The Atacama Desert

Last Fall I spent the semester studying abroad in Santiago, Chile. One of my most memorable moments was our trip to the Atacama Desert, the driest place in the world. After spending the day trekking over dunes we climbed to the top of some cliffs and watched the sun set. As there were no clouds in the sky was fairly unimpressive. But watching the sand change color in front of us as the sun set was amazing. Then the stars began to come out and it was breathtaking. I could see more stars there than I have ever seen in my life.

It was a truly humbling experience. I truly realized the massive extent of nature in terms of size as well as time. I also realized how helpless I was when left exposed to the elements. It really let me feel the brevity that is the length of a human life. Being 5'2" I've never thought I was very large, but standing in the sand dunes with sand as far as the eye can see, stretching all the way to the shadows of the Andes mountains in the distance, truly allowed me to feel microscopic.

"Saving nature" makes it sound as though we're far more important than we are. The truth of the matter is that we are trying to preserve something that could tear us apart if the weather continues to become more volatile. Furthermore, it is something upon which we all depend. In saving nature, what we are actually attempting is to save ourselves. Though we can continue to impact our environment, it will continue long after we are all gone.

It is vitally important that we conserve, reduce, reuse, and recycle, but it is for ourselves that we do these things. Conservation is in our best interest. It is what will ensure that the earth can provide for future generations. However, it will continue long past human existence.

The Meadow

Growing up my entire life in a city, true encounters with nature were really rare. I love living in cities and my city is very green (its called the city of the oaks) but I do wish that I had more opportunities to experience real nature. That being said, the most magical encounter with nature that I've ever had was in the center of my city, in a huge meadow tucked away that I never knew about. It was my Senior year in high school and I was with my friends walking around NC State college in downtown Raleigh. Although we've been to NC States Campus thousands of times, we've never noticed the meadow that's in the middle of it. It was this huge grassy area outlined by flowers and trees, with the brick buildings of the school surrounding it. It was the perfect combination of the peace of nature with the excitement of the city. I have no idea how we ever missed it before but we took full advantage of it. Running down hills, taking pictures, and playing frisbee, we were kids again. We knew it was one of the last times we would all be together before we left for college and we were so glad we found this magical place in the middle of the city where we could just play.
I do think "saving nature" is something we should concern ourselves with. If we didn't save nature we would have no chance at making memories like the ones we're putting in these blog posts. I can't imagine a life that did not have a park full of trees, a rose garden, or a hidden away meadow. Without all this, life would be dreary. Not to mention all of the different plants and animals that call nature home, we are visiting their home and it is our duty to protect it for them. We need to save nature and we need to keep biodiversity thriving.

Beauty in your own Background

I really enjoyed reading your posts, Ciara and Stephen! The pictures were great to look at. Unfortunately, I don't have any to share for my favorite nature encounter. While I wish I had a cooler experience than this to relate, I'd have to say my most magical experience with nature was a few years ago on a clear summer night in my backyard. My entire street used to be a farm, so my house backs up against two pretty dense fields. Normally, the most you ever see are some rabbits, deer, a hawk or two, and the occasional pheasant, but I remember one night my dad called me out in the backyard, saying there was something I had to see. I walked with him out past our pool and his shed to a point where two fields converge and saw a breathtaking sight: The entire field, which slopes downward and looks sort of like a valley, was filled with what looked like thousands of lightening bugs, all flashing furiously. At first it seemed to me like I was at a movie premier and a hundred paparazzi were flashing their cameras, but as my eyes adjusted to the darkness I was able to make out the farm down the hill from my house and the tree line and an old church off in the distance. I just sat there with my dad for a good twenty minutes taking in this unexpected but incredible view. I think what I like most about this story is that it happened right in my own backyard - it seemed to me like Aldo Leopold, when we read excerpts of "A Sand Count Almanac" for class this week, was making the case that the beauty of nature can be found most places you look, and I definitely relate to that. I realized that night (or maybe remembered is more accurate) that I live in an incredibly beautiful place, and I was reminded to keep my eyes open for the thousand little natural wonders that surround me every day.

To that effect, I absolutely think saving nature is something humans need to be concerned about. As much as this might be a cliche, I think that we have a responsibility to save nature if not for ourselves, than at least for the generations who come after us. They should have every chance we have had, if not more, to experience what an amazing planet we live on, to get caught by surprise in the beauty of an unexpected vista driving down the interstate or even just to realize how magnificent our own backyards can be. I also really like what Paul Wapner says about being members of an ecological community rather than masters of it. We are, as much as we might think otherwise, a part of this planet, and I think we have a duty to keep it as beautiful and vibrant as we can, for ultimately it isn't our earth to destroy. We're just borrowing it, and we should take the best care of it we can.

Haliburton

Wow Clara! The African Safari looks incredible! While I’ve never had any experience like that, the most incredible encounters I have had with the non-human world took place in Northern Ontario. Growing up in Toronto, Canada, on holidays I would visit my Grandparents who lived about three hours north of the city in a town called Haliburton, Ontario. They lived in a cottage on an isolated bay of Koshlong Lake. In the midst of the vast and beautiful Canadian forest, I found my love and appreciation for nature. The leaves and the mosses, the streams, and the stones are vivid in my mind every day. While the area was not particularly full of biodiversity, I spent great portions of my childhood there hiking, exploring, and discovering hidden sections of the woods on the lake. In periodic clearings formed by ancient rocky moraines, deer would flock together along with loons on the lake and other wetland creatures. In these woods I found some of the most incredible sights and had some of the most amazing experiences of my life.

I believe that nature is something that we should be very concerned about as we humans are fundamentally part of nature. We depend on nature for sustenance, water, and countless other resources. In fact, it is nearly impossible to think of a thing that humans use that does not come from nature. But more than simple survival, nature reminds us where we come from and the simple beauty of life. I think this journey of self discovery and adventure must be preserved so future generations can enjoy the beauties of Northern Ontario and other sacred places just as I did.

Magical African Safari

The most magical moment that I have ever had with the non-human world occurred when I was studying abroad in South Africa. During spring break, I took a safari/camping trip where we travelled to Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It was just an amazing experience with nature all round. One part of the trip, we were literally in the middle of nowhere in a place called the Okavanga Delta. We had to take a 45 minutes mokoro (boat made from a local tree) ride to this place. We went on walking safaris where we saw all different animals. The most amazing thing we saw walking around was the interaction between the giraffes and the zebras. We were told that they hang around together because the zebras feel protected by the giraffes because lions, hyenas, and other predators are actually afraid of giraffes. The most amazing part of this trip was when I was able to ride an elephant through another safari. I am normally completely against riding animals because really I just think it is odd and unnatural. However this was a tourist attraction and the money (supposedly) went to help elephants in the area and preserving the safari area which really needed help.
I obviously think saving nature should be something we concern ourselves with; otherwise I would not have had such an amazing experience for one. Nature is also very inspiring for people such as in the arts, whether is it writing books or painting portraits, or photography. Those reasons however are not very important for everyone. The idea of saving nature plays into the idea that we need to get everyone on board to care. In order to do these we must frame the issue as saving nature will help the human species. Saving nature, whether it is the rainforests, the coral reef, or your backyard, is very important. Scientific reasons to save nature include biodiversity or the fact that we rely on these ecosystems in various ways. For example we obtain certain resources for medicine or agriculture and can thank the rainforest systems for maintain certain weather patterns and the supply of fresh air and water. While I wish people would just have an appreciation for nature, it just is not that way. People need some more magical and enchanting time with the non-human world – I am posting pictures to share mine!!!

I Like Turtles

One of the most popular stories of this year the Gulf Oil Spill. Besides the fact that they finally plugged the pipe, there has not been much positive news in the media about the cleanup of that disaster. I always fall for cute animal stories so this one caught my eye. Animal rescue networks have discovered that a common condiment is a great way to clean the sea turtles being rescued from the Gulf - mayonnaise! 525 turtles have already been found dead, and that does not include the amount that are stuck in the oil on the ocean floor.

Discovering the effectiveness of this condiment has already saved hundreds of sea turtles lives, however hundreds of turtles that have not been rescued are still in danger. The oil is trapped in sargassum which is seaweed that provides food and shelter for sea turtles along with other animals. Some other positive news that came from this article was that scientists believe due to currents and weather forecast the ecosystem of the Gulf will not suffer too badly. Obviously there is still so much clean up to be done but it is nice to read about some positive articles coming from such a catastrophe.

http://crispgreen.com/2010/09/common-condiment-helps-save-gulf-sea-turtles/

Wind Power

While riding the metro to work, I read a Washington Post story about google financing a “superhighway” for wind power. I was uplifted by the story for a number of reasons. First, in the article, google acknowledges the enormous demands its company places on the electrical grid of the United States and plans to take a concrete action to reduce the impacts of its electricity generation. Second, it shows that a major company is willing to take a risk and potentially sacrifice profits on an initiative that will dramatically expand offshore wind power in the United States using a model that can be exported around the world. Finally, this is an example of how technology can be used to minimize impact in the I=PAT equation. By eliminating the need for transmission lines from offshore wind farms with the “wind superhighway” constructed on the continental shelf, google is using technology to lower America’s environmental impact.

While it might be even more encouraging to see google launch a conservation initiative in tandem with the wind power investments or new server technology that would consume less energy, this is a step in the right direction towards a clean energy future. For better or for worse, the actions corporations are vital in confronting the climate crisis and google’s actions will hopefully lead the way for a new era of businesses doing the right thing and protecting our environment.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/12/AR2010101202271.html

Finally, we can stop drinking

For my positive article I decided upon the successful cleanup of the Thames. In 1957 the Thames River in England was so intensely polluted that it was "declared biologically dead." Now because of an intensive cleanup effort and stringent regulations. There are also anti-dumpling regulations and sewage treatment instead of direct runoff into the river. They have also reintroduced a number of species back into the river. Now it's the cleanest it has been since the industrial revolution.

I think this is a great story of how regulation and careful planning can restore the environment even after it has seemingly been destroyed by man. It makes me hopeful that we can still reverse the effects of our ever more intense resource consumption. However, it has been a 50 year long cleanup project. I recognize that we have a long road in front of us, but it sure is nice to see that there could be light at the end of the tunnel.

You can find the whole article at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/8059970/The-clean-up-of-the-River-Thames.html

Small Company, Big Impacts

First of all I would like to say to Emily that I’m a little jealous that you got to Wangari Maathai first. I was talking about her in my Environment and Development class earlier today and she’s such an inspirational leader, great choice! I’m going to take a different approach and focus on a new upcoming company, rTerra. rTerra is a consulting firm based in the Rhode Island/Massachusetts area, it was established earlier this year. They are an in-between man for government and commercial institutions to create greener working practices. Basically they help and teach people how to use clean energy, specifically wind and solar power.
What I find really interesting about this company is that it has such a diverse group of employees, not all who come from an environmental field. My uncle is the CEO of the company and he is new to the environmental world. I like the concept that it shows anyone with the initiative can go out and make a difference. And I believe these small companies like rTerra are going to play a huge role in converting our society to a greener and healthy one.
It's a pretty cool company and I encourage you all to check them out! http://rterra.com/

Wangari Maathai

Hey all,

So glad we're finally talking about something positive! The upbeat environmentalist I chose to spotlight for this entry is Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan woman who was the impetus behind the country's Green Belt Movement. Basically, she saw that women suffer as much (if not more so) than men from environmental degradation, even if they're partly responsible, so she encouraged women to start planting trees all over Kenya to both make people better off and help the environment. You can read more about her at the GBM's website: http://greenbeltmovement.org/w.php?id=59

Basically, she kicks butt. She's run for president (more as a statement than to actually get elected) and has been imprisoned before for vocally protesting Kenyan policies. She's a great example of a grassroots, on-the-ground environmental activist who's truly making a difference, and she's also a great role model for women in low-income countries, inspiring them to take initiative and fix the things they see going wrong.

Food Choices are Money choices

Food choices are something that I try to be conscious about but I find it increasingly difficult to do while I’m at college. There are a number of things that can be considered, for instance- where it’s grown, if pesticides were used in the production, the personal health implications of the product, and if there are any other environmental impacts from the production. I try to keep all of these in mind, eating meat only once a day and trying to by local organic products. (American made this a little easier when they started bringing the local farmers market to campus). At home this is easy because these products are easily accessible and I’m not the one who is paying for it, but at school this all changes. Not only is it more difficult to get to a farmers market, or just a grocery store in general, I have to also be conscious of the money spent on food and unfortunately organic products are expensive. Often times I am left simply eating what is available, which is never very satisfying, but unfortunately money is the biggest consideration that determines what I eat.
What makes things worse is often times college students must eat at a dining hall or a restaurant. In these venues it is more difficult to determine the eco-friendliness of a product. You are not sure where the product was purchased from, if it’s organic, or how it was prepared. There is a certain amount of trust that the consumer places in the venue to articulate the correct information to them or to assume that they have a set practiced standard. The same argument can be made about the supermarkets, because often times a label on a product is misleading, so the consumer is placing trust in the corporation that they are giving them what they want.
Over the past two days I would probably say that the beverage items that I’ve consumed have had the greatest impact on the environment. Typically my diet consists of mostly vegetables and proteins, and yesterday I (unintentionally) used all fresh vegetables. The meat I ate had an impact, I’m not entirely sure how it was raised but I know that the slaughter process was not environmentally friendly. I’m not sure where the meat came from, or how far it was shipped, but I do know how it was cooked and it was done in a way that caused little environmental damage. But there are is so much about beverage production that I don’t know, which is frightening. Typically I drink in terms of beverages water, milk, juice, and coffee. I don’t drink soda which cuts down a lot of health risks, but high levels of sugar in juice and caffeine in coffee can cause issues. The treatment of these beverages is where the real concern lies. I know that the tap water in DC is not safe and must be filtered, because it is treated with chemicals which must have some environmental impacts. The milk must be pasteurized which is another process that most likely takes some kind of toll on the environment. The juice comes from fruits, and after reading a report on the pesticides used on pineapples in Costa Rica a few days ago, it frightens me as to what type of pesticides are used and what the effects could be for my health and the health of the environment in the farm. And the production of coffee has caused a stir among many developing nations who are attempting sustainable development because of the corruption and destructive nature. This doesn’t even take into consideration the bottling of any of these products, even if they use recycled bottles there is still a degree of degradation that occurs. It’s frightening to think about the potential that one bottle of orange juice in the morning can do.

Food Choices

I agree with Quinn and the others that making food choices for the benefit of the environment is extremely difficult in college due to cost and lack of knowledge about the subject.

Recently however due to what I have learned in this class and others, when making food choices, I have been increasingly taking into account environmental considerations. From a trophic perspective in the Pollan article and other sources, it is clear that eating a secondary or tertiary consumer such as an animal is at least ten times more energy intensive than eating a primary consumer such as a plant. While sometimes it can be rude to disrupt social norms at family dinners or when others have prepared food for guests, when I am in sole control of my food choices, I often try to make food choices that will be the least bad and most efficient for the environment. Affordability and convenience are also factors in these decisions. While this 'fair weather' foodie perspective may seem as though it lacks courage, I feel relatively new at understanding the true impacts of food and hope to develop more in the future.

I think the food with the greatest environmental impact I have eaten was probably the top ramen packet I had for dinner last night. In the process of its contents being processed, plastic wrapped, and transported around the globe, it likely made an enormous environmental impact. It is extremely difficult for college student to eat healthily let alone sustainably given the time pressures of class, work, and other commitments along with the high price of healthier fare. I hope that we can start to change this in an effort to green our agricultural system and our eating habits.

Money, Money, Money

The first thing I think about in regard to my food choices is the price. First and foremost I am a broke college student. When I go to Giant I always buy generic and can rarely afford break the bank for fresh produce instead of canned or frozen produce. The next thing I consider is convenience. Is this something I can make quickly? Is it something that I can pack in my backpack without needing refrigeration. Long days on campus make for the need for on the go meals. When I get home after studying all I really want is to eat, not to spend an hour preparing a meal.

I really don't have environmental considerations in mind when choosing my food. I know that what I eat impacts the environment. But I tend to think of my environmental impact more in terms of the waste I produce or my mode of transportation. Things that cross my mind before the environment when purchasing food are cost, convenience, and even how heavy the item is (as I carry my groceries home).

I think the thing I've eaten in the last few days that had the greatest environmental impact is a bundle of grapes. I say that because though they are not processed, they did come from Chile. I think that the distance they had to travel is absurd and probably very detrimental to the environment. Furthermore, that means that a number of Chileans are using their resources to create things they have an international competitive advantage in producing, but that leads to them trading more. This sort of national specialization in different goods increases trade, which also increases effects of transportation of all of these goods.

Food's Environmental Impact

Much like Ciara said, before I came to AU, the thought that food and the environment could somehow be linked had never crossed my mind. I knew that the corn we bought every summer from the local farm was always the best and that the veggies we picked from my dad's garden always tasted better than anything we bought in the grocery store, even fresh produce, but somehow I never linked the two. Now that I'm at AU, though, I'm starting to see more and more how our food choices can affect the environment - everything from reusable shopping bags to cage-free eggs to local produce to grass-fed beef; concepts like this have been bombarding me for the past two years. Now that I'm more aware of these issues, I do try to buy more of my fruits and veggies from the farmer's market at AU or up by the National Cathedral on Mass. However, when I'm at the grocery store the environmental impact of my food is usually the last thing on my mind - and the first is price. Organic food, even at Safeway, is so much cheaper than the normal stuff that it's difficult to justify buying it (although my room mate and I have started buying organic milk; for some reason, it lasts longer before going bad). While I've read all the articles about how grass-fed beef is better, it's also more expensive, and I just can't bring myself to buy it at the store.

That being said, though, I think I have this sort of perverse attitude towards food, especially meat; I'll eat it, but I really hate knowing where it comes from. For example, my dad is a pretty passionate hunter, and he usually brings home at least one or two deer every year (usually from the field past our back yard). Eating venison is probably one of the most environmentally friendly things I could do - the deer are wild, so they eat sustainably; the environmental cost of transporting the food is the 20 yards my dad walks from the field to our house; and the deer population is a big problem in PA, so hunting deer actually helps prevent car accidents with them (or so my dad tells me). However, I've always thought shooting those deer was so cruel, and I always refused to eat any burgers or jerkey he made with the venison. I know the conditions the cows I eat live in are so much more cruel, but for some reason, because I don't have to see that, I can disconnect myself from it. I know that probably doesn't make any sense, but there it is.

Getting to the second part of this question, the food I've eaten in the past few days that probably has the most environmental impact is any of the meat I've eaten - either the chicken I had for dinner Sunday, the sausage on my pizza last night, or the ham I'm having tonight. The chicken probably had the most impact, though, because in addition to any original transport costs, it was from a frozen ready-made meal my room mate's mom had made, so the chicken also had associated with it the transportation costs is took my room mate to drive from Connecticut to DC. I think transportation associated with meat and produce is probably the biggest factor when considering environmental impact, but for meat, especially, we also have to look at methane emissions from cows, the pollution generated so many animals living in such close proximity, and other issues. None of these things are easy to think about, though, and I feel like a good proportion of people (myself included, at least partly) just ignore them.

The health and environmental impact of food

When I am grocery shopping for the week, I never think about how the food I am buying if affecting the environment. What I do normally think of is first what these groceries are going to cost me and then I think about how healthy/unhealthy this food is. Until my College Writing food writing seminar, I never even linked what I eat and the environment. It is just so easy to lift food off the shelf and not even wonder or care where it came from as long as I am not going hungry. I never think about how far these vegetables may have travelled or the preservatives or chemicals that have made it so they lasted the journey.

Over the past couple of days, the steak dinner that I had on Sunday night probably had the biggest environmental impact. The meat industry has huge negative impacts on the environment from green house gas emissions, methane being the largest, to large amounts of water use to feed livestock. There was an interesting article published by Cornell University that actually stated the US could feed 800 million people with grain that livestock eat. This means that cutting down our meat intake could not only improve the environment but could also help feed millions of starving people around the world. Besides steak, along with my dinner I had some broccoli which according to the USDA probably came from either China or India because they are the two largest exporters of broccoli. If you think of the travelling that broccoli had to do in order to get on my dinner plate used a lot of oil and preservatives to make sure that it was still fresh by the time I ate it. I also ate some mashed potatoes which did come from Idaho because I saw the label but obviously still had a bit of a trip to make it to Washington, DC.

While I do realize the negative impact our food choices has one the environment, it is definitely not something I really think about. I think it is safe to say that it is also not something the general public really thinks about as well. Buying local and cutting back on a few things we eat are very easy ways for people to lessen their environmental footprint but just don’t know enough about it. I think it is something that should be brought up and discussed more so people really know about the impact of what they are eating. I think it would be effective to link personal health and environmental impact when it comes to making choices about food in order to get the public on board. For example realizing that buying local fruit or bread that does not contain preservatives or chemicals is better for your health as well as the environment. Changing decisions on food is just another lifestyle change that is going to require people to change their attitudes toward the environment.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Aug97/livestock.hrs.html