Wasteland by Frederick Kaufman
Oct 10, 2010
New York City sewage treatment may seem to be an unlikely subject of interest, yet Frederick Kaufman tells the tale well, in a conversational, and entertaining way. With as much as 160 million gallons of peak flow, it takes a interesting and complex journey.
“A bear goes in the woods and it takes two years to decompose. We do it in six hours. In six hours, we imitate all of nature—from the big bang to the big chill. We’re trying to put it back the way that God intended.”
The above quote is a favorite of mine from Wasteland by Frederick Kaufman from his article featured in Harper's Magazine. The best place to read this is in The Best American Science and Nature Writers 2009 which includes many fascinating articles. Its a steal at $14.00 for 26 great narratives.
The infrastructure of great cities is a technological wonder that mostly goes unnoticed. This article gives scale and meaning to a major cog in the economy serving an essential service that big cites all over must face. In New York City in 2009 more than 8 million people account for 40% of the state's population, and out of the state's 47 thousand square miles, the city only consumes 303 square miles. Every infrastructure depends on science and planning to keep this process off the minds of it's citizens.
Of the many educational aspects, the article also debunks the old assertion that the Superbowl halftime causes the greatest flow through the sewer system. A quote to that is found here 
Commercial Rooftop Garden - Montreal Gazette Article
Nov 25, 2010
This is a great idea. City centers do not have much room for living plants that do more than add decorative ambiance. Lufa Farms will make a great statement by building a greenhouse complex atop a two story office building near Marche Centrale in Montreal, Quebec.
The nearly $2-million, 31,000 square-foot project should be completed before the end of the year and is expected to be ready for planting in January.
In our current economy, the double-duty of real estate space would be a good use of space. All the rage is everything green. Greenhouse enterprises able to operate in close proximity of high population areas would bring a positive eco-friendly industry in a venue that normally crowds such business to a receding rural landscape.
I applaud this kind of building design.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Commercial+rooftop+garden+world+firs...
