one solution put forward is a method for growing food vertically in enclosed, self-contained domes that also have the potential to absorb co2 (and generate valuable carbon credits) and locally produce mineral and nutrition-rich vegetables and fruit aeroponically. one estimate i read recently says that a one acre greenhouse has the potential to grow up to 20 times the produce an acre of land will produce using traditional methods. since plants are not grown in soil, greenhouse facilities can be located almost anywhere. these facilities will greatly reduce the need to transport produce long distances (the average produce travels 1500 miles in the us and an apple in canada for example, is transported more than 2500 miles) and offer the potential to reap huge returns to investors participating in the right projects.

a few companies have taken up this challenge to produce healthy and i would be interested in learning more about who they are and how they are addressing the challenge to reduce food without the use of petroleum products (fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungacides, etc.).

rationale:
many people buy furniture (sofas, tables, beds, etc) locally on sites like craiglist. they need trucks like “uhaul” to transport their purchased items to their home. typically, they need a truck for just a couple of hours to haul. but they need to rent a truck for the whole day which typically costs about $30. this adds additional cost to their purchase and is a well appreciated limiting factor by both buyers and sellers. more often than not this limitation negatively impacts such transactions.

idea:
the app enables people to connect and coordinate with other people who are interested in renting a uhaul. the app enables people to calculate the available space based on the stuff each one needs. based on the space needed for the ume haul consumers, the app will suggest a suitable truck. ume haul enables consumers to connect with uhaul me service provider to rent the truck. finally, the app calculates payment to be made by each person.

benefits:
ume haul availability encourages more sellers and buyers leading to more transactions resulting in more resuse of materials. this will have a great green impact. coordinated uhaul transport will also have a measurable positive economic and environmental impact.

while urban agriculture of the community kind is on the rise, commercial urban farms are under threat. policy makers can make it easier to maintain peri-urban agriculture and encourage community initiative such as the sustainability street community garden outlined in this video.

traditional ways of constructing buildings create pollution and waste. building materials contain vast amounts of embedded energy. according to architecture 2030, building construction and materials account for 5.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. in addition, while exact numbers aren’t available, trucks and cranes transporting and installing materials at construction sites produce considerable amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. (source: architecture 2030)

typically, materials from torn-down buildings and sites are carted off to the landfill. the u.s. environmental protection agency says only 40 percent of building and construction material is now “recycled, reused, or sent to waste-to-energy facilities, while the remaining 60 percent of the materials is sent to landfills.” many sustainable architects, landscape architects, and construction firms are now moving towards a more sustainable construction process to reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions. (source: environmental protection agency)

in a sustainable reconstruction, building materials are reused or recycled, dramatically reducing waste. for example, a new park can be created out of old building materials. once the materials have been separated, some are kept at the construction site and reprocessed. reclaimed soils, concrete rubble, glass, wood, and steel can be reused or recycled to serve new functions, reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the process. with climate change, any new construction methods that help landscape architects avoid producing additional emissions are a major benefit both to the project and society as a whole. in a sustainable landscape, everything old is made new again. (source: reuse alliance)

through an interactive map and rating system, pushing green creates public visibility into consumer greenness invoking an emotional reaction of social pressure to be green along with social green interaction.