Environmental Responsibility

Although most solutions that came together in response to COVID-19 were done so very quickly – not knowing how long they would be needed – there must now be a strong intention with regards to environmental responsibility. Many communities have stockpiles of materials that they may consider as wasteful, old, or have simply forgotten about. These generally available stockpiles allow for communities to save money, lower their carbon emissions, and clear out material stockpile yards.

These stockpile materials can be used for numerous temporary interventions that are needed to adapt to the changing needs of the community. The material reuse can be thought of as what is needed to spatially reorganize a bike lane with granite curbs, using old timber beams for outside stacked seating for a coffee shop, or fragmented granite curbs for artist sculptures.

In addition to the environmental stewardship that comes from reusing materials, there is a significant cost savings for the city. Not only is there cost savings from freely available materials, but they are of a scale that can easily be managed by volunteers or city maintenance teams. Instead of bringing in specialist labor for a jersey barrier to be installed, the community can use stockpile materials for composite wall systems that serve the same purpose as jersey barriers.

Cities are high encouraged to take inventory of available material stock and assign a priority to the most easily used and best quality. This inventory should be shared with the community for open suggestions that can be tested out on a trial basis.

Some materials will not be suitable for reuse due to extensive damage or wear and tear. It is important to understand when material reuse can do more harm than good for the visual aesthetics of the city. This is a largely subjective exercise to determine which materials not to reuse. We recommend using a critical lens for determining what to reuse and what not to reuse. Hardened materials such as stone or brick are great materials for reuse, but small scraps should not be used as that would give the impression of dumping wasted building materials. Other materials such as timber could be lightly refinished before reusing.

In the end, the reuse of materials that are freely available is a great opportunity to save money and be environmentally responsible in your community.

Source: https://storage.bhs.cloud.ovh.net/v1/AUTH_e7d15450bedd40b9b599e075527df3cb/oklahomacity/fRAILROAD_TIES_FOR_ SALE_1500_EACH__15_Edm_5c7e4f050fc3b.jpg

Asphalt is

Source: https://wonderfulengineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/What-is-Asphalt17.png

Source:

Source:

Many New

Source: Jeff Levine