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Would adding rooftop gardens/ farms to every building in the city greatly impact Toronto’s climate positively? Would we have to make drastic sacrifices to achieve this? I went through the process of searching the benefits of adding nature (plants and agriculture) to a man-made thing (the city) online as well as asking my old geography teacher to counteract the decline of nature and increase of man-made things. Rooftop gardens and urban farming had come up a lot as a solution. Adding more plants to the city adds a lot of benefits not just to climate change but to the economy as well, however, there are always certain risks that come. I believe this is a great question because we really look into the benefits of the natural world and how to mesh it with the man made world in order to regulate climate change and create a more sustainable city without sacrificing our current lifestyle.
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2 Comment(s)
Hey BreYawna,
Interesting that you should choose this as your Inquiry. Take a look at this: http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgne...
There's already a bylaw in place concerning green roofs. However, consider this: http://torontoist.com/2014/09/city-failing-to-harv...
I'll be looking out for what you come up with in your research!
Jessica (program assistant @ GreenLearning)
I think the roof top garden idea is great; not only would it create more safe and beneficial homes for bees as well as plants, but it would also look nice. I think schools should have more trees on the property as well.
If it isn't safe to have bee colonies on school properties, the city should create work spaces and bee sactuaries at local parks. People go to parks to get fresh air and be in touch with nature. Bees are just another insect, along with spiders, ants and beetles, that live, flourish and roam around at parks. People are aware of these little criters and still continue to want to spend time at parks, so for them to complain about bees being in the area is not rational and simply not make sense.
In addition to schools, I think it would be benficial in many ways to have outdoor classrooms. I imagine these to be as simple as a roof covering a few tables, wether it be picnic tables or long, contrete ones. Maybe even a couple walls to block the wind so students can work in peace. I think this would be another neat, eco friendly addition as well as a green hang out for students to hang out at lunches and such. From past experiance, I have seen lots of schools lacking a green outdoor option like this.
Jessica Karafilov
Mar 27, 2017