Looking Back

 *NOTE TO THE PROFESSOR* This blog post is the same as the reflection summary I turned in.

 I started out at the beginning of this semester with the goal of defining sustainability for myself, and living up to that definition as much as I could.  Before this diary I was environmentally conscious, but I didn’t necessarily back up my words with actions. In the end, I discovered how I truly felt about sustainable living and learned a little bit more about what I could give up for it. This is a reflection on what I did and whether my efforts were successful.

At first I started out small by changing the tungsten light bulbs in my apartment to compact fluorescent lights and increasing my recycling efforts. I have always recycled but this blog forced me to make it into a system. My apartment now recycles all paper, plastic, metal and glass — that is, as long as my roommates don’t forget! I also went with a roommate to buy some everyday products from Sam’s Club. It cost a lot, which makes me wonder just how effective the trip was at reducing packaging costs in the long run, but we didn’t have to buy toilet paper for a long time and we still haven’t need to buy more paper towel, Clorox wipes, Kleenex, body wash and feminine products.

Throughout all of these beginning steps I discussed Roderick Nash’s book Wilderness and the American Mind because what I was learning through reading it made me stop and think. I had never considered the obvious separation between humans and the wilderness. It caused me to really ponder the issue of how humans should act within the environment because it depended on whether they were actually apart of the environment. During the semester I went on a camping trip to Nordhouse Dunes, a designated Wilderness area and that helped further my thoughts on man’s relationship with the wilderness. I noticed how nature seems to show signs of man everywhere, even in our “Wildernesses.”  I also thought about the effect I have as a single person and whether my changes will matter in the long run. It was a depressing little thought, but in the end I decided a single person has to matter, because without that single person movements would never start! I feel the same way about the type of changes I instituted. I wondered if I needed to make more drastic changes in order to cause change, but decided even little changes matter in the long run.

Eventually I defined sustainability for myself — an important step in trying to be sustainable! I decided it has to do with the balance of nature. For me to be sustainable I have to maintain that balance in my own life and give back to the world as much as I take out of it. I began thinking about globalization and the movement to buy local products and how they interacted. It is a difficult question because globalization promotes efficiency but comes with inherent transportation costs! I really like the ideas of Barry Commoner in Closing the Circle and the Gaia hypothesis. They really struck home to me as related to my diary, since Commoner talked about only taking what you need from nature and the Gaia hypothesis talks about the planet as one large organic system.

Other efforts I made to live sustainably involved reducing how much I drive. This one was the most difficult for me. As the semester wore on it got colder and biking became harder and harder to do. I rarely drove into campus for class during the day, but I did drive in every Wednesday for my night class and for evening meetings. I can’t say I succeeded in driving less, but to compensate I have been trying to drive in a manner to save gas! I used the Nature Conservancy CO2 emissions calculator to see where I fit in the grand scheme of things and found out my estimated emissions are 11 tons of CO2 a year, which is less than half of the average American citizen’s emissions, but more than double the average world citizen’s emissions. I consider this to mean I am doing well in my quest but can still improve and so continued to look for ways to live sustainably.

I started shopping at the East Lansing Food Co-op, which I discovered is a nice place, but hard to implement because I don’t always do the shopping. I also considered composting on the balcony of our apartment, but discovered it would be very difficult to do in the winter, so I’ll have to revisit that in the spring. With Christmas time approaching I started thinking about presents and consumerism, and with John Kenneth Galbraith’s ideas in the back of my head, I decided to buy most of my presents from second had stores. It should be fun!

Overall I am proud of the actions I have taken and I really believe that I can continue these as permanent changes in my life. I know that even if my actions don’t change the world, they are at least helping push the world in the direction I believe is best.

Local Marine Shrimp?

Did you think it would be possible to have fresh, marine shrimp in Michigan? Well I learned a way that I can! I learned in class of a man who is raising his own marine shrimp and selling it in Okemos. This is very exciting in my opinion because I can have shrimp alfredo and not buy it from Meijer, where the shipping and transportation costs alone are enormous! Also these shrimp are not depleting the amount in the oceans. The only questionable thing is the sustainability of aquaculture. I can't think of any major reason aquaculture would have negative effects, other than the energy the indoor recirculating system burns by running. I imagine, though, that those negative effects are outweighed by the positive benefits of mainting shrimp populations in the oceans and eliminating transportation/processing/preserving costs.

I think I'll be making Shrimp Alfredo in the coming weeks. 

Also, I found out about some Co-op gift shops in Old Town, Lansing where I might do some Christmas shopping. They are second-hand, but they are locally made. I much prefer supporting locally made products to mass produced ones. I think it is a suitable alternative option to purchasing second-hand. Don't get me wrong, though, I am going to look at second-hand shops as well.

P.S. Happy Snow!

Spriiing Break!

Ah, the never-ending battle of saving money. That is my life as a college student. It seems that as quickly as I save it, it is spent again. Books, bills (...speaking of, rent is due tomorrow!), and those necessary vacation trips that will create memories for a lifetime. Okay, so maybe vacations aren't really necessary, but if I can't have fun now as a college student, when will I find the time later on in life?

I have a confession to make! I have bought a plane ticket to Hawaii. Yes, I can hear you. All those tons  of carbon spewing into the atmosphere for one Spring Break trip. In my quest for sustainability, did I consider how my desire to travel would effect my impact on the world? Honestly? Not at first.

I didn't even think about my "green ideals" when I decided to go with roommates to Hawaii for a week in March. But when I reached the end of my purchasing process, it asked me if I wanted offset the carbon I would produce by purchasing a little luggage tag that had the word "ECO" on it. While I don't exactly know how effective such a purchase could be, I decided to do it anyway. It was only an extra $7! I wonder now, though, if this is an example of green-washing or legitimate attempt at going green. Either way, I would have gone on this trip. Now I can feel a little bit better about it. As far as I can tell after some research, it's legit!

Timely reflections on consumerism

The man himself!

Reading John Kenneth Galbraith's writings on "The Theory of Consumer Demand" (that is a link to the abridged text of the overall book, The Affluent Society) brought up a great point, in my opinion. Sure, we all talk about how all of our consumption is a bad thing, but did we ever think about the cycle of consumption we are locked into? Why do we consume so much if we need very little? Why do I crave new shoes or the fanciest Apple product?

Galbraith said it is because advertising tells us we need it! Think about it. To quote him:

"A man who is hungry need not be told of his need for food. If he is inspired by his appetite, he is immune to the effect of Messers. Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn. The latter are effective only with those who are so far removed from physical want that they do not already know what they want. In this state alone men are open to persuasion." [Note: I am assuming the aforemention Messrs. are advertising gurus. Also, the italics were my own.]

This water came from a pure mountain!

Surprisingly I had never thought this through before. Why do Americans, among others, need to have commercials for food? Bottled water? Because we actually have no great need for it! Were I in desparate need for water, I would not need at TV commercial tell me which mountain spring it came from in an exotic country. I would just drink the water.

With the surplus of production in Western society, producers had to do something to entice us to buy beyond our needs. Hence, the rise of advertising. I find this very interesting. A whole sector of our business is perpetuating the constant consumerism that causes so much trouble environmentally. In order to change it, we wouldn't just have to change people's habits, but also remove or completely alter portions of our economy.

After coming to this realization, I will be more suspicious of advertising I see and attempt to see past all the bru-ha-ha about the newest toy. Even though iPads look pretty sweet ...

Happy Black Friday! Not.

Today I slept in, woke up, and immediately ate some leftovers for breakfast. I did NOT brave the chilly November air to risk life and limb for that one Christmas gift. In fact, none of my family did. I am home for Thanksgiving and I have to say, I am very thankful to have all of my family home.

After living in an apartment for a few months, I realize how useful a yard is. I'm not sure how sustainable it is to have a yard — shouldn't we all be living in small cities in the ideal sustainable future? But I have to say a yard would be ridiculously useful. I could have a large compost pile and use the end product to fertilize my garden - where I would grow all my herbs and vegetables I would cook with. What a nice fantasy. It is unlikely I will have a yard anytime soon, however, so I will have to make do. I asked my father about composting supplies to see what he knows about it. He grew up in the 60s and 70s, so I figured he might have some knowledge. He told me about the importance of the carbon dioxide and nitrogen ratio and said his ideal composting situation would be 4 areas sectioned off with cement blocks on a rotating cycle. He didn't however have much confidence in apartment composting. That tells me to be cautious because it is likely if I don't know what I am doing, I will just end up with failed experiment. I will have to do some more reading and see what I can do.

In other news, I heard from a professor about a man only a handful of miles from East Lansing that raises his own marine shrimp. He is using a method of indoor aquaculture we were learning about in class called indoor recirculating systems. It would be a good place for me to buy shrimp next time we want to cook with it! At least there won't be a lot transportation involved! I will be emailing my professor for a way to contact the shrimp man today.

Christmas Presents

Ahh, the season is upon us. This weekend, after everyone stuffs themselves on turkey, cranberries, mashed potatoes (mmmhmm, my favorite) and a variety of desserts, Americans will do what they do best. Shop! Black Friday (what an ominous name) and the newer Cyber Monday are the official start of the Christmas shopping season. Although, I have already heard Christmas music in Meijer and seen signs for the Biggest Sale Of The Year! That point aside, patriotic Americans will dutifully cram in to shopping malls and department stores to spend every last cent on Tickle-Me-Elmos, video games, jewelry and iPads.

I am sitting in my apartment procrastinating homework for my Media & the Law class by thinking about what I want to buy my family for Christmas presents. I was also thinking about my efforts to reduce consumption this semester and wondering how well I have done so far, when it hit me. Why should I participate in the consumerism-driven circus of the next few weeks? Do all of my friends and family really need brand new items? Why don't I purchase Christmas presents at second-hand shops? There a tons of cute little stores that sell used items - items that are perfectly usable. I could even not buy things for some people at all, I could use my newly developed photography skills and make personal gifts for each person.

I have to say...I am excited about this idea! It gives me a chance to give people more personal gifts than just another piece plastic-eye-candy from a department store! :D

Closing the Circle

I just read a synopsis of the views and opinions of Barry Commoner, a biologist, professor and Eco-socialist. He wrote something called The Closing Circle. It was interesting because while it contrasted the ideas of the pessimists who believed overpopulation would lead to the end of life as we know it, it arranged a lot of thoughts I had been throwing around in my head quite nicely.

Barry Commoner felt the main cause of the environmental crisis was the economic and political systems that weren't distributing the wealth and resources sufficiently, which was basically technology and the growth of civilization. He called it a "counterecological pattern of growth". Closing the circle means to return to nature the wealth we derive from it. Basically, sustainable living. I didn't expect to agree with Commoner, since I do believe overpopulation is an important issue that shouldn't be dismissed lightly, but I found I did agree with a lot of his ideas. He encapsulates my idea of sustainability in a neat little phrase "closing the circle". Whatever we take out we must put back in.

Related to this line of thought is the Gaia hypothesis, which states that the planet Earth is basically a living being that creates circumstances suitable for life. The problem is that it traditionally it adapts at a biological pace, but humans are causing change at a social pace, one that is much faster than biological change. I like the idea of thinking of the Earth as one complex being with complicated systems for life because it reiterates my idea, and the ideas of Commoner, that humans can't just continue on a path of destruction or the entire system for life may stall. Sure, it may fix itself in the end and life may return or continue on, but there is no guarantee that humans will be apart of that picture. Scary thought.

Apartment composting....in the winter?

We have a garbage disposal in my apartment, which is a new appliance for me. At first, I really enjoyed it. No more throwing food scraps in garbage! I didn't realize that the scraps just went into the waste water for the sanitation plant to clean out and send to the landfill anyway. I had previously brushed off the idea of a composting area while I lived in an apartment, but I am revisiting it again. Apparently there are lots of people who compost while in an apartment:http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/apartment-compost-guide.html

I've done some research and I can either do vermicomposting (as system of turning food waste into potting soil by use of worm) or regular composting, which uses microorganisms.  Neither seem completely feasible in an apartment, especially since we don't have a lot of hidey-holes to stick a stinky bucket of rotting food. I could use our balcony, but I'm not sure how that works in the winter. Apparently, you should not let the compost pile freeze (especially if you have worms!).  They suggest insulating the compost pile, but that doesn't seem feasible on a balcony.

So if I can't compost on the balcony during the winter, here is the question for now: should I wait to start composting until Spring or should I coerce my roommates into letting me compost in the apartment? Opinions?

The power of change

I am inspired when I read or hear of stories of societal change. Stories like the effect of the condom campaign in Thailand (that's a link to a pdf file) or the dramatic increase in wind power as a source of energy in Denmark. In my lifetime societal change has always been fast. The advent of the Internet, cell phones and numerous other technological advances have all happened in my lifetime! I have lived a short 21 years, but already I have seen incredible change. I can only imagine the kind of change my parents or my grandparents have seen.

Given my experience with all this incredibly fast change, it is a struggle for me to hear so much about needed environmental change and see so little being done. Perhaps it's because I am now old enough to be conscious of the change as it is starting and the slow beginnings make me anxious to see more in the future, but I feel as if this movement is crawling. The three pillars of society that encourage change as discussed in our reading by Garder, "Accelerating the Shift to Sustainability" don't seem to be contributing like they should. I am unimpressed with the government - all I can see is partisan arguments and special interests in control. Businesses seem to be thinking in the short term. There are examples of businesses who have heeded the call to go green, but they are in the minority. And civilians, as far as I can tell are valuing quick and easy over long-term benefits. I, myself, have only just woken up to the fact that I need to make some sacrifices to help push change along.

With all these stalled efforts in the three main sectors of our society, how will change ever start? Doesn't at least one sector need to make a big push to convince the others to come along for the ride. In this one area I am feeling pessimistic. I have seen very little to convince me the government or businesses at large will make short-term sacrifices. Indeed, I haven't seen much of that in the civilian sector either. Alas, right now all I can do is lead by example.

Thinking long term

It occurs to me that any changes I make during my sustainability experiment are essentially useless if I don't continue them beyond this semester. Real change will only come from a lifestyle change. The changes I implement in these couple of months need to be practical for the long term.

The simple changes, like switching over to CFL bulbs is obviously long term, but what about my new commitment to shop as much as possible at the East Lansing Food Co-op? I can't just shop at the co-op a few times this semester and then continue on with life feeling better about myself. I need to make a commitment to myself to institute this change not just here, as a college student in East Lansing, but in any situation. Of course, this could just be all talk. How can I be sure I will follow through? Using some of the methods of changing behavior I discussed in earlier posts, I can be more sure of my commitment lasting throughout my life. But really, I think I need to make these changes a part of me. I need to become a person who buys local food rather than a person who believes buying local food would be good if it wasn't so expensive. I need to shift things around in my budget so there is room for this new change and simply make it so.  This is my new goal. Instead of a vague goal to become more sustainable, I have a goal to change my lifestyle and eat local food. I will do this in whatever city I live in, because I will make it work. Just like I find a way to make rent work, or find a way to make buying gas for my car work. I will find a way to make buying local food work.

I'm Co-operative!

Last night I shopped at the East Lansing Food Co-op! I like it, I decided. It was pretty interesting to see where all my food came from and kind of odd to imagine that the chicken was all from a farm here in Michigan. It was almost uncomfortable feeling closer to my food. I hadn't realized how far I had separated the chicken in my freezer from the bird on American farms.

As I shopped, I made a list of my apartment's commonly bought items and their prices. I will show them to my roommates and we will decided what we could buy at the Co-op and what we can't afford to buy there. Milk, for example, was too expensive for the amount we drink. But I appreciated the flour, cornstarch, granola and some pastas that were available in bulk. The vegetable supply was about what I expected. They weren't as pretty and shiny as those you find in Meijer (I picked through the bananas a bit) but there wasn't anything wrong with them. I am just used to my vegetables looking like a piece of plastic.

They also have a nice line of natural cleaning supplies, which I might have to take advantage of when we run out of our current supplies. The people were friendly and the food selection was pretty nice. All in all, I am happy and hope to continue shopping there!

Plans and roommates

I'm going to make a chicken pot pie tonight, but our refrigerator didn't contain a few essential vegetables so I went shopping. While at Meijer, I decided to buy the celery and the carrots from the "organic" section. This isn't something I ever do, mostly because it is more expensive and I share groceries with my roommates. But today I decided to splurge. When I got back home, my one roommate scoffed at the "organic" label but then apologized at laughing at my efforts. She didn't mind the organic, she just didn't believe that the veggies from Meijer were very organic. I tend to agree with her.

I'm going to investigate the East Lansing Food Co-op the next time we need to go grocery shopping. I really want to make an effort to buy food from local vendors. First I will have to compare prices to bring around my roommates.

I can probably use my recently gained knowledge about how to change behavior to my advantage though. In my Environmental Attitudes class we discussed different ways to change behavior based on common human characteristics. They include knowledge of cognitive maps and how they are created, overcoming the "enemies of awareness", knowledge of health values of nature, peers and role models, direct appeals to make commitments, incentives, use of knowledge of territory, and effective communications. Some of these may come in handy when convincing my roommates to forgo the easy trips to Meijer and at least somewhat replace them with trips to the co-op or farmer's markets in the summer. I could use the idea of peer pressure, incentives, and communication. I think those will be the most effective. It will be more difficult since winter is coming, but if I make a commitment myself to start buying some items from local vendors then I am more likely to do so.

I want an acre

After reading "One Acre" by Joy Williams I have decided it sounds like something I would like to do. Williams bought an acre of land on the edge of the Everglades and just let it grow. She had a house there to live in, but it was a humble house and she made few improvements on it. Eventually, she walled the property in along the road and nature grew wild. From her descriptions, it sounded like a very beautiful place.

It isn't just the beauty that attracts me, it is the idea of creating an area where nature doesn't have to be managed. It can just be. There aren't very many places like that anymore in this world. I understand the reason for that, I really do. I am human and I would like to sustain our population because I believe there are some wonderful things about the population. But as a consequence of population growth, the land around us is affected. Throughout this whole experiment of mine, I have realized, practicality aside, that it saddens me to see so much altered for our civilization.

Protecting just a small area from human change and letting it go through its own natural changes seems like a very nice way of giving back. In a way, it is not actively doing anything, instead it is actively doing nothing except what is necessary. Just as Williams realized, the most important part is making sure it is protected even after I leave it. She searched for the right person to sell it too and I would have to do something similar. I hope I get the chance to facilitate a piece of pure nature.

Confessions

I have been driving my car when unnecessary. After all my big talk about reducing my driving, I am guilty of driving to my night class and to any meetings that are after 6pm (free parking!). My only excuse is the cold and the dark. Once it is dark outside, I have found I don't like biking back to my apartment. (Neither does my mother, honestly.) It is also getting colder and I also don't like the cold. So there you have it, I am a wimpy and lazy environmentalist.

How should I fix this problem? Maybe I should make up for it by carpooling everywhere possible and employing driving techniques to improve my gas mileage.

Something interesting I learned about my balance in the ecosystem today is I am still pretty comparable to the average American. I used the Nature Conservancy CO2 emissions calculator and my estimated emissions are 11 tons of CO2 per year. The U.S. average is 27 and the world average is 5.5. While that is much better than the U.S. average, the details are what is interesting to me. Home energy accounts for 40.7% of my emissions (36.2% U.S.), food and diet is 31.5% (15.1% U.S.), driving and flying is 21.3% (44.3% U.S.) and recycling and waste is 6.5% (4.4% U.S.). I didn't realize how much of my food and diet were contributing to my impact. I'm not sure how to start buying local foods, however. For one thing, they are more expensive and all price decisions have to be agreed upon by my roommates. But I will have to do some research about local suppliers and see if they will supply throughout the winter.


As a sidenote, I am the 753,420,193 richest person in the world. I was expecting a ridiculously large number like that, but I was surprised because that puts me in the top 12.55% of people! Really puts things in perspective, huh? It was pointed out to me, though, that the issue with this site is that "richness" is relative. It is the purchasing power that is important, how much you can get for what you have. But it still makes me think twice about calling myself poor!

The Smackdown: Global vs. Local

Recently, in another class of mine, my professor mentioned the trend of globalization, which set me off on an interesting train of thought. Amidst the professor's babel about different ecologies (a word that turns up in every lecture), he actually hit on something I paid attention to! Amazing, right? As a side note, I promise I am a good student.

But back to my thought. With the current stage of environmentalism in our society, everything local is loved. Local foods, local businesses, etc ... "Going local" makes for a more sustainable life, right? If you aren't buying products from thousands of miles away, then those miles won't give you a black check on your sustainability record. It makes sense to me!  When my professor mentioned globalization, however, two different and separate ideas in my mind collided and did not agree with one another. See, all along I have been thinking that local products are better than non-local, yet at the same time I talked about the "globalization" of our economy as a good thing. These two ideas do not coincide. Don't ask me how I managed to get this far without realizing this -- my mind confuses even me.

How do I reconcile this? Globalization in our society can't really be avoided - especially with the Internet. Heck, I had a view on this blog from Singapore! I don't know anyone there, but someone found me and now my ideas are being shared with that person. (Welcome, Singapore reader!)

It isn't only ideas being shared globally. It's also products, of course. My clothes come from Taiwan, my coffee comes from Columbia, my oranges come from Florida, my dairy from the happy cows in California and my MacBook Pro was made in China. I live in a global community. Going off on a little bit of a tangent here, I heard another professor say he depended on his local community while he was growing up. Nearly everything he needed came from the people around him -- he depended on his neighbors. This is no longer true. My community of neighbors is global. I probably won't buy my textbooks from local bookstores, because it is cheaper for me to order them used online. A lot of the times, I order from Europe because they are cheaper yet. If I have a question about electronics, I probably won't go to a shop in downtown East Lansing. I'll do a search online for my information.


The exchange of ideas doesn't really have an impact on how sustainable my life is, but the exchange of products on a global scale does. If my clothes were made in Taiwan, they had to travel all the way to the United State for me to wear them. As another example, I just found some paper of my roommate's. The pack of printer paper was processed and/or packaged (it isn't clear which) in Atlanta, Georgia. However, the wire-bound notebook was made in Vietnam and the filler paper pack from Meijer was made in Thailand. I can honestly say I had no idea paper traveled that far. This paper was made from trees in Thailand (presumably)? I am using items from around the globe and those travel miles are racking up.

With all that said, I can see the flip side. It is more efficient to produce one thing you're good at making and share it with others who reciprocate the process, rather than trying to make everything you need yourself. So, Colombians make coffee and ship it to my local coffee shop, instead of Grand River Coffee harvesting their own beans. The only problem with this scenario is one society is only just starting to realize. We didn't factor in environmental costs involved in transportation. These costs are slower to show their effects, but their effects are pretty huge. The oceans and the atmosphere are suffering from boats, planes and cars zipping all over the planet with our goods.

Of course, I don't have a solution. I'm just good at pointing out the problem! Seriously, though, I think it would ridiculously hard (read: impossible) to back track with globalization. The internet is here and it is not leaving. But I also don't think focusing on the local products is bad. Local businesses need support too! There needs to be a balance, of course. As far as those pesky transportation costs, lets hope we can find a cleaner way to share our goods.

As for me, I am going to be more conscious of the distances my purchases travel. While I can't cut out products from overseas completely, I will buy what I can at a local level. It is the best compromise I can come up with for me. I will also try to find ways  to give back that will make up for all those miles my favorite shoes traveled to reach me!

Sustain-a-what?

Today while at CVS Pharmacy I purchased Organic Wear blush and bronzer. I wasn't planning on purchasing green makeup until absolutely necessary, but I decided to buy it after discovering my prescriptions were suddenly covered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield and therefore only five dollars! But this got me to thinking, how is buying this green make-up making my life more sustainable? What is sustainability anyway?

Merriam-webster.com tells me that the definition is "of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged."  This definition, however, doesn't relate directly to my life. Traveling to CVS for supplies doesn't equate to harvesting a resource for me. The resources have already been harvested and I am simply using them. I don't have control over the resources harvested, except through the indirect power of the consumer. So what does sustainability mean specifically in my life? I've thought about it and while I don't have much control over the amount of resources being harvested right now, I do have control over how much of those resources I personally use and how much I "give back" to the planet in the way of recycling and being picky in my product purchases. 

I feel like the majority of the human population is living out of balance in their environment. Most creatures on this planet live balanced existences - if they don't, they soon perish. Nature is the equalizer who calls in the debts owed. I honestly think the theory of natural population control over time has some merit. The laws of nature are harsh and one population can exploit resources for so long before there isn't enough to sustain any population. Already our population is facing distribution and scarcity problems for many. Whenever I think about this, I think about the people of Easter Island. How can that situation not apply to the whole world - an island of resources in space?

The key to a successful population is balance. Give back to the system as much as you take out of it. The residents of Easter Island failed to give back as many trees as they took and they soon ran out of trees. I, personally, do not have the power to guarantee everyone individually will give back to the system as much as they use. I can, however, try and do the same in my life. This is sustainability to me. Giving back as much as I take out. If that means recycling as much as I can and paying a little more for "greener" products, then that is what I will do. I will recycle all of my paper (and there is a LOT of it). I will bug my roommates about turning off lights and unplugging electronics. I will continue to try to balance my lack of funds with my desire to buy local or eco-conscious foods. All of this, not because I actually believe recycling this one can will make that big of a difference in the overall scheme of things (except indirectly, as I discuss in a previous post), but because these acts balance out my equation. I am doing all I personally can, or at least as much as I am currently willing (I am not willing to give up my car quite yet ...). This whole blog is an experiment, really, to see how much more I can give back. Maybe, if I give back enough, it can not only equal out my equation but also someone else's!

Activate me

I was recently told by a very good friend that I am not a feather, but instead a boulder. (If you're confused about this statement, please read my last post.) My actions do have an effect, she says, even if indirectly. But does this mean I should be taking more strides to do something about current environmental issues. If I alone have the power to affect change, am I a hypocrite for talking about it and not doing anything drastic?

Should I completely give up my car and ride my bike everywhere? Should I only buy local and organic food sold at the city market? Do I need to go to the extremes? ..I don't want to go to extremes. Is that selfish? I'm not sure exactly, but here is an example to help illustrate my point:

In the book for my class, Wilderness and the American Mind by Nash, he discusses the dichotmy of wilderness and humans. In the end of the book, he concludes that humans are intrinsicly separate from nature, or rather, that our population has outgrown nature. I have a hard time following this line of thought. He uses this argument to say that human civilizations should be small islands amongst all the wild lands of the planet and should build their civilizations up and not out. This seems very extreme to me. Why should humans have to sequester themselves from the rest of the bio-community? Now, don't get me wrong, I am all for restraining our destructive tendancies and containing urban sprawl, but Nash's idea gives me an image of human civilizations floating above the planet. This just strikes me as a really dramatic solution. Sort of like a cosmic mother saying, "If humans can't play nice, then they can't play at all" and punishing the population by forcing it to live in little islands of life in the air. That would be like saying, this fish has eaten all the other types of fish, lets put them all in aquariums so they can't harm anymore fish. Sounds ridiculous to me.

Maybe I am just overly optimistic, but I thatthat life on Earth wouldn't remain unbalanced for very long. Eventually the fish population will even out, even if that means one fish replaces another. I also believe that humans will either figure out a way to continue our civilization into the future by living sustainbly in the environment or die off because of lack of resources. I guess that doesn't sound particularly optimistic. That idea I borrow from Thomas Malthus, who I always thought was cleverly pessimistic in regard to the future of our civilization.

Nordhouse Dunes, A Wilderness area in Michigan.

So, back to my point. Segregating the human population from the very planet that sustains them seems very extreme to me and on a much, much smaller scale, changing my life completely also seems extreme. I don't think us humans are all that bad. A lot of us are careless and destructive, but we have obviously made some significant strides in wilderness protection. (Read some of Nash to learn more about this!) And more will come, I am sure. I will be one of the first to vote in higher standard of fuel efficiency or what evey technology savvy vehicle is invented in the next 50 years. But I am not going to give up my car completely (unless that solar-energy floating car comes out - that I would totally go for!). As Henry David Thoreau believed, it is best to have one foot in civilization and one in the wild. It is important for us to appreciate the wild, but we should also appreciate all the amazing things we have done within our own civilization. As members of Earth we are part of the larger biotic community and the smaller human community. Both are important. So, no, I will not become an activist. I will do all that I can without giving up my current life completely, and those little things I do can still have an effect.

...I am going to Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity, though. Does that count as activism? :)

The effect of one

Do you ever think about how tiny and infinitesimal you are? My entire life has consisted of Mid-Western Michigan, with a few forays out into the world. While in the midst of a busy day, it is so easy to get caught up in my life and imagine that everything I do has the utmost importance. I have to do this, I have to do that. I make it sound like if I don't do it, everything will come to a screeching halt. But the truth is, only a few people will even notice. My roommates will, because I chatter to them about everything, repeatedly (their patience is amazing). The professor or my boss (or whoever) will notice. My family will know. And that's it. Nobody outside of this tiny little circle in the middle of Michigan will ever know my life was upended (by good or bad circumstances). The things I do have such a small effect on the whole. I suppose it is something like ripples in a lake. Throwing a big rock in the lake will cause ripples to form and disturb everything on the surface, but I am more like a leaf. Or a feather. My life causes some disruption in others in the immediate vicinity, but nobody on the other side of the lake will ever know.


One of my very best friends (shout-out to Shelly!) is studying abroad right now in Belize and she keeps a bunch of people updated on all of her adventures, which are numerous. Reading her emails reminds me of exactly how huge this planet is and how many tiny little feathers are out there causing the tiniest of ripples in their own lakes. Nobody down there will know about my accomplishments and failures.


And then, think even bigger and you realize how all of these people on the whole planet are only a tiny speck of dust on the surface of one humongous lake in the enormity of space.

So my question for today is, do any of my sustainable efforts even matter? In the scheme of things, will changing all of my lightbulbs reduce energy usage in America? Will driving less and biking more reduce the carbon outputs into the atmosphere? Probably not. Nobody except me (and you, the faithful reader) will ever know I did anything. Why should I even try then? Well, for one, because I want to. Because it makes me feel like I am helping, even if my help matters not at all. But also, because I am an optimist. I believe that all around are tiny little feathers on the surface of my metaphorical lake doing their best to help out. And maybe changing one light bulb doesn't matter, but if a lot of people change their one light bulb then maybe we can push out that ripple of change just a little bit farther.

Success and introspection

I have installed CFLs in all but a few light fixtures in my apartment! Plus to save on waste of incandescent bulbs, I am keeping the old bulbs and will be putting them back in the light sockets at the end of my lease. This is also a plus for me since I spent the money on these CFLs and would be taking the savings they provide with me when I leave. That is more of an economical decision rather than an environmental decision, but one must wear many hats.

Also, I have purchased a few green body care products, including face wash, shampoo and toothpaste. I am replacing things as I run out of the product because I don't want to waste what product I already have. I have also decided I will purchase makeup (when I run out of current supplies) from Aveda. Their makeup seems to be good quality and green. The cost is a little more than what I normally buy, but I can probably swing it.

On a semi-unrelated note, I have been thinking about the class this blog is for and the issues discussed in it. I can't seem to decide on a particular issue. Should the human race act as if they are part of nature and everything they do is part of the natural cycle, or should we be cognizant of what we do as separate from the natural cycle? This recent sustainable movement seems to be calling for both at the same time.  All this talk of going green and making changes in our life so our actions don't adversely affect the environment strongly suggests that what we do is separate and bad. Or at least just separate. But at the same time it seems to be culling a following of people who appreciate nature and talk about it as if we were all part of the same cycle, similar to more Eastern types of thought.

Which should it be? Can I legitimately say I am part of nature and the environment when I spend so much of my time online in a virtual world that has nothing to do with nature. But if I follow that train of thought, then we are adversely affecting the world and it is selfish to continue doing so, so I should protect it. But do I want to be separate from my environment? Do I really want to see myself as superior from everything else? 

Is pollution from humans the same or worse than from other species.

If, on the other hand, I decide that I am, along with the rest of my species, simply an overgrown ape altering its environment just like every other creature alters their environment, then changes we make shouldn't matter, right? And I should just continue living, confident in the fact that changes happen anyway, anthropological or not.

I suppose I have found a solution after discussing this in length. Or a solution good enough for a fence-sitter like me. The answer lies in the middle, I think, as it most usually does. Of course we as a species are part of our environment. We can't survive without it, so we have to be affected by it and it affected by us. But, we are different from most species on this planet. We have the power of our brains, which have led us to create such civilizations that no other creature has managed. These civilizations, and the people in them, do have the power to change elements of the planet at large. Small changes, compared to the size of the planet,  but significant none the less. 

So what should we do? Overall, I think the goal of the environmental movement sweeping across the planet (somewhat at least) needs to be altered. "Save the planet!," people cry, but the planet doesn't need saving. It will remain for much longer than we can even imagine. Humans on the other hand, are ridiculously delicate. We depend on a certain set requirements for life on Earth. Clean air, clean water, space to live, enough food. As it turns out, we have the power to destroy not the planet, but ourselves.  If changes aren't made in our actions, then we may just destroy the environment we need to survive.

My daily commute

I have to say, I love my car. Not the strange kind of love that some people have, where they freak out if the body is scratched. I just simply like it. It is the first car I purchased on my own and it is the size of a boat. My 17-year-old Pontiac Bonneville has a nose about 30 feet long and could take on just about any whimpy car you can think of. I named it Maurice, or Mo for short.

Now, I don't drive an awful lot. I am a student after all. Any MSU student who thinks driving on to campus will save them time is either nuts or lives way off campus. But I do drive to work, to the store and to other various after-class activities. Oh, and sometimes I drive to my night class because parking is free and it is dark when the class ends at 9pm. I wouldn't say I am a driving lunatic, but I have to wonder, can I cut down my commuting time?  Google Maps tells me that it will take 30 minutes to bike from my apartment to my office. Now, I have inspected the route and half of it is without bike paths and crosswalks. I am pretty sure I am not a skilled enough biker to battle with SUVs and minivans on Hagadorn Road. So, biking to work is out. Plus, I don't actually have enough time scheduled in between classes and work to make the trek and still have time for lunch and a change of clothes.

But I am going to make a more concentrated effort to bike elsewhere. Despite the fact that is is getting cold out. I can't promise I will bike in the dead of winter. I value my life and limbs too much to risk biking around campus on ice while dodging pedestrians and other bikers. But I will try to bike everywhere feasible, I think. Even my 6pm class (parking is free after 6, so I am guilty of driving into campus for that class ...). I'll have to let you know how this new effort goes!

My wilderness experience

I just got back from a fabulous three-day weekend at Nordhouse Dunes near Manistee, Michigan. It was the best weekend I have had in a long time! The trip was for my Wilderness Writing & Experiences course through the School of Journalism. The class consists of one camping trip. That's it. We turn in a journal at the end of the trip and write a nature essay at the end of it. It is quite literally the best class I have ever taken.

We left on Friday morning, had a quick stop in Muskegon for a lesson on sand dune ecology, and arrived at our camp site around 4pm. There were are 13 students, the professor and a graduate student. The trip was completely unstructured. We were told to do whatever we felt like doing in the park. I hiked with a group to find Nordhouse Lake, a mile or two south of our campsite. Frankly, I am surprised we found it at all because the trails weren't marked all that well!

Lake Michigan. Sigh.....

All in all, the weekend was a perfect respite from the pressure of life here at school and made me think more about my place in the world. The park was an officially designated wilderness area, but it wasn't without touches of humanity. Not only were there the obvious signs, such as the camp sites, but also I saw wrappers on the ground and cans along the side of the road. I saw some of these things even when I felt complete isolated from the world in the middle of the forest. I felt as if I could take 20 steps off the trail and be completely lost from society. But then I would look down and see a gum wrapper and the fantasy would be ruined. But it also reminded me that through human actions and just by chance we are intrinsically linked with nature and the wild and cannot be separated from it, for better or for worse. What that means for how we should be living, though, is something I will have to think about further. 

Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey

Today I went through my apartment and checked all of our light bulbs (all 31 of them) to see if I needed to buy CFLs (compact flourescent lights). Of the 31, I need to replace 18. Supposedly our apartment managers (names shall not be mentioned...) have gone through the apartment and made it more energy efficient, but as far as I can tell, they changed the bulbs in the common area and ignored the ones in the back of the apartment. Actually, that is pretty typical of the follow-through in our apartment's office (except for the time I got stung on the butt -- but that's a different story!).  Anyway, the light fixtures were more difficult to check than I thought. A lot of them were sealed really tightly and I had to enlist help from a roommate's boyfriend to do the last one for me. Sadly, reciting the childhood phrase "righty-tighty, lefty-loosey" does not mean you can untwist anything!

When will I buy the CFL's, you ask? Considering my schedule in the next week, I have no clue! But very soon! Or ... actually, maybe after my next paycheck. Finances are looking pretty slim after that Sam's Club run.

I need to come up with future projects to further this experiment, so here are a few I have thought of (with a little help from David Bach's book Go Green, Live Rich):
--Use greener make-up. I have always heard about all the toxic chemicals in make-up (here is an article from the Huggington Post) and David Bach says there are affordable brands of toxic-free make-up, so why not? Plus, aren't a lot of them tested on animals?
--Unplug appliances. I know this one is supposed to be easy, but my outlet is behind my desk! I can't reach it without contorting myself and shifting half the furniture in my bedroom around. I wondered if surge protectors still use ghost energy when switched off, but I think they do. There are, of course, special surge protectors you can buy...if you have extra $$$ to spend on a new surge protector. Also, does this extend to things like the living room lamps? Because I can see my roommates getting frustrated if I start unplugging those regularly. On the plus side, even though I use my coffee pot daily, I unplug it all the time!

I'll let you know more when I am struck with another genius idea!

Sticker Shock

Buying groceries in bulk is better for the environment, right? That's what I am telling myself because after one trip to Sam's Club for groceries and other essentials, I am out $400. There goes that paycheck! I didn't realize saving money would cost so much. Luckily, the cost will eventually be split between me and my other three roommates, but as an initial payment it was quite a lot.

Only a fraction of the total, which filled the back of a jeep.

But of course, we won't have to buy toilet paper or paper towel for months. There is less packaging on all of our products and everything was cheaper per unit. So overall, it was a good thing. Plus, I won't have to pay for groceries for a long time (not only because we have a LOT of food, but also because my roommates now owe me money and will pay for future trips to the store.

While I was loading all the various foods and toiletries onto the conveyor belt, though, I had to wonder. How can all of this pure consumption be good for the environment? It is hard to see exactly how much extra we need just to live in a college apartment when you buy it in small quantities over time. When you buy a month or two's worth all at once, it really hits home. If I need 48 rolls of toilet papers and 10 containers of Clorox wipes to survive, I don't think I could make it in the wilderness. Then again, all of these supplies originally came from nature at some point. We have just diluted them and morphed to until they no longer resemble anything natural. It sort of proves how much we have separated ourselves from the wilderness.

Beginnings

Welcome! I am a Michigan State University senior studying Journalism and Environmental Studies. This semester I will be keeping this blog for one of my classes, Environmental Attitudes and Concepts. My purpose will be to document my attempt to live sustainably as an MSU student and my quest to discover what exactly living sustainably means.

Before I started taking this class, I would have considered this an easy assignment. What does living sustainably mean? Obviously it means being "green" by purchasing organic and local foods, recycling, etc. Right? Well after a week in the course, I have begun to realize the issues are more complicated than they seem. This course (and our book, Wilderness and the American Mind by Roderick Nash) has introduced me to an idea I hadn't considered before. That "wilderness" isn't a type of a physical thing, but instead a state of mind and that humans use this idea of wilderness to separate themselves from nature. This has important implications, because if humans are separate from wilderness then any changes made are unnatural and disrupt the natural cycle. But are humans actually separate from the environment, or are we actually nothing more than over-developed apes? If that is true, then all of the anthropogenic changes are simply part of the natural cycle. These are the ideas I will be struggling with throughout the semester. *sigh*

 ...Wish me luck!

In addition to this internal struggle, I am going to implement some changes in my life to try and live a life more balanced with the natural world. I am going to start small with easy changes like replacing my incandescent bulbs with compact flourescent lights (CFLs) and work my way up to more life-altering changes. Well, time to get started!