I am watching this fantastic new show I discovered on Netflix. It is called Eco Trip and the host follows a product through its life cycle to truly measure the impact the supply chain and production of things like chocolate or cotton have on the environment. I love this show! It really demonstrates how we should consider the impact of every single decision we make, especially in terms of things we purchase. I am still a student, so I love things that are free or cheap, but watching the episode about cotton production is starting to make me wonder.
I might want to buy a bag of v-neck white cotton t shirts for under $10, but cotton is one of the most harmful of crops in terms of chemical use and waste. I've learned by watching Eco Trip that 70% of the cotton crop is not usuable for creating textiles and in fact is either consigned to be waste, fed to livestock, or made into cottonseed oil. The waste seems somewhat unavoidable. Cotton is my favorite textile and I can't imagine giving it up. I sleep in it, I clean things with it, I dry myself off with it...but here is the real question. If a cotton farmer uses a separate chemical to kill bugs, another to kill weeds, and another to "ripen" the cotton for harvest rather than waiting for a hard freeze, how is it possible that conventional cotton is cheaper than organic cotton, which doesn't use any chemicals? Now, I'm not a cotton farmer, but I do know that chemicals cost money. So who is paying the bill?
Cotton is subsidized by the U.S. government, just like corn, the giant grass that has found its way into every single processed food available in the center of the supermarket. But, I don't want my taxes to be paying for chemicals. I want my money to make it worth the cotton farmer's while to not use chemicals. And so, I will use the power of my pocketbook and buy organic cotton wherever I can find it. If Adam Smith had anything right, demand will eventually conquer laziness.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Communes are where it's at.
So...here is the real question of the day. Who decided American young people between the ages of 18-23 should move out of their parents' homes and forge their own way in life? Historically (and by historically I mean for the past few millenia), young adults have simply lived in their parents' homes until they started their own families. This is still the case in the majority of Latin and South America as well as other cultures around the globe. Sure, there is something to be said for having your own place. You get to make all of the decisions and you know who ate the last cookie in the cookie jar. BUT...think of all of the wasted energy.
As I write this, I am sitting on the couch in my new apartment that I will inhabit through August of this year. My apartment is approximately 750 square feet, with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, walk-in closet, in-house laundry, and patio. Since I am in Texas, it is ungodly hot and I have the air conditioning on (though I set it at a reasonable 78 degrees Farenheit) in order to help my poor native Minnesotan body adjust to the unreasonable temperatures. The dishwasher is also running. It was only half full even though it has been 4 days since I last ran it. I had to run it because I am flying to Louisville, Kentucky tomorrow for a 7 day stay and I didn't want my dishes to mold up while I was gone. The point of these ramblings is this:
I am using approximately 1 bajillion kilowatts of energy to cool my new home and wash my dishes. The space I live in could easily accomodate at least one more person comfortably. If I could live with my parents (or at least some roommates like the commune of 5 adults in 1500 square feet I lived in a week ago), I could save approximately 1 bajillion kilowatts and still be happy, comfortable, and have plenty of space for any alone time I may need (though I rarely need it due to my extroverted nature).
Unnecessary waste is inherent in every facet of American culture.
As I write this, I am sitting on the couch in my new apartment that I will inhabit through August of this year. My apartment is approximately 750 square feet, with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, walk-in closet, in-house laundry, and patio. Since I am in Texas, it is ungodly hot and I have the air conditioning on (though I set it at a reasonable 78 degrees Farenheit) in order to help my poor native Minnesotan body adjust to the unreasonable temperatures. The dishwasher is also running. It was only half full even though it has been 4 days since I last ran it. I had to run it because I am flying to Louisville, Kentucky tomorrow for a 7 day stay and I didn't want my dishes to mold up while I was gone. The point of these ramblings is this:
I am using approximately 1 bajillion kilowatts of energy to cool my new home and wash my dishes. The space I live in could easily accomodate at least one more person comfortably. If I could live with my parents (or at least some roommates like the commune of 5 adults in 1500 square feet I lived in a week ago), I could save approximately 1 bajillion kilowatts and still be happy, comfortable, and have plenty of space for any alone time I may need (though I rarely need it due to my extroverted nature).
Unnecessary waste is inherent in every facet of American culture.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Germany should take over the world...
The movement to live locally is growing stronger everyday, but here in midwestern America, it isn't as easy as it could or should be. Enter the community of Vauban, Germany. In Vauban, life is local because it is designed to be. Car ownership is heavily discouraged. There are no roads within the community wide enough for automobiles and a parking space in the community's parking garage must be purchased like any other form of real estate and will run you around $40,000. Have no fear, however, you don't need a car to live here. A local grocery shop is right down the street and everything you need is within walking distance due to a beautiful mixed zoning policy. Now you may say, "What if I need to visit Ma Suntken in Berlin?" Once again, the urban planners were using their thinking caps. The train station is right on the edge of the community, walkable from any home.
Indeed, the pictures of Vauban in a recent New York Times article make the community look positively utopian. But despite the clear quality of life perks of living in Vauban, the success of the designed community has not spurred a worldwide revolution in which we transform suburbia from a place where our lawns stretch endlessly to the horizon into a place where our children can play in the streets without fear of being hit by a driver filled with road rage.
In fact, here in the U.S., there continues to be substantial resistance to what should be a simple choice when one weighs the pros and cons. The standard answers I receive when I passionately discuss local eating, bicycle commuting, organic gardening, making my own cheese, etc. with my friends and family center around the cost and inconvenience of actually taking up any of these earth-saving habits. But Vauban puts both of those concerns to rest. It isn't inconvenient to bike to the grocery store when the store is a few blocks away. It isn't more expensive to ride the bus or train when owning a car requires a significant additional investment.
With Vauban leading German planning into the 21st century, I say, let the Germans rule!
Indeed, the pictures of Vauban in a recent New York Times article make the community look positively utopian. But despite the clear quality of life perks of living in Vauban, the success of the designed community has not spurred a worldwide revolution in which we transform suburbia from a place where our lawns stretch endlessly to the horizon into a place where our children can play in the streets without fear of being hit by a driver filled with road rage.
In fact, here in the U.S., there continues to be substantial resistance to what should be a simple choice when one weighs the pros and cons. The standard answers I receive when I passionately discuss local eating, bicycle commuting, organic gardening, making my own cheese, etc. with my friends and family center around the cost and inconvenience of actually taking up any of these earth-saving habits. But Vauban puts both of those concerns to rest. It isn't inconvenient to bike to the grocery store when the store is a few blocks away. It isn't more expensive to ride the bus or train when owning a car requires a significant additional investment.
With Vauban leading German planning into the 21st century, I say, let the Germans rule!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Everything I need to know about global warming I learned in 3rd grade
On Friday, April 17, 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that they were formally declaring carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride as pollutants. I am extremely excited that the government has finally taken an official stand on how intensely human activity on the planet has impacted the state of our environment. The declaration opens doors for many new and necessary policies that could accelerate the changes that need to be made before we cause our own extinction. In The 11th Hour, Leonardo DiCaprio told me that the U.S. government's denial of the severity of climate change and global warming was the single biggest obstacle to positive change. So, the EPA's announcement is good.
On the other hand, the fact that it is 2009 and the EPA, the governmental agency appointed to monitor and regulate the state of our environmnet, is only now declaring the danger of these potent gases is disturbing. When I was in 3rd grade in 1994, my mother gave me a book called 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth (the book was actually published in 1990....19 years ago). Now, I remember quite clearly that "The Greenhouse Effect" was described in that book as one of the "things that was happening" that needed to be stopped. The Greenhouse Effect was the 90's phrase for global warming. So, I, as an 8 year old, knew more about global warming, its consequences, and what I could do to stop it, than the EPA did in 2007.
If the EPA was a schoolkid, I would have require it to take the 3rd grade over again, as it just isn't keeping up with its peers.
On the other hand, the fact that it is 2009 and the EPA, the governmental agency appointed to monitor and regulate the state of our environmnet, is only now declaring the danger of these potent gases is disturbing. When I was in 3rd grade in 1994, my mother gave me a book called 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth (the book was actually published in 1990....19 years ago). Now, I remember quite clearly that "The Greenhouse Effect" was described in that book as one of the "things that was happening" that needed to be stopped. The Greenhouse Effect was the 90's phrase for global warming. So, I, as an 8 year old, knew more about global warming, its consequences, and what I could do to stop it, than the EPA did in 2007.
If the EPA was a schoolkid, I would have require it to take the 3rd grade over again, as it just isn't keeping up with its peers.
Friday, April 10, 2009
I guess you really do have to cook your food...
The New York Times has a lot of good information, but sometimes its journalists just fail to get to the point. For example, today my daily email of headlines included U.S. Food Safety No Longer Improving. I clicked the headline to learn more. The article started out great, stating that the food safety system in this country needs some serious help due to the fact that it was "created when most foods were grown, prepared and consumed locally." This really caught my attention. Here was a perfect opportunity for a NY Times reporter to provide a critical analysis of the entire food system, not just the food safety system. Low and behold, as I read on, the only solution presented to me was that the "F.D.A. needs to do more inspections.” This led me to ask myself, "How exactly would more inspections help?" We could hire the 650,000 people who were laid off in February to work as FDA inspectors and we still wouldn't catch all of the contaminants. Furthermore, as a later part of the article stated, “You can only tell people so much to wash their cutting boards and wash their hands,” Dr. Jones said. “I think we’re running out of things to do to make dramatic improvements.” Though Dr. Jones seems to think we have zero options, there is still one brightly shining star that could help remedy the food safety system and it isn't getting people to use more soap and water.
Fix the food system. Prevent the contamination of meat by feeding cattle what their stomachs can digest rather than force feeding them inedible feed and then pumping them full of antibiotics while they lounge in their own e. coli contaminated excrement. You can irradiate the steaks that come out of that cow and hire an inspector to make sure that always happens, but it seems a lot easier to me to let your cows roam a plot of grass and keep their muscles healthy until it is time to turn those muscles into food. Since a large percentage of bacterial contamination of food is ultimately caused by contaminated fecal matter that enters the soil and handling equipment, eliminating the cause of contaminated fecal matter would actually attack the contamination of food, rather than preventing already contaminated food from entering the market.
Fix the food system. Prevent the contamination of meat by feeding cattle what their stomachs can digest rather than force feeding them inedible feed and then pumping them full of antibiotics while they lounge in their own e. coli contaminated excrement. You can irradiate the steaks that come out of that cow and hire an inspector to make sure that always happens, but it seems a lot easier to me to let your cows roam a plot of grass and keep their muscles healthy until it is time to turn those muscles into food. Since a large percentage of bacterial contamination of food is ultimately caused by contaminated fecal matter that enters the soil and handling equipment, eliminating the cause of contaminated fecal matter would actually attack the contamination of food, rather than preventing already contaminated food from entering the market.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Those who truly need to Discover probably don't watch the Discovery channel
Tonight I watched Tom Brokaw's special report on Global Warming. I was really excited as I had seen previews the weekend before while watching a Discovery channel show about renewable energy. When I heard "Tom Brokaw" and "Global Warming" used in the same sentence, I assumed it would be a big deal, probably would be on one of the major networks to reach the masses, and I would have guessed NBC since that is Tom's alma mater. Tonight when I was turning on the TV and trying to locate the show, fiance Tom informed me that it was on the Discovery channel. Obviously, I love the Discovery channel because it is all about learning, but I was a little miffed. I didn't believe fiance Tom. The Global Warming report was a really big deal. People needed to know about it. Even in Texas. But, as so often is the case, fiance Tom was right.
So, disappointed that roommate Dave and I might be the only people in the world watching Tom Brokaw (even fiance Tom decided he needed to do laundry instead), I sat and waited for the show to begin. Considering it was on the Discovery channel instead of NBC, I was a little disappointed. The show was a little soft. I had already heard about pine beetles and the devastating effect they are having on white pines in the Rockies and the far-reaching consequences the extinction of the white pine will have.
Nevertheless, I learned a few new things and I wanted to post them in case someone else didn't know them.
1. Honda has created the FCX Clarity, a zero-emission vehicle, which is actually in production. 200 vehicles will be released over the next 3 years, primarily in Southern California. It's real and it is totally awesome.
2. Geyser generated electricity. The electricity generated by the geysers in the show could power 725,000 homes or roughly the city of San Francisco. That is pretty badass yo.
3. LivingHomes has created green, prefabricated homes that can be assembled in less than 24 hours. And the coolest part is that they actually are aesthetically pleasing both inside and out.
Keep your head up, Tom Brokaw. One person out here is listening.
So, disappointed that roommate Dave and I might be the only people in the world watching Tom Brokaw (even fiance Tom decided he needed to do laundry instead), I sat and waited for the show to begin. Considering it was on the Discovery channel instead of NBC, I was a little disappointed. The show was a little soft. I had already heard about pine beetles and the devastating effect they are having on white pines in the Rockies and the far-reaching consequences the extinction of the white pine will have.
Nevertheless, I learned a few new things and I wanted to post them in case someone else didn't know them.
1. Honda has created the FCX Clarity, a zero-emission vehicle, which is actually in production. 200 vehicles will be released over the next 3 years, primarily in Southern California. It's real and it is totally awesome.
2. Geyser generated electricity. The electricity generated by the geysers in the show could power 725,000 homes or roughly the city of San Francisco. That is pretty badass yo.
3. LivingHomes has created green, prefabricated homes that can be assembled in less than 24 hours. And the coolest part is that they actually are aesthetically pleasing both inside and out.
Keep your head up, Tom Brokaw. One person out here is listening.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
To cook or not to cook?
Two days ago my brother sent me a link to a blog that had a recent post about eating raw. He thought I might be interested in learning more, which of course I was. (If you happen to click the link, you should check out the before & after photos link and you'll be interested, too). I must admit, much of my interest came from wanting to discredit raw foodies as lunatics (which I may or may not do by the end of this blog post). I had recently been discussing raw diets with my going-on-2-months vegan friend Molly. Molly told me she had been browsing the raw food cookbooks in Barnes & Noble because they happen to be placed right next to the vegan cookbooks. We brainstormed a bit about what these cookbooks could possibly contain. I mean raw cookbook is an oxymoron, is it not? My best guess was basically guacamole with some carrot sticks for dipping. It didn't sound much like cooking and it didn't so much fun to be eating either.
Nevertheless, I found myself guiltily cruising the information superhighway in my pjs at 10:03pm last night. I was hoping no one would catch me and accuse me of losing all of my marbles. The first post that my brother had provided had a lot of reasons why eating raw is great, and though a couple were a little out there (something about natural life energy and eating seeds that have sprouted), I felt like maybe eating raw was at least as good of a choice as the Typical American Diet (or TAD for short, an acronym I just picked up from the raw food circle last night). Plus, who doesn't want to join a diet where you get to eat ALL THE TIME because of your foods are so light in calories that should you eat only 3 plates of food a day you most certainly would die immediately. Also, I would get to eat plenty of nuts and avocados (two of my favorite items from nature's bounty) to help me sustain life with supplemental fat. It sounded healthy enough, even if I was questioning the fact that I would get enough protein.
Then, at the end of reading a posting on someone's 30 day trial of eating all raw, I found it. At this point, I was seriously considering trying a raw diet, especially during my summer in Dallas when I would have access to all kinds of fresh, local, raw produce. Steve had lost 8 pounds in a month, but found his weight had stabilized and he was feeling "insane energy". I thought I would return for my wedding looking great and feeling even better. Then Steve told me his secret. He admitted to experiencing some difficulties during the 2 week detoxification period. And then Steve told me that he had such dry skin since he began the diet that his skin was cracking and bleeding all over his body, and that it hadn't gotten any better during the entire month.
Steve, your skin is trying to tell you something.
(This post is dedicated to Leah, the one who was always there to remind me that I like my blog and should stop avoiding it).
Nevertheless, I found myself guiltily cruising the information superhighway in my pjs at 10:03pm last night. I was hoping no one would catch me and accuse me of losing all of my marbles. The first post that my brother had provided had a lot of reasons why eating raw is great, and though a couple were a little out there (something about natural life energy and eating seeds that have sprouted), I felt like maybe eating raw was at least as good of a choice as the Typical American Diet (or TAD for short, an acronym I just picked up from the raw food circle last night). Plus, who doesn't want to join a diet where you get to eat ALL THE TIME because of your foods are so light in calories that should you eat only 3 plates of food a day you most certainly would die immediately. Also, I would get to eat plenty of nuts and avocados (two of my favorite items from nature's bounty) to help me sustain life with supplemental fat. It sounded healthy enough, even if I was questioning the fact that I would get enough protein.
Then, at the end of reading a posting on someone's 30 day trial of eating all raw, I found it. At this point, I was seriously considering trying a raw diet, especially during my summer in Dallas when I would have access to all kinds of fresh, local, raw produce. Steve had lost 8 pounds in a month, but found his weight had stabilized and he was feeling "insane energy". I thought I would return for my wedding looking great and feeling even better. Then Steve told me his secret. He admitted to experiencing some difficulties during the 2 week detoxification period. And then Steve told me that he had such dry skin since he began the diet that his skin was cracking and bleeding all over his body, and that it hadn't gotten any better during the entire month.
Steve, your skin is trying to tell you something.
(This post is dedicated to Leah, the one who was always there to remind me that I like my blog and should stop avoiding it).
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