SustainableProblems and Solutions

MACS Green Week – FridayOctober 4, 2013

Cassandra Thiel, PhDUniversity of Pittsburgh – Mascaro Center for Sustainable

Innovation

Problems

• What should I wear for school today?– Affects you, your family?, your classmates?, your

school?– Sustainability?

• I don’t like my vegetables at lunch today. What should I do about it?– Affects you, your health, your happiness– Affects your school

Individua

l

Problems

• My neighborhood has litter all over the sidewalks because no one will throw away their garbage. What can I do about it?– Affects your community’s look (respect), unity,

safety; affects how you and your neighbors feel• Someone’s been writing things on the

bathroom wall. How can we stop this?– Affects how your school looks, how you feel– Costs money to fix

Community

Problems

• Everyone buys so much brand new stuff. How should we change our habits?– Affects natural resource use (clothes, computers)– Affects how you feel, and how you interact with

others• Everyone drives to work. What can we do

differently?– Adds to global climate change, local air problems– Makes people frustrated or angry, miss out on

exercise

Global

Stakeholders

?

http://level3gwattleparkps.blogspot.com/

An entity (group, organization, member or system) that can be affected by the results of that in which they have a stake.

A New Playground for the School

Who are the stakeholders?• Community / Parents• Teachers• Students

Perspectives

A New Playground for the School

A New Playground for the School

How will they decide what to build?

Limitations and Boundaries

What’s limiting these three dreams?• Money• Time• Regulations (safety)• Space• Sustainability?

Three Pillars of Sustainability

People

PlanetProfit

What’s fair?

What’s affordable?

What’s good

for the

environment?

Problem: Combined Sewers

www.phillyriverinfo.org

Problem: Combined Sewers

• US EPA estimates 6 billion gallons of raw sewage are discharged into Pittsburgh waterways (2004).

• Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) warnings 70 days a year in Pittsburgh where contact with the water in not recommended (2009).

• A CMU study found that only 32% of Allegheny County streams meet PA’s safety standards for fecal coliform bacteria (2005).

• Cost to fix could be $1 to $50 BILLION.

Problem and Potential Solutions

• Our sewers are combined and overflow often during rain events.

• We pour “clean” rainwater directly into our sewer systems and it causes “dirty” sewage to overflow, untreated into our lakes.

• We use a lot of water (even when it rains) and our system is at full capacity so it overflows often.

Stakeholders

• Citizens– People who work/live near the water– People who live in Pittsburgh– People who recreate on the water (kayak, boat)

• Politicians / City Officials• Water Treatment Facility (& Institutions who use

water)• Wildlife (Fish!)• Regulating Agencies (US Environmental Protection

Agency – US EPA)

Citizens Perspective

Gross Water (Can’t Swim!) Bad Traffic

http://annarbor.com/

Politician / City Perspective

Limited Financial Resources Public Support

Treatment Facility (Alcosan) and Water Users Perspective

Limited Resources Need to Use Water

Fish (Wildlife) Perspective

More Nutrients Pollution and No Oxygen

Federal Regulator Perspective

Control Environmental Degradation Follow Laws

Activity – Town Hall MeetingWhat should we do about combined sewers?• Count off to 5

1. Citizens2. Politicians / City Officials3. Treatment Facility4. Wildlife5. Federal Regulators

• Meet with your fellow stakeholders• 5 minutes = Discuss what you (in your group) want

to do about combined sewers• Town Hall Meeting between all stakeholders

Town Hall Meeting

What should we do about combined sewers?

What CAN we do about Combined Sewers?

• City planning: each new construction must have combined sewers

• Alcosan signed agreement with Federal and State EPA to assemble a plan to address CSO by 2012 and implement it by 2026.

• When we DO replace pipes, we should separate storm water and sewage

• Permeable pavement and green roofs• Rain Barrels