What Would A Green Future Look Like?

By Charles P. Alexander

By the year 2025 many of us will no longer tolerate the scourges of 20th century suburban life: the marathon commutes, the maddening traffic jams, the pollution spewing from tailpipes and chimneys. We'll demand neighborhoods where the air is pristine and places to work, shop and play are close at hand

WORK/TRANSPORT

Lots of us will work in our houses or apartments , telecommuting with our computers. Others will make a short hop to a nearby office park . Those who have to go downtown will prefer swift mass transit . Cars and trucks will still be used, but they will run on clean, hydrogen-powered fuel cells. To keep ourselves in shape and save money, we'll spend more time on bicycles

FOOD We'll favor fruits, grains and vegetables grown close to home, either in our backyard gardens or on nearby organic farms . It won't take much energy to get the fresh produce to local markets. Since the farms will employ natural forms of pest control rather than potentially toxic chemicals, there will be much less of a buildup of suspected carcinogens in the food supply

SHOPPING Even in an era of online marketing, there may still be a mall , but it will be relatively small and easy to get to, with sidewalks and bike racks instead of a mammoth parking lot. An airy place where a flood of natural light will cut down on energy use, the mall will be a two-way operation: when you're through using any product you buy there, the stores will be required to take it back for recycling

ENERGY Our power will come from sources cleaner than fossil fuels. Some energy will flow from modern-day windmills , but much of it will be generated in our own homes. Rooftop solar panels will supply electricity to our appliances and to a basement fuel cell , which will produce hydrogen. When the sun is not shining, the cell will operate in reverse, using the hydrogen to make electricity

WASTE Sewage will be piped into enclosed marshes , where selected plants, fish, snails and microbes will purify the wastewater before it enters streams and reservoirs. No longer will inadequate treatment of wastewater promote algae blooms that threaten other aquatic life