This month’s Time magazine ran a feature on the ‘Heroes of the Environment’. The feature celebrated those contributing towards green initiatives all over the globe.
The Times report identified and congratulated individuals and groups from those who have brought about sustainability codes for big corporations to developers of new nuclear lazer fusion technology.
My first prize for the ‘most effective’ Heroe(s) of the Environment goes to the residents of Vauben.
Vauben is an urban area on the edge of the city of Freiburg in Germany. The district’s own residents decided to physically ban cars from their own streets and also garages attached to individual houses. As a result of taking the rules into their own hands a car parking space in the district will set a resident back a whopping US $30,000. According to Time, the result is a car ownership rate of 220 cars per 1000 residents compared with 520 cars per 1000 residents in the wider Freiburg area and much higher rates in other European cities. Residents believe that there is now more space for community life without the cars.
The district is also super hot on renewable energy thanks to resident energy consultant Andreas Delleske. Green building ideas such as triple glazed south facing windows combined together with co-generating units in cellar produce enough renewable electricity and heat to supply 60% opf the district’s power requirements and 30% of its hot water. Solar thermal technology provides for much of the remaining hot water requirement and non-home grown electricity is bought from a supplier sourcing electricity from local wood chip boiler systems.
My hat goes off to these people who have made very real, challenging and probably controversial changes in order to create the physical environment which reflects their green beliefs.
