Your Questions About Green Living

The Expert answers:

Land: sustainable harvest of forest would include cutting only selected mature trees, and replanting with the same species as was cut. The timber should be air-lifted so as not to disturb the rest of the environment (i.e. Don’t make logging roads).
We should avoid clear-cutting, burning, and replacement of native ecosystems with invasive non-native species.

Air: There’s a lot of air, and not much we do to it or about it, LOL. Generally, we should refrain from:
a) burning excessive amounts of fossil fuels, which can pollute the air with greenhouse gases, oxides of nitrogen, and oxides of sulfur.
B) keeping huge numbers of cattle, which pollute the air with greenhouse gases (methane)
c) using chlorofluorocarbons in consumer products such as hair spray, as these contribute to degradation of the ozone layer.

Water: We should pump water from underground aquifers only as much as is replenished by rainfall.
When pumping or diverting water from rivers and lakes, we should leave enough for the wildlife to use naturally.
We should avoid polluting water.

The Expert answers:

I agree that moving toward sustainable energy is very important for Bangladesh and am excited to see the progress in the solar energy that a previous poster mentioned. One big challenge is that in many developing nations, not just Bangladesh, they can set up small solar outfits, but there is no infrastructure in place to share power generated with the larger community. An even bigger challenge is that even if Bangladesh chose to use only sustainable *sources of energy*, the infrastructure right now would still not be capable of fully supporting is population base. There is still a long road ahead for Bangladesh in terms of sustainable energy (not even going into the more holistic view of sustainability), but the seeds have been planted and I’m confident that the people of Bangladesh are up to the challenge and moving in the right direction.

The Expert answers:

Basically, use the interest. For instance fishing, only take the amount that can be replaced in one year. Look at it as interest from an account. You take the interest and you will have a healthy account. If you take more then the interest the total amount will decrease leaving less capital that can give interest. Sooner or later the account have to be left alone until it has built up again. Although you can take out more then th interest for awhile, you screw up the accoutn for a long time. In the long run it’s a bad decision.

It’s about responsibility, to take care of each other and the Nature, to see we are connected. I believe this will lead to a richer life as well.

It is to create an environment, in all its aspects, that is beneficial to us all, whether it be social, environmental, or other.

The Expert answers:

Before you start building, you might wish to see what the experts are doing.

The National Association of Homebuilders is in the forefront of the green building movement for housing – take a look at http://www.nahb.org/generic.aspx?sectionID=1195&genericContentID=112096 and http://www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?sectionID=1195&newsID=8570.

You might also wish to refer to http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19
and although the “Leeds” standard more typically is applied to non-residential development.

The Expert answers:

Sustainable gardening implies self sufficiency – that you are growing enough food to supply your family – through fresh produce and with canning, freezing and preserving. A sustainable family garden grows enough to feed your family throughout the year.

Sustainable farming is different in the respect that you can grow enough to supply your family and make an agricultural income as well, whether through wholesale, CSAs or selling at farmers markets.

A major aspect to both is that it relies on a variety of produce, staggered planting times, and ideally, a three-season harvest.

I’ve subscribed to the European farm model myself, which means rows are narrow, plant spacing is minimal, vertical growth and checkerboard planting are a must. I use every useable inch, and can grow about $5,000 worth of fresh produce in under 1/2 an acre. A sustainable garden for a single person can reasonably fit in 20×30 plot and give you more than enough to feed yourself and share with a friend or three. Use crop rotation and succession planting.

Other considerations for self-sufficiency can include keeping some dual purpose chickens for eggs and meat or herdsharing goats or a cow for a milk source.

You might also want to read Square Foot Gardening, which diagrams all of the above – great reference book. Also, Elliot Coleman’s The New Organic Grower is my gardening bible.

Some other great websources for sustainable gardening -Homesteading Today, Mother Earth News and Hobby Farm. All great resources!

Edit: I completely skipped anything about sustainability involving soil! Sorry, it’s just so second nature that I don’t even think about it, and it goes hand-in-hand with an organic approach. Feeding the soil – not with fertilizer, but amending it with compost and organic material – is critical. So many of the huge agri-corporations don’t utilize crop rotation, stripping the soil of its nutrients. They then add tons of commercial fertilizer. Sustainable agriculture also means growing “good soil”, planting cover crops and preventing depletion of njutrients.