One of the reasons I wanted to study Landscape Architecture was that I was interested in creating eco-friendly designs. Because the earth is, in all honesty, on fire, the idea of trying to save our only home was easily appealing to me. I’m not here to debate whether climate change exists or not, because it does…THERE’S NO PLANET B, PEOPLE!
This week, we had a reading from the Sustainable Sites Initiative, which defined sustainability as “design, construction, operations, and maintenance practices that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” We live in a very complex feedback loop where all living (and arguably abiotic) things are interconnected and interdependent. Since this balance of life is so delicate, designers must take this into account when creating places. Undoubtedly, humans have become the biggest shapers of our world and many of our actions have had negative consequences.
In terms of landscape design, there are a few things that greatly contribute to the ecological footprint we’ve left and are continuing to leave behind. One of them is the mishandling of one of our most precious resources, water. In addition to wasteful irrigation methods, we tend to overlook ways we can conserve rainwater through storm water management and soil infiltration. Another huge problem is soil compaction, which is achieved by people/animals walking over an area frequently, or machines intentionally flattening the land. This leads to damaged vegetation and reduced soil drainage which lead to excessive water run off which leads to water pollution. An example of this would be the nitrogen and phosphorous run-offs from agricultural lands. Lastly, the increase of urbanization results in the loss of vegetation. This affects a variety of systems, but clearly decreases the oxygen output of a green area as well as increases the chances of erosion since plant roots are no longer able to hold soil in place.
Striving for sustainability comes with a cost. In real-world projects, professionals work with a budget so their design must be sustainable but also economically attainable. As contradictory as it might sound, there are eco-friendly methods that actually save money in the long run. For example, the reading earlier mentioned cited that preserving forest saves up to $10 per square foot in comparison to traditional landscape building practices, and that green roofs save costs in storm water run-off management because they absorb so much of it.
I think that part of our problem is our past (and current) attitude towards nature. As architect E.A. Gutkind explained, we tend to have an I-it relationship with nature, rather than an I-Thou. Once that mindset changes, we might be able to see ourselves as part of a grander scheme and respect our environment. After all, we have not inherited the earth; we have borrowed it from our children.