30 July - 5 August 2012 - orsam

Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership and Life and Environment, an umbrella group
representing more than 100 Israeli environmental groups.
But while Tel Aviv led the list thanks to its parks and bike lanes, the city does not do well on
recycling. Kfar Sava earned points for its recycling as well as its support for energy-efficient
buildings, but its residents say the city is not keeping them informed about environmental issues and
has not protected its old-growth trees.
And though Jerusalem is building more parks, has a light-rail system and is planning to implement
ambitious proposals to reduce air pollution, in recent years the capital has been moving most of its
garbage to an old, polluting landfill in Abu Dis. In addition, the environmental group Tzalul has
ranked Jerusalem the second-worst city when it comes to damaging water sources, saying its
continued channeling of untreated waste into the Kidron Valley is damaging the unique desert
landscapes east of the city.
In Oregon, the city considered one of America‘s greenest is Portland, 8 percent of whose energy
comes from renewable sources. But in a recent article in the scientific journal PLOS Biology, a group
of experts wrote that while Portland is indeed a pleasant place to live, with its parks, bike routes,
organic markets and recycling, the city is utterly dependent on nature‘s resources.
―Each year the Portland metropolitan area consumes at least 1.25 billion liters of gasoline, 28.8
billion megajoules of natural gas, 31.1 billion megajoules of electricity, 136 billion liters of water,
and 0.5 million tons of food, and the city releases 8.5 million tons of carbon as CO2, 99 billion liters
of liquid sewage, and 1 million tons of solid waste into the environment,‖ the article states. ―Total
domestic and international trade amounts to 24 million tonnes of materials annually. With respect to
these flows, Portland is not conspicuously green.‖
European environmental agencies also note the broader implications of urban lifestyles. According to
some estimates, the ecological footprint of London, for example, affects an area 300 times as large as
the city itself.
Some of the world‘s cities are trying to take a different direction and go for reduced consumption.
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