A STUDY OF ONE ASPECT OF URBAN ECOLOGY (USING THE EXAMPLE OF THE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT OF A CHRISTMAS TREE)

Abstract

Urban ecology encompasses numerous aspects that determine the sustainable development of urbanized areas and the quality of the human environment. Numerous factors determine the constant burden on the ecosystem, including transport emissions, municipal wastewater, municipal solid waste, and industrial activity. However, the ecological balance is not confined within the city limits; external impacts from powerful sources of pollution can be transmitted by river flows or air masses, and ultimately, are shaped by the entire integrated ecological space of the planet. At the current stage of development, along with the globalization of social and economic ties, humanity has "remembered" the interdependence of environmental events, adopting the ecological footprint left by human activity as a yardstick. In this context, every human action should be considered an influencing factor, which is especially relevant in the context of concentrated communities formed by urban settlements. This article proposes to examine the issue of natural resource use in organizing New Year's celebrations, related to the production, sale, and disposal of natural and artificial coniferous trees. Today, approximately 120 million coniferous trees are cut down annually worldwide for sale at Christmas tree markets. This figure is also increased by the production of plastic New Year's symbols. This article provides comparative assessments of the environmental impact of two types of trees. A methodology for studying their ecological footprint is proposed, within which the analyzed factors are considered. The steps for defining linguistic variables, term sets, and the system's rule base using the Mamdani algorithm are described, along with modeling using MATLAB software in the FuzzyLogic fuzzy inference editor. Based on the resulting models of harm, conclusions are drawn regarding approaches to consuming natural and artificial Christmas trees to reduce their ecological footprint.