#environmentaltopic

Green infrastructure includes soil and vegetation, as well as permeable surfaces, that help manage stormwater runoff by capturing rainfall at its source and mimicking natural processes that improve the quality of water. It is used in urban environments to absorb and filter stormwater and reduce flooding while providing a natural habitat for wildlife. Surfaces like streets and roofs cannot absorb the polluted stormwater causing it to drain into the sewage system and contaminate the water supply with the trash and bacteria carried by the runoff. There are many different kinds of green infrastructure that can be implemented to store and purify this runoff and prevent it from being discharged into nearby bodies of water.  

What are the types of green infrastructure? 

Different types of green infrastructure include: 

Green Roofs - Vegetation, such as grasses and wildflowers, on the roof of buildings that absorb rainfall and add insulation to the building

Downspout Disconnection - Reroute rainfall from draining into the sewer system to draining into rain barrels or permeable areas 

Rain Gardens - Shallow basins containing native shrubs or grasses that absorb runoff from rooftops, streets, and sidewalks while providing habitats for wildlife 

Bioswales - Deep channels filled with native plants that run along streets and parking lots to slow the release of stormwater and prevent flooding

Tree Canopies - Trees in developed areas that intercept stormwater before it reaches the ground and improve the ground’s ability to soak up water

Permeable Pavement - Pavement used for sidewalks, parking lots, or driveways that filter and store rainwater where it falls to purify the stored groundwater

What are the benefits of green infrastructure?

Besides managing runoff, green infrastructure also increases the amount of stored water that can be used instead of using municipal water supplies, which also helps to prevent droughts. Green infrastructure also improves air quality by reducing the urban heat island effect which increases air temperatures. Higher air temperatures cause an increase in smog, which can be absorbed by plants. Green infrastructure also has economic benefits, as improving water quality and decreasing air temperatures means less cost to provide energy for cooling and maintain water systems that require maintenance from overflow and erosion. Green infrastructure also adds an amenity to buildings while increasing their lifespan, making them more practical than traditional water management systems, or gray infrastructure, and less costly to implement.

How can you help? 

Many cities have begun to create incentive programs for building owners to implement green infrastructure, including the DEP Green Infrastructure Grant Program in New York City. The program funds the installation of green roofs and bioswales on private properties. There are also measures to implement green infrastructure at a smaller scale at home by planting rain gardens with native plants and installing rain barrels to harvest rainfall. In these ways, and many more, green infrastructure can be incorporated into communities and reduce the effects of climate change. 

Photo Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/18410107686

Written by: Alessia Carreon - Intern of Moni K LLC

The agriculture industry accounts for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, the second highest after electricity, and has a wide range of environmental impacts. With rapid population growth, the agricultural industry is also expanding and increasing the number of negative impacts. As the population is expected to continue growing, more thought must go into how the planet will be able to sustain and feed such a large population.With the increase in large-scale, industrial production to match the population, the harmful environmental effects have also increased and displaced small, rural farmers who depend on their yield for their livelihood. This could take a toll on Earth’s resources, especially forests, air, and water sources.

Agricultural Effects

The conversion of forests into agricultural land and ranches is one of the main causes of deforestation as the increasing demand of animal products results in more forest cleared for pastures and production of food for animals. Forests not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but they also protect from extreme weather. The destruction of forests also causes the extinction of plant and animal species that rely on the forest ecosystem.

The agriculture industry contributes to air pollution as well because livestock naturally produce carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, ammonia, and methane. Nitrous oxide and methane contribute to global warming more than carbon dioxide and ammonia increases the acidity of the environment. Farming also contributes to air pollution from the use of fossil fuels needed to create the feed for livestock, which take up 70% to 75% of the energy input on farms and ranches.

Agriculture is also the main user of freshwater, with water consumed by animal agriculture accounting for approximately 55% of usable water for livestock drinking water and the production of feed. Water pollution caused by animal excrement, antibiotics and hormones, and fertilizers and pesticides are especially present in developing countries.

Solutions

Many communities depend on livestock farming for their livelihood, so rather than eliminating the industry, there are ways to switch to more sustainable farming practices. For instance, one way could be for governments to implement policies that promote land conservation and reduction of pesticides by providing incentives for rural farmers. There are also ways for consumers to prevent harmful environmental impacts by sourcing their produce and animal products from local farms to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions it takes to transport produce and animal products as well as the feed that is shipped to industrial farms.

Written by Alessia Carreon - Moni K, LLC

Sources

https://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/march/livestock-revolution-environment-031610.html

https://time.com/4266874/vegetarian-diet-climate-change/

http://www.fao.org/3/X6130E07.htm

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/factsheet/how-livestock-farming-affects-the-environment-64218

Climate change has many effects on our ecosystems, including causing more droughts from lack of rain and snowfall. Day Zero was introduced by Cape Town, South Africa when they were expected to start active water rationing and were limited to using 50 liters of water per day. On the expected day, most of the city’s taps would be shut off due to increased droughts and lack of water reserves, leaving homes and businesses without running water. For cities in a dry climate with rapid urbanization, like regions in California, Southern Australia, and South America, these risks could become more frequent. The cities that came near to a water crisis used the name Day Zero to bring awareness to water consumption and restrictions and how water shortages, like those in Cape Town, could become more common if the necessary practices are not implemented. It also brings awareness to cities that may not be near Day Zero but still do not have a clean water supply, such as Flint, Michigan and Newark, New Jersey. 

Causes

There are many factors that contribute to city-wide water crises, such as poor water management, lack of rainfall, and population growth. Poor water management from local governments contributes to social inequity as low-income communities are usually those affected by inadequate water infrastructure the most. The continuous lack of rainfall is an effect of changing climate that causes more unpredictable weather. With population growth, there is an increase in needed food supplies and more water needed for agriculture. As climate change continues to cause rising sea levels, freshwater reserves are also being overtaken and the water supply is becoming more contaminated. In the case of Cape Town, the city experienced three consecutive years of low rainfall and population growth that could not be supported by dam storage and with worsening effects of climate change these droughts could become longer. 

Effects

The water crisis will have many consequences on the environment and people’s lifestyles. Some consequences include people needing to line up and collect their water for the day and lower crop yields that cause economic loss and the loss of thousands of jobs. However, Day Zero also highlights social inequity as low-income communities had to wait for government help while wealthier communities were able to provide their own solutions. Many low-income communities are facing a water crisis every day due to high water stress and a lack of drinking water in their homes. To avoid the effects of Day Zero, long-term solutions, such as a restructure of water infrastructure and plans for water shortages, should be put into action to avoid water crises and confront social inequity. Day Zero should be a warning for all cities, near crisis or not, to restructure water usage as climate change continues to affect water reserves.

Written by: Alessia Carreon - Moni K Volunteer

Sources

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/water/day-zero-is-meant-to-cut-cape-town-s-water-use-what-is-it-and-is-it-working--59765

https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/10/responding-day-zero-equitably-water-crisis-lessons-cape-town-and-chennai

https://news.trust.org/item/20191224104130-e1ztu

The protection of the environment can be beneficial to many other fields, including public health. Healthy environments are proven to cause better health and higher qualities of life. Environmental health is the practice of preventing and controlling diseases and other health issues caused by the interaction between people and their environments through limiting exposure to harmful environmental factors. This constant interaction affects many aspects of well-being from childhood development to quality of life. The World Health Organization (WHO) has found that healthier environments could prevent 24% of the global burden of disease. Poor environmental quality tends to most negatively impact developing countries and low-income and minority communities by increasing their risk of exposure to harmful factors that cause disease. Minority and low-income communities in the United States are shown to “often reside in neighborhoods with worse air quality, more environmental hazards, and fewer health-promoting environmental amenities such as parks.” The following are a few common themes of environmental health: 

Water Quality: Many case reports document water contamination disproportionately affecting low-income and minority communities with a lack of access to clean water. Drinking and recreational water can lead to exposure to illnesses if they are contaminated and not properly maintained. A lack of proper infrastructure allows storm-water runoff to enter sewage systems with the bacteria it collects from surfaces. This runoff either enters the water systems or is released into nearby bodies of water. 

Air Pollution: Minority communities have the highest rates of exposure to air pollution that contain contaminants connected to asthma and other lung diseases. Poor air quality has been linked to damaging immune and respiratory systems, especially for children whose systems are still developing and the early exposure to toxins could lead to irreversible damage. An increase in carbon dioxide air pollution in the atmosphere also causes climate change, which is its own environmental risk.

Toxic Chemicals and Waste: Low-income and minority communities are more likely to reside near landfills, hazardous waste sites, and industrial facilities and be exposed to chemical pollution from these facilities. Exposure to toxic pollutants, whether in the air, water, or food supplies, can also cause damage to immune, reproductive, and nervous systems. While the full effect of chemical toxicity is unknown, links have already been made between materials and harmful effects, such as heavy metals and neurotoxicity. 

Climate Change: Climate change can increase air pollution and the severity of natural disasters. The consequences of these natural disasters displace residents of low-income and minority communities and they receive inadequate rebuilding efforts compared to higher-income communities. Climate change also fuels the spread of insect-borne and infectious diseases. This is an emerging issue with the current pandemic as air quality and patterns of infectious diseases change due to increasing temperatures. 

Measures to Improve Environmental Health

Groups like the WHO are working to reduce exposure to environmental risks by appealing to policymakers and educating communities on harmful environmental factors and how to avoid them. They also advocate for the use of environmental health indicators that allow risks to be monitored and removed. Many cities are also taking measures to improve environmental health through new laws and policies. Local governments are reducing environmental risks by implementing limits on greenhouse gas emissions to prevent air pollution and effects of climate change. Research is also being conducted to analyze the effects of the environment on health, especially in low-income and minority communities, in order to create preventative measures and policies that correct the environmental health disparities. These measures show that protection of the environment is necessary for many aspects of life and its conservation will have benefits in many fields, including public health. 

Written by: Alessia Carreon, intern of Moni K, LLC

Sources:

Overview of New York’s Recent Climate Laws

Last year, the state of New York passed legislation to combat the increasing effects of climate change. The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act aims to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and by 85% by 2050. The plan was created to achieve a net zero greenhouse gas emission economy and transition the state into using renewable energy for 70% of its electricity by 2030 and 100% zero emission electricity by 2040. It also created a Climate Action Council of 22 experts and leaders of state agencies to create a plan that recommends how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In accordance with the Green New Deal, New York City passed its own legislation to reduce carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. Local Law 97, also known as LL97 and the Climate Mobilization Act, targets the largest contributor of emitted greenhouse gases in NYC, which is generating electricity and burning fossil fuels for buildings. It applies to buildings with over 25,000 square feet, which accounts for 60% of the square footage in NYC, and requires caps on the greenhouse gases they emit. 

Benefits of Climate Laws for Building Owners

In such uncertain times, the lack of people using many office buildings within the city allows for a period of learning for how buildings use energy and how to make them more energy efficient. Besides lower energy costs and the creation of green jobs, these caps will have many benefits, including improvement of public health through the environment and the preservation of ecosystems and resources. It is also beneficial to landlords that the laws require large changes over multiple decades as it is more cost effective than constantly making small changes throughout the lifespan of the building. Green retrofits increase the lifespan of buildings, while also making them more valuable and increasing the asset value of a property. The required upgrades save on buildings’ operating and day-to-day costs as it is more expensive and difficult to maintain traditional energy generators. Therefore, while some upgrades may be costly now, many programs exist to help finance these newly required upgrades and they will eventually save building owners money in the future.

How Buildings Can Meet the Requirements

The caps placed on buildings will be calculated based on the intensity of emissions and the size of the building. Emission intensities for each building must be submitted in a report notarized by a design professional every year. Buildings that exceed these limits will be fined and must install energy efficiency upgrades or clean energy measurements. Upgrades can be financed through the NYC Property Assessed Clean Energy program and other utility and state programs that offer assistance for green retrofits, in addition to the low-cost loan program included in the Climate Mobilization Act. There are also workshops offered by sustainability organizations, such as the Urban Green Council, on how to design and maintain the new, low-emission buildings. Building emissions can also be lowered through deductions such as carbon offsets and installing renewable energy technology. Adjustments to the new regulations will be enacted to prevent rent increase in buildings for low-income and rent-regulated housing, as well as elderly housing and places of public worship. The sooner building owners begin making the transition to counteract the effects of climate change, the easier the transition will be for them.

Written by: Alessia Carreon - Intern of Moni K, LLC

There is a lot of confusion surrounding waste to energy facilities and technologies. How does waste turn into energy? What kind of waste can be used? What are the environmental impacts of this process? Today, we will try to clarify the science behind waste to energy, and what role it can play in the growing desire to mitigate climate change. 

Waste is turned into energy by burning it, and releasing heat, which heats a boiler. The boiler produces steam, which turns a steam turbine and generates electricity. Another method with the potential to be more efficient is to separate out the methane, methanol, or ethanol from the rest of the waste and only use that to generate electricity. 

Large scale burning, or incineration, primarily utilizes the process of combustion to incinerate waste materials. In combustion, hydrocarbons react with oxygen to produce water and carbon dioxide. So, we expect that any materials with a lower concentration of hydrocarbons won’t burn as well as materials with higher concentrations of hydrocarbons. So, inorganic waste materials don’t incinerate as well as organic wastes. 

Most plastics should burn well, since they are generally derived from the hydrocarbons of fossil fuels. Plastics of types 1-6 all contain hydrocarbons and should incinerate well. Common examples of plastic type 7, such as acrylic, polycarbonate, polylactic fibers, nylon, and fiberglass also contain hydrocarbons in their chemical structures.

However, plastics don’t burn well in the sense that they release a cocktail of toxic chemicals. Burning plastics release hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide, dioxins, furans, heavy metals, and particulate matter. Implications include respiratory ailments, stress on the human immune system and possibly cancer. Thankfully, most treatment plants implement a flue gas treatment that should prevent most of these toxic chemicals from entering the atmosphere. Primary methods for cleaning flue gas are through the use of filters, heating of flue gas, introducing chemicals such as ammonia or urea to react and bond with harmful chemicals, and absorbing heavy metals with sorbents. 

Many treatment plants have emerging technologies which make them as environmentally clean as possible, meaning that they help emit less greenhouse gases than the waste would emit by sitting in a landfill. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, for every ton of waste processed in a WTE facility, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by about one ton due to the avoidance of methane from landfills and the offset of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel electrical production and the recovery of metals for recycling. Therefore, waste to energy plants are a promising alternative to help reduce waste volume, generate power, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

Written by: Izabella Kornak - Intern of Moni K LLC

Sources:

Many times, we don’t pause to consider how we have access to seemingly unlimited clean water on a daily basis. Behind every flowing faucet is a network of pipes, machines, and chemicals designed to treat, clean, and manage water. This network forms your local water treatment plant, and is designed to remove any unwanted colors, odors, turbidity, bacteria, and contaminants from your household water. 

Typically, the outline of a water treatment plant is as follows:

Water Influent: Before the plant can operate, it needs to draw water from a natural water body. In New York City, for example, more than 90 percent of the water supply comes from the Catskill/Delaware watershed, which is about 125 miles north of the city. The other 10 percent comes from the Croton watershed. You can easily check what your community’s water source is online. 

Screen: A screen helps filter out large debris which may be in the water, such as logs or plant matter. Typically, there are various screens working in series to continuously filter out smaller and smaller particles. This helps ensure that the water treatment process is efficient and properly maintained. 

Rapid Mix: In this step, chemicals are added into the water and rapidly mixed using a mechanical mixer. This helps ensure that the chemicals are evenly distributed through the water body. 

Flocculation Basin: A coagulant is added into the flocculation basin, which helps to combine solid particles into larger, heavier particles called flocs. Typically, a coagulant is made of aluminum sulfate, or alum. 

Sedimentation Basin: After the coagulant is evenly dispersed throughout the water, in the flocculation basin, the sedimentation basin allows for the larger, more dense flocs to sink to the bottom of the tank. The bottom of the sedimentation basin is full of dense sludge composed of all of the sunken flocs. This sludge is continuously removed and sent off for further processing.

Rapid Sand Filter: The clear water from the top of the sedimentation basin is passed through a rapid sand filter, which helps to trap and filter any remaining sediments and contaminants found in the water. Filters of varying compositions and pore sizes (gravel, sand, and charcoal) are used to remove parasites, dust, bacteria, and viruses. 

Disinfection: Chemicals are added to disinfect the water and kill any remaining pathogens. Chlorine is almost always used in this step of the process.

Storage: Clean, treated water is stored for public use. 

To ensure that drinking water is safe, widespread testing is done to regularly monitor contaminant levels and turbidity. In some cases, source water may be unfiltered, which requires additional testing and protection of watersheds and reservoirs. This is the case for New York City’s unfiltered water treatment process, which adds chlorine for disinfection, fluoride to help prevent cavities, orthophosphate to inhibit lead contamination from water pipes, and sodium hydroxide to reduce pipe corrosion and water acidity. 

The climate crisis has been a hot topic environmental issue. Many companies and governments are seeking out ways to reduce their impact and to find solutions for generating business while being environmentally conscious.

Many major corporations are taking aim at reducing their impact on climate change. A majority of companies are making carbon-neutral commitments. These commitments aim to reduce carbon emissions and achieve zero carbon footprints. One of the biggest corporations, Microsoft,  proposed a potential climate crisis plan. Their goal is to be "carbon negative", which means that they will remove the carbon that the company has produced since 1975. Although this sounds like an amazing idea, the question is, will this plan actually work? 

Their plan aims to take many factors into consideration when it comes to climate change. These factors include, "emissions produced by its entire supply chain, including the full lifespan of the products it makes and the electricity that customers may consume when using its products." Part of their plan is to utilize biomass energy and to plant more trees to capture carbon to offset the emissions in places like the Amazon, which is known for massive deforestation. This includes measuring the amount of carbon that can actually be captured. One experimental technology that Microsoft is working on is called Direct Air Capture, which involves machines converting carbon to non-harmful solids or gasses. But, this method requires a ton of energy and is extremely costly because this type of technology is still being developed. 

Will these technologies prove to actually work? Lacker and Arizona State University manufactured a potential machine to absorb the carbon in the air. Shown below is the graphic of the manufactured plan. This project failed after several attempts due to lack of operations and success and exceeding the budgeting. 

(Lacker and Arizona State University)

There is a negative downside to this potential climate plan. It does not require major corporations to change their behavior because they will be hoping for future technologies to fix the damage that they are doing. Microsoft is still planning to work with fossil fuel companies although they are making climate plans. “In 2019 alone, the technology company had entered into long-term partnerships with three major oil companies, including ExxonMobil, which will be using Microsoft’s technology to expand oil production by as much as 50,000 barrels a day…” Climate plans are still in the developing phase, so there are no promises as to whether they could work or prove to be effective. Major companies should focus on their current climate impacts and seek out plans that can be successful. 

Written By: Johane Plaisime - Social Media/Events Planning Intern of Moni K LLC

SOURCES

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/23/microsoft-climate-crisis-moonshot-plan 

https://www.carbonneutral.com/ 

https://www.theelders.org/news/what-carbon-neutrality-%E2%80%93-and-how-can-we-achieve-it-2050