Urbanization and the Geoenvironment - Sustainable Practices in Geoenvironmental Engineering - page 260

weeds and wildlife which was labor intensive was required to avoid the use of herbicides
and pesticides. It was beneicial to select ornamental plants that will thrive alongside the
trees, and tree varieties that are disease-resistant.
7.6 Concluding Remarks
Cities have signiicant impacts on the geoenvironment. Increasing urban population will
increase pressures on the geoenvironment in the years to come. All aspects of the geoenvi-
ronment need to be protected. Optimal design of landills is one of the methods to protect
the urban environment. Natural attenuation of the landill leachate plumes is a sustain-
able method of remediation. The operation of a landill bioreactor has potential to increase
methane production rates and waste degradation rates, which subsequently increases the
life of the landill. Although waste reduction and recycling programs exist in many cites,
substantial improvements are needed to decrease wastes going into landill and increase
recycling rates. Life cycle analysis of products can be used to assist in determining which
products have less impact on the environment. However, more data (particularly regard-
ing emissions and leachates during production and disposal) is required to facilitate the
comparison process.
Cities need to redevelop brownields through remediation and other planning ini-
tiatives. This will substantially reduce the need for greenields for future development
projects. Few efforts have been made to protect the diversity of plants, animals, and micro-
organisms (i.e., biodiversity). Substantial efforts can be made to conserve resources such as
energy. Electricity from geothermal and other renewable sources can be chosen. Buildings
and their materials must also be energy eficient. Efforts must also be made regarding
transportation to reduce its impact on the geoenvironment.
References
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