Sustainability Indicators

The Sustainable Urban Reader, article by Maclaren

A critical point that Maclaren makes is that there is no single definition for urban sustainability because each community varies in location, size and dynamic causing that community to develop differently.  This is also a current issue when making state and national policies. It's hard to establish proper ruling that covers so many varying situations. Since there is no set definition for communities to uphold, Maclaren has formulated key urban sustainability indicators to keep communities on the right track.  All urban sustainable indicators are integrating, forward-looking, distributional and developed with input from multiple stakeholder in the community.  The Bloomington Commission on Sustainability (BCOS) generates annual Bloomington Sustainability Assessment Reports, describing sustainability indicators.  In the 2008 report one sustainability indicator was the tons of solid waste recycled.  Maclaren would classify this as an integrating indicator because it portrays linkages across more then one dimension, social, economic and environmental.  In the BCOS report from 2005-2007 the tonnage of solid waste that is being recycled has leveled off.  It is good that recycling hasn't declined but we should always be trying to recycle more to reduce that amount of waste that goes into landfills.  The fact that recycling has leveled off int eh past 3 years is a sustainability indicator that maybe Bloomington should starts some forward-think, look into the reasons why recycling has leveled off and try to implement actions to increase recycling.

I live in the Fountain Park Apartments off of 10th street and my complex doesn't recycle glass. This is the community policy that I would like to change because since everything else is being recycled (plastic, paper, cardboard and aluminum) it shouldn't be any harder to have glass get recycled.  I think that a policy standard should be placed in effect by the local government, whereby all apartment complexes in Bloomington should be required to recycle (including glass).

I am still trying to devise my own definition of a sustainable community but while I was looking at the Bloomington Sustainability website I found their definition of a sustainable community and really like it. In the Bloomington Commission for Sustainability Ordinance the definition for sustainable community was: "to enhance the socio-environmental-economic well being of the community while taking precautions not to compromise the quality of life of future generations. Towards that end, it reduces its use of on-renewabe resources and its production of wastes, while at the same time improving livability. "