Green Living

AS VIEWED THROUGH

GREEN EYES By: Stefan Alessio Ingannamorte

What We Face In The Upcoming Years Broward County’s history is a very colorful and varied one. Formed in 1915, and with a population of circa 5,000 by 1920, it was named after former Florida Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, a one-time renegade river-boast captain and populist who ran his campaign for office largely on the platform of Everglades drainage; an idea that had considerable support as early as 1850 with the introduction of Arkansas Bill, or Swamp and Overflow Act. At that time, practically all of the Everglades, which the state had been urging the federal government to drain and reclaim, were turned over to the federal government for that purpose, with the provision that all proceeds from such lands be applied to their reclamation. With a population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2006 to be nearing 1,800,000, today two thirds of Broward County, or approximately 1,205 square miles, lies in an undeveloped and supposedly off-limits Everglades conservation zone. The pressure for this to change likely will become intense in coming years. The county’s growth in terms of human population numbers suggests why. During the short span of ten years, starting in 1950, Broward’s population increased four-fold, and then doubled during the next decade. From 1970 until the present it more than tripled. What do these numbers mean with respect to quality of life issues for those who have come to make Broward County their home? Considering that almost all Florida communities are predicated on the ownership and use of the automobile, with Broward County metropolitan areas no exception to this seemingly iron-clad rule dictated by past and current land development practices, it would seem inevitable that there will continue to be a material increase in traffic and related pollution. City officials acknowledge and speak to this issue on the county’s website: “In Broward County automobiles account for 50% of the air pollution. The population is growing, so is the number of registered cars in the county, and people are driving more and commuting further every year.”

Perhaps the most serious challenges that increasing numbers of Broward County residents will present and have to come to find creative solutions for involve the usage of two key elements of nature - land and water, both of which are inextricably linked. When one considers the effects development in the form of large, urban human population centers, such as the sprawling 10,000 acre Weston project built by Arvida, have on natural systems such as the Everglades, whose health are vital to the sustainability of all life in the South Florida region, it seems clear that a major change of course in human activities will be required if we are to save not just “the environment,” but our very own collective future in the bargain. How this might be accomplished doubtless is the subject of considerable debate within Broward County’s Planning Council, which was charged with “the responsibility of preparing a countywide land-useplan under the charter of Broward County Florida.” The fact that none of Florida’s fast-disappearing flora and fauna are party to the decision-making process of the Planning Council perhaps can be seen as at least part of the reason the creation of a truly comprehensive and sustainable plan unifying all key elements relevant to the environmental equation has remained an elusive endeavor. For centuries, the land and waterways on which we now live, work and play was home to turtles, foxes, otters, manatees, deer, alligators, the Florida panther, as well as wading birds, such as flamingos, roseate spoonbills, scarlet ibises and beautiful plumed herons. Early settlers in South Florida’s history report that the daytime sky would turn black when flocks of birds numbering 10,000 or more took to the air. This sight seems likely one that will never be witnessed again by human eyes. A combination of dramatic habit loss, pollution produced by businesses and residential homes, the ever-expanding roadway system that connects and makes possible large urban centers, and intensive agriculture activities have all served to alter, in

It seems clear that a major change of course in human activities will be required if we are to save not just “the environment”. In the final analysis, the key for us all may very well be to simplify our lives. With that thought in mind, perhaps the best way for Broward Country residents to achieve their collective desire for a happy life in harmony with the natural environment is expressed through these words by LInda Breen Pierce on lifestyle change: “Living simply is about living in community, as a whole, spiritually-aware human being, caring for oneself, the Earth and others.” A simply perfect idea whose time seems to have come.

Meet Florida Governer Charlie Crist,

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BROWARD COUNTY

an unfavorable way, these sort of idyllic scenes that spawned Majory Stoneman Douglas’ influential book The Everglades: River of Grass; a tome considered widely to be a tour-de force literary work about this unique, and now endangered, ecosystem. The 5,000-year-old geologic and ecological formation known to the world as the Florida Everglades comprises the southern half of a large watershed arising in the vicinity of Orlando known as the Kissimmee River system. The Kissimmee River discharges into Lake Okeechobee, a vast shallow fresh water lake. Water leaving Lake Okeechobee in the wet season forms the Everglades, a slow-moving river at one time 60 miles (97 km) wide and over 100 miles (160 km) long, moving southward across a nearly flat limestone shelf to Florida Bay at the southern end of the state. Water, often stored in the porous limestone from one season to the next, is the life blood of the Everglades, and once flowed through the River of Grass without interruption. Today, much of its original water flow has come to be impeded, and more than half of its land area lost, threatening the viability of this once much-maligned and mysterious yet still majestic subtropical marshland. Considering the effects our homes and businesses have on our collective health and that of the natural systems that support our lives, it is important to adopt a lifestyle at home and work that is conducive to the creation of a high-quality, sustainable environment. One important change that residential homeowners with large lawns can make is to consider replacing their water-hungry grass through xeriscaping, a practice that focuses principally on growing plants and shrubs that are well suited to the climate to which they are indigenous. Native plant species require only the amount of watering that nature is inclined to provide, no more, no less. Put water you might otherwise waste to good use by planting an organic fruit and vegetable garden at home. In this way your investment of water will produce tangible (edible) returns that will taste good, provide a source of regular exercise, and eliminate trips to the grocery store, saving you time otherwise spent in the car and in stores shopping, as well as putting some green back in your pocket. A good source of information about green (i.e., organic) gardening can be found at Rodale’s website: http://www.organicgardening.com. To change one’s home environment to a more healthful (i.e., green) one, Natural Home Magazine offers some compelling possibilities: http://www.naturalhomemagazine.com. Finally, Natural Awakenings, a monthly, local publication available free to Broward residents, contains invaluable and innovative ideas on subjects relating to home, health, fitness and much more.

a surprising blend of Grand Ol’ Party and bleeding heart greenie. As a Republican, he defends the Bush administration’s environmental record, but he also counts among his personal heroes Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who wrote an entire book condemning Bush as “America’s worst environmental president.” Crist wasn’t backed by green groups during his 2006 race for the governor’s mansion, but now, after his first year in office, enviros in Florida and beyond are singing his praises. Crist has earned their particular admiration for diving into the fight against climate change and spurning plans for a new coalfired power plant in the state. Gov. Crist hosted a high-profile climate summit in July, where the motley guests included the California “Governator” Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Sierra Club’s Executive Director Carl Pope, and other environmental officials from Germany and the U.K. At that gathering, Crist set aggressive targets for cutting Florida’s greenhouse-gas emissions 10 percent by 2012 and eventually 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. He also announced plans to adopt California’s strict vehicle-emissions regulations, that called on Florida utilities to produce 20 percent of their power from renewables by 2020, and declared that appliances, state government buildings, and state-owned vehicles would have to be more energy-efficient going forward. Despite his ambitious whip-cracking on climate change, Crist says citizens shouldn’t need to sacrifice for solutions: “I don’t think they’re going to have to change [their lifestyle] at all. I just think they’re going to have to change what they use to power it.”

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