Green Yards Research Articles

Cultivation of Family Medicinal Plants using the Verticulture Method as Efforts to Use Narrow Yard Land in Rawamangun, East Jakarta

The area of RW 01 Rawamangun, Pulogadung District, East Jakarta does not have an allocation of open land, so there is a minimum of green yards. The technology introduced in this community service activity is the cultivation of family medicinal plants in yards using the verticulture method. The purpose of this community service activity is to convey information about the cultivation of family medicinal plants through lectures, discussions, and direct practice of cultivating family medicinal plants in yards using the verticulture method. Evaluation of participants' knowledge improvement was carried out by pre- and post test after counseling and cultivation practices. Skills participants are carried out when evaluating the practice of cultivating medicinal plants in their yards. The results of the activity showed an increase in basic knowledge regarding the types, benefits, and techniques of cultivating family medicinal plants from technology. Family medicinal plant service activity is classified as successful and beneficial, due to increased knowledge more than 60 in average test scoring. The skills evaluation showed that some residents were able to plant and maintain family medicinal plants on a narrow plot of land using the proper verticulture method. The results of the cultivation of these medicinal plants, apart from being one of the real actions of plant greening, can also be in the form of powder products which can then be consumed as a body health measure or sold.

Post-Occupancy evaluation of office buildings’ indoor environmental quality from the perspectives of architects and non-architects (case study: Iran)

Considering the importance of sustainable development to the modern world, user perspective should be included in the process of designing sustainable buildings. Therefore, with emphasis on occupants' perspectives and the gap in examining the difference between the views of architects and non-architects on user satisfaction, this paper aims to demarcate the points of convergence and divergence of architects and non-architects in terms of user satisfaction factor. In addition, IEQ in Iranian office buildings was investigated. A quantitative method was used and an adequate number of questionnaires were filled out by Iranian employees with respect to a comprehensive case study. The results showed that the perspectives of architects and non-architects converged on user satisfaction. Conversely, from architects' points of view, energy and water efficiency for buildings was of higher significance than other elements. Furthermore, structural stability of the building, ventilation system, controlling the water and energy use of buildings, thermal comfort, building's age, green yard and landscape, restroom, and noise levels were recognized as effective parameters as well. The noteworthy finding of this study is that non-architects care about an environmentally friendly design more than architects in both genders. In this respect, including the divergence and convergence points of both architects and non-architects in the designing process could ensure a better design. This research can provide a novel insight into architects' views of the primary design platform in office buildings which can fill the existing research gap.

How a Lack of Green in the Residential Environment Lowers the Life Satisfaction of City Dwellers and Increases Their Willingness to Relocate

This paper investigates whether various forms of green spaces in the residential environment are associated with city dwellers’ life satisfaction and their willingness to relocate. Previous research on different forms of green spaces in the residential environment as a direct source of life satisfaction is scarce, and we know little about whether green spaces affect the decision to relocate. We address these topics with a two-equation model that estimates respondents’ considerations to relocate while accounting for life satisfaction. With this strategy, we are able to test which aspects of residential greenery (window view, green environment, green yard, own garden, and balcony) are associated with one or both outcomes, controlling for life-course events and demographic characteristics. The data come from a primary survey conducted in two large German cities, Cologne and Hamburg, in 2020/21 (N = 1886). The results show that not having green elements in the window view, not having a green yard, and—exclusively for parents—not having a garden increase the likelihood of considering residential relocation. Not having a balcony and not having a garden are directly associated with decreased life satisfaction, and decreased life satisfaction triggers the willingness to relocate.

Greener Schoolyards, Greener Futures? Greener Schoolyards Buffer Decreased Contact With Nature and Are Linked to Connectedness to Nature.

Children are spending less time in nature. They are not taking advantage of the benefits that are related to experiencing nature, such as the improvement of attentional capacity and stress reduction. Furthermore, they are also losing the opportunity to assess nature in a more positive way and to become more connected to nature, factors that appear to be fundamental to securing a greener future. To overcome this problem, researchers have been focusing on increasing children’s contact with nature in schools and in promoting garden-based learning programs. Children spend most of their time in school, where they face many cognitive and relational demands. As such, schools might be the ideal context to increase children’s contact with nature with more empirical research being needed to understand the effects that greener schools might have. The goal of this study is to explore the effects of schoolyards in children’s perceived restorativeness experiences, attitudes towards nature, connection to nature, and social competences. For that, we studied children (N = 132) from three elementary schools with different schoolyards: a school with cement yard with a few trees, a school with green areas, and a school where many parts of the yard were earthen and there was a vegetable garden that the students could cultivate as part of an ongoing garden-based learning program. The results of a questionnaire confirmed that greener schoolyards were related to stronger restorative experiences. As such, children might benefit from improving their attentional capacity during breaks. Unexpectedly, the perceived restorativeness effect was stronger for children who usually had lesser contact with nature than for children who contacted more with nature. This suggests that having schools with green yards might buffer some of the effects of reduced contacts with nature outside of school. The effects of the schoolyard in children’s social competences did not appear to emerge. However, children that attended the school with the greener schoolyard had more positive attitudes and were more connected to nature than children from the other two schools. This further suggests that designing greener schoolyards might be an opportunity to contribute to reversing global environmental challenges.

Greening of Daycare Yards with Biodiverse Materials Affords Well-Being, Play and Environmental Relationships.

Nature contacts are recognized as positively contributing to humans’ health and well-being. Although there have been projects to green daycare or schoolyards, yard greening and microbial biodiversity have never been studied simultaneously. We asked whether simultaneously increasing biodiversity exposure and greening urban daycare yards affects 3–5 years-old children’s physical activity and play, their environmental relationships, and their perceived well-being. For transforming six daycare yards in Finland, we used a forest floor with high biodiversity, sod, peat blocks, and planters for vegetable and flower growing. We used qualitative interview and survey-based data collected from the daycare personnel and parents to analyze how green yards encourage children’s engagement with their everyday life-worlds. We identified the functional possibilities provided by the yards and the dynamic aspects related to the greening. Green, biodiverse yards were considered safe, and inspired children’s play, diversified their activities, and increased physical activity. The greenery offered embodied experiences of nature and provided the children with multi-sensory exploration and diverse learning situations. The dynamic and emotional ways of engaging with the natural environment increased their well-being. The activities related to caring for the yards and exploring them promoted the development of environmental relationships. The results can be used for designing health-enhancing yards

UTILIZATION OF ORGANIC FRACTION OF MUNICIPAL WASTE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY – A CASE STUDY

The organic fraction of municipal waste (MW) is a huge resource of nutrients and energy, primarily because of the high content of carbon as well as potassium and phosphorus. On the other hand, having in mind the problems that cities are faced with, such as energy supply, transportation, environmental pollution and many others, waste management has to be considered as an integral part of city management. Circular economy is a new concept of thinking which implies that all streams of a system should be considered as a possible resource, including waste. The organic part of municipal waste can be used in several ways. Anaerobic digestion (AD) that produces biogas and compost can be a part of the chain of circular economy of a city. This paper deals with the organic waste generated on the territory of the city of Nis with the focus on its potential in terms of carbon, hydrogen and mineral content. Based on the elementary analysis and quantity of waste, the streams of carbon and other elements that circulate through waste, biogas and compost have also been analyzed. Moreover, energy needs for AD function and transportation of both MW and compost are calculated. The analysis shows that the energy produced by AD can cover the energy needs for the proposed model, and the amount of produced compost is enough to recover nutrients on the majority of green yards in the city.

An Estimation of Air Drying Time of Dimensional Lumber

To monitor the air-drying time of dimensional lumber, load beams equipped with a data logger were used to collect lumber weight loss data. A weather station on the same site as the air-drying experiment was used to obtain the information regarding air temperature and relative humidity and wind velocity. A multiple regression model for estimating the drying rates for 2-in. × 4-in. × 8-ft (38.5-mm × 90-mm × 250-cm) green spruce/pine dimensional lumber was developed. Data analysis revealed that wind direction did not have a significant effect on the rate of moisture loss. Thus, the resulting regression equation takes temperature, relative humidity, initial moisture content, and wind speed into account. Based on historical weather information for a particular location, the model developed can be used as a practical guideline for estimating air drying time and therefore offers the user a valuable tool for planning green yard inventory.

Landscape planning and stress

Stress and stress-related illnesses, as reflected in medical records, have increased dramatically among adults and children in Western societies. A growing part of the budget for medical service in Sweden is used for individuals suffering from different stress-related illnesses such as burnout syndrome, insomnia and fatigue, depression, feelings of panic, etc. In this paper, we present results from a study in which 953 randomly selected individuals in nine Swedish cities answered a questionnaire about their health and their use of different urban open green spaces in and close to the city. The results indicate that city landscape planning may affect the health of town-dwellers. Statistically significant relationships were found between the use of urban open green spaces and self-reported experiences of stress – regardless of the informant's age, sex and socio-economic status. The results suggest that the more often a person visits urban open green spaces, the less often he or she will report stress-related illnesses. The same pattern is shown when time spent per week in urban open green spaces is measured. The distance to public urban open green spaces seems to be of decisive importance, as is access to a garden, in the form of a private garden or a green yard immediately adjacent to, for instance, an apartment building. People do not usually compensate for lack of green environments in their own residential area with more visits to public parks or urban forests. According to our results, laying out more green areas close to apartment houses, and making these areas more accessible, could make for more restorative environments. Outdoor areas that provide environments free from demands and stress, and that are available as part of everyday life, could have significant positive effects on the health of town-dwellers in Sweden. This may also apply to other Western societies.

Water and wastewater minimization plan in food industries

Iran is one of the countries located in a dry and semi-dry area. Many provinces like Tehran are facing problems in recent years because of less precipitation. For reduction in wastewater treatment cost and water consumption, many research works have been carried out. One of them concerns food industries group, which consumes a great amount of water in different units. For example, in beverage industries, washing of glass bottles seven times requires large amounts of water but use of plastic bottles can reduce water consumption. Another problem is leakage from pipelines, valves, etc. Their repair plays an important role in the wastage of water. The non-polluted wasted water can be used in washing halls, watering green yards, recycling to the process or reusing in cooling towers. In this paper, after a short review of waste minimization plans in food industries, problems concerning water consuming and wastewater producing units in three Iranian food industries have been investigated. At the end, some suggestions have been given for implementing the water and wastewater minimization plan in the companies.

Characterization of phytoavailable zinc in compost‐peat substrates — Comparison of methods

AbstractCompost of separately collected green yard and organic household wastes may contain high amounts of Zn. Hence, substrates basing on compost can result in Zn phytotoxicity. The aim of the investigations was to identify a suitable reagent to characterize phytoavailable Zn in compost‐peat substrates. Petunia hybrids were cultivated in compost‐peat substrates with increasing Zn amounts (basic load, 400, 800, 1600 mg kg−1 d.m. aqua regia soluble). Extractable Zn was determined by extraction of fresh and dried substrates with H2O, 1 M NH4NO3, 0.1 M CaCl2, 1 M NH4OAc, and CaCl2‐DTPA (0.01 M + 0.002 M). The Zn content of plants increased significantly with increasing Zn application and decreasing pH. The result of CaCl2 and NH4OAc extraction reflected the influence of pH on Zn phytoavailability quite well and the correlation with the plant Zn content was very good. Extraction with H2O and NH4NO3 did not give acceptable results. Extraction with CaCl2‐DTPA was inconsistent for all trials and thus not suitable. The percentage of CaCl2‐extractable Zn in relation to the aqua regia soluble content at the same pH varied over the trials. Thus, the phytoavailable content of the substrates is influenced by additional factors, besides Zn supply and pH. The result of CaCl2 extraction of dried substrates resulted in the best reflection of Zn phytoavailability and was used for all further investigations, including determination of critical values of phytotoxic Zn. Plant yield was not influenced by the Zn treatments. However, Zn induced chlorosis of petunias occurred at a plant Zn content > 160 mg kg−1 d.m. and a phytoavailable Zn content in the substrate > 6 mg l−1 in CaCl2 extract and > 2.6 mg l−1 in NH4OAc extract, respectively.

Suitability of Composted Green Waste for Horticultural Uses

The study was undertaken to determine the physiochemical properties and nutrient supply characteristics of composted green yard and landscape waste (CGW) and to document its performance as a field soil amendment or constituent of potting media. Three CGW samples were collected from each of two composting operations in California from Nov. 1993 to Apr. 1994. Macronutrient content varied widely between operations, and among samples from the same operation, with mean total N, P, and K levels averaging 1.1%, 0.26%, and 0.67%, respectively. Controlled-environment incubation of a moist 1 CGW: 9 soil blend (2 weeks at 30 °C) was conducted to determine net N mineralization from CGW. Despite low C: N ratios (<12), five of six CGW samples showed net immobilization, a characteristic of immature compost. An in-field incubation of soil amended with 1% or 2% CGW (w/w) showed no net N release from CGW over 4 months. In a field trial, bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) fruit yield was increased by soil amendment with CGW (17 or 34 t·ha–1) under a low N fertilizer regime (168 kg·ha–1), but was unaffected where sufficient fertilizer N (280 kg·ha–1) was applied. CGW was compared with peat as a constituent of potting media; both were blended 1:1 (v/v) with perlite and used in the production of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) and marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) plants under varying fertigation regimes (constant feed of N at 0, 50, or 100 mg·L–1 as 15N–13P–12K). CGW was equivalent or superior to peat in plant growth; CGW did contribute to crop macronutrient nutrition, but the highest fertigation rate was required for optimum growth.

Texas National Egg Laying Contest

The Texas National Egg Laying Contest conducted under the direction of the Department of Poultry Husbandry of the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College at College Station, Texas, was started in November of 1917, and the fifth successive contest is now in operation.During the Fourth Contest from November 1, 1920 to October 30, 1921, there were 102 pens in competition, each consisting of five standard bred individuals. They were housed in substantial and attractive houses with large roomy green yards. Thirteen breeds and varieties were represented by 86 breeders, six of whom were from outside the state and the other 80 were Texas breeders. Six birds constituted a pen, one however being used as a reserve bird. Birds that died were replaced. In the present contest, the Fifth, six birds also constitute a pen, one being designated as the alternate. When a bird dies, however, it is not replaced and .