Blog #13 - Reduced Reliance on Energy, and Conservation Promotion

When I was a little kid, riding on the city bus, ringing the bell, jumping down the stairs at my stop, all of it fascinated me. As a teenager though, the bus was always late, always crowded, always slow, and always smelled. When I got my first car I thought I had kissed public transportation goodbye (I even became a pro at parallel parking), but when gas prices skyrocketed I reconsidered my old friend.

But riding the bus in southwest Florida is horrible (at least in the tri-county area). If commuting by car from Lehigh to Estero takes forty minutes in good traffic, I shudder to think of the "three hour tour" it would become by bus. When I asked at the Fort Myers Redevelopment Agency if plans to rehab the waterfront and downtown included any considerations of public transport, I received a flat, marginally apologetic "no".


I shrugged my shoulders about it all until I moved to southern California and had to live under that oppressive brown sky. All of a sudden I became obsessed with public transportation. Memories of being smooshed against rush-hour commuters in the DC subway became fond recollections. I waxed poetic about the autumn views from the windows of the Amtrak trains that run from Boston to New York. I framed a picture of my four-year-old son staring out the windows of an Orlando city bus.

I don't mean to ramble on and on about planes, trains, and buses, but the fact of the matter is that most people (especially in Florida) are so caught up in their egocentric, isolationist lives that the idea of sharing their morning commute with perfect strangers, or of going shopping on someone else’s schedule, is so appalling that they’re more than willing to put up with the traffic jams, and smog, and highway runoff, and rising gasoline prices, and a host of other environmental ills. Not that riding the bus in Lee county would ameliorate all those problems, but at least it’s a start.

I never thought there would come a day when I longed for public transportation. I guess it's a sign that I'm getting older.

Blog #12 - Decreasing My Ecological Footprint

Before taking the university colloquium I had NEVER thought that my lifestyle could be characterized as extravagant. Sure, I knew that there were many people on the planet who didn't live as nicely as I did, but my car is about 15 years old, and my house is under 2000 square feet, and I've been recycling my newspapers and aluminum cans for as long as I can remember.

But after taking the quiz I began to get a little more perspective. One of my older siblings lives in California, and another lives in New York, and although we don't see each other often we have been known to rack up the air mileage around the holidays. My household members are very busy people (we're all employed and have hobbies and volunteer regularly), so we don't share cars much during the week. There are as many as four automobiles coming and going on any given weekday. I love bananas, but I'm pretty sure the ones I eat aren't grown anywhere near here.

What really brought the idea home for me though was the day when the well in my parents backyard ran dry. One day we turned on the tap, and nothing came out. It was devastating! They aren't connected to city water at all, and so for two days every time we needed water (to wash our hands, or to cook, or to bathe, or use the toilet or to wash clothes) we had to use bottled water. And we used a lot of bottle water. This made me think of all the people in the world who don't have access to clean water, who have to walk for miles to fill a bucket or jug, who must bathe, wash clothes, and drink from the same semi-polluted river.

Ever since the new well has been dug I've been super conscious of how we use or water. We turn off the tap when brushing our teeth. We rarely run the dishwasher, and then only when it's full. I still take long showers, but at least I feel sort of bad about it. What can I say? It's a learning process.

Blog #11 - Ritual & Sustainability - by Richard Gardner

I found Gardner's articles on religion and sustainability an interesting read. I grew up in a very religious family with both of my parents being first generation converts. This meant that I was raised believing religion is not only something you "believe", it is also something you do. As an adult this theoretical perspective has influenced the way I live on a daily basis because my actions are the truest manifestation of my beliefs.

Keeping a sabbath is a religious ritual that has a direct correlation to ecological sustainability. The biblical "Children of Israel" were for a time a vast agrarian society, and their laws included provisions to let the earth rest (let portions of their farms lie fallow) in much the same way as they themselves were encouraged to rest. Sabbatical years were also celebrated (once every seven years)during which debts were forgiven, slaves were freed, and many other practices aimed at enriching the land and community were followed.

These historical practices are important to me, especially from an ideological standpoint, because even though I don't personally keep the vast majority of sabbatical laws (there are a lot of them) my mind has been trained to view the earth as a community member and not only a tool for my personal sustenance.

What the Flush?! - Challenge 1

http://ecomagination.com/tagyourgreen

It's so cool that the kids are interested in saving the environment, even if it's in a very small way. So when I saw this vid by Wong Fu Productions on YouTube, I just had to share. These guys get bonus points for doing potty humor in a tasteful way.

Blog #9 - Tragedy of the Commons

The concept of "tragedy of the commons" applies well to the commercial fishing industry. If a company has overfished its own waters, then why not sail over to another unclaimed spot and reap there as much as possible. And since this is a business venture, it is often viewed as a matter of legality or illegality and morality is termed irrelevant.

Due to the political climate of today it is difficult to imagine that nations will altruistically steward the planets resources when they are not set to benefit directly from it themselves. Our planet has been objectified to such an extent that every plant, animal, even resources at their molecular level can be qualified in terms of their monetary value. Even the concept of the “tragedy of the commons” seems predicated on the abuse of shared resources for personal gain. Non-governmental agencies are not necessarily well-positioned to protect the resources in these "no man's lands" either because they must suffer the burden of having to constantly validate their allegiance.

I don't know that there is a solution to this issue. I will say that we should not hold ourselves back from doing anything simply because we are afraid of not doing the right thing. US isolationism after WWI and the “Bush Doctrine” that infamously stumped Sarah Palin are two sides of the same coin. And although I hesitate to draw analogies between militarism and environmentalism Martin Niemoller’s poem “First They Came” is a beautiful illustration of the danger of stalling action behind prudence and public consensus.


They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Blog #8 - Downtown Fort Myers

Yay, our group won the scavenger hunt! And it was actually a fun trip.

Before taking this class I had driven into downtown Fort Myers on three seperate occasions. The first time I went to hear a presentation on the waterfront revitalization project sponsored by the Fort Myers Redevelopment Agency. The presenter was very proud of the plans drafted for the new downtown, but when I asked her about affordable housing, public transportations, and the homeless people camped out in Centennial Park, she didn't have much to say. The second time I went I was applying for a passport at the County Clerk's office on 2nd street. I parked in the parking garage, walked to the post office, and then back to the clerk's office. It was a pleasantly easy trip, and I didn't need to move my car once I got downtown. The third trip to downtown was for my little sister's high school graduation at Harborside Convention Center. We arrived early and got inside without much fuss. Leaving was another matter altogether. Apparently carpooling is not the fashion here, because there was an inordinate amount of cars parked on every available foot of blacktop.

This time I got to do a bit of exploring. Reading the green landmark and historical information plaques and signs reminded me of childhood trips to St Augustine and Atlanta. I was dying to go shopping in the Potomac Bead Co store, but alas we were women on a mission, and didn’t have the time to spare. If the weather had been drier, I would have suggested that we take a picture with Edison, Ford, and Firestone at the park fountain, but rainclouds dampened the tourist-y mood. Ultimately the downtown area is a reflection of the people who inhabit and surround it. There were many vacant storefronts, commercial properties left in limbo, and not a lot of foot traffic, but there were a few gems sprinkled throughout. I don’t know when, but I can see myself wandering those streets again, leisurely if not enthusiastically.

Blog #6 - Corkscrew Sanctuary

The National Audubon Society manages the 11,000 acres of the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. There is a boardwalk trail (a long 2.25 mile or short 1 mile) that takes you through the six natural habitats on site (pine flatwood, wet prairie, pond cypress, marsh, lettuce lakes, and bald cypress forest). Aside from a few birds and some random insects, we didn't see many of the preserve's "residents". However, our guide was very knowledgeable and she gave us lots of interesting facts about the wildlife there, and the steps that were being made to keep the preserve as natural and functional as possible. Although it is popular these days to “go green” or be environmentally friendly, actually communing with or physically caring for plants and animals in their natural habitats hasn’t quite caught on.

I remember how as a child I was fascinated by cartoons about the future, the Jetson’s especially. Everyone was happy, life was easy, the planet was clean, it was great all around. But recently a new thought came to my mind: there were hardly any trees in the future! Not that they had become extinct, it just seemed that mankind had learned to do without them. There were plants and grasses sprinkled about sparingly much like the way you’d find them inside a posh shopping mall (stripped palm tree trunks with silk leaves glued on). Jane Jetson had a few houseplants that she watered on occasion, and there was always a tree trunk or bush when Elroy or Astro needed to hide. Otherwise there was no wildlife to speak of. It seems like humanity really is moving in that direction. Maybe not consciously so, but nature is increasingly being treated as a luxury item and not as a necessity. If we don’t take aggressive action to protect nature, she very well may be relegated to a few acres on the fringes (and in the highway medians) of our towns.

Blog #5 - Favorite Place at Home or in Community

I'm a huge fan of libraries. If there's one place I always visit in every community I've ever lived in, it's the local library. I spent a moderate chunk of my early childhood living in and around downtown Orlando. Although there were some bright spots, most of the streets and parks were not safe places for kids to loiter, especially alone. Many of the community centers were dominated by local athletes and the state of their facilities varied widely. The public library was the PERFECT solution with it’s free after-school programs, tutoring/homework help, reading circles, screening stations for audio and visual media, computers, and helpful librarian and volunteer staff. Obviously funding can have a great impact on library facilities, collections, staff, and hours, but even at its worst, I’ve yet to meet a library I didn’t like.

The main branch of the Orlando Public Library is my favorite. It is currently the largest public library in the state of Florida, and the first to issue me a library card. When I frequented it’s stacks, the children’s department was located in the basement of the five-storey building, and housed a large piece of furniture we called the “reading tree”. It was something like an enclosed jungle gym with pillows tucked into every nook and cranny. We would climb into it with a book and promptly get lost in our imaginations. Sadly, the reading tree no longer exists, and the children’s department is now located on the first floor near the main entrance, but it is just as whimsically decorated as ever.



*Note: this is a picture of one of the pillar decorations in the new OPL children’s department. If memory serves me correctly there are three or four different pillar scenes. This photo was taken from a blog here, and its reproduction below constitutes fair use. All rights retained by original copyright holder.

Blog #4 - The Rise and Fall of Consumer Cultures by Erik Assadourian

I hate to come across as pessimistic. That kind of characterization generally leads people to belittle your opinions. I prefer the term “realistic” because that connotes weighing both the pros and cons of a situation before making up your mind. But, alas, pessimism is the perfect word to describe the feelings that arose in me while reading Erik Assadourian’s article on the way that global consumerism is swiftly killing our planet. It was well written, informative, and it has led me to believe that the chances of Americans (much less all of humanity) rescuing themselves from ecological calamity are slim, if not non-existent.

Culture can be described in many ways, but it is fundamentally a rulebook for the way we live our lives; and quite a thick book at that. Culture tells us when to get up in the morning, what to have for breakfast, what sort of clothing to put on, and precisely how to wear it. Culture tells us how to treat our parents, and how to choose our friends. Beyond governing behavior, culture also orders thought. It tells us how to differentiate between good and bad, right and wrong, love and hate, and when enough is enough. And that only covers the introductory chapters. In fact, culture is so complex, persistent, and pervasive, that you couldn’t contain it all in a physical book. It’s collectively created, constantly evolving, and so ingrained that for the most part it is invisible.

To complicate matters, the dominant culture in the United States is one of consumerism; that is “a cultural orientation in which ‘the possession and use of an increasing number and variety of goods and services is the principal cultural aspiration and the surest perceived route to personal happiness, social status, and national success’” (Assadourian, p.8). According to this country’s founding fathers, it’s a God-given and unalienable human right, that of the “pursuit of happiness”, and one that has helped make America the largest consumer of energy as well as the number one polluter on the planet.

This ideology of consumerism = happiness has already spread so far beyond our national borders that even if Americans were able to somehow magically alter that (large) part of their culture, it would still be hard pressed to slow the impending destruction. So yeah, I’m feeling a bit pessimistic, even though I think we should give sustainability a solid effort. After all it is the right thing to do, regardless of the state of the world.

Works Cited
Assadourian, E., Starke, L., Mastny, L., & Worldwatch Institute. (2010). State of the world, 2010: Transforming cultures : from consumerism to sustainability : a Worldwatch Institute report on progress toward a sustainable society. New York: W.W. Norton.