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cycles, thus reducing the overall demand for energy.
9. Consider a Hybrid or Alternative Fuel Vehicle: Hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles are more
efficient and require less energy, thus causing less damage to the environment.
10. Finally, Use Renewable Energy Sources: Wind and solar energy sources are becoming more
readily available and offer a more efficient means for energy production. Check with your
local utility to see if any renewable energy sources are available near you.
11. Use reusable canvas bags instead of paper or plastic bags when shopping.
Sources include: Associated Content - The People’s Media Company, 2007
Useful Websites:
http://www.myfloridaclimate.com/
Learn more about Governor Charlie Crist’s actions and commitments
to address climate change.
http://www.volunteerflorida.org/
Join the Serve to Preserve initiative and volunteer to help the environment.
http://www.southfloridaclimatechange.org/
Learn more about climate change initiatives, actions and events in
the Southeast Florida region.
http://www.energystar.gov/
Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy that helps Americans
save money and protect the environment through energy efficient
products and practices.
http://www.responsiblepurchasing.org/
Learn more about how you can make your purchases more socially
responsible and environmentally sustainable.
http://www.iclei.org/
ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability is an international association of local governments and national and regional local government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable
development.
Source:wikipedia.org
Sustainable Development in South Florida: Reconciling Everglades Restoration Efforts With a Growing Urban
Development Trend
b
Protecting the Everglades:
The Florida Everglades is a wetland
area located in South Florida which is
home to a diverse population of plants
and animals. These populations depend on the unique ecosystem provided
by the Everglades for their survival.
With growing human activity and development in climate-appealing South
Florida, the quality of the Everglades
has largely decreased, endangering its
important ecological zones. Much of
the downfall of the Everglades quality
has been linked to urban development
in south Florida and the falling quality
of urban life in the area. Furthermore,
past Everglades draining practices to
provide water for agricultural and residential purposes has severely decreased
the water supply of the area. The Florida Everglades has been listed by
UNESCO as one of the 3 wetland areas
of global importance, and efforts to protect its quality have culminated in the
submission to Congress one of history’s
most expensive and comprehensive environmental restoration plans (the
CERP). In order for this restoration
plan to be successful, there is a crucial
need to regulate future sites of urban
development in accordance with specific environmental constraints which
will provide for minimized adverse effects on the Everglades. In this way,
continued urban development can exist
in accordance with Everglades protection practices.
S
Purpose:
This project aims to reconcile the essential need to preserve the quality of the Everglades area and the wildlife
it houses with the growing trend towards South Florida
urban development. Its goal is to spatially identify the
best locations for future residential development in the
areas of South Florida which border Lake Okeechobee
and the Everglades with least impact on important ecological zones. In this way, development can occur to
provide for growing populations in the area while having minimized adverse effects on the Everglades and
plans for its restoration.
Methods:
In an effort to identify the lands most suited for sustainable development in the South Florida counties of Martin, Indian River, St. Lucie, and Palm Beach, this project incorporated a number of environmental constraints
on development. These environmental major constraints consisted of CERP boundaries, priority wetlands habitat, strategic habitat conservation areas, conservation lands, state forests, and critical linkages.
These Constraints were compiled into one single layer
and then erased from the derived developable residential lands layer to determine the working set of developable lands for this analysis. From there, the developable lands were evaluated based on buffer analysis according to encouraging criteria consisting of proximity
to roads, already developed residential areas, and areas
of high population density. The best possible sites for
development were ultimately determined by finding the
developable residential lands which satisfied the most
preferred conditions or rank for all 3 encouraging criteria. For a more detailed methodology, see accompanying project paper.
Absolute Constraints Area of Analysis:
On Development Florida’s District 4
Conclusion:
This fundamental analysis has led to a final data set
which encourages future growth in Florida’s district 4
to occur mainly in coastal areas of Palm Beach county.
Because of its higher population density relative to the
other 3 counties of this study, ranking analysis based on
the encouraging criterion of population density placed
severe limitations on the spatial extent of most preferred developable lands. Therefore, when developing
in counties other than Palm Beach, either population
density preference ranking should be determined using
lower values or preference values based on proximity to
roads and developed areas should be the determining
factor of best future development sites.
Encouraging Criteria: Proximity to Roads and Already Developed Residential Lands Analysis
While there are some outliers in the two classification fields, for the most part rankings attributable to proximity to developed residential land and roads are inclusive of each other.
This finding is expected and can be affirmed logically by the tendency of existing residential land to be located near roads. It is also interesting to note the higher density of roads
and developed land near coastal areas, which is historically where a higher density of development occurs. If future development is to occur with having the least affect on the Everglades ecosystem, these encouraging criteria must be included in site analysis.