Carl Honore praises slowness: Reflection

In Carl's talk he promotes the idea that as a society we are to fast. We rush to get as much as we can done in the shortest amount of time. This prevents us from enjoying life. I agree that we need to slow down once and a while. Presently am definitely guilty of going too fast. Its one thing after another school homework, work, extracurricular activities and other. I never take time to fully enjoy my life instead i'm rushing through it. He says the Nordic countries are combating this, they apparently have less work hours but the same or better productivity. I think slowing down as a society could be good for the environment. If everyone wasn't rushing more people would take the time to walk or bike leading to less carbon emissions. Carl says this behavior stems from urbanism and consumerism. You could say its one of the signs of affluenza that we spoke of in class. We try to pursue more, get more "stuff" we rush about trying to get more done in a short time. This leads to a painful, contagious, condition of overload, debt and anxiety which is affluenza.

Affluenza Reflection

Affluenza is a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste from pursuit of more. This "more" is all consumer goods that our society is constantly buying in a futile attempt to make ourselves feel better. But happiness has been at a steady decline since 1957. I don't think i am suffering from Affluenza. I don't constantly have to buy the newest gadget, i still use the first mp3 player i ever bought. unlike the people who feel the need to replace there iPod every time a "new" one is released with a few modifications. I also don't try to load up on hours at work to be able to buy more "stuff". On the site http://www.pbs.org/kcts/affluenza/diag/have.html i took the affluenza test and my results were that i have " no dangerous signs of affluenza". I do see people around me that do show signs of affluenza. Some of my friends always seem to have a new shiny gadget. But I do wonder how our economy would be affected without affluenza.

Selection 39 Summary

Towards Sustainable development a chapter from Our Common Future talks about the attainment of sustainable development. It begins by defining sustainability, meeting our current needs without sacrificing future generations needs. it goes on state sustainability has 2 key concepts. the concept of need and the idea of limitations and social organization to meet present and future needs. It then goes further into the concept of sustainability. sustainability fulfills peoples needs food, clothing, shelter and jobs, but they also have further aspirations. Problems arise in developing nations because of overpopulation and inefficient resource distribution. to be sustainable development cannot threaten natural systems such as the atmosphere, waters, soils and the biosphere. improvement of technology and methods can increase carrying capacity but sustainability demands that we know limits are still present. It then explains how sustainability does not mean we should not nonrenewable resources. It does mean we have to recycle and conserve until a suitable replacement can be found. Biodiversity must also be conserved for the future to be able to weather disasters. It then touches upon equity and common interests. Environmental systems is not effected by individual boundaries and people must recognize this and enforce community controls over practices such as agriculture. this way one individuals actions won't impede others needs. Communities can solve this with laws and liability legislation. it then goes into strategic imperatives for sustainable development. technologies need to be reorientated to pay more attention to environmental factors. most technology presently is developed for market value. Environment as well as economics have both be taken into account when making decisions. To conclude sustainable development requires new ways of thinking in politics and business, constant research for new solutions and an administrative system that has flexibility.

Image from: http://www.sunschools.org/County_Management/Sustainability/images/Sustainability%203%20E's.jpg

Selection 24 Summary

In the article Restoring Rivers Margaret Palmer and J. Allen discuss the importance of water ways and how to preserve them. Water ways were getting cleaner after 1973 until 1998 when it again became worse. water quality and extreme extraction are both problems concerning the waterways. Disasters such as the creation of a dead zone in the Chesapeake bay have occurred because of the degradation of rivers and streams. These disasters could have been prevented by ecological restoration which is the repairing water ways that can no longer perform essential ecological and social functions. This includes actions such as mitigating floods, providing drinking water and removing excess nutrients from the water. They say that the U.S. needs regulations and federal policies to improve the effectiveness of restoration. Originally waste was dumped in waterways to solve pollution. they also cut down riparian vegetation and filled in wetlands. water quality got worse with increasing industrialization and the paving of cities. in 1960 two-thirds were polluted. pavement over land has changed the way water runoff behaves which in turn changes the behavior of rivers leading to flooding. Attempts have been made by starting projects all over the country such as the planting riparian buffers. Stricter standards on storm runoff has been implemented as well. despite an ever increasing amount of restoration projects the coastal banks continue to show degradation. The government needs to increase its standards of restoration projects. A lot is known about how to effectively restore waterways but this information has not been used in many projects. they the state that federal agencies must adopt standards for successful river restoration. A system to track the projects must be created. National studies must be taken to evaluate the effectiveness of projects. Funding must be used more efficiently and more funding is needed. They conclude by saying that waterways can be restored with proper government application of policies and funding.

image from: http://www.restoreuppertruckee.net/project_clip_image002_0001.jpg

Selection 23 Summary

this selection from Beverly Paigen's Controversy at Love Canal discusses the scientific and political aspects of hazardous waste controversies most notably the Love Canal incident. She found that the

controversy surround love canal was more a political matter than a scientific one. there is many known hazardous waste sites that pose a threat to communities. In 1942 the hooker corporation dumped hazardous waste in love canal and filled it in. Hooker corp. later sold the land to the board of eduction and developers who in built housing and a school over the hazardous wastes. People began to get sick and send complaints to the Niagara falls department of health who took no action. When action was finally taken only the houses directly on top of the waste site was evacuated. The other families were told they were fine despite many signs the chemicals were spreading past the area declared unsafe. she then explains the scientific processes she took to evaluate the cause of sickness in the community surrounding Love canal. she devised a questionnaire which would help her locate the sick. if the sick were clustered in families it was genetic, if it was clustered geographically it was the chemicals and if was random it had no relation to the chemicals. she found that illness were clustered in areas where there used to be waterways. Only pregnant and those with children under 2 years of age were evacuated. She then explains her elements of controversy. On faction may benefit from not resolving the controversy. New York state would lose money resolving the love canal controversy. Factions may not agree on what questions need to be answered. the commissioner focused on the effects on fetus health while the community wanted to know if they were all in danger. No one faction should be in control of all the information gathering. The research at love canal by the health department was kept secret to the general populace. minority opinion can not be cast out and ridiculed. scientists working for the state were harassed and demoted for disagreeing with the official stance. Scientists should follow social controls on behavior for the advance of knowledge and to detect error. All factions should agree on the facts that need resolving. there was failure to do this at love canal. She concludes by saying that when controversies arise scientist should follow the fundamentals of their profession, community insight and funds should given to communities to hire their own professionals.

Image from: http://hypothesizethis.wordpress.com/

Food Reflection

Day 1: cereal, orange juice, chocolate milk, ice tea, microwavable Philly sandwich, Granola bar, pudding,orange juice,water(bottle), banana, stir fry, yogurt, chocolate bar, milk.
Day 2:Cereal, orange juice, Tim Horton's coffee and breakfast sandwich, Mc. Donald's big mac and fries, beer.

Looking back at what i ate on those two days i can see that there are environmental concerns. first milk has a pretty big carbon footprint. The feed for the cow, the milking equipment, travel, processing, packaging and refrigeration all involve carbon emissions(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122304950601802565.html ). I could also cut back on the amount of meat i eat because like the milk raising the livestock has a huge carbon footprint. Clearing for pastureland is also an impact. i also eat to many microwavable foods that come in individual packaging. The amount of packaging in relation to the actual food is ridiculous though i try to recycle all i can the stuff i cant will end up in the dump. that is a problem with a lot of the food i eat, there is too much packaging. The fruit i eat such as bananas have to travel vast distances to reach my house. With beer apparently the biggest source of carbon emissions is refrigeration. Drinking bottled water is also a big source of carbon emission as we discussed in class the plastic and transportation adds a lot of carbon emissions to a drink of water when i could have just used a tap or drinking fountain.

Carl Fowler: One Seed at a Time, Protecting the Future of Food

In his speech Carl Fowler bring up the issue that a mass extinction of crop species is and has been underway. This mass extinction lowers the genetic diversity of our crops which in turn leaves them vulnerable to changes in the environment. With climate change happening, a high biodiversity would ensure that some crops would have unique traits that would allow them to survive and adapt. In case of a global disaster natural or of our own creation where the biodiversity is greatly reduced a backup has been created. A seed bank has been created in Svalbard Norway (picture of entrance in top left) that can store the seeds of most of the crops in the world in a safe secure spot. On their website (http://www.croptrust.org/main/arctic.php?itemid=211 ) they explain their mandates, strategies for the conversation of global crop diversity, how they freeze the seeds, layout of the establishment and more. We haven't gone into much depth in class about the loss of seed diversity. It was touched on when talking about G.M.O.s which are out competing natural varieties. Other than that it was barely talked about and being such a big issue I'm surprised. Besides being a good backup for the environment i think the seed bank is just plain cool. Its a Vault built in the side of a mountain on an island in the north it reminds me of a villains lair in a James Bond movie, but not evil.

Selection 41 Summary

Vandana Shiva’s article Women’s Indigenous Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation brings up the concept that women’s knowledge is key to preserving biodiversity. She begins by drawing connections between the unequal treatment of women and how we treat the environment. Both are by-products of our patriarchal world view. According to Shiva this view leads towards monocultures, monocultures and homogeneity. She states that diversity is the cornerstone of women’s work and knowledge. Tribal societies that base their production on diversity are seen as primitive while crop uniformity is seen as progressive. Women are on the forefront of many third world industries because of their knowledge. She says that women are the “custodians” of biodiversity but their work has been discredited. Diversity is continued through the culture. Generally people do not excerpt this view because cultural knowledge did not come from a lab. She claims this cultural knowledge comes solely from women. She then compares third world women’s relation with the environment to that of corporate men. to women biodiversity has intrinsic value while companies just see it as a resource to exploit. She then discusses the issue of GMOs. Companies patent their seed which stops farmers from producing their own. She says that these GMOs steal biodiversity from the third world and the health and safety of the consumers.

Selection 27 Summary

In the Agriculture Crisis as a Crisis of Nature by Wendell Berry, he discusses the cultural aspects of agriculture. He Begins by telling us how Henry County where he grew up changed from a farming county. He says the farms used to be small, family owned and had highly diversified crops and livestock. They could live off these crops and make a living by selling the surplus. He follows by saying that since World War 2 agriculture has become increasingly mechanized. Farms are now becoming larger and the owners fewer. The new technologies and big businesses are leaving more abandoned land then ever before. He then says that the young people are not staying to inherit the farms because its too expensive. A farmer can no longer make a living from minor produce because of the expensive machinery now required for sanitation. there is less germs but more poisons in our food as a result. he then brings up the fact that farmers are being forced to get big or get out. he says that agriculture has shifted from quality to quantity not realizing the two are interconnected. He states that food is a cultural product not a technological one. the best farming requires generations of accumulated knowledge and community cooperation not found in big farming. the new way changes farmers from thinking of agricultural responsibilty to financiasl responsabilty. He then says that both agriculture and culture needs unity if they want to be long lived. H concludes by saying we have exchanged cultual responsabilty and cooperation with moral ignorance that comes with new technology.

Selection 29 Summary

In his article Environmental, Energetic and Economic Comparisons of Organic and Conventional Farming Systems, David Pimentel talks about organic farming and its sustainability. He states that industrial agriculture is have adverse effects on the environment. these effects include groundwater contamination, destruction of fisheries and soil erosion. He then says that using integrated pest management and organic farming practices can reduce the damage agriculture has on the environment. government programs have showed that a switch to organic farming practices does not mean a loss in productivity. He then shares the finding of a from a soil study site conducted by the Rodale institute where they used different farming methods and compared there productivity. they found that the yields varied depending to the crops regions and technologies employed. It was found that the organic farming methods had environmental benefits such as less soil erosion,reduced chemical inputs and improved biodiversity. he then explains the benefits of organic farming in greater detail. Greater biomass increases the amount of biodiversity so there are more critters in the soil which dig holes allowing more water to percolate through which in turn recharges the ground water. Increased biodiversity also crop diseases. Organic farming uses less chemicals derived from fossil fuels which reduces the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere. Organic farming have less yields at first because of low nitrogen levels, but after a couple years of legume fixing plants and use of animal manure the problem is greatly reduced.He the discussed the challenges organic farming faces. the two main problem is nitrogen deficiency and weeds. One solution is legume cover crop but this will not work in all regions. weeds and pest can be dealt with by rotating crops and using integrated pest management. Conventional farming could benefit from the adoption of organic techniques such as extended crop rotation, off season cover crops, increased levels of soil organic matter and employment of natural biodiversity.

Selection 28 Summary

In the article Food scarcity an environment wake up call, Lester Brown States that environmental degradation in tandem with population growth will cause food shortages. Brown says that the worlds economy will eventually be affected by the environmental degradation . the affects are already becoming apparent , soil erosion, flooding, climate change, collapse of fisheries and more. the agriculture sector will be the first to be hit. Historically it is unsustainable agriculture that has lead to the declines in past civilizations. Lester believes rising prices will be the first sign of decline possibly inciting riots and millions to starve. He then states that cropland per person is decreasing due to growing population of earth. The increasing use of water for irrigation is causing a water scarcity as well. The decreasing supplies of water will create competition between cities and rural areas. The depletion of aquifers in the major ,grain producing countries U.S.A., India and china will also cause a big hit to the economy. Lester than says that the evidence of impending food shortage has been building for years. Food production is falling behind the demand. As result food prices have been increasing world wide which may induce people to change before political instability. He then states that it is no longer only a matter of agriculture but we must also change change our fossil fuel burning economy and our reproductive habits. He concludes by saying our foos reserves are depleting and that a sustainable ecomony is our only hope.