What's the "Big Idea": Cities

5/2 Update: If you were able to watch the "Cities" episode on Tues, 5/1, we would love to hear your comments and any new facts you have learned!

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America’s big cities are increasingly squeezed to the limits, plagued by traffic gridlock, urban heat islands, power outages and decreased quality of air and water.  Across the country, mayors, civic planners, entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens are re-thinking our cities, coming up with new projects, standards and policies to improve urban life. This week's "The Green" on Sundance Channel focuses on what certain individuals are doing to make our cities more environmentally friendly.

Are you a city dweller? What are you doing to help the environment? Do you have suggestions for those who live in the city?

Here are some questions to consider:

• Transportation makes up one-third of the energy we use in the U.S. Cars and trucks make up half of this number. How are you reducing your energy consumption?
• Do you know of any community gardens in your area? What makes is successful? What do you think of "guerilla gardening", which includes building gardens overnight in various communities?
• How do you connect people and buildings to nature?

Tuesday, May 1^st @ 2PM EST you will have the opportunity to chat live with Dennis Wilde who will be featured on this week's episode of "Big Ideas for a Small Planet". Click here for details. Learn what he is doing to build a sustainable community.

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Tune into the Sundance Channel on Tuesday, May 1^st to learn more:

Tuesday, May 1^st 9:00pm e/p

“Big Ideas for a Small Planet: Cities” – Portland real estate developer Dennis Wilde is the pioneering force behind the South Waterfront project, which is turning a polluted brown field into a flourishing sustainable community; Trey Taylor, co-founder of Verdant Power puts years of research, engineering design and money to the test when he submerges the first two underwater turbines in New York City’s East River in the hopes that it will light up the skyline using renewable energy; and Heather Flores and her band of guerilla gardeners work overnight to beautify blighted urban plots of unused land with local plants and flowers.

Tuesday, May 1^st 9:30pm e/p

Crapshoot: The Gamble with Our Wastes  (U.S. Television Premiere) – Directed by Jeff McKay.  This Canadian documentary examines the origins and evolution of the sewer, that marvel of engineering that flushes away our daily wastes, out of sight and out of mind.  But while the sewers of classical Rome helped define a civilization, today’s sewers carry heavy metals, chemicals, solvents and other materials the Romans could scarcely imagine.  Traveling through Canada, Sweden, the United States and India, McKay reveals how these potentially toxic wastes can end up back where they started, above ground, on farms and in the food chain.  The film looks at how different communities have responded to mounting evidence of health risks posed by sewer sludge, and interviews the engineers, activists and ordinary citizens who advocate a new approach to waste disposal.

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Do you have a "Big Idea" for the environment. Join The Green to learn more about Robert Redford's new television series about sustainable living. To join, click here.