Calgary State of the Environment report measures progress

The recently released 2006 State of the Environment report of the city of Calgary (Canada) monitors environment trends, measures the success of the city’s environmental policies, and identifies areas for improvement.

Some of the results identified in the report include:

Water

• between 1985 and 2005, water consumption decreased on a per capita basis by about 42 percent, for 800 litres per day to 458 per day.
• ammonia and phosphorous in treated wastewater effluent have decreased significantly since 1990 as a result of the installation of nutrient removal systems at wastewater treatment facilities between 1992 and 1998.

Air

• since the 1990’s, ambient levels of important air pollutants have decreased, likely as a result of improvements in vehicle exhaust treatment technologies.
• between 1990 and 2005, community greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 40 percent, from under 12 million tonnes to 16.8 million tonnes as a result of population increases.

Waste

• between 1995 and 2005, per capita residential waste disposed has decreased slightly from 250 kg per capita to 220 kg per capita.
• industrial, commercial, institutional, construction and demolition sectors have shown a significant increase in waste disposed – from 320 kg per capita in 1995 to 510 kg per capita in 2005.

Calgary is one of 19 local governments in Canada that are currently Members of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. For more information on ICLEI and its activities in Canada, please visit www.iclei.org/canada.

Source: The city of Calgary 2006 State of the Environment, at www.calgary.ca.