A. Global Settlement: Patterns and Sustainability · Global Settlement: Patterns and Sustainability

Making Settlements More Sustainable Today

A3.6About 45 minutes

Learning goals

I can explain what sustainability means, including its environmental, social and economic sides.
I can describe practices individuals and families use to make settlements more sustainable.
I can describe practices communities and cities use, in Canada and around the world.
I can measure and calculate how much water a simple change can save.

Words to know

sustainability
Meeting the needs of people today without harming the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

greywater
Gently used water from showers, bathtubs, bathroom sinks and washing machines (not toilets) that can be reused, for example to flush toilets or water gardens.

composting
Letting food scraps and yard waste break down into rich soil instead of sending them to a landfill.

active transportation
Getting around using your own energy: walking, cycling, rolling or skating.

green roof
A roof partly or fully covered with plants growing in soil.

urban forest
All the trees in a city: on streets, in parks, in yards and in natural areas.

renewable energy
Energy from sources that are naturally replaced, such as the sun, wind, flowing water and plant material (biomass).

Let's start with a question

In 1996, the city council of Växjö, a small city in southern Sweden, made a bold decision: the city would aim to become free of fossil fuels. Today much of Växjö is heated by a plant that burns wood waste from the region's forestry instead of oil, and the city calls itself "Europe's greenest city". What can other communities, including yours, learn from places like this?

In the last lessons you saw how settlements affect the environment and how future hazards may affect settlements. Now let's look at solutions people are already using.

A large pile of wood chips beside a heating plant, with a pine forest in the background. — Wood chips left over from forestry can heat a whole city instead of oil. This is the kind of fuel Växjö, Sweden, uses for its heating plant. AI-generated image

What is sustainability?

In 1987, a United Nations commission described sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In other words: live well now, but leave enough for the people who come after us.

A sustainable settlement balances three things:

Environmental: clean air, water and soil; healthy habitats; less waste and pollution.
Social: people are healthy, safe and included, with homes, services and a say in decisions.
Economic: people have jobs and the community can afford what it builds and maintains.

Many First Nations, Métis and Inuit teachings express a similar idea: people have responsibilities to the land, the water and all living things. The Haudenosaunee teaching of considering how decisions will affect the seventh generation to come is one example. Anishinaabe Grandmother Josephine Mandamin began walking around each of the Great Lakes in 2003 to raise awareness about protecting water, and Water Walks continue today.

A sustainable settlement sits where all three circles overlap: good for the environment, for people and for the economy at the same time.

What individuals and families can do

Use less water: shorter showers, turning off the tap while brushing teeth, fixing drips, running full loads of dishes and laundry, collecting rainwater in a barrel for the garden.
Reduce, reuse, recycle, compost: buy less packaging, repair and reuse things, use the Blue Box and Green Bin where your municipality has them, or compost at home.
Travel sustainably: walk, cycle or roll (active transportation), take public transit, or carpool.
Save energy: turn off lights and devices, use LED bulbs, keep the house a little cooler in winter.
Plant and care for trees and native plants, which give shade, homes for birds and pollinators, and soak up rain.

What communities do

Public transit and bike lanes so people can get around without cars.
Green Bin organics programs that turn food scraps into compost or energy.
Green roofs: in 2009, Toronto became the first city in North America to require green roofs on many new large buildings.
Deep Lake Water Cooling: Toronto uses cold water from deep in Lake Ontario to help cool many downtown buildings in summer, using much less electricity than standard air conditioning.
Growing the urban forest: planting street trees and protecting ravines and natural areas.
Limiting housing on farmland: for example, Ontario's Greenbelt, and building more homes on land that is already developed.
Managing stormwater: rain gardens, permeable pavement and stormwater ponds that slow runoff and clean it.
Renewable energy: solar panels, wind turbines and systems like Växjö's that heat a whole city with wood waste.

How greywater reuse works: water from showers, baths, sinks and laundry is filtered and stored, then used again to flush toilets or water gardens. Toilet water is not greywater.

Practice	Who does it	Main benefit	A challenge
Shorter showers, fixing leaks	Individuals and families	Saves water and the energy to heat and pump it	Changing habits
Green Bin and composting	Families and municipalities	Less garbage in landfills	Collection costs; some buildings lack space for bins
Public transit and bike lanes	Municipalities	Less traffic and air pollution	Expensive to build; low-density areas are hard to serve
Green roofs	Building owners and cities	Cooler buildings, less runoff, habitat	Stronger roof structure needed; upkeep
Greywater reuse	Homes and buildings	Less clean drinking water used for toilets	Pipes, tanks and treatment cost money; rules must be followed
Protecting farmland	Provinces and municipalities	Local food; less sprawl	Pressure for new housing

Sustainable practices: benefits and challenges.

Worked example

Example: Let's calculate water saved

Sample measurement: A bathroom tap fills a 1 L container in 8 seconds. Someone brushes their teeth for 2 minutes, twice a day, with the tap running the whole time. How much water would they save in one week by turning off the tap (assume they use about 0.5 L each time with the tap off)?

Flow rate: 1 L in 8 s. In 60 s: 60 ÷ 8 = 7.5 L per minute.
Tap running for 2 min: 7.5 × 2 = 15 L per brushing.
Tap off: about 0.5 L per brushing. Saved per brushing: 15 − 0.5 = 14.5 L.
Twice a day for 7 days = 14 brushings. 14.5 × 14 = 203 L.

About 200 L of water saved per week by one person. Every family member who makes the change saves more.

Hands-on activity

Tap test: measure your water use

You need: a 1 L measuring container (or a clean 1 L jug or bottle), a timer or phone, paper and a pencil.

Turn the bathroom tap on to the flow you normally use for brushing teeth. Time how many seconds it takes to fill 1 L. Turn the tap off.
Calculate your flow rate in litres per minute (60 ÷ your seconds).
Calculate how much water runs during 2 minutes of brushing with the tap on.
Do the same for the shower if a grown-up says it's okay: hold the container under the shower head and time how long it takes to fill (careful with hot water; use cool water).
Calculate how much water your family could save in a week by turning off the tap while brushing and by cutting each shower by 2 minutes. Use the water you collected to water plants!

What to look for: correct division and multiplication, units in litres, and a sensible weekly total. Flow rates vary a lot between taps, so your numbers will be your own.

Just for fun

Using the example's numbers, turning off the tap while brushing saves one person about 10 500 L in a year. That's roughly 70 bathtubs of water that never had to be cleaned, pumped or heated, just for spitting!

Your turn

Define sustainability in your own words.

Name the three sides of a sustainable settlement.

What is greywater, and what is it often reused for?

Give three things a family can do to make their community more sustainable.

What did Toronto require in 2009?

How does Toronto's Deep Lake Water Cooling work?

What goal did Växjö, Sweden, set in 1996?

More practice: warm-up

What is active transportation?

What is composting?

What is a green roof?

Name one source of renewable energy.

Is water from a toilet greywater?

More practice: on your own

A tap fills 1 L in 6 seconds. How many litres flow in 3 minutes?

Give two benefits of planting trees in a city.

Explain why public transit is harder to provide in low-density suburbs.

How does the Haudenosaunee seventh-generation teaching connect to sustainability?

Pick one practice from the table and explain its social or economic benefit, not just its environmental one.

Challenge

A family of 4 each shortens their daily shower by 2 minutes. Their shower flows at 9 L per minute. How much water do they save in a 30-day month?

Växjö heats much of the city with wood waste. Explain one way this is sustainable and one question a geographer should ask about it.

Your school wants to choose one sustainable practice. Compare two options using environmental, social and economic criteria, and recommend one.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which best describes sustainability?

What is greywater?

Which is an example of active transportation?

What did Toronto do in 2009?

Which practice helps reduce garbage in landfills?

A tap fills 1 L in 10 seconds. How much water flows in 2 minutes?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: A3.6 asks students to describe some practices that individuals and communities have adopted to help make human settlements more sustainable. The curriculum's examples include reducing water use, recycling and composting, limiting housing on farmland, public transit and planting trees, along with Växjö, Sweden, and greywater.

Common difficulties:

Thinking sustainability is only environmental. Remind your child of the social and economic sides.
Calculation slips with rates. Find litres per minute first, then multiply.
Listing practices without challenges. Ask, "What makes this hard to do?"

How to help: Do the tap test together and agree on one water-saving change for the whole family. Look at your municipality's waste calendar and talk about what goes in each bin. Praise small, realistic actions.