Efforts by Swedish government for greener communitiesby Arushi Madan | 19-10-2016 07:21 |
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   Sweden is one of the greenest & cleanest cities in the world and has a lot of environmental planning initiatives. The city has a goal to be free of fossil fuels by 2050. In Sweden 93% of residents walk, bike, or take public transportation to work. Not only was Sweden one of the first countries in the world to introduce a tax on carbon dioxide emissions - it was also one of the three countries to meet the EU's climate goals on renewable energy for 2020 - eight whole years before deadline. But how well do these political accomplishments translate into regular Swedish behavior to develop into greener communities? Are Swedes really more environmental than other people? Yeah, Swedes are green in all possible ways. For most Swedes today, sustainability is a way of life. They excel at things like recycling and creating renewable energy. Polls have shown that roughly three in four Swedes recycle their waste and that only 4 percent of Sweden's garbage eventually ends up in landfills. Sweden has made great environmental strides on a political level and leads the way in terms of recycling. In Sweden, virtually no waste goes to landfill dumps anymore. Over the past decade, this country has become better at recycling, but has also greatly increased the capacity to make energy out of the waste. In fact, Sweden even imports garbage from other countries in order to burn and create renewable energy. Sweden is becoming a big importer of other countries' household waste. Up until 2008, Swedish incinerators were mainly fuelled by domestic waste, but since then, imports have grown steadily. Sweden is expected to import 1.5 million tonnes of waste from countries with less efficient energy recycling. It is worth appreciation that Sweden is so good at taking care of other countries waste. Living for the future Sweden ranks first in the EU in consumption of organic foods, leads the way in recycling drinks cans and bottles, and gets the highest share of its energy from renewable sources. Wha's more, Swedish fashion retailer H&M is a world leader in using organic cotton and the Government has allocated SEK 400 million for research and development of environment technology. Green Swedes In Europe, where the organic food market is growing by 5-7 per cent a year, Sweden ranks at the top of the green shoppers list. A study by the European Commission found that 40 per cent of Swedes had purchased an eco-labeled item in the past month, which is more often than the European average. In recent years, more stores with organic apparel have opened while established brands have started to use organic fabrics in their collections. According to the organization Textile Exchange, H&M is the world's largest user of organic cotton. Recycling leader Swedes were more conscientious about recycling beverage containers in 2010 than ever before. The target of including 90 per cent of all aluminum cans and PET bottles in the recycling system is close to being reached, today hitting about 88 per cent. According to recent statistics from Swedish recycling company Returpack, Swedes returned an average of 146 cans and bottles per person for deposit. In recent years, Returpack has introduced a number of measures to get people to recycle more, including doubling the deposit on containers and innovative advertising campaigns, such as Pantamera.
Sweden's architects, construction firms, energy companies, city planners, enterprises and politicians are working today to create the sustainable cities of tomorrow. Here are just a few examples: Energy supply There are many private initiatives to save energy. The Lindell family were test pilots in the project 'One Tonne Life'. The goal was to create a way of living in which carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced to one metric ton per person a year. With an environmentally designed timber house, an electric car and a whole range of experts to help them, the family almost succeeded in achieving the goal, going from 7.3 metric tonnes per person a year to 1.5 tonnes. Vertical greenhouses Award-winning Swedish company Plantagon works with urban agriculture and specialises in what is known as vertical cultivation. Plantago's vertical greenhouses minimise the need for energy, water and pesticides. Plans are underway to build vertical greenhouses in Linköping and Botkyrka, south of Stockholm. The idea is that the buildings will contribute to a climate-smart solution to the world's future demands for food.
Airport City Stockholm By 2022, a completely new city will have grown up around Stockholm Arlanda Airport. The goal is to create an environmental technology centre to bring together research, innovation and established companies in the field of sustainability and environmental technology. The environmental profile of this new district is based on the extensive climate work already being carried out at Arlanda. Since 2004, greenhouse gas emissions from the airport have been reduced by more than half through a number of measures, including the world's largest aquifer or water storage unit to provide the airport with heating and cooling.
Malmö Malmö has already created two world-leading examples of sustainable building. Bo01 is a constructed district that unites modern architecture with ecological sustainability, while Ekostaden Augustenborg is one of the largest investments in Europe in the ecological conversion of an existing residential area. The municipality continues to launch new environmental districts. Hyllie will be developed into the Öresund region's most climate-smart district. Its energy supply will consist of 100 per cent renewable or recovered energy by 2020. Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm Hammarby Sjöstad is Stockholm's largest urban construction project. When completed in 2017, 26,000 people will be living here in 11,500 apartments. The district has been planned using an eco cycle approach and is intended to showcase ecological and environmentally sensitive construction and living. Stockholm Royal Seaport Following the success of Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm Royal Seaport is now being launched as the next environmental district in the capital and an environmental role model. Some 10,000 homes and 30,000 offices will be built by 2025. The district will be completely free of fossil fuels by 2030 and have a positive impact on the climate. Sustainable transportation On your bike In 2011, the Swedish government appointed a special investigator to review regulations that affect cycling. In addition, the Swedish Transport Agency in cooperation with other government agencies has been assigned to develop an action plan to increase cycling. Malmö was named Cycling Promotion City of the Year by the Swedish cycling organization Cykelfrämjandet. One out of four trips in Malmö is by bike. Electric trains Trains run by SJ, the government-owned train operator, are powered by electricity. For its trains in Sweden SJ buys only renewable electricity from hydropower or wind power. This means that the production of electricity for trains causes minimal emissions. All trips using SJ's electric trains meet the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation's requirements for 'Good Environmental Choice', the organization's most stringent eco-label. 722,000 travel with SL Stockholm Public Transport (SL) operates the city's subway, buses, trams and commuter trains. New trams that SL purchases are at least 98 percent recyclable. The entire subway system runs on green electricity, and since 2009, 28 buses running on biogas and 127 running on ethanol have been added to the fleet of green buses. Some 80 SL buses run on biogas. The target is to have all buses running on renewable, environmentally-friendly fuel by 2025. Human-heated buildings In northern Europe the housing and service sectors account for more than 40 percent of total energy consumption. One way to reduce consumption is to build low-energy residences, passive houses heated mainly by the energy already found there, such as the energy from people?s body heat, electrical appliances, lighting and sunlight. Passive houses have been built in a number of communities across Sweden, including Stockholm, Göteborg, Västerås and Helsingborg. In the fall of 2011, the first Nordic Ecolabel multi-family residence was inaugurated in Stockholm. The building (with 36 apartments) produces half the carbon dioxide emissions of a regular apartment building. Seven out of 10 Swedes want to live in an eco-labeled house and would consider paying more for it, according to a survey by construction firm Veidekke. Yale University's Environmental Policy Index, that compares things like air quality, water sanitation, carbon dioxide emissions and biodiversity. Sweden is ranked 9th out of 178 countries on the so called EPI - behind Germany and Switzerland - and scoring high in terms of access to clean drinking water and average on air pollution. Sources : https://sweden.se/nature/sustainable-living/ |
