BioswalesPoster

    Do you remember that experiment we did in class? The one where we used a bottle to filtrate dirty water? Well it was quiet easy to make wasn’t it? All we needed was a bottle, pebbles and rocks, filtering paper, and dirty water! Now imagine this project in a larger scale; not much larger, but still larger.  At least large enough to grow trees! This would be incredibly useful wouldn’t it?

            We need more greenery! Jordan is a pretty dry place. There aren’t many trees around. Occasionally trees are grown by the side of the road, but sadly these trees don’t tend to last, whether they are destroyed by strong wind, snow, or eventually get dried up.  Having “curbside rain gardens by the side of the road and on road islands will bring a bought major change. Growing trees will be cheaper than ever as they will be getting the water they need without having to be constantly watered resulting in high water bills.  Not only will they be saving money, but they will be saving water as well. All the dirty rainwater running along the side of the road and going down the sewer drains won’t have to be wasted; it’ll be put to use! More trees will be planted than ever! The best part is that it is such a simple systems! Not only is it simple, but also it isn’t ugly either. It’s All happening underground! The only evidence of these systems are the pebbles above, which would most likely be covered with greenery.

            Yes, these bioswales are being used in countries facing a lot of rainfall, and Jordan is definitely not one of those counties, but we do occasionally get rain, and the roads do become flooded, so really these bioswales could come to great use in Jordan.

     I propose to have bioswales built around different areas in Jordan, but first only by the roads. Starting small is best to test the results of this huge conversion, but things can always be expanded. Not only will this project shed light on new ways to save water, it’ll encourage the country to invest their money on simple solutions such as these to not only save money, but resources as well. If this system were to work, homeowners may become encouraged to install this system in their backyard!

    Main roads and water will become much more presentable, changing the image of the country, making it a greener, more beautiful, and green place, resulting in a domino effect, of improvements in the country. The country will be cleaner as a whole as dirty rainwater would not be flowing all around the streets. Money which previously would have gone towards water supplies could be saved, to maybe invest in other things, such as the cleanliness of the country, road construction, building parks, and so on. Tourism can definitely rise in result of all of this, as small things truly do matter.  It is a ripple effect of one good thing after the other.

    Don’t forgot trees allow us to breather providing us with pure oxygen, which is incredibly useful especially in a city, where air pollution very much exists, which is another issue in itself.

    Maybe I’m not taking the costs into account? Yes, the cost of installing a bioswale is high. In NYC the installation of each bioswale cost around 13,000 as some supplies may be harder to come about, but this cost is not constant. Now overall these bioswales do save a lot of money. Another plus is the increase in tree purchases as result of bioswale installations in New York.

Based on the Bioswale design I researched I envision this Bioswale design in Jordan.

Citation:

Pre-research:

Why would you want something so ugly in your backyard? (water collection devices)

http://www.rainharvestmo.com/products/

http://www.rainharvestresources.com

http://www.rainharvestresources.com/More_Success_Stories.html

 Bioswales

http://www.grownyc.org/openspace/green-infrastructure-toolkit/bioswales

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2012/03/5327266/bioswales-new-york-city-plan-make-more-tree-stands-and-less-sewage-

http://blogs.kqed.org/science/audio/designing-california-cities-for-a-long-term-drought/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=FBKQED4416

 http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_releases/14-089pr.shtml#.VHUJ6EuRPwI

 http://www.fastcoexist.com/3030116/these-curbside-mini-gardens-could-help-save-new-york-city-billions-of-dollars

Waterways parks and resiliency barely exist where I’m from. Jordan is currently dealing with water shortages, so waterways are definitely out of the question, although one thing I can say for sure is that if we had water and rivers available Jordanians would use them to their full extent. Occasionally is rains quiet heavily in the winter and we are left with floods, which lead to huge sort of ponds. Hilariously, I have even witnessed people using little boats in those “ponds. On the plus side of all of this we don’t  deal with major floods occasionally, and when we do it’s because of heavy rain, and not the flooding of rivers or seas.  Resiliency in Jordan has not been going quiet well for the past several years. The country cannot deal well with unexpected changes.  When it snowed last year, some of the streets were even blocked for a week. There is never a plan. “If only we could accept climate change as a way of life just likes the Dutch. I think we’d be able to come up with innovative solutions and plans once and for all, but most of us have trouble thinking outside the box.

Reducing CO2 emissions isn’t as crazy and impossible as I thought it was! It’s actually much easier than expected. If Denmark can do it why can’t we all do it. Denmark is not only creating change, but also wants to spread awareness about sustainability around the world. Step by step Copenhagen took action to reduce carbon emissions, aiming to be completely fossil fuel free by 2050. They may not be complete fossil fuel free at the moment, but they are proving to be capable of such huge changes as 40% of their energy is renewable wind powered energy. By 2025 it is very possible that it’ll be a carbon neutral capital.

    Innovation, that’s the key; think out of the box can as Amory Lovins calls it start a new fire. We need a completely new system for a new tomorrow, or an innovative tomorrow.  It’s about coming up with new designs, or finding new more sustainable ways to use what we have.  Even doing something as simple as changing the material something is made out of can be effective.  We need to reinvent what we have.

Before seeing what Lovins had to say I probably would have said all of this change would cost too much for this to be a real option, but after I heard what Lovins had to say I came to realize that not only is it better cost wise, at least in the long run, but it is also a much more effective and sustainable option.

The most innovative options arising today are those of renewable energy, Not “fires” used in the past like fossil fuels, but new “fires”, those with an endless supply of energy. The concept of 24\7 was unfamiliar to me; it was not something I thought about. Apparently wind solar power is considered unreliable and coal and nuclear power are considered reliable, but as Lovins said this is a misconception.  What I’m trying to get across is that all these miss conceptions are stopping us from going forward and being innovative, being stuck in out old ways, not lighting new fires.

I see a future where we aren’t paying anything different than what we’re paying now; a world functioning only on renewable energy,  but this is only going to happen when we come to the point where nonrenewable energy has completely un out because we are the type of people who only respond to issues we are living through an can see right in front of us.