What do you think? Are suburbs doing their bit to restore threatened biodiversity? Can desert suburbs really be sustainable? Do we need to design future housing neighborhoods differently? Let us know in the comments below 👇 💚 SUPPORT THE CHANNEL Help us share more regenerative stories: www.patreon.com/leafoflifefilms One time donation: www.paypal.com/paypalme/LeafofLifefilms
If the #nonaggressionprinciple is applied things will definitely improve. When growth & development are subsidized and controlled by force & coercion (government), you cannot have a sustainable system. Natural ecosystems change according to feedback from the environment. Decentralized decisions are made by individual organisms following basic principles. When change occurs and decisions are made in response to mandates, dictates, subjective laws, and corrupt regulations, you are bound to have problems. Always remember to ask, "is it consensual/voluntary?". If it isn't, then the thing is neither sustainable nor moral.
The uk towns are also rewinding, adding hundreds of trees, creating biological mini ecosystems by letting previously excessively trimmed grass to go back to nature - LOT of flowers and plants have come back and i the ink it’s really helping our nature, my local towns been doing it for a year, I’ve been gardening all my life even when I had a bedsit grew lots of fruit and veg, now have front and back garden, put out 5 hanging baskets, 80 bulbs, 10 roots, grown 30 house plants and my 10 tomatoes 3 potato’s 9 peas, 17 strawberries. 5 pepper plants, chives, spinachx2, plum tree, planning a cherry tree next year and ordering some plants to add to my seedlings (35) in the home that will go outside. We can all do our part, you can also put in “green walls” these can be put up easily they are like plastic boxes that house plants against a wall, it also helps insulation if you are building a home consider green roofs they are beautiful and great for nature.
This combined with adding bicycle lanes, seperate bus lanes and good metro and train systems will save the americans billions of dollars they can invest in healthcare and the school system.
If anything, the English lawn doesn't belong in Arizona or California. Also, if someone has to have their nice cut lawn, then how about just let famers bring a flock of sheep to graze instead of wasting time riding around on a gas-powered lawn mower.
I would prefer a city plan that included Shops, Schools and everything you need on a daily basis in a walkable range less than 15 Minutes. So that you are more independent from the car.
that's why I think we should abolish zoning, or at least make it more lenient, if people could make shops and businesses in their houses or on their lawns I think that would be cool. Also make it so people can do what they want on their land and not have to maintain fences as lawns according to city ordinance
One thing I'd like to add is that new housing developments here in the U.S. should include small businesses. Like a small grocery store that you can send your kid to on his bike. It's ridiculous to have to drive just to get a carton of milk. Why don't these housing developments include essential shopping opportunities.
Now every housing development is the same, mine has a shopping center nearby, but I don't go there to get my groceries usually I drive to my preferred supermarket a but father away.
is it not possible to put in a corner shop? Alot of places used to use the front of houses around where I live in australia. As long as u got council approval to convert that part of ur house to a shop. Does America have a similar dept?
@@CQuinnLady Zoning codes in America usually make it illegal. It's why older places with apartment buildings and stores are getting really expensive. They're cheaper and offer higher quality of life, but older people living in suburbs will not allow changes because it would change the "atmosphere" and whatnot. Theres a lot of videos out there on why suburbs are pushing cities into debt and why they are all around horrible. Edit: Cheaper as in lower heating bills, you need to use your car less etc
@@CQuinnLady As an European just learned yesterday that the US is completely unflexible and has not constructed any liveable and workable village in the last 50, perhaps even 70 years. If you wanted a lession in how to completely fail at sustainability, look at american - and 'modern' european - suburbs. Europe isn't really much better at planning: We now have a solar-technician and a window-blends maker, both a 15-minutes walk away, what a win, indeed. - BUT: In our village the brickheads annihilated the largest local farmstead with a woodland and about the best field with the best crop-yields in the area, we got most of our food from, just to build some 600 new living units without adding a shopping-possibility in walking distance (asides solar-pannels and window-blends, thank you). The gardens in front of the new houses are so small and shaded by the next house, that the inhabitants can impossibly feed themselves. Now the wheat is gone, AND the new settlers can not be fed by the local produce, lacking gardening space (and water cisterns, because the well and the rivulet - the remains banned into a subterranean channel in case of heavy rainfalls - dried up with the wood gone), AND there is no possibility to get food around the corner. The last farms selling homemade bread, milk and eggs are a two hours walk away - in opposite directions. And checking on regional development-plans, even those farms are already projected into housing rows. - Nobody in the regional development-center is wasting the most basic thought: WHAT will these new settlers EAT? Where do they get their food from? - We haven't even gotten a bus-stop, those having been erased in the last decade for alleged 'lack of use'. (The bus was stopping half an hour's walk away from both: our village-center and the shopping centers, of course nobody would use it for shopping). That is indeed 'smart' planning. And now the government tells us, we're not supposed to use private cars... - But my cousin knew nothing better and moved in with her family. 'Oh, it looks so neat, here.' - No, my dear, 'neat' in this case translates as 'dead'.
In this supposed "Land of the free", the people are not allowed to freely customize their houses and lawns to match the local biodiversity. Because the local authorities will impose a fine. What you get is a continent full of boring copy-pasted suburbia with the same lawns and unwalkable accident prone suburban roads. Why can't the people build gardens on their lawns? Why not have small public eatery stalls and food-zones peppered at random spots in the neighborhood? Why does a family of 6 need to have the same size and style of house as the neighbor with 2 people and a dog? Why is it necessary to have homogeneous architecture style across all of the suburban sprawl which has no significant history and is teared down every 20 years because it needs repairs?
I hate people like you who make it sound like the U.S is such a terrible place to live and that the government is oppressing us. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, IT’S A FREAKING LAWN. Plus you didn’t even mention that fact that the rules in every neighborhood are different. Some do have really strict rules, but others let you add and customize what you want on your house and lawn.
@@beckysam3913 Yes actually, it was supposed to be individual rights, which includes free markets. Unfortunately the two major parties are both trying to restrict freedoms to fit their own agenda, the founding fathers were libertarian.
@@gdspace5592 the lawn thing is really stupid though. C'mon. It's stupid. As for the zoning , stupid. It's okay we all have our stupidities. IN my ocuntry you're not allowed to own a cow.
Living in the desert southwest, USA, I live the water worry every day. When we moved into our home, it had a huge lawn, which I soon let die. We now have several drought tolerant trees, elderberries, cactus, pomegranate shrubs and chickens in our yard,. We are working to improve the rain management as well as plants that are drought tolerant and also offer food or medicine for us and our animals. I'm glad to see cities and towns removing lawn requirements, allowing chickens and small livestock like rabbits in town and allowing more diversity in landscaping. I've never lived in an HOA run neighborhood, and hope I never do.
Interesting, there’s no reason that can’t happen. I live on a 10 year old estate in the UK and saw my first squirrel coming into the backyard picking up bird feed and sneaking off into the young trees I planted very rewarding. The small pond helps bring in the life.
Hello Andrew. We really need your help in Australia, lots of bio-desert sprawl happening down here and I can see minimal evidence of these type of practices. Cheers Chad.
This was a great video, and it was cool to see the shout out to your channel. It made me think of your video, "How to turn your neighborhood into a village." It's really inspiring and I find myself recommending it to others.
It's a false assumption that native plants have deep roots, and that cultivated plants have shallow ones. It really depends on each plant because there is a diversity of root depths in both categories, and some grasses get deep roots and others don't, but there is also the factor of how they're maintained...
Native trees can better adapt to the environment. Say black locust has shallow roots that spread very widely. Black locust adapts to an environment that is destroyed by humans, i.e., with not many other trees. So, instead of forced to have their root being deeper, they just spread their root widely to absorb more water during the rainy season. Their leaves are very small. They can conserve water during the dry season. But some native trees actually have very deep roots. Some maple trees have deep roots and are native. But not all of them have deep tap roots. HOWEVER, ALL native trees have DEEPER roots than grass. It is not only roots that matter. The shades provided by trees will protect the soil surface from absorbing excessive sun radiation in the summer. This makes the relative humidity of the entire area much higher. Grass can't protect the soil surface. And with all the lawn mowing freaks, the summer gets even hotter and drier.
@Trump Lost LOL Locust trees are nitrogen 'fixers' and can be coppiced, harvested for tree hay, used for fenceposts and firewood and has lovely flowers and produce edible beans that must be cooked. The leaves are compound. The root system is considered both a taproot and a heart root. Conservation is largely a myth. The environment has been altered, the carrier pigeon and the dodo are gone and buffalo roam a fraction of the land that they used to. Vetiver grass gets roots 7 meters deep, and hard and red fescue grasses also get deep roots, deeper roots than many native conifers. Native Buffalo grass gets roots up to three feet. What do *you* bring?
@@b_uppy The grass you mentioned is not native and almost definitely will not be used by property owners for their lawns. Almost 99.999% of property owners will NOT grow tall growing grass. I have Timothy and tall fescue in my property for controlling gophers and other critters. But most if not all property owners will use runner type grass that are very short with extremely shallow root systems. And it is NOT just the depth of the roots, it is also the strength of the roots. And as I have said, it is NOT just about roots. Grass will never ever produce the amount of organic matter that trees can produce. A tree can produce leaves, branches, root branches, ... that are more massive than ANY grass on this planet. The dead and decaying branches, tree leaves, underground tree roots, .. are called "humus" or simply decaying organic matter. No grass can match what a tree can produce. And organic matter is what matters to the fertility of soil. HUMUS. You want to talk about soil microbiology next? LOL
@Trump Lost LOL Buffalo grass is native across America, red fescue is native to the to the Eastern and Western US--contrary to what you said. Buffalo grass and hard fescue are short growing grasses are suitable for lawns. Forbs, grasses, trees and shrubs are needed *symbiotically* along with avoiding chemical amendments is crucial to rebuilding soil carbon, etc. You can say 'trees are the great carbon sinks' but it means zero without the support of a balanced soil biome. It is the biota in the soil that is really sinking the carbon. Compaction is an issue that affects tree growth and merely planting trees fails to correct the problems that poses on using trees as a carbon sink. I believe it is either Dr Elaine Ingham or Dr Christine Jones discusses that at length in a video lecture on YT It is the diverse biome supported by a variety of plant types that allow optimal carbon sequestration. UC Davis says Grasslands More Reliable Carbon Sink Than Trees because aerosolization of carbon during a forest fire. Conversely UC Davis is ignoring the role succulents could play in fire suppression, as well as allowing diverse plant life and the benefits of forest rakes reduces fire danger... What do you bring?
@@b_uppy I have a PhD in Economics from Johns Hopkins. I had a 3.9 GPA in a pre-vet program. My interest now is plant physiology, soil microbiology, human nutrition. I am now PRACTICING natural farming. You have no idea who you are talking to. Tall fescue is native too. But no one will grow tall fescue in their lawn. Do you have Buffalo grass in your lawn? LOL Buffalo grass is NOTHING compared to my Big Leaf Maple tree. Don't lie to yourself and just admit the fact. Trees and shrubs are 100% much much much much more productive than stupid grass in producing carbohydrates from sun radiation. Why would anyone be stupid enough to think grass is better than trees in Carbon Fixation? How much biomass can you get from 1 acre of grass? How much biomass can you create with 1 acre of trees? Don't just look at the surface. I have tons and tons of tree roots underground to produce humus underneath the soil to make the entire are much more fertile NATURALLY. Your grass is NOTHING. You want bio diversity? Replace 99% of existing grass by trees, shrubs and flowers. We have birds, bees, hornets, butterflies, tree frogs, tree snakes, spiders, .......... in a forest. What do you have in your grass pasture? LOCUSTS? LOL We need native shrubs and flowers to feed butterflies and other native species. What do you have in your stupid pasture? Ground squirrels? Gophers? Voles? Ｍoles? LOL You love those critters? LOL You want diversity? How many living organisms do you have on the surface of our land? How many living organisms do you have underneath the soil? There are hundreds more TIMES of living organisms under than above ground. Trees create an underground world that ignorant people can't even dream of. Sylvia, D.M.; Fuhrmann, J.J.; Hartel, P.G.; Zuberer, D.A. (1999). Principles and Applications of Soil Microbiology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. pp. 39-41. ISBN 0130941174. 99.99% of all wildfires are created by stupid human actions, like burning trash, camp fire, vandalism, cigarette ends, ... There is no cloud and hence no lightning in California in summer. How do you get any wildfires started? You need people management, not forest management, to stop wildfires. Bring back the forest to raise the relative humidity and lower the surface temperature. Then you will have a lower chance of wildfire. You are making me laugh. LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
Yes, agreed with most of what is explained here. Just to add, builders of housing complexes should by law be compelled to forgo lawn spaces in favor of patches with dense shrubbery which provides food and shelter for birds and insect life. This also goes for sidewalk trees. Many so-called Avenue trees are sterile without being able to provide food and shelter for birds, insects and other wildlife. This is done to minimize the costs of cleanup for councils who plant and manage trees an do decorative shrubs. Suburbian landscapes are built to sanitizing standards, lest birds and bees should have a chance to find sustenance from them. Time to think less of ourselves and more of nature, so in return nature will reward us in ways we have forgotten from our past.
The majority of Americans are not that advanced in their thinking. They think that will lower than property values. There are still many lawn freaks who love to see their properties looking like a golf course. LOL
@@موسى_7 Hey here’s something to think about with less children In America can I make Santa Clause job easier easier doesn’t it I think it would take a load of heavyweight of Kris Kringle shoulder
@@NatoriousGamePlay It is called family planning. The elite foul orange and that the elite Cuban are killing you people, their poorly educated supporters. LOL LOL LOL LOL
I noticed that suburban houses these days are ridiculously too big. That needs to stop and be reversed. Also, small schools, a public library and small shops all surrounding a park should be within walking distance letting community life develop and a reduction in car use
I live in the UK. The housing model is similar to the one in the US, and I fail to understand why the public authorities don’t plant trees in the lawns.
Honestly, I always find it odd that they are neighborhoods don't have trees tho that probably because my neighborhood is right next to a forest and every house has a tree next to the mailbox
Really? I'm in the UK too - I've seen many new developments go up near my MiL and also my parents. You cannot get permission for new development without making provision for easy accessibility to shops, schools, roads and other infrastructure like sewerage and electricity supply (most recently, west London boroughs have had to put a moratorium on new housing as the electricity is being taken by data farms). Most of the developments I've seen try to have a range of different types and sizes of houses. And there are no restrictions on what you can do with your gardens - they start basic but you can plant your own trees and shrubs with due regard for boundary lines. So these developments start out looking like toy town, but within 10-15 years, individuality has often been asserted.
I’m just finishing up the permaculture design class from Oregon State. Forced out of my old career into a new one so I’m following my passion, permaculture. It’s the future.
@@LeafofLifeWorld in my neighborhood out of 100 homes about 5 actually plant gardens and care about their landscaping. I always thought inspiring others by showing them by example is the best way but I think it boils down to most people are just lazy.
@@drinny26most people are lazy and won’t do it until they see how badly the earth is trending but they won’t realize that until their modern luxuries are taken away
Instead of grass lawns....trees that provide shade and even fruit.... communities like these should have tree farming systems that can be managed and made into a business by a homeowner's cooperative. It will help conserve water resources that may not be easily provided due to climate change... Very important for all of us to be concerned and ever protective of our beautiful environment and good air quality. Good tree farmers can help with the dwindling supply of trees in the planet....
We have lawns both front and back but no matter how dry they get they are NEVER watered. If the grass dries out it just goes brown. As soon as the rains come it springs back into life - no problem. Sometimes I don't need to cut the grass for weeks. there is absolutely NO NEED to water grass it will not die!
As far as plants go, i know that in almost every single major city across the USA, Food based plants are NOT welcome on your own property. Mainly because people who control the food imports and exports don’t like you giving food away for free. It affects their $$$ The rest don’t like it cause it “makes your yard look bad” so they will complain to whoever will listen. In the smaller towns across the country, food based plants are more welcome as well as plants in general. Most people like the idea of it. For the country homes, you do you. Anything goes.
This is so wrong on so many levels. For one thing no matter how many native plants you put on your lawn, the larger animals are never going to come back, or if they do they'll be in direct contact with humans, which will lead to attacks and more animals getting put down.
the mayorship put lawns around our apartment blocks. I put thornless blackberries and flowers. I can't put native stuff because they are considered weeds and they'd rip them out. They already cut some of my blackberries with their truck lawn mowers. Out of all the dumb things we copied from americans, lawns is in my top 5.
People like spacious homes not closets to live in. Native Wildlife gardens does the job just fine. Local parks can also be turned into native wildlife gardens.
@@Law19157 except you can't walk to the supermarket. Old people and kids don't have the freedom to go anywhere without a car. Most kids can't even go to school by themselves.
@@TheOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I can walk to my Supermarket. Most suburbs have groceries stores close by. In a big city you still have get on a bus or subway to go to a grocery store and places in NY don't even have groceries stores to begin with just bodega's.
I lived in southern California for 5 years and I never watered my yard and yea it was dirt for a few months but most of the year it was still green. And I lived on a super dry mountain.
I can tell you that, these changes are bot happening across the USA, mostly in desert areas, where they are forced too for financial or by government laws. The average American does not give a damn about insects/animals or nature. And that has not changed where I am in 40 years. It's work, people will not do the work for free and even if you give tax credits or something else in return, people will still not all do it because of laziness.
There are far too many acres of land being devastated by a custom of maintaining monoculture lawns to look like over grazed pastures we have to plant more trees and keep the environment diverse.
I work for a lawn care company... I fucking HATE when people are watering their lawns when it's raining outside or literally just rained a few hours prior or a day before...
True, not all of them are worth worrying about clearing out, if they can be reasonably worked around. Out of all the invasive species in my area, I'm primarily just concerned with four- domesticated grapes, trees of Heaven, Japanese knotweed & multiflora rose. I might end up expanding that to include burning bushes, but that's really the extent of it.
Great video! We schould do permaculture projects and build food forrests where ever we can. It would solve so many problems at once. Its cheap, easy and everyone can work together. I think that exactly what we need! The sooner the better.
I don't think they are alone, everywhere in the world seems to have problems, but I don't see why the USA can't turn it around, I think they will have to soon
Everyone's to blame for it. We could build more walkable less car dependent communities. But one side of the political spectrum doesn't want affordable housing or densely populated neighborhoods near their suburban or urban cookie-cutter neighborhood. Then the other side claims we want more walkable communities but not in my backyard because it'll destroy the"character" of the neighborhood.
We live the way we want to live most Americans like having back yards and being able to escape the rat race temporarily at our own homes. In dense configurations the ability to escape is severely diminished.
This isn't a commentary on the main subject of the vid, but the bit at the end showing "sustainable" houses. Modern architecture is not sustainable, includes many large panes of glass, many man-made high polluting materials, etc. Look into what kind of architecture was historically built in your area. That's usually the best option. In my region many structures were built from, or clad in, locally sourced stone, often with very thick walls for insulation. And no structures were built with flat roofs before 1930, as flat roofs(like are common on modern architecture) do no suit the climate. Stucco was also rarely used here, as it doesn't hold up as well to our fairly harsh winters. Of course the opposite is true in New Mexico, where people could build structures of earth with flat roofs, due to little rainfall
Thank you, definitely I think it's important to consider how we make our future settlements as a human species as it is impacting the environment, we need to design our suburbs and cities better, I hope to see it in my life time
Well As compared to India US still has the best city planning and well Surrounded greenery when i Look around Increasing Population is the biggest problem... you guys have to keep it under control I mean in india i know wtf are the struggles.... from small things like parkign spaces to getting career opportunites Everyting is very very Hard... These kind of huge population only creates more competition , confusion , hatred , Difference in opinions. And in all this no one is satisfied
You're forgetting about drying out water elsewhere, because these suburbs are dry places and the gardens still need watering. Recycled and cleaned drinking water going to waste.
Good point check out the video we did last week, rain water harvesting is all covered in that, plant drought hardy species, these tend to be native ones
@@LeafofLifeWorld To stand the highest chance, people would have to be banned from planting anything, and only have planting where the top scientist say. Even then there's mistakes and the unknown. Have you seen the floods happening in parts of the world where they've been planting millions or thousands of trees here and there? it can heat, cool, dry, flood and more by planting where ever. Even if it was done perfect, it wont reveres global changes, just slow them down. Deserts are also natural, and although you can plant to stop the spread of the desert, filling them in altogether will have a bad effect. We've moved, reshaped and flattened the earth to fit our needs, and there's no longer any natural flow for water We've taken the wildlife out and so green wont be able to sustain all the planting, Maybe releasing the dangerous wildlife, and all our pests may help more. Not to mention the constant growth of the human population. We're f**ked, because even the scientists don't have a clue
Wouldn't it be better to live around the things already there? Instead of building a settlement and bulldozing away all the native vegetation, to build around the native vegetation, in a harmonic way, as people have done and still do, its just profit driven infrastructure that does not care about nature that is destructive, Ive seen first hand that it us possible for humans to live with nature in a sustainable way, thats where we have come from and we have forgotten how to do so.
@@LeafofLifeWorld Would have been better if we worked around nature rather than forcing nature to work around us, but too late for that. Our building s are in the way and in the wrong places. We need streams, lakes, ponds etc running through our cities and towns too. Yes its possible to live in a sustainable way, but there's too many of us for a world scale. The biggest problem we have, is that we live in a green house affect, and what one country does, can effect their own country, or even a country on the other side of the world. It needs to be worked on as a whole and calculated by the world. We can't plant too close to the cold parts of the earth either, as that will melt the ice caps quicker. If all the rainforests died it would wipe out most of us. The oceans produce more oxygen than all the rainforests combined, removes almost 1/3 of the atmosphere's manmade carbon dioxide, and control our planet's temperature and weather. If all the sharks and whales died, we'd all be gone because we wouldn't be able to breathe. I don't see a way out of this mess.
@@LeafofLifeWorld Listen to this then. The Edan project in England made way for the biggest biodome in the world. Over time, this dome created it's very own rainfall that works like clockwork. They didn't expect this, so they had to do some rethinking and work to accommodate that water flow.
The ecosystem would be even healthier if it was just forests and no neighborhood is there. Build denser in urban areas so we aren’t clearing more and more land to build plastic jungles
What about local zoning regulation for services like grocery shopping, dentist, barber shops etc etc reachable by walking and cycling. Greenery is simple.
For starters, Co2 is not a bad thing. Plants need it, and we need what they produce. I'm more worried about what's coming out of the 3rd world, and places like China which have practically no environmental regulations at all. The biggest issue with suburbs are the cookie cutter homes with HOAs. While it has its pros, the cons outweigh them imo. When buying property, I lean towards custom homes without HOA. Residential areas that have them tend to have a lot more "nature" involved, often with a unique mix of flora that attract wild life. I'm glad we are starting to see some change on that front with "traditional track homes. Part of the reason for the Suburban sprawl in the US also came after 1965. Some of you might not like this reality, but importing a ton of people from the 3rd world, especially at such high numbers, created horrible Urban landscapes, which also lead to crime and poor infrastructure. This only drives more people out into the suburbs, usually the original natives of those cities who felt safer leaving. Importing more people was never a good idea, as it had a good balance before the 60s.
All that sense you are making is going to destroy the globalist left's wet dream of herding everyone into authoritarian "smart" cities with stack and packing pod housing and drone deliveries of bug burgers, soylent green and roach milk. I do agree with the permaculture and integrating nature into living environments, spreading people out a bit, allowing them to be able to keep livestock, grow gardens and supplement their own food resources
In Japan, there is a long-standing custom of planting a tree in the yard when a child is born. When the children grow up and get married, they make furniture from the tree and take it to their new homes.
That said, preserving, restoring, improving and maintaining a better environment is a fine idea. It improves quality of life for everyone. And everything. ❤
We have a front yard garden. No chemicals and less work than a lawn. Just plant perennials. We are loaded with aronia for smoothies. It’s stringent so you don’t use much in a smoothie. But it’s the most nutritious fruit that grow super easy.
Turn golf courses into nature reserves and parks. Golf clubs are a nightmare that only a few privileged people can access. They should be turned into something benefitial for the many and that would increase biodiversity.
Humans are crowding out all other species of plants and animals. A variety of vegetation needs to be part of any tree planting project. A variety of trees, bushes and flowers are all necessary to support wild life and plant diversity. There needs to be forests, there also needs to be some open space for grasslands and some wildflower areas that support populations of insects, bees, butterflies, birds and other wild life
Population needs to be in balance with jobs, resources, nature and the environment. Having a bigger population in any country than the country can support makes no sense. Access to food, water, shelter and jobs should guide population levels. The worlds population is still expected to add another billion people to feed, clothe and produce pollution.
The world population is on a very steep decline with birth rates at less than 2 per family over much of the world. If we don't learn how to produce our own food starvation will become a reality. Watch demographic winter and see what's down the road for all of us.
@@dianebarnes3180 Yes - populations are declining in the developed world. But the world population is still projected to add another billion mouths to feed. clothe and house. The worlds population is still growing and demanding more resources and adding more pollution every day. Where will the resources come from to feed an additional billion people. Education and birth control are key to reducing poverty and hunger. Having a child that you can not provide for yourself is cruel and irresponsible.
Right, except today's suburbs are NOT restoring biodiversity and are actively stifling them. I agree that there are some movements that tackle some of the issues presented, but in no way are suburbs restoring biodiversity.
Thank you for the interesting video.I did not realize how much nature was destroyed to clear space for the suburbs. I think the only way to live sustainably is to live with and in nature. Build housing without destroying nature and then planting new "nature". Even with local wild plants and permaculture it is not the same as nature. Biodiversity always suffers. Use space more efficiently too.
Totally agree i believe we can integrate our lives with nature like we have done for thousands of years, permacture does not mean to exclude nature, at least from my understanding of it since its meant to be about permanent culture which is about integrating nature 💚🌿🌾🌱
@@LeafofLifeWorld From what I understand, permaculture does integrate nature and tries to replicate nature to a certain degree but is still designing nature in doing so. I like to look at this by looking at nature as the work of all plants and animals that live their lives and shape their environment. Man is just one of many and not the designing part. If you design nature, only those plants and animals that fit into the design will survive.
@@nicolediedrichsen3000 This is very true and I'm not disagreeing with you, however, we can design for MORE diversity. We can actually have a net positive impact and increase diversity. We alone can do this. We CAN reverse the negative impacts we've created.
Tbh I don't think there is anything wrong with humans designing nature, because we have already been doing it for thousands years, we would not have the food we eat as we know it, we have manipulated nature to be able to exist and thrive within it (excluding all the monocultures that some civilizations have gravitated towards) as long as we do this manipulation in a holistic way in the areas that we live and settle around, then we can thrive in a more harmonic and sustainable way, like we have done before, before we lost this knowledge almost altogether! Thats not to say we can't leave nature alone, we already have national parks that are strictly protected for wild life for that.
@@Reyajh Yes, we can increase biodiversity. But less than if we lived with nature. They found out that in the USA, I believe, areas that were restored had less biodiversity than areas that native Americans had stewardship over. I presume, they knew how to live with nature.
I live in suburbia but I am very lucky to live on the edge of a zone to where I can walk to a school, restaurants, and a grocery store in 10 minutes. My neighborhood thankfully has side walks and is covered in trees but things need to change.
The "old suburbs" built before the reliance on cars are usually the ones that are the most walkable and have the most diverse housing. Unfortunately due to outdated zoning policies, they're not the kind of suburbs that can be built anymore.
It is great work to see that people are changing lawns to biodiverse gardens, nature so desperately needs this but so do we! I hope we can build more sustainable suburbs and cities of the future!
Love this video but must point out that the robin footage was that of a European robin and not an American robin which is in the thrush family and much larger.
Education and birth control are key to reducing poverty and hunger. Bicycles, ebikes, electric cargo bicycles, robo taxis and escooters are great options for last mile, short distance travel. Cities need to do more to encourage people to ride bicycles by providing SAFE, PROTECTED BIKE LANES and trails. Every adult and child should own a bicycle and ride it regularly. Bicycles are healthy exercise and fossil fuels free transportation. Electric bicycles are bringing many older adults back to cycling. Ride to work, ride to school or ride for fun. Children should be able to ride a bicycle to school without having to dodge cars and trucks. Separated and protected bike lanes are required. It will also make the roads safer for automobile drivers. Transportation planners and elected officials need to encourage people to walk, bike and take public transportation. Healthy exercise and fossil fuels free transportation. In the future cities will be redesigned for people not cars. Crazy big parking lots will be transformed.
E um futuro próximo,espero que isto possa ser aplicado aqui no Brasil. Pois as cidades crescem de maneira desordenada sem qualquer planejamento e ultimamente as prefeituras, inclusive a de São Paulo concretam tudo!? É um absurdo!!?? E isto só piora a falta de permeabilidade do solo e a questão de enchentes nos dias de chuva. Em um país que tem parte do seu território na Amazônia, e triste ver como as políticas do atual Governo só visam o lucro fácil e destruição: desmatamento recorde favorecendo madeireiras, grileiros e pecuaristas, perda de direito dos povos indígenas e ribeirinhos favorecendo o garimpo ilegal.
Exactly what you say here is why I am so interested in green infrastructure and planning because I've visited these humid places and concrete makes no sense, not to mention the environmental cost of concrete, we can change the course of the future, and ask for more sustainable alternatives for our future!
California has lost population in the last two years. I suspect that the USA will reach peak population in the next decade. Immigration is not enough to replace the native population's low birthrate Although suburbs in the southern half of the USA are growing - many states will or are losing population from rural areas and from urban cores. Nature is going to take back many acres of the USA when population leaves...and diversity will increase as a result of the neglect of these areas.
Tthis s has been directly observed in sections of Detroit that were abandoned and parts of Baltimore where housing was torn down and lots turned back into rough looking meadows . Nature can restore itself if we get out of the way. My self I try to plant plants that can "take care of themselves" in my area's climate to minimize /eliminate chemical use.
While all of these plans for improvement are certainly good, the "elephant in the room" is the human population continuing to spiral into oblivion. Even with current pandemics, the global population increases by 200,000+ each day.
As a Brazilian, I dream of living in a suburb like zone, where there's no traffic, no noise, no pollution, no trash. Our cities are very dense and noisy. I would die to live in a peaceful and quiet place. I love the American system.
"No traffic, no noise, no pollution." While yes, the suburbs themselves don't have traffic, because of car dependency, many highways have traffic 24/7, only getting worse during rush hour. Compare that to many a country like The Netherlands, which while yes has rush hour, doesn't have 24/7 traffic and has great bike infrastructure and public transport. Sure the American system is better than the Brazilian system, but they are by no means perfect.
Oak is as foreign a species to Colorado as Gingko. Are you saying native as in native to your areas USDA climate zone, or native as native to your state/region?
The problem of suburbs is that the very concept is at odds with both biodiversity and natural habitats in general. It is the most space inefficient way to settle: most land use and most need for commute - which still is mostly based on fossil fuels. Ironically, the most "unnatural" landscape, the dense city, is best for nature: it uses by far the least space and makes long distance or car commute mostly superfluous.
If a surburb was a community and had mixed use development then there is less need for travel, if people could grow their own foods within the surburb they would be much more sustainable. Land use for development is not the greatest threat the nature and biodiversity its actually agricultural. I don't think cities are unnatural because all you have to do is look at traditional housing, its always densely packed together, even in a rural setting, British surburbs are more like this, however American surburbs for some reason are just way bigger more spaced out, so how they use this extra space is going to determine their sustainability.
@@LeafofLifeWorld I agree. The prototypical (american) suburb, that is not simply a village or city district, is a crime against any city planning logic or conservation effort, though.
some usefull hints and tips: - stop trimming your lawn - dispose of garbage in your backyard as a form of compost which attracts cockroaches and rats. - animal rights are equal to human rights, remember? So do NOT remove the vermin! - take in a large number of stray or injured animals etc. ... - Biodiversity is back! ))) (Google for MOVE)
Why can't you make a compost area that is in the community but not directly in your back yard? Anyway if there were more biodiversity, trees and plants with all the native species you actually reduce pests and vermin, Cats are invasive so...?
Suburban home owners landscape their yards with trees,bushes and flowers. On the other hand city apartment dwellers buy a few small indoor potted plants. Who is greening the environment more.
What do you think? Are suburbs doing their bit to restore threatened biodiversity? Can desert suburbs really be sustainable? Do we need to design future housing neighborhoods differently? Let us know in the comments below 👇
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If the #nonaggressionprinciple is applied things will definitely improve.
When growth & development are subsidized and controlled by force & coercion (government), you cannot have a sustainable system.
Natural ecosystems change according to feedback from the environment. Decentralized decisions are made by individual organisms following basic principles.
When change occurs and decisions are made in response to mandates, dictates, subjective laws, and corrupt regulations, you are bound to have problems.
Always remember to ask, "is it consensual/voluntary?". If it isn't, then the thing is neither sustainable nor moral.
The uk towns are also rewinding, adding hundreds of trees, creating biological mini ecosystems by letting previously excessively trimmed grass to go back to nature - LOT of flowers and plants have come back and i the ink it’s really helping our nature, my local towns been doing it for a year, I’ve been gardening all my life even when I had a bedsit grew lots of fruit and veg, now have front and back garden, put out 5 hanging baskets, 80 bulbs, 10 roots, grown 30 house plants and my 10 tomatoes 3 potato’s 9 peas, 17 strawberries. 5 pepper plants, chives, spinachx2, plum tree, planning a cherry tree next year and ordering some plants to add to my seedlings (35) in the home that will go outside. We can all do our part, you can also put in “green walls” these can be put up easily they are like plastic boxes that house plants against a wall, it also helps insulation if you are building a home consider green roofs they are beautiful and great for nature.
@@dustinabc Agreed.
This combined with adding bicycle lanes, seperate bus lanes and good metro and train systems will save the americans billions of dollars they can invest in healthcare and the school system.
If anything, the English lawn doesn't belong in Arizona or California. Also, if someone has to have their nice cut lawn, then how about just let famers bring a flock of sheep to graze instead of wasting time riding around on a gas-powered lawn mower.
I would prefer a city plan that included Shops, Schools and everything you need on a daily basis in a walkable range less than 15 Minutes. So that you are more independent from the car.
that's why I think we should abolish zoning, or at least make it more lenient, if people could make shops and businesses in their houses or on their lawns I think that would be cool. Also make it so people can do what they want on their land and not have to maintain fences as lawns according to city ordinance
@@anonym4us13 yea true cars also are a massive waste of energy and resources that can be solved.
Ironically, that's one thing the Soviets got right!
This is the huge thing people realize. These zoning laws creating the suburban sprawl will be our undoing.
People don't* realize
One thing I'd like to add is that new housing developments here in the U.S. should include small businesses. Like a small grocery store that you can send your kid to on his bike. It's ridiculous to have to drive just to get a carton of milk. Why don't these housing developments include essential shopping opportunities.
Now every housing development is the same, mine has a shopping center nearby, but I don't go there to get my groceries usually I drive to my preferred supermarket a but father away.
is it not possible to put in a corner shop? Alot of places used to use the front of houses around where I live in australia. As long as u got council approval to convert that part of ur house to a shop. Does America have a similar dept?
@@CQuinnLady Zoning codes in America usually make it illegal. It's why older places with apartment buildings and stores are getting really expensive. They're cheaper and offer higher quality of life, but older people living in suburbs will not allow changes because it would change the "atmosphere" and whatnot. Theres a lot of videos out there on why suburbs are pushing cities into debt and why they are all around horrible.
Edit: Cheaper as in lower heating bills, you need to use your car less etc
@@CQuinnLady As an European just learned yesterday that the US is completely unflexible and has not constructed any liveable and workable village in the last 50, perhaps even 70 years. If you wanted a lession in how to completely fail at sustainability, look at american - and 'modern' european - suburbs. Europe isn't really much better at planning:
We now have a solar-technician and a window-blends maker, both a 15-minutes walk away, what a win, indeed. - BUT: In our village the brickheads annihilated the largest local farmstead with a woodland and about the best field with the best crop-yields in the area, we got most of our food from, just to build some 600 new living units without adding a shopping-possibility in walking distance (asides solar-pannels and window-blends, thank you). The gardens in front of the new houses are so small and shaded by the next house, that the inhabitants can impossibly feed themselves. Now the wheat is gone, AND the new settlers can not be fed by the local produce, lacking gardening space (and water cisterns, because the well and the rivulet - the remains banned into a subterranean channel in case of heavy rainfalls - dried up with the wood gone), AND there is no possibility to get food around the corner. The last farms selling homemade bread, milk and eggs are a two hours walk away - in opposite directions.
And checking on regional development-plans, even those farms are already projected into housing rows. - Nobody in the regional development-center is wasting the most basic thought: WHAT will these new settlers EAT? Where do they get their food from? - We haven't even gotten a bus-stop, those having been erased in the last decade for alleged 'lack of use'. (The bus was stopping half an hour's walk away from both: our village-center and the shopping centers, of course nobody would use it for shopping). That is indeed 'smart' planning. And now the government tells us, we're not supposed to use private cars...
- But my cousin knew nothing better and moved in with her family. 'Oh, it looks so neat, here.' - No, my dear, 'neat' in this case translates as 'dead'.
@@jgreijin ok so u cant apply to having the area rezoned commercial?
In this supposed "Land of the free", the people are not allowed to freely customize their houses and lawns to match the local biodiversity. Because the local authorities will impose a fine. What you get is a continent full of boring copy-pasted suburbia with the same lawns and unwalkable accident prone suburban roads.
Why can't the people build gardens on their lawns? Why not have small public eatery stalls and food-zones peppered at random spots in the neighborhood? Why does a family of 6 need to have the same size and style of house as the neighbor with 2 people and a dog? Why is it necessary to have homogeneous architecture style across all of the suburban sprawl which has no significant history and is teared down every 20 years because it needs repairs?
its land of FREE MARKET , capitalism, its not meant for individual rights, lol.
I hate people like you who make it sound like the U.S is such a terrible place to live and that the government is oppressing us. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, IT’S A FREAKING LAWN. Plus you didn’t even mention that fact that the rules in every neighborhood are different. Some do have really strict rules, but others let you add and customize what you want on your house and lawn.
@@beckysam3913 Yes actually, it was supposed to be individual rights, which includes free markets. Unfortunately the two major parties are both trying to restrict freedoms to fit their own agenda, the founding fathers were libertarian.
@@gdspace5592 85% of America is homogeneous looking (and ugly) because of strict (and honestly dumb) zoning codes. But it’s deeper than that.
@@gdspace5592 the lawn thing is really stupid though. C'mon. It's stupid. As for the zoning , stupid. It's okay we all have our stupidities. IN my ocuntry you're not allowed to own a cow.
Living in the desert southwest, USA, I live the water worry every day. When we moved into our home, it had a huge lawn, which I soon let die. We now have several drought tolerant trees, elderberries, cactus, pomegranate shrubs and chickens in our yard,. We are working to improve the rain management as well as plants that are drought tolerant and also offer food or medicine for us and our animals. I'm glad to see cities and towns removing lawn requirements, allowing chickens and small livestock like rabbits in town and allowing more diversity in landscaping. I've never lived in an HOA run neighborhood, and hope I never do.
HOAs are the cancer of the US housing market. I'm glad that I keep seeing more developments near my home that says in big "NO HOA"
Interesting, there’s no reason that can’t happen. I live on a 10 year old estate in the UK and saw my first squirrel coming into the backyard picking up bird feed and sneaking off into the young trees I planted very rewarding. The small pond helps bring in the life.
Thanks for highlighting my work and keep the great content coming :-)
Kind and sharing people usually have their ideas shared...and noticed...
Hello Andrew. We really need your help in Australia, lots of bio-desert sprawl happening down here and I can see minimal evidence of these type of practices. Cheers Chad.
This is the comment I was looking for, thank you Andrew for the great content you share with all of us.
This was a great video, and it was cool to see the shout out to your channel. It made me think of your video, "How to turn your neighborhood into a village." It's really inspiring and I find myself recommending it to others.
It's a false assumption that native plants have deep roots, and that cultivated plants have shallow ones. It really depends on each plant because there is a diversity of root depths in both categories, and some grasses get deep roots and others don't, but there is also the factor of how they're maintained...
Native trees can better adapt to the environment. Say black locust has shallow roots that spread very widely. Black locust adapts to an environment that is destroyed by humans, i.e., with not many other trees. So, instead of forced to have their root being deeper, they just spread their root widely to absorb more water during the rainy season. Their leaves are very small. They can conserve water during the dry season. But some native trees actually have very deep roots. Some maple trees have deep roots and are native. But not all of them have deep tap roots. HOWEVER, ALL native trees have DEEPER roots than grass. It is not only roots that matter. The shades provided by trees will protect the soil surface from absorbing excessive sun radiation in the summer. This makes the relative humidity of the entire area much higher. Grass can't protect the soil surface. And with all the lawn mowing freaks, the summer gets even hotter and drier.
@Trump Lost LOL
Locust trees are nitrogen 'fixers' and can be coppiced, harvested for tree hay, used for fenceposts and firewood and has lovely flowers and produce edible beans that must be cooked. The leaves are compound. The root system is considered both a taproot and a heart root.
Conservation is largely a myth. The environment has been altered, the carrier pigeon and the dodo are gone and buffalo roam a fraction of the land that they used to.
Vetiver grass gets roots 7 meters deep, and hard and red fescue grasses also get deep roots, deeper roots than many native conifers. Native Buffalo grass gets roots up to three feet.
What do *you* bring?
@@b_uppy The grass you mentioned is not native and almost definitely will not be used by property owners for their lawns. Almost 99.999% of property owners will NOT grow tall growing grass. I have Timothy and tall fescue in my property for controlling gophers and other critters. But most if not all property owners will use runner type grass that are very short with extremely shallow root systems. And it is NOT just the depth of the roots, it is also the strength of the roots. And as I have said, it is NOT just about roots. Grass will never ever produce the amount of organic matter that trees can produce. A tree can produce leaves, branches, root branches, ... that are more massive than ANY grass on this planet. The dead and decaying branches, tree leaves, underground tree roots, .. are called "humus" or simply decaying organic matter. No grass can match what a tree can produce. And organic matter is what matters to the fertility of soil. HUMUS. You want to talk about soil microbiology next? LOL
@Trump Lost LOL
Buffalo grass is native across America, red fescue is native to the to the Eastern and Western US--contrary to what you said. Buffalo grass and hard fescue are short growing grasses are suitable for lawns.
Forbs, grasses, trees and shrubs are needed *symbiotically* along with avoiding chemical amendments is crucial to rebuilding soil carbon, etc. You can say 'trees are the great carbon sinks' but it means zero without the support of a balanced soil biome.
It is the biota in the soil that is really sinking the carbon.
Compaction is an issue that affects tree growth and merely planting trees fails to correct the problems that poses on using trees as a carbon sink.
I believe it is either Dr Elaine Ingham or Dr Christine Jones discusses that at length in a video lecture on YT It is the diverse biome supported by a variety of plant types that allow optimal carbon sequestration.
UC Davis says Grasslands More Reliable Carbon Sink Than Trees because aerosolization of carbon during a forest fire.
Conversely UC Davis is ignoring the role succulents could play in fire suppression, as well as allowing diverse plant life and the benefits of forest rakes reduces fire danger...
What do you bring?
@@b_uppy I have a PhD in Economics from Johns Hopkins. I had a 3.9 GPA in a pre-vet program. My interest now is plant physiology, soil microbiology, human nutrition. I am now PRACTICING natural farming. You have no idea who you are talking to.
Tall fescue is native too. But no one will grow tall fescue in their lawn. Do you have Buffalo grass in your lawn? LOL
Buffalo grass is NOTHING compared to my Big Leaf Maple tree. Don't lie to yourself and just admit the fact. Trees and shrubs are 100% much much much much more productive than stupid grass in producing carbohydrates from sun radiation. Why would anyone be stupid enough to think grass is better than trees in Carbon Fixation?
How much biomass can you get from 1 acre of grass? How much biomass can you create with 1 acre of trees? Don't just look at the surface. I have tons and tons of tree roots underground to produce humus underneath the soil to make the entire are much more fertile NATURALLY. Your grass is NOTHING.
You want bio diversity? Replace 99% of existing grass by trees, shrubs and flowers. We have birds, bees, hornets, butterflies, tree frogs, tree snakes, spiders, .......... in a forest. What do you have in your grass pasture? LOCUSTS? LOL We need native shrubs and flowers to feed butterflies and other native species. What do you have in your stupid pasture? Ground squirrels? Gophers? Voles? Ｍoles? LOL You love those critters? LOL
You want diversity? How many living organisms do you have on the surface of our land? How many living organisms do you have underneath the soil? There are hundreds more TIMES of living organisms under than above ground. Trees create an underground world that ignorant people can't even dream of.
Sylvia, D.M.; Fuhrmann, J.J.; Hartel, P.G.; Zuberer, D.A. (1999). Principles and Applications of Soil Microbiology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. pp. 39-41. ISBN 0130941174.
99.99% of all wildfires are created by stupid human actions, like burning trash, camp fire, vandalism, cigarette ends, ... There is no cloud and hence no lightning in California in summer. How do you get any wildfires started? You need people management, not forest management, to stop wildfires. Bring back the forest to raise the relative humidity and lower the surface temperature. Then you will have a lower chance of wildfire.
You are making me laugh. LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
Yes, agreed with most of what is explained here. Just to add, builders of housing complexes should by law be compelled to forgo lawn spaces in favor of patches with dense shrubbery which provides food and shelter for birds and insect life. This also goes for sidewalk trees. Many so-called Avenue trees are sterile without being able to provide food and shelter for birds, insects and other wildlife. This is done to minimize the costs of cleanup for councils who plant and manage trees an do decorative shrubs. Suburbian landscapes are built to sanitizing standards, lest birds and bees should have a chance to find sustenance from them. Time to think less of ourselves and more of nature, so in return nature will reward us in ways we have forgotten from our past.
The majority of Americans are not that advanced in their thinking. They think that will lower than property values. There are still many lawn freaks who love to see their properties looking like a golf course. LOL
And have less children
LMAO that's exactly what the "elite" want. For you to not have kids
@@موسى_7 Hey here’s something to think about with less children In America can I make Santa Clause job easier easier doesn’t it I think it would take a load of heavyweight of Kris Kringle shoulder
@@NatoriousGamePlay It is called family planning. The elite foul orange and that the elite Cuban are killing you people, their poorly educated supporters. LOL LOL LOL LOL
I noticed that suburban houses these days are ridiculously too big. That needs to stop and be reversed. Also, small schools, a public library and small shops all surrounding a park should be within walking distance letting community life develop and a reduction in car use
I live in the UK. The housing model is similar to the one in the US, and I fail to understand why the public authorities don’t plant trees in the lawns.
'Traditional' neighborhoods.
Honestly, I always find it odd that they are neighborhoods don't have trees tho that probably because my neighborhood is right next to a forest and every house has a tree next to the mailbox
You cry about that ....
you guys don't know whats the situation India..
NO TREES , ONLY people eveywhere...
We sniff each others sweat here...
Bro you lie the houses here in the UK are garbage and small
Really? I'm in the UK too - I've seen many new developments go up near my MiL and also my parents. You cannot get permission for new development without making provision for easy accessibility to shops, schools, roads and other infrastructure like sewerage and electricity supply (most recently, west London boroughs have had to put a moratorium on new housing as the electricity is being taken by data farms). Most of the developments I've seen try to have a range of different types and sizes of houses. And there are no restrictions on what you can do with your gardens - they start basic but you can plant your own trees and shrubs with due regard for boundary lines. So these developments start out looking like toy town, but within 10-15 years, individuality has often been asserted.
I’m just finishing up the permaculture design class from Oregon State. Forced out of my old career into a new one so I’m following my passion, permaculture. It’s the future.
Nice one
Good for you! I have always wanted to take the class. Andrew Millison is one of my heroes.
The hard part is convincing home owners to do this.
not all of them but some of them probably
@@LeafofLifeWorld in my neighborhood out of 100 homes about 5 actually plant gardens and care about their landscaping. I always thought inspiring others by showing them by example is the best way but I think it boils down to most people are just lazy.
@@drinny26most people are lazy and won’t do it until they see how badly the earth is trending but they won’t realize that until their modern luxuries are taken away
So Indigenous people of the Americas were most sophisticated in their approach to nature. And the Europeans killed 90% of them took their land.
Yup
Instead of grass lawns....trees that provide shade and even fruit.... communities like these should have tree farming systems that can be managed and made into a business by a homeowner's cooperative. It will help conserve water resources that may not be easily provided due to climate change... Very important for all of us to be concerned and ever protective of our beautiful environment and good air quality. Good tree farmers can help with the dwindling supply of trees in the planet....
Look up LA Crop swap, basically using rain water and providing food to his local community
We have lawns both front and back but no matter how dry they get they are NEVER watered. If the grass dries out it just goes brown. As soon as the rains come it springs back into life - no problem. Sometimes I don't need to cut the grass for weeks. there is absolutely NO NEED to water grass it will not die!
Leave your lawns to grow. It's amazing what turns up.
And definitely don't poison your lawn to make it perfect. It's not good for anyone!
As far as plants go, i know that in almost every single major city across the USA, Food based plants are NOT welcome on your own property. Mainly because people who control the food imports and exports don’t like you giving food away for free. It affects their $$$
The rest don’t like it cause it “makes your yard look bad” so they will complain to whoever will listen.
In the smaller towns across the country, food based plants are more welcome as well as plants in general. Most people like the idea of it.
For the country homes, you do you. Anything goes.
This is so wrong on so many levels. For one thing no matter how many native plants you put on your lawn, the larger animals are never going to come back, or if they do they'll be in direct contact with humans, which will lead to attacks and more animals getting put down.
the mayorship put lawns around our apartment blocks. I put thornless blackberries and flowers. I can't put native stuff because they are considered weeds and they'd rip them out. They already cut some of my blackberries with their truck lawn mowers. Out of all the dumb things we copied from americans, lawns is in my top 5.
Thats sad, why are native considered weeds? Madness! Where are you located that does this?
We don't need megahouses. We need communities, small houses, frontand backyard biodiverse food forests.
People like spacious homes not closets to live in. Native Wildlife gardens does the job just fine. Local parks can also be turned into native wildlife gardens.
@@Law19157 except you can't walk to the supermarket. Old people and kids don't have the freedom to go anywhere without a car. Most kids can't even go to school by themselves.
@@TheOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I can walk to my Supermarket. Most suburbs have groceries stores close by. In a big city you still have get on a bus or subway to go to a grocery store and places in NY don't even have groceries stores to begin with just bodega's.
I lived in southern California for 5 years and I never watered my yard and yea it was dirt for a few months but most of the year it was still green. And I lived on a super dry mountain.
For everyone living in the desert you have to accept the plants won't be green all year around! The rest of the year you can enjoy it
I can tell you that, these changes are bot happening across the USA, mostly in desert areas, where they are forced too for financial or by government laws. The average American does not give a damn about insects/animals or nature. And that has not changed where I am in 40 years. It's work, people will not do the work for free and even if you give tax credits or something else in return, people will still not all do it because of laziness.
The HOA, Zoning laws, restrictions is everything why i hate suburbia.
Every child should plant a tree, bush or flowers with a parent or teacher.
It will help connect them to nature and the environment.
There are far too many acres of land being devastated by a custom of maintaining monoculture lawns to look like over grazed pastures we have to plant more trees and keep the environment diverse.
I work for a lawn care company... I fucking HATE when people are watering their lawns when it's raining outside or literally just rained a few hours prior or a day before...
Shows how industrialized our environment and thinking 🤔 has become without realizing it day to day for the past few hundred year's.
non native and introduced doesn't always mean invasive
Bermuda grass is taking over. It alone is bad enough.
True, not all of them are worth worrying about clearing out, if they can be reasonably worked around. Out of all the invasive species in my area, I'm primarily just concerned with four- domesticated grapes, trees of Heaven, Japanese knotweed & multiflora rose. I might end up expanding that to include burning bushes, but that's really the extent of it.
4:44 -- This is the gypsy moth caterpillar (Lymantria dispar dispar). It is a non-native, invasive species, which has devastated North American trees.
And, the robin at 5:00 is a European robin (Erithacus rubecula), not an American robin (Turdus migratorius).
Great video!
We schould do permaculture projects and build food forrests where ever we can.
It would solve so many problems at once.
Its cheap, easy and everyone can work together.
I think that exactly what we need!
The sooner the better.
Permaculture food forests is the way forward
Large Green lawns are a waste of space if not used
Yeah or native plant habitats instead of lawns
Thats why you should turn your lawns into gardens
It's amazing how the United States can plan its urban planning so badly
I don't think they are alone, everywhere in the world seems to have problems, but I don't see why the USA can't turn it around, I think they will have to soon
Its easy to look back in hind sight and pick out all the bad.
Big $$ ijn highway building , $$ equals influence , then everyone wanted the so called "american dream" house, lawn, garage , trees etc ...
Everyone's to blame for it. We could build more walkable less car dependent communities. But one side of the political spectrum doesn't want affordable housing or densely populated neighborhoods near their suburban or urban cookie-cutter neighborhood. Then the other side claims we want more walkable communities but not in my backyard because it'll destroy the"character" of the neighborhood.
We live the way we want to live most Americans like having back yards and being able to escape the rat race temporarily at our own homes. In dense configurations the ability to escape is severely diminished.
I am always wondering why people need all that grass around their houses, why not planning tree and fruit
We need denser cities and towns.
Do you live in one?
If you ever get to Connecticut it’s been taken over by the wilderness.
There is more wildlife than when I lived there years ago.
Wow that's amazing, do you have any before and after pictures of that, if so send to leafoflifefilms@gmail.com thank you!
This isn't a commentary on the main subject of the vid, but the bit at the end showing "sustainable" houses. Modern architecture is not sustainable, includes many large panes of glass, many man-made high polluting materials, etc. Look into what kind of architecture was historically built in your area. That's usually the best option. In my region many structures were built from, or clad in, locally sourced stone, often with very thick walls for insulation. And no structures were built with flat roofs before 1930, as flat roofs(like are common on modern architecture) do no suit the climate. Stucco was also rarely used here, as it doesn't hold up as well to our fairly harsh winters. Of course the opposite is true in New Mexico, where people could build structures of earth with flat roofs, due to little rainfall
Good job, this is an interesting topic.
Thank you, definitely I think it's important to consider how we make our future settlements as a human species as it is impacting the environment, we need to design our suburbs and cities better, I hope to see it in my life time
105 billion in lawn care products is insanity. We don't need any more golf courses. What we do need is more thoughtful planning. 👍
Well As compared to India
US still has the best city planning and well Surrounded greenery when i Look around
Increasing Population is the biggest problem... you guys have to keep it under control
I mean in india i know wtf are the struggles.... from small things like parkign spaces to getting career opportunites Everyting is very very Hard...
These kind of huge population only creates more competition , confusion , hatred , Difference in opinions.
And in all this no one is satisfied
Thank you for sharing!
You're forgetting about drying out water elsewhere, because these suburbs are dry places and the gardens still need watering. Recycled and cleaned drinking water going to waste.
Good point check out the video we did last week, rain water harvesting is all covered in that, plant drought hardy species, these tend to be native ones
@@LeafofLifeWorld To stand the highest chance, people would have to be banned from planting anything, and only have planting where the top scientist say. Even then there's mistakes and the unknown. Have you seen the floods happening in parts of the world where they've been planting millions or thousands of trees here and there? it can heat, cool, dry, flood and more by planting where ever. Even if it was done perfect, it wont reveres global changes, just slow them down. Deserts are also natural, and although you can plant to stop the spread of the desert, filling them in altogether will have a bad effect. We've moved, reshaped and flattened the earth to fit our needs, and there's no longer any natural flow for water We've taken the wildlife out and so green wont be able to sustain all the planting, Maybe releasing the dangerous wildlife, and all our pests may help more. Not to mention the constant growth of the human population. We're f**ked, because even the scientists don't have a clue
Wouldn't it be better to live around the things already there? Instead of building a settlement and bulldozing away all the native vegetation, to build around the native vegetation, in a harmonic way, as people have done and still do, its just profit driven infrastructure that does not care about nature that is destructive, Ive seen first hand that it us possible for humans to live with nature in a sustainable way, thats where we have come from and we have forgotten how to do so.
@@LeafofLifeWorld Would have been better if we worked around nature rather than forcing nature to work around us, but too late for that. Our building s are in the way and in the wrong places. We need streams, lakes, ponds etc running through our cities and towns too. Yes its possible to live in a sustainable way, but there's too many of us for a world scale. The biggest problem we have, is that we live in a green house affect, and what one country does, can effect their own country, or even a country on the other side of the world. It needs to be worked on as a whole and calculated by the world. We can't plant too close to the cold parts of the earth either, as that will melt the ice caps quicker. If all the rainforests died it would wipe out most of us.
The oceans produce more oxygen than all the rainforests combined, removes almost 1/3 of the atmosphere's manmade carbon dioxide, and control our planet's temperature and weather. If all the sharks and whales died, we'd all be gone because we wouldn't be able to breathe. I don't see a way out of this mess.
@@LeafofLifeWorld Listen to this then.
The Edan project in England made way for the biggest biodome in the world. Over time, this dome created it's very own rainfall that works like clockwork. They didn't expect this, so they had to do some rethinking and work to accommodate that water flow.
I would love to have a city looking like a jungle, that be so sick
The ecosystem would be even healthier if it was just forests and no neighborhood is there. Build denser in urban areas so we aren’t clearing more and more land to build plastic jungles
Denser urban areas also have many problems, live in a dense city of Europe and it just smells of sewage
Exactly!!
@@LeafofLifeWorld those are vanity problems, all science shows that denser living is better for nature
What about local zoning regulation for services like grocery shopping, dentist, barber shops etc etc reachable by walking and cycling.
Greenery is simple.
Feels very good ! This sort of initiatives ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Green the World is the only option .
For starters, Co2 is not a bad thing. Plants need it, and we need what they produce. I'm more worried about what's coming out of the 3rd world, and places like China which have practically no environmental regulations at all. The biggest issue with suburbs are the cookie cutter homes with HOAs. While it has its pros, the cons outweigh them imo. When buying property, I lean towards custom homes without HOA. Residential areas that have them tend to have a lot more "nature" involved, often with a unique mix of flora that attract wild life. I'm glad we are starting to see some change on that front with "traditional track homes.
Part of the reason for the Suburban sprawl in the US also came after 1965. Some of you might not like this reality, but importing a ton of people from the 3rd world, especially at such high numbers, created horrible Urban landscapes, which also lead to crime and poor infrastructure. This only drives more people out into the suburbs, usually the original natives of those cities who felt safer leaving. Importing more people was never a good idea, as it had a good balance before the 60s.
All that sense you are making is going to destroy the globalist left's wet dream of herding everyone into authoritarian "smart" cities with stack and packing pod housing and drone deliveries of bug burgers, soylent green and roach milk.
I do agree with the permaculture and integrating nature into living environments, spreading people out a bit, allowing them to be able to keep livestock, grow gardens and supplement their own food resources
I appreciate California's diversity of ecosystems and Indigenous nations and languages. So many kinds of beautiful natural places. Land Back!
Thanks I saw your other comment, you can stay up to date with our projects at www.leafoflife.news
@@LeafofLifeWorld Thanks!
In Japan, there is a long-standing custom of planting a tree in the yard when a child is born.
When the children grow up and get married, they make furniture from the tree and take it to their new homes.
That said, preserving, restoring, improving and maintaining a better environment is a fine idea. It improves quality of life for everyone. And everything. ❤
We have a front yard garden. No chemicals and less work than a lawn. Just plant perennials. We are loaded with aronia for smoothies. It’s stringent so you don’t use much in a smoothie. But it’s the most nutritious fruit that grow super easy.
Who wants to have boring hours with when we should have more permaculture as a solution for water shortage and the sun’s unbearable heat
Turn golf courses into nature reserves and parks. Golf clubs are a nightmare that only a few privileged people can access. They should be turned into something benefitial for the many and that would increase biodiversity.
This is great stuff! I really want to see how we can bring this all up at scale
Andrew Millison is a great channel. Especially loved his video on permaculture in Egypt. Great video again!
I really loved the India series but I think he's educational specific videos are the most enlightening about permaculture
Humans are crowding out all other species of plants and animals.
A variety of vegetation needs to be part of any tree planting project. A variety of trees, bushes and flowers are all necessary to support wild life and plant diversity. There needs to be forests, there also needs to be some open space for grasslands and some wildflower areas that support populations of insects, bees, butterflies, birds and other wild life
Agree i dont know why they just plant euciliptis
Population needs to be in balance with jobs, resources, nature and the environment. Having a bigger population in any country than the country can support makes no sense. Access to food, water, shelter and jobs should guide population levels. The worlds population is still expected to add another billion people to feed, clothe and produce pollution.
The world population is on a very steep decline with birth rates at less than 2 per family over much of the world. If we don't learn how to produce our own food starvation will become a reality. Watch demographic winter and see what's down the road for all of us.
@@dianebarnes3180 Yes - populations are declining in the developed world. But the world population is still projected to add another billion mouths to feed. clothe and house. The worlds population is still growing and demanding more resources and adding more pollution every day. Where will the resources come from to feed an additional billion people. Education and birth control are key to reducing poverty and hunger. Having a child that you can not provide for yourself is cruel and irresponsible.
What’s interesting is all us kids who grew up in Levittowns or those kind of starter home developments don’t want that.
Great work.
Right, except today's suburbs are NOT restoring biodiversity and are actively stifling them. I agree that there are some movements that tackle some of the issues presented, but in no way are suburbs restoring biodiversity.
Andrew’s UA-cam channel is fantastic
Hi from France. Very interesting video thx
Basicaly England sub urban style
Thank you for the interesting video.I did not realize how much nature was destroyed to clear space for the suburbs. I think the only way to live sustainably is to live with and in nature. Build housing without destroying nature and then planting new "nature". Even with local wild plants and permaculture it is not the same as nature. Biodiversity always suffers. Use space more efficiently too.
Totally agree i believe we can integrate our lives with nature like we have done for thousands of years, permacture does not mean to exclude nature, at least from my understanding of it since its meant to be about permanent culture which is about integrating nature 💚🌿🌾🌱
@@LeafofLifeWorld From what I understand, permaculture does integrate nature and tries to replicate nature to a certain degree but is still designing nature in doing so. I like to look at this by looking at nature as the work of all plants and animals that live their lives and shape their environment. Man is just one of many and not the designing part. If you design nature, only those plants and animals that fit into the design will survive.
@@nicolediedrichsen3000 This is very true and I'm not disagreeing with you, however, we can design for MORE diversity. We can actually have a net positive impact and increase diversity. We alone can do this. We CAN reverse the negative impacts we've created.
Tbh I don't think there is anything wrong with humans designing nature, because we have already been doing it for thousands years, we would not have the food we eat as we know it, we have manipulated nature to be able to exist and thrive within it
(excluding all the monocultures that some civilizations have gravitated towards)
as long as we do this manipulation in a holistic way in the areas that we live and settle around, then we can thrive in a more harmonic and sustainable way, like we have done before, before we lost this knowledge almost altogether!
Thats not to say we can't leave nature alone, we already have national parks that are strictly protected for wild life for that.
@@Reyajh Yes, we can increase biodiversity. But less than if we lived with nature. They found out that in the USA, I believe, areas that were restored had less biodiversity than areas that native Americans had stewardship over. I presume, they knew how to live with nature.
I absolutely HATE lawns.
Me too, because there is too much and people only use a small area but make large lawns that they don't even use!
Nice video!!!!!!!! Nice video!!!!!!!! could you help us to understand the difference between agroecology and permaculture? Greetings from Peru!!
I live in suburbia but I am very lucky to live on the edge of a zone to where I can walk to a school, restaurants, and a grocery store in 10 minutes. My neighborhood thankfully has side walks and is covered in trees but things need to change.
The "old suburbs" built before the reliance on cars are usually the ones that are the most walkable and have the most diverse housing. Unfortunately due to outdated zoning policies, they're not the kind of suburbs that can be built anymore.
@@austinradtke9730 My neighborhood was built in the early 2000s
Great work, thank you for the video
It is great work to see that people are changing lawns to biodiverse gardens, nature so desperately needs this but so do we! I hope we can build more sustainable suburbs and cities of the future!
Oh Looky, a couple people planted a couple trees. And your "before" and After pics are 40 years apart. We still have forests being torn down for subs.
Love this video but must point out that the robin footage was that of a European robin and not an American robin which is in the thrush family and much larger.
Zone to allow services within biking range, no lawns, no mandatory watering, mandate native plants
Wish you good luck gentlemans. 😍😍😍😍😍
I’m glad I wasn’t raised in the suburbs
Education and birth control are key to reducing poverty and hunger.
Bicycles, ebikes, electric cargo bicycles, robo taxis and escooters are great options for last mile, short distance travel.
Cities need to do more to encourage people to ride bicycles by providing SAFE, PROTECTED BIKE LANES and trails. Every adult and child should own a bicycle and ride it regularly. Bicycles are healthy exercise and fossil fuels free transportation. Electric bicycles are bringing many older adults back to cycling. Ride to work, ride to school or ride for fun. Children should be able to ride a bicycle to school without having to dodge cars and trucks. Separated and protected bike lanes are required. It will also make the roads safer for automobile drivers. Transportation planners and elected officials need to encourage people to walk, bike and take public transportation. Healthy exercise and fossil fuels free transportation. In the future cities will be redesigned for people not cars. Crazy big parking lots will be transformed.
E um futuro próximo,espero que isto possa ser aplicado aqui no Brasil. Pois as cidades crescem de maneira desordenada sem qualquer planejamento e ultimamente as prefeituras, inclusive a de São Paulo concretam tudo!? É um absurdo!!?? E isto só piora a falta de permeabilidade do solo e a questão de enchentes nos dias de chuva. Em um país que tem parte do seu território na Amazônia, e triste ver como as políticas do atual Governo só visam o lucro fácil e destruição: desmatamento recorde favorecendo madeireiras, grileiros e pecuaristas, perda de direito dos povos indígenas e ribeirinhos favorecendo o garimpo ilegal.
Exactly what you say here is why I am so interested in green infrastructure and planning because I've visited these humid places and concrete makes no sense, not to mention the environmental cost of concrete, we can change the course of the future, and ask for more sustainable alternatives for our future!
all suburbs should be required to have sidewalks, curbs, drain sewers and grassy knolls between the curb and sidewalks for tree planting.
Problems that don't affect Uganda. The lawns are natural. They don't require fertilisers
California has lost population in the last two years. I suspect that the USA will reach peak population in the next decade. Immigration is not enough to replace the native population's low birthrate Although suburbs in the southern half of the USA are growing - many states will or are losing population from rural areas and from urban cores. Nature is going to take back many acres of the USA when population leaves...and diversity will increase as a result of the neglect of these areas.
Tthis s has been directly observed in sections of Detroit that were abandoned and parts of Baltimore where housing was torn down and lots turned back into rough looking meadows . Nature can restore itself if we get out of the way. My self I try to plant plants that can "take care of themselves" in my area's climate to minimize /eliminate chemical use.
While all of these plans for improvement are certainly good, the "elephant in the room" is the human population continuing to spiral into oblivion.
Even with current pandemics, the global population increases by 200,000+ each day.
To many people my guy :(
As a Brazilian, I dream of living in a suburb like zone, where there's no traffic, no noise, no pollution, no trash. Our cities are very dense and noisy. I would die to live in a peaceful and quiet place. I love the American system.
"No traffic, no noise, no pollution." While yes, the suburbs themselves don't have traffic, because of car dependency, many highways have traffic 24/7, only getting worse during rush hour. Compare that to many a country like The Netherlands, which while yes has rush hour, doesn't have 24/7 traffic and has great bike infrastructure and public transport. Sure the American system is better than the Brazilian system, but they are by no means perfect.
Sei não irmão, adoro a correria de SP, e tudo é tão perto!
@@luizboxwellgranja561 Eu falei em meu nome, não dos demais brasileiros kkkkkkk
@@GTNTAnimations I've been to the Netherlands, beautiful. But I still prefer America. I speak for myself of course
Yeah because Brazil’s city planning is awful if Brazil used ecological principles you wouldn’t admire Americans false dream
finally someone calls out that low density housing means low ecological impact, period.
Oak is as foreign a species to Colorado as Gingko. Are you saying native as in native to your areas USDA climate zone, or native as native to your state/region?
It would be state/region
Las Vegas takes up grass from neighborhoods, which is great, however dozens of golf courses are still there.
Oui, sauvons les sols !✌🏻🌹
The most important authority in the US is lawn enforcement.
There is not a housing shortage in california 🙄 none of it is affordable, thats why it sucks here
we do this in denmark as well :D more green is better
We really need to slow down population growth.
This is more of a band-aid instead of an actual fix.
Car dependency designs must gone.
Suburban living is a tax on all urban residents. That could be old growth forest if you just stop building suburbs.
The problem of suburbs is that the very concept is at odds with both biodiversity and natural habitats in general. It is the most space inefficient way to settle: most land use and most need for commute - which still is mostly based on fossil fuels. Ironically, the most "unnatural" landscape, the dense city, is best for nature: it uses by far the least space and makes long distance or car commute mostly superfluous.
If a surburb was a community and had mixed use development then there is less need for travel, if people could grow their own foods within the surburb they would be much more sustainable. Land use for development is not the greatest threat the nature and biodiversity its actually agricultural. I don't think cities are unnatural because all you have to do is look at traditional housing, its always densely packed together, even in a rural setting, British surburbs are more like this, however American surburbs for some reason are just way bigger more spaced out, so how they use this extra space is going to determine their sustainability.
@@LeafofLifeWorld I agree. The prototypical (american) suburb, that is not simply a village or city district, is a crime against any city planning logic or conservation effort, though.
That's like stabbing someone in the chest and taking him to the hospital.
some usefull hints and tips:
- stop trimming your lawn
- dispose of garbage in your backyard as a form of compost which attracts cockroaches and rats.
- animal rights are equal to human rights, remember? So do NOT remove the vermin!
- take in a large number of stray or injured animals etc.
...
- Biodiversity is back! )))
(Google for MOVE)
Why can't you make a compost area that is in the community but not directly in your back yard? Anyway if there were more biodiversity, trees and plants with all the native species you actually reduce pests and vermin,
Cats are invasive so...?
Suburban home owners landscape their yards with trees,bushes and flowers.
On the other hand city apartment dwellers buy a few small indoor potted plants.
Who is greening the environment more.
That's not true everywhere. In my city, most subdivisions have no trees, bushes or flowers. Just large swaths of turfgrass.
Most suburbs are desolate monocultures of non native lawn that provide nothing but a waste of valuable resources
Interesting subject but what a strange voice over. Is it computer generated?
You got nothing better to do that put some trees in your garden, ¡ mean, you even save water if you are lazy to water the grass every sunny day..,
Sorry I don't quite understand this comment, maybe the translation doesn't work so good?
Then homeowers want to cut them down because they're blocking the view.
It’s funny how city ppl want to be in the wild then complain about animals. Stay in the city then
Trees shouldn't be near homes in my opinion they cause too many issues.
People like owning and driving cars..Get over it..Take your Utopian dreams elsewhere
Only in US. Rest of the world live in urban cities.