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Carbon Based World

Climate change. The biggest issue we have here on Earth, and yet one of the least talked about and most disrespected. It literally baffles me how our leaders can either choose to ignore, or simply not care about the environment. Perhaps they come from a time in which environmental destruction was the norm, seeing as that’s what old white men in power love to do. Do they not realize that this will have consequences? Serious ones in the near future? Robertson speaks on projected models of our planet in the future, describing a grim world of: “Changes predicted by computer models reviewed by the IPCC include heat waves; extremes of weather conditions… and changes to human lifestyles including agriculture and economic issues” (75). I often wonder if the only time people will pay attention, is when it is too late. When the world is in chaos, and balance is so far off that the seas come to swallow us up… Maybe then we can talk about saving the planet. When it’s all too late.

Just last week, a whole ecosystem was wiped out across the street from FGCU, countless trees just ripped up and for… What? Another housing community? We have panthers confirmed to be walking around the streets of suburban neighborhoods due to habitat destruction, but the bulldozers just continue to demolish nature. How is this still happening so recklessly? I thought FGCU was part of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, and on which they would “agree that their institutions will measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions, develop and implement action plans for becoming climate neutral, and make climate neutrality part of their curriculum” (Robertson, 79). I suppose I was mistaken in that thought too, because here we are.

I’m not saying I’m perfect. Attached I have my carbon footprint chart. As a student, I suppose my expenses and such are not incredibly out of the ordinary. I do eat a lot of food that isn’t sustainable, however, and I drive fast cars that can’t be good for the environment. Don’t worry, I have a daily that is much more eco-friendly.

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Rich Trash

Waste is something that has long since weighed upon my mind. I am not blind to the things that I leave behind, whether they be paper products, plastic, glass, or otherwise. I refuse to litter, and am proud to say that I have never done it on purpose, and always tried to rectify the litter if it occurred accidentally. I do like to recycle when I can, though I am not always able to due to where I live. Despite how I live myself, I m well aware of how others behave. Litter is scattered along the side of the road, plastic floats in our oceans and is consumed by our fish. The world is treated like a garbage can by so many people, and yet I know nobody who assists with this litter directly.

Robertson comments on the evidence of human waste I hate most, that being the Pacific Garbage Patch. “In the middle of the Pacific Ocean lies a growing mass of trash currently believed to be about the twice the size of Texas. The garbage, mostly plastic, has come from many countries on both sides of the Pacific” (280). Texas in and of itself is absolutely massive. Now you’re telling me that a patch of literally nothing but trash is just… Floating in the middle of our ocean? How could we let this happen? How are solutions not being spoken about more? It just baffles me that the elected officials we have don’t care.

Speaking of not caring, let’s talk about the rich and wealthy. A piece of me genuinely wants to believe that the 1% got their money and are just like me. Have a conscience, do their part, etc. But I really don’t think that’s the case. I think that money blinds you, and once you have a fortune you just want a bigger fortune. There is no “enough” for these people. So, they don’t care about the environment, and they don’t do things to help because they want to keep getting richer. Right? Jackson comments on the rich in a way I agree with completely, jokingly stating: “But at least the super wealthy have the good manners not to breed very much, so the rich old men who bang on about human reproduction leave them alone” (104). I hate seeing rich old white men talk about things like abortion or birth control or whatever. Because what in the world makes them think they have autonomy over millions of women’s bodies? Absurd.

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I never thought that living in a city could potentially be environmentally conscious. I just always assumed that by living in a city, I was contributing to a problem of pollution, overpopulation, and other nastiness. I now know, that living in a city doesn’t have to be as bad as people think! Watching the video on Lehigh versus Babcock for example really put things into perspective for me. The whole concept of smart growth is something I personally never considered, but I now understand how vital it is for a healthy community to exist. Robertson defines smart growth as growth that “accommodates growth by locating development in city centers and older suburbs with existing infrastructure in ways that preserve open space and natural resources while supporting and revitalizing existing cities” (215). This approach to infrastructure prevents that nasty sprawl that encourages so much driving and pollution, as well as a more connected community.

 There’s something about issues that happen right in your backyard that make them much more… Real. Reading about Orlando and the horrible condition of some of their communities really made me sad. Just last week, I spoke of our deteriorating air quality and questioned how long it would be before breathing the air would become problematic. I did not realize we were already there. “The decrepit air-conditioning unit in Young’s apartment spewed out dust and forced her to keep the windows open, even when traffic was heavy. Sometimes, soot and particles floated through the air inside her apartment like it was snowing dust” (Jackson, 34). These people are living in such a horribly urban environment, that the effects can be seen in the very air they breathe. Where even the AC in your home is too dusty and grimy to breathe. How can places like this exist? Not to mention the fact that the neighborhood is conveniently all black. The government is nothing but shady.

 What is there to do when the government is the one holding you down? This community in Orlando is being attacked by the very elected officials that are supposed to protect them. In another interview, Jackson focuses on how emotional the people in this fight can get, when their governors are out to destroy their livelihoods at the most basic of levels. ““Too many people I know have cancer. Too many people I know have respiratory problems. Too many people I know don’t have the proper information to know how to diagnosis what’s going on,” said Lawanna Gelzer, a community activist. “I get upset a lot. I’m David and I have a slingshot and a rock. And Goliath is my government, my elected officials, with billions of dollars to fight me” (36). Air is not something that should be different from one area to the next. This is the most basic, most essential thing there is on the planet. Yet we live in a world in which it is not guaranteed equally to everyone… Pathetic.

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Food, Horrible Food

This is a fun topic. Specifically, because it is one I actively avoid. Food. I am not the best eater there is. My diet is littered with red meat, fats, carbs, etc. I know for sure that the way I eat does not contribute to a sustainable future in the food industry. That being said, the horrors of the food industry are not lost upon me, despite my participation. Margaret Robertson comments on the awfulness of factory farms stating: “Animals in feedlots suffer emotional stress from living conditions and physical stress from being forced to eat monotonous diets of corn or feed pellets, which their systems have not evolved to digest… leading to antibiotic-resistant bacteria” (226). The negative effects of these places are numerous and all equally horrible. I do eat much of my meat that I cook myself from the local butcher shop, but my continuous fast-food trips are certainly contributors to the issue at hand.

 The thing is, the effects of agriculture are not just things we can see. Yes, animals are being tortured, the Earth is being destroyed, and waters are being polluted. But the very climate is being affected by the way our agriculture is being run. Cars and factories spew toxic fumes into the atmosphere all day, every day. And yet they are overshadowed by the agriculture industry immensely. “Agriculture is responsible for 30 to 35 percent of the greenhouse gases emitted globally, more than all transportation or all power plants” (Robertson, 234). So, despite the black smoke poured into the atmosphere, and despite all the focus on cleaner automobile sources… The real problem is not being addressed.

 Watching Food Inc. was difficult for me. Before opening it, I had a suspicion as to what it would be about, and I was correct. The food industry truly is horrific, and this showcased exactly that. I suppose I, like most people, just prefer to turn a blind eye to these sorts of things. Simply because, well, I’m either unable or unwilling to change my life in order to avoid these atrocities. What struck me most about the film, however, was the way employees are treated. Specifically, the part where the town that housed the factory farm, had no employees from that town. Because nobody wanted to work there anymore. That’s how horribly the employees are treated. Much less the animals on a conveyor belt systematically killed.

 Margaret Robertson. Sustainability Principles and Practice. Routledge, 2017.

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In the Name of Comfort

Pollution. This is arguably humanity’s greatest “contribution” to the planet. There is nowhere on Earth that the mark of humans cannot be found, for even the most remote of places are tainted with our debris. It is no secret that our carelessness with pollution effects not only humans, but all life on the planet. The land we walk upon has been terraformed in the most dramatic of ways, whether it’s entire forests chopped down, massive canyons carved into the earth, and housing structures erected at every opportunity. Our water is filled to the brim with plastic, fossil fuels, and rising in both acidity and temperature. How long will it be before the very air we breathe is tainted by our pollution? We can avoid acidic water, we can turn our gaze away from ugly developments, but can we stop breathing tainted air? “Our lungs are designed to absorb gases out of the air efficiently; that means they also absorb pollutants efficiently” (Robertson, 136). If we continue on this current course, how long will it be before canned air is sitting beside bottled water on the shelves, for the air surrounding us is just too dirty to breathe?

Humans have existed for such a small percentage of the Earth’s life that it is truly pathetic. We think ourselves so incredible, and yet we as a species are so very young. The Earth is tens of millions of years old, and yet our entire history makes up barely a fraction of that time. Despite our immaturity, we have altered our environment at an astounding level. Species go extinct naturally, such is the circle of life. But I think we as a species have forgotten how valuable, and how rare life truly is. “It took hundreds of millions of years to produce the life that now inhabits the earth—eons of time in which that developing and evolving and diversifying life reached a state of adjustment and balance with its surroundings” (Jackson, 29). We are the only planet that harbors life in the entirety of our known universe. Of all the planets observed and investigated, there is none like our own. The life that took eons to develop, is so casually extinguished by humans. And for what? Something as trivial as an apartment complex? Fossil fuels? We are single handedly destroying millions of years of development.

At what point do we decide that we have done enough? Humans control every facet of life, we have expertly altered or changed things for the sake of convenience in every field of life. Could this harbor unknown consequences? In our food, for example, we coat everything we eat with a myriad of chemicals and potential toxins in the name of pesticide. But health issues due to these pesticides are not at all unheard of. Jackson asks a unique question, framed from the perspective of future historians. “How could intelligent beings seek to control a few unwanted species by a method that contaminated the entire environment and brought the threat of disease and death even to their own kind?” (30). In the name of comfort, or convenience, we willingly submit ourselves to the potential of disease or mutation. How horrible.

Margaret Robertson. Sustainability Principles and Practice. Routledge, 2017. 

Trustees, FGCU Board O. A Sustainable Future: Equality, Ecology, and Economy. Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2018. 

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Humans have a very interesting role when it comes to the circle of life. It is not arrogant to say that we have become masters of our world, and all things that live in it. We have demonstrated our ability to create, destroy, transform, and alter very well throughout history. That being said, despite our vast intelligence and the immense progress we as a species have achieved, what right do we have over other species? The answer is: none. “Humankind has no right to precipitate, through the elimination of large numbers of species, a fundamental and permanent shift in the course of evolution” (Jackson, 110). We have driven countless species to extinction, species that existed long before us and are now no longer here on Earth. While extinction is a natural part of life, it is not right for us to dictate which species survive and which do not. We have the luxury of being alpha in terms of intelligence. These creatures do not. It is not fair to treat them as expendable solely because we are superior.

 Such was the issue experienced by the wolves at Yellowstone. Humans thought to overstep their reach, and systematically eliminate a species from an area that species has existed in for quite some time. The results were devastating to the community, and had legitimate effects on the very landscape they were purged from. It’s incredible how delicate the balance of life is, and how the removal of just one puzzle piece can cause the entirety of that puzzle to collapse.

 Why do humans drive species to extinction? Surely it is not out of malice, or hate, or a desire to destroy. At least I would hope not. No, humans are simply selfish and a little bit ignorant. We choose to prioritize ourselves at the expense of others, and this leads to competition. Unfortunately, the competition between bunnies for example and humans is a very one-sided fight. “For most species, however, the problem is basic: sufficient habitat for them means less habitat available for human communities with their growing numbers” (Jackson, 111). The bunnies are pushed out by the humans who want to expand, and why wouldn’t they be? They’re just bunnies. Unfortunately, this is the mindset adopted by most people, and the intrinsic value of those bunnies in their ecosystem is completely ignored.

 References: Jackson et al. (2018). A Sustainable Future: Equality, Ecology, and Economy.

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Is our planet doomed? This is a question I often ask myself. The way we butcher our environment is impossible for someone like me to measure, and yet I know it is at a horrible scale. The food I eat, the car I drive, the house I live in, all of it contributes to our mutual destruction. And yet, I am either unwilling or unable to change these methods. My results of the ecological footprint did indeed surprise me. I expected to perhaps require two Earths, but almost five? Just embarrassing. I considered myself above average when it came to my carbon footprint, as I eat almost exclusively sustainable seafood, and when I’m not in the mood for that I default to chicken. I realize the horrors experienced by pigs and cows in our factory farms, and unless these animals come from our local and reliable butcher, I have no interest in them.

That being said… I have hope for humanity. I believe that we as a people are reactive, not proactive. People will likely remain asleep until things are noticeably bad, but will things be too late by then? Environmental change takes years for effects to be noticed, and if we act too late it will be… Well, too late. Robertson seems to have hope at least, describing a way for life to continue relatively similar to the way it is now, while actually improving upon our foundations. “If half the urban infrastructure that will be needed by 2050 must be built in the next decades then we have the opportunity to design and construct places that are healthy, safe, delightful, regenerative, and that provide economic opportunities for everyone” (48). She obviously believes in the potential for a better tomorrow and humanity as a whole. Why shouldn’t I?

That last point, however, economic opportunities for all. I’m afraid that such an idea is an outdated one. I have written countless essays on how I believe the American Dream is flawed and unrealistic in today’s economy, and it would seem that Robertson potentially agrees with me. “Growth generally occurs in already affluent countries, and its mechanisms result in a small number of people accumulating most of the wealth while the incomes of those at the bottom decline” (56). She seems to believe that this is not simply an American issue, but a global one. For far too long, a small select group of people has controlled the majority of our planet’s wealth. Why? This idea is both selfish and outdated, and it simply should not be possible anymore. I like rich people, I myself want to be rich someday, but not at the expense of others. The world’s money is moved around in sleazy, slimy ways that prevent those without from ever touching those who have. Something has got to give.

 References:

Margaret Robertson. Sustainability Principles and Practice. Routledge, 2017.

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Sphere of Life

The biosphere. What a complex and fascinating piece of our world it is. Although the biosphere only makes up a fraction of the entirety of our planet, it is by far the most important. This is the sphere that not only contains the lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere, but all life here on Earth. That’s not all, though. The biosphere extends further than just “life”, for it encompasses all the non-living things that life interacts with. The rocks, the soil, the water, the very air we breathe. All of these things exist within the biosphere.

It is easy to forget the delicate balance of life. Ecosystems function not as a hierarchy, but rather as a community. If one piece of the community is removed or altered, the other members will surely suffer. Far too often, humans prioritize specific animals or groups while conveniently forgetting others. This cannot continue to go on. Robertson touches upon this, pointing out how humans often forget about that which they cannot see. Just because we are unable to see it, does not mean it is any less important. “When we think of wildlife, we often picture the visible creatures we all like such as birds, butterflies, or beavers. But the big creatures we like must live off the small things we cannot see” (35). As Robertson points out, these large animals we assign most of our efforts to depend upon the smaller ones. By neglecting to protect and preserve the lower levels of our biosphere, the larger animals will still be in jeopardy despite our best efforts.

In school we are taught that the strongest will survive. This may hold some weight when referring to natural selection and evolution, but in the context of our biosphere or a community as a whole this is simply not the case. Dinosaurs were some of the most impressive and strong creatures to ever walk the Earth. Despite their strength and grace, they fell to extinction. This is because their community collapsed. The smaller creatures and other life they depended on was suddenly gone, preventing them from surviving at all. Robertson emphasizes this very point, claiming that while “competition plays a role in determining which organisms survive long enough to reproduce, it turns out that cooperation is even more fundamental to life” (37). If only the asteroid was willing to cooperate…

Life is perhaps the most complex thing there is in our world. And yet, it can be simplified at an astonishing level. Humans like to separate things into neat, tidy little boxes with even more neat labels on these boxes. Instead of separating things based off of what makes them different, perhaps people should focus on what makes them similar. Life encompasses all organisms, regardless of where they are situated on the proverbial chain. It is not humans versus nature, or nature versus humans, but rather just one massive circle of life. “It is a feature of all emergent systems, that is, of all life, that the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts” (Robertson, 39).

Works Cited: Margaret Robertson. Sustainability Principles and Practice. Routledge, 2017.

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Where Are the Commons?

This section proved to be a little more difficult for me to understand than others. The idea of a commons is a tricky one, for me. While I understand that water, air, and the very Earth we live on should be accessible to everyone and anyone, is anything truly a commons? The only true commons these days is air, for water and earth are highly marketed. In a world such as ours, where money is the primary motivator for most people, these commons are beginning to vanish. Moving away from the direct market, natural wonders and features such as rivers, lakes, mountains and more are being privatized for industries such as tourism. How long will it be before air is being sold to the public?

 Jackson makes a fantastic point in the textbook, arguing that “The national narrative of progress and preservation is a transcendent one, situating its sites in geological and industrial time… industrialization to tourism” (58). It is interesting to think of the progress that has made its way into our natural world. The geological developments in both this country and the world as a whole have wreaked havoc on our environment, with entire ecosystems and landscapes being altered and destroyed for what lies beneath the surface. The tourism industry is equally guilty, violating and disturbing long standing habitats for the sake of money. Our commons are so easily monetized and stripped of what makes them a commons.

 “Ginseng, like the commons, falls through a crack between preservation and progress” (Jackson, 61). The line between preservation and progress truly is a fine one. By choosing to sway too far towards one way or the other, balance will be upset. While commons need to be maintained at protected at all costs, they also need to be marketed and shared with the world. Not to mention, upkeep costs money. I suppose greed makes that nearly impossible, however.

 The picture I have drawn is not very good, because to be perfectly frank I am not an artist. However, I thoroughly enjoyed letting my inner child out to play when it came to painting this masterpiece. It is Christ of the Abyss, my favorite spot to dive in the Florida Keys. I have always felt connected to this place. It is here that I discovered my love for the ocean, and all life that lives in it. I feel so passionately about protecting and preserving our marine ecosystems.

References:  Jackson et al. (2018).A Sustainable Future: Equality, Ecology, and Economy.

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Environmental Ethics

Finally, we come to the topic that I had long since been expecting for this course. Land ethics. It is no secret that our world is inching closer and closer to collapse. We have been distracted by pandemic and political unrest, but the fact remains that our climate is changing. It is changing because of people and the incredibly unsustainable lives that they live. I am unfortunately not the best example of someone who maintains an ethical relationship with the human and nonhuman community in which I live. There are some things that I do right, however. I am almost completely a pescatarian, and ensure that the seafood I eat is sustainably sourced. I prefer to ride my longboard to campus, forgoing the use of my vehicle. I am an adamant recycler, and will go the extra mile to recycle something. I do, however, drive a pickup truck. Not one of the trucks which bellows black smoke, but a truck nonetheless. It’s quite noisy, fast, and likely not the best for the environment. I am known to take long showers, wasting water that could be better used elsewhere. I am also an online shopping addict. Overall, I would say I’m decent, but definitely could use some improvement!

 Today’s reading focuses on land ethics as well, and I found some interesting quotes in the text. “There is a clear tendency in American conservation to relegate to government all necessary jobs that private landowners fail to perform” (Jackson, 69). This first quote really stuck out to me, as there is so much truth behind these words. So often we talk about the government and the environmental regulations they NEED to implement. We hold them to such high standards, and then do things like litter, pollute, and destroy. Perhaps the government needs to ensure that oil spills and other disasters do not occur, but sustainability is a burden carried by everyone. The common person needs to be more conscious of their carbon footprint, and be more accountable of themselves.

 Nature truly is a balance. There is something captivating about being surrounded by nature, a feeling of calm that exists nowhere else. I think that is what nature is, in and of itself. A force of calm, of peace, of life. Jackson describes nature in a beautiful way, claiming that the land “is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants, and animals” (70). We are a part of that energy, and we have the potential to either help it along, or snuff it out altogether.

 No longer can we bury our heads beneath the sand and avoid our changing climate. If things are not addressed soon, it will be far too late. Sustainability is only possible if everyone works with one another, working towards the difficult changes that are necessary to preserve our world. Environmental ethics is both a complicated issue and a simple one, boiling down to  “a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of the land” (Jackson, 72).

References:

Jackson et al. (2018).A Sustainable Future: Equality, Ecology, and Economy.

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Sustainability is a term that often comes up with environmental issues, and it is one that most people are familiar with. When asked exactly what it means, however, I found myself momentarily stumbling. Sustainability refers to resources, resources that can be replenished long into the future. But that was the best I could come up with. I had no idea how much bigger of a topic sustainability is.

 In order for something to be sustainable, it must last far into the future. What I suppose I didn’t realize about that fact; is how difficult it is to ensure things will last. This introduced me to the concept of resilience. A quote from our textbook on the relationship between sustainability and resilience really stuck out to me: “They provide complementary frameworks that are employed toward the same goal: to enable social-ecological systems to continue into the long-term future” (Robertson, 4). Perhaps the one thing in life that is a guarantee is change, which obviously creates a problem when the goal is to make something last. Resilience does not refer to beating or outsmarting change, but rather how to “cope” with change. Which is an art in and of itself if you ask me.

 Waste is a given in life, and all humans have waste. Garbage trucks generally pick up our waste and dispose of it for us, but does a lot of thought go into where our waste goes? I suppose I didn’t realize that in a less educated time of our country, the thought that went into our waste disposal sites was much crueler. It is a difficult pill to swallow knowing that at one time, “almost every major city in the country located its hazardous waste sites in areas whose residents were members of minority communities” (Robertson, 15). This idea of environmental racism was a concept completely unfamiliar to me, and just another reason to feel ashamed of this country. Thankfully, morality has won the day on that front at least, and these practices have been stopped.

 How world leaders bury their heads in the sand and deny climate change exists is beyond me. You hear about all these world gatherings, where delegates from around the world come together to discuss the state of things. How can these people just not discuss climate change? Turns out, they do talk about the way things in our environment are changing, and they even discuss methods and policies they can enact to make things better. The Rio Earth summit is one of these gatherings, in which key environmental issues were discussed. Unfortunately, many of the agreements made at the Rio Earth Summit have not been realized” (Robertson, 19). It is quite sad to learn that climate change is acknowledged, solutions are found, and then these solutions are simply… Not implemented.

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Introduction to Colloquium

Hello! My name is Ryan McCarty, AKA CaptainSustainability... Never really done a Tumblr post before, but let’s just jump right into it.

 So, the first moment that really stood out to me in this video is around the 8-minute mark. FGCU does not have this big college feel like other universities in Florida, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. They mention how by avoiding a bigger company like Westinghouse, they would have more autonomy and control when it came to decisions such as board seats and such. By avoiding the larger companies with existing agendas, I feel that we have eliminated one more potential roadblock for our school. The crowning moment of this particular moment, however, is when Ben Hill Griffin displayed his extreme passion and eagerness. To imagine this man practically pushing his competitor out of the way, then slamming his wallet down on the table to offer yet another million dollars if his land is selected... Incredible, truly incredible. “Here’s another million dollars, now make your decision.”

 “Wherever the location was, there would be an environmental requirement.” This next moment appears at the 14-minute mark. This is one of the reasons I feel proud to say I attend FGCU. The fact that our environment is such a focus really is remarkable. I vividly recall that catching my attention when I was originally touring colleges. The solar field, the fruit forest, the ice block A/C in Seidler hall… FGCU really puts in the extra mile, proving that their claim to sustainability is not just a publicity stunt but rather a legitimate practice employed here. Climate change is no joke, though some claim it is, and we cannot continue to neglect it so egregiously. The more organizations and universities that adopt this mindset such as ours, the more everyone stands to benefit.

 My final moment of focus comes towards the end of this video, from Win Everheim. He challenges the argument “you can’t grow and be environmental.” This is a serious concern of mine, as the video also brought up the urban sprawl that FGCU has caused. The housing communities which exist, may not have ever been if it weren’t for FGCU. It seems nowadays that land is destined to be bought and developed, however. Perhaps it is a plus that an institution with such a focus on environmental outreach was built here, and not another factory.

 Overall, I very much enjoyed this video! It taught me something new about my university, and about the roots from which it grew.

  Photo Credit: https://www.news-press.com/picture-gallery/news/2019/11/21/fgcu-breaks-ground-water-school/4262080002/