to get the public interested in new ideas. The city can host marathons (for if the people exercise, chances are they’ll want to start eating healthy) and festivals that promote eco-friendliness and carbon cutting practices.

The idea of an “ideal” city can have many meanings to different people. Some like the quiet, “homey” city where there is no need ot do anything in a rush. To others, an “ideal” city would be a “hustling-bustling” city, always moving, with no down time. And to others, the “ideal” city would be “green”, recycling, and environmental friendly. Since I live near Houston, there are few breaks, and the city is always moving and doing something. In the area where I live, my community is trying to keep the area clean, by putting dog waste pick up stations in various areas. Although this is a great addition, my “ideal” city would be green-friendly, but not too calm. The city would have many bike-friendly areas, and biking would be the main mode of transpotation. People could also walk from place to place if they do not want to ride a bike. The city would aslo have many home-grown fruits and vegetables, so they would be organic, instead of inorganic which can have various chemicals, and in my opinion, do not taste as good as organic fruits and vegetabels. Also, the meats and chicken would be organic, instead of “mass-produced” and filled with various chemicals so the meats would grow faster to meet the needs of the population. The ideal city would also be very Earth-friendly, with many recycling areas, because almost everything can be recycled. Grocery stores would bag up the groceries in paper bags, or people would bring their own reusable bags. My ideal city would be biker friendly, with little to no use for cars; organic, all the produce would be grown in the city and would be Earth friendly, with paper bags instead of plastic, or even better reusable bags.

An ideal city may sound nice, but it would be almost impossible to make it perfectly ‘green’. When we think of a city that it ideal- for us and the environment, a more techy landscape is what we have in mind. Machines in our homes that automatically seperate your trash from recycling, transport systems in every house to eliminate cars and solar panels for power. At first glance all these machines appear to be helping us help the environment, but are they really? With all the electricty need, solar panels won’t be enough and we will have to resort to nuclear powerplants or other harmful energy plants to compensate. So, even with all the ideal environment friendly technology you may envision, there are consequences. That is why in my ideal city I would not change how it looks or how it is but rather I would target the people. The only way that a city can be eco friendly is if the people inhabiting it can agree to work towards greener solutions. If we place recycling bins everywhere (much like some european countries) it wouldn’t effect the city if the people don’t utilize them. If we build a solar pannel plant, would the people invest money in the building project? If a greener form of public transportation was built, would people give up there cars and only use the better transport system? It all comes down to how motivated people are as a community. Some ways I could motivate people could start off as just an ad campaign. I could institute recycling bins first, host public events with games and food to raise awareness (public events with many people also helps reduce the electricity used to cook food- plus its great fun to hang with the people in your community) and I would even push to build bike lanes on the streets for those that are willing to really go the extra mile. Even though some additions are needed, many of those things have already begun in some communities. But it truly is your job to do your part in helping out the environment, your community, and the whole world.

See here the recycling habits of countries: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4620041.stm
See how riding bikes may help: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2007/nov/04/global-warming-riding-bikes-would-help-many-ways/

Hi, I am James from Taipei Taiwan. I am also a 9th grade student at Dominican International School. I had heard that there is a plan that the government is doing right now. It is a system that you can borrow bicycles from one place and return it at another place. Of course, you need to pay some money but the amount of money you pay will defiantly be less then the amount you need to pay for other transportations, except bus, for a shot distance. By using this new system you can reduce the amount of carbon used by you, exercise at the same time and save time as well. I personally wanted to try it some time but the problem is that there is no stations near my house. If there is a bicycle station in front of my school and another in front of the entrance of the MRT station, then I can save time for going to school.

Hi, my name is Tiffany Tsou and I study at Dominican International School in Taipei, Taiwan. I go by MRT (Mass Rapid Transmit) to school every day, and I have realized that it is one of the most used public transportation in our city. It is really convenient to travel around the city by the MRT, and it helps to reduce much of the pollution in our environment. On the other hand, local buses are not being used that widely these days. On my way to school, I can see fleets of buses travelling on the streets, but most of them are barely filled with passengers. Honestly, the government has tried to provide bus stations to most of the places in the city. But why aren’t people encouraged to use them? The most reasonable answer is because most of them prefer driving in their own cars. Then, where is the sense of reducing air pollution? Rather than travelling by cars daily, I think people should intensify the use of public transportations in order to save our environment.

Hi everyone, my name is Jonathan Chen. I am now studying in Dominican International School. I am living in Taiwan, Taipei. In taiwan their is a public thing called U-BIKE. It is rented cheaply. You pay 10 NT per 30 minutes using a card called Easy Card. I have used it for 2 times! it is a great bike having a brand called GIANTS! This new thing in our city is a good public transportation, it helps you exercise and makes you healthy! it may help people know that how life can be easy by not using other polluting automobiles to go from places to places. But the negative parts of the U-BIKE is that the size is not really good for all the people. one time i saw an american riding on it, he kept falling down because he is too tall so he cant balance the bike. I think the government did a great job of making this for our public transportation. This makes me proud for taiwan

Hi everyone! I’m a seventh grader from Taiwan and my name is Chloe. I’m glad that my country is having “You Bikes” now, they are computer controlled renting bikes around Taipei City, how it works is, people can rent them at a station, ride them to any destination and return them at the nearest convenient station, and credit cards are accepted. This has made lots of people ride bicycles more and it is a lot cheaper and more convenient than MRT or buses. This also makes people enjoy outdoor life more, exercise more and become healthier. “You Bikes” are fantastic! But for some people like some of my classmates, they have complained about the height of the bicycles which are too high for them. They should design them to be suitable for everyone with different heights. I wish that “You Bikes” can be continued for the years to come.