From http://www.solviva.com/Greyburg_Greendale.htm

this is the second part of a tale of two cities, the first one, Greyberg, being a 'current'  typical destructo-culture one ..

Today maybe more than ever we need clear and exciting visions of what our world (and perhaps in particular our cities) might look like in a perma-culture..

here is one, by Anna Edey, a great visionary..

A Future Vision tale, Greendale

This city has the same climate as Greyberg and also about 2 million inhabitants. It too is located close to the ocean around a lagoon and is surrounded by mountains. But there the similarities end. The first noticeable difference is the clean air. The breathtaking view of distant snow-covered peaks, unobscured by smog, can be enjoyed even from the city center.

The city of GREENDALE: clean ... green ... economical fun ... wholesome ... convenient ... secure ... intelligent

One reason for the clean air is the excellent public transportation system. Bright yellow buses shuttle

back and forth every few minutes, topped with flags color-coded by route. All buses are electric, powered by batteries. At the end of each route are banks of solar photovoltaic panels that recharge the batteries. Other generators, powered by methane from the local wastewater treatment facility and wood chips from the construction industry and wastewater-fed energy forest, provide backup charging power. As the buses come in, their spent batteries are exchanged for fully

charged ones, which takes only a few minutes.

Photovoltaic panels are manufactured in one of

Greendale's many thriving factory complexes at the

outskirts of the city. Batteries are manufactured at

another factory, and, when finally exhausted, they

are collected, disassembled andremanufactured. As

with all other manufacturing in the city, any reusable or highly toxic chemicals are first removed from the wastewater, and then the wastewater is purified through Biocarbon filters and used for irrigating the city's extensive parks and landscaping.

Because of the excellent public transportation system, private car use is much reduced, and most cars and trucks are electric. Municipal parking lots are roofed over with banks of photovoltaic panels, and people put money in meters to recharge their car batteries while they are at work. The meters work even when the sun is not shining, because electricity is assured by backup sources.

Innercity of Greendale. Public transportation, cars and trucks are all run by solar-powered batteries. All buildings have comprehensive solar-dynamic bio-benign designs, which provide heating, cooling, electricity, food and clean wastewater, as well as comfort and joy.

Another reason for the clean air is that about 80 percent of the heating and cooling of the houses and other buildings is provided by the sun. The leadership in the city of Greendale found out about truly comprehensive solar-dynamic design in 1998 and proceeded to apply it to a new school addition. It quickly proved to be effective, reliable and cost-saving, and soon the city went all out to retrofit every school and other municipal building. This was found to be cost-effective immediately because the resulting savings were greater than the cost of financing the changes. It did not take long for the population as a whole to follow suit, and soon most of Greendale's buildings, old and new, were retrofitted to be heated and cooled primarily by solar power.

Backup heat is provided by clean-burning stoves and furnaces fueled with wood and low-grade wastepaper, and because the city is not producing the normal amounts of pollution caused by burning millions of gallons of fuel oil and gasoline, the air quality is not threatened by these emissions. Most of the wood fuel is in the form of wood chips, which are stored in hoppers and loaded into stoves and furnaces by thermostatically controlled augers. The wood chips are produced from rapidly growing shrub willows in energy forests, which are fertilized and irrigated by the effluent from the nearby wastewater treatment plants. Thus, the nutrients in the wastewater is utilized for making fuel, which purifies the wastewater in a most thorough and cost-effective way, protecting the economy, environment, fishing industry and public health.

Less than half of the city is serviced by the preexisting centralized sewage treatment plant. This plant was fully upgraded with Biocarbon filters at a cost of about 80 percent less than conventional technologies. And it costs about 90 percent less to operate, partly because the expenses are offset by the income from the resulting popular compost product, Greendale Black Gold, as well as from energy forest wood chip fuel which provides the backup heat for the city and methane for electricity production.

The people of Greendale avoided the enormous expense of expanding sewage pipelines, because on-site septic systems were instead upgraded with individual Biocarbon filter systems. By choosing these systems for upgrading wastewater management systems, instead of going with the conventional sewage, septage and septic systems that were chosen by Greyberg, the citizens of Greendale have saved some $200 million, and the groundwater and the lagoon are kept pristine.

A few years ago Greendale opted not to buy into a long-term contract with a planned new $5 billion nuclear power plant across the mountains. Instead the city invested in "negawatt" energy conservation, such as leasing out super-efficient appliances and light bulbs. This resulted in a 60 percent reduction in electricity consumption, thereby eliminating the need for increased generation.

Greendale has many Super-Power Playgrounds where people of all ages go to have fun and get fit. Swings, merry-go-rounds, see-saws, and various exercise equipment and runways all generate electricity, as do photovoltaic panels, Each Super-Power Playground generates about 30,000 kwh/year.

Greendale also invited manufacturers of photovoltaic panels to set up operations in an abandoned pesticide factory. Calculations made it clear that it would be less costly in the long run, and far safer, to provide electricity by solar power instead of nuclear.

The Greendale electric company scoped out thousands of small sites within the city limits - rooftops, walls, fences and embankments with good solar exposure - and installed PV panels. Far more electricity is produced than is needed when the sun is shining, and the excess solar electricity is used to generate waterpower: pumping water into towers and releasing it through generators when there is no sun.

Backup electricity is provided by the preexisting oil-powered plant, which was retrofitted to also burn wood chips and methane. This has proven to be cleaner, more reliable and less costly, and consumes 90 percent less oil. To everyone's great relief, the plan to build a nuclear power plant across the mountain was canceled when Greendale, along with other cities, refused to join the contract.

One of hundreds of indoor swimmingpools in the city of Greendale. This one is on the ground floor in one of the apartment buildings. Electricity is generated as people use various exercise equipment both in the pool and next to it.

Greendale, like Greyberg, also has recreational facilities with indoor Olympic swimming pools. In fact, after the three preexisting facilities were retrofitted with solar-dynamic, bio-benign design, they became so popular and were so economical to operate, that many more were built. These facilities have not only one large pool each, but also two smaller, warmer pools, one for babies and toddlers and another for the elderly and handicapped. There are also several hot tubs set at different comfort levels. All the water is purified through Biocarbon filters, ozonation and UV lights. Exercise equipment is connected to generators that produce electricity.

Unlike Greyberg, which imports almost all its food from far away, Greendale produces a great deal of its food right within its city limits, even in winter. There are many small farms in the outskirts, most no larger than an acre or two. None of the farms use pesticides or other toxic substances, and each is a thriving business that provides local employment.

Some of the farms specialize in outdoor seasonal crops such as carrots, onions, cabbage and squash, as well as berries and fruits. Others specialize in salad greens and herbs, growing them year-round in greenhouses and extending the production outdoors in spring, summer and fall.

One of the many greenhouses in Greendale. They produce fish, eggs, meat, vegetables and herbs year-round, without any heating fuel or cooling fans, and without any toxic pesticide. And the animal wastes do not cause water pollution.

The greenhouses are entirely energy-self-sufficient, heated primarily by the sun, with additional heat provided by the chickens, rabbits, pigs, sheep, cows, or horses who live in comfortable quarters along the north wall, within the insulated greenhouses. The animals are raised in spacious freedom with access to the outdoors and fresh greens, without any of the usual chemicals. They are far happier and healthier than on conventional factory farms. They provide food, fiber and compost fertilizer, as well as carbon dioxide which doubles the greenhouse productivity in winter. Most of the meat that is consumed by the residents and visitors in Greendale is thus produced locally year-round.

Unlike Greyberg, where the school system offers education that to some extent seems irrelevant to living reality, Greendale offers true preparation for good living. The school system was the first to adopt the new solar-dynamic, bio-benign design principles. All schools have solargreen south walls that provide heating and cooling, food, bedding plants and tree seedlings. The plants purify the air for the schools and provide wholesome salads for the cafeteria, with excess to sell. The schools were also the first places to set up solid waste management systems that resulted in 90 percent recycling. These systems have been adopted by the entire city, saving the residents some $100 million a year.

Students of all ages are also participating in the local farming, manufacturing, building and business, and as they get into high school and college many students earn money working after school. Thus many students are well prepared to enter the work force as productive members of the community. Most end up staying in Greendale, because it is clearly the best place to live.

The people of Greendale could have chosen to follow conventional methods, laws, rules and regulations, as Greyberg did. But they realized that such systems violate the laws of Nature and cause stress, waste and pollution, and spiraling costs. Instead, Greendale chose to comply with the laws of Nature by using bio-benign processes for dealing with wastes, to recycle everything, to produce food and fuel locally, and to use the abundant energy provided by the sun (even though this is 50 percent less than is available in an area like Arizona).

As a result, Greendale is now rated as the most desirable city in the U.S. The air, water and food are pure, the environment and surrounding wilderness pristine. There is full employment, and the standard of living as well as the physical and mental health of the residents are the best in the country.

Consequently, crime and social disorder are the lowest anywhere. Money goes around and around in the city, instead of being bled off to far distant places to pay for imported food and energy supplies. The city is exceptionally beautiful, with parks and plantings expanding every year. Arts and culture are rich and varied and available to all.

The wild mountains and the clean beaches, as well as the many innovative solar-dynamic, bio-benign methods, draw visitors from all around the world. Needless to say, people who live here want to stay, and many more want to move here. There is tremendous pressure to expand, and there is some room for expansion up into the foothills of the mountains. This is being done with carefully controlled planning and true public participation, in order to maintain the exhilarating, prosperous, clean and peaceful quality of life that has been attained. The development expertise is available right within the city, and is in fact one of the main export items of the city.

Greendale has become a lighthouse that shines bright and clear, a guide to help both large cities and small communities across the country and the world to make livable homes out of their ailing societies.

Let us never forget:

We Have a Choice.

Let us never forget:

In Our Every Deliberation,

We Must Consider

the Impact of Our Decisions

on the Next Seven Generations.

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PROPOSALS for JUMP-STARTING a BETTER FUTURE

... continue on

http://www.solviva.com/Greyburg_Greendale.htm