GBR and the Ocean

Like Rachel, I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef; a day trip my family and I took to snorkel changed the way I view the ocean forever.

The forecast for that day was heavy rain and predicted large swells in the ocean, but the tour group encouraged us to give snorkeling on the reef a go. Snorkeling on the GBR is incredible and I am happy that we went, but the decision to take the trip despite warnings is an instance where we paid little respect to nature.

To say that we encountered incredible weather is an understatement. I can’t think of a time where I had been more terrified, although it's comforting to remember that even our Australian friends (who are always calm) seemed anxious. The winds were so strong and the waves so enormous that the captain essentially lost control of the vessel to the ocean. Sitting in the cabin felt like being on an uncontrollable roller coaster ride. Instead of cutting across the waves, we crashed over them and rolled in between them for the entire trip. Water came into the cabin, people were screaming, lights shattered on the ground, and we were definitely air bound at one point, too.

It's a mistake to underestimate the power of the ocean. In retrospect, the decision to continue with the tour despite "warnings" of swells was made from an anthropocentric standpoint: both the tour guides (interested in the money, too...) and my family assumed that a large boat with the latest technology would protect us and allow us to be a greater force than the ocean. As we talked about in class today, we cannot see ourselves as above nature. Changing our attitudes from maintaining control over nature to engaging with and respecting it will be important for our overall experience with the non-human world.

Essentially, nature enables us to live on this planet and it should be our goal to protect and conserve as much biodiversity as possible (easier said than done.) Saving nature is/will be a process and the first step is to promote eco-literacy and educate people about biodiversity and environmental issues. As Emily said on Friday, environmental issues always come down to biodiversity, and environmental issues affect us, so it’s important that we care about biodiversity. The example she mentioned about how water became clearer after the re-introduction of wolves into Yellowstone Nat’l Park really emphasizes the importance of saving and protecting nature.

Save the Dirt!!

I can't sit here and say I have some remarkable experience with nature every day, but I do try to sit outside for five minutes, and just close my eyes and listen. Of course this requires me to drown out the sounds of humanity, but some times it is good to just feel the sun on your skin and the breeze dancing across your face. One experience that stands out in my mind is when I first came to Washington, DC when I was 12 years old. It was a school trip, and we arrived in Dulles at 5am. While everyone was passed out on the bus, I sat there in the window seat amazed by all the trees on the 495. I know, trees, big whoop. But when you grow up in the dirt bowl of Las Vegas, you come to appreciate the sight of a little green, and what I saw, was A LOT of green. I didn't think it was possible to have so many trees. I thought it was the most beautiful thing, and after being awake for almost 24 hours, I couldn't imagine taking opportunity to sleep on the bus because I didn't want to miss it.
Now that I live here, I am still taken aback by all the green, and now the leaves are all changing colors and it is feast for the eyes. However, I do at times miss the openness of the desert. I have only seen a sunset on the east coast comparable to a Vegas sunset once. I definitely miss being able to see the whole valley and the surrounding mountains highlighted by oranges, yellows, and pinks. I miss the summer thunderstorms, where you can almost feel the electricity riding in the air. I miss being able to just drive some place where it is completely open, not enclosed, and where there are no people. The desert has its own beauty, even though it doesn't have trees :)
I definitely think it is important to try and conserve nature. In Vegas for example, our city basically consists of the strip and housing developments. There are a few parks here and there, but the desert is mainly viewed as a potential strip mall, casino, housing development, or as a storage for nuclear waste. Just because it isn't a Yosemite, doesn't mean that it isn't worth preserving.

"Slow Down Everyone, You're Moving Too Fast"

I have to be honest and say that it was rather hard to think of one most enchanting/magical experience I have had with the non-human world, since the reality is that I have had many in my lifetime already (practically everyday). Like Dave's post demonstrates, even relaxing at the beach on a random day can lead to amazing encounters with the non-human world, especially when it comes to the amazing marine life that exists such as dolphins, whales, jelly fish, sharks, etc. It was nice to hear Dave mention Blacks Beach in particular, because I spent a week there over this past Spring Break and couldn't help but hear my friends and others talk about the whale sightings, dolphins, etc. At Blacks, however, I only experienced great surfing weather, the occasional avoidance of ripcurls, and hippies enjoying huge bonfires at midnight on the day of a full moon. Don't ask, I guess its a Blacks Beach tradition? Dave, you can correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyway, my point is that whether it has been a reef shark sighting in the Great Barrier Reef seven years ago, offroadin it in an SUV through the Daintree rain forest with my family, or even spotting deer the other day on Mass. Ave. as I was walking home, nature is everywhere, and you cannot avoid it! Therefore, it is extremely important for us to take care of it, because it is not always a guarantee in life. At another level, the most/enchanting experience I have encountered is that no matter what, nature is always there to remind us that we are not the only ones inhabiting the Earth. From watching bald eagles, birds, loons, or even my Springer Spaniel Picasso run around near my lake back home, I continue to appreiate what nature offers us.

Its the peace and tranquility of nature, though not always the case (i.e. hurricanes, cyclones, etc.), that provides us with a place where we can relax, enjoy life, and share good times with friends and families. We just need to stop and recognize this world that exists around us, but this requires one to slow down and not move so fast when it comes to going about our daily routines. Nature and the non-human world can teach us a lot about what life is really about, and it can also offer us a way in which beauty and diversity can be illustrated throughout the world.

On Dolphins and Dennis Miller...

I have two most thrilling /magical/enchanting engagement experiences I have had with the non-human world. The first was when I was bodysurfing at Black’s Beach in San Diego and a pod (flock? Gaggle? I guess it is pod) of Dolphins started bodysurfing in the waves right near to me. At first I saw the fins in the water and thought I was surrounded by sharks, but then I saw one closer and realized they were Dolphins. It was amazing they moved so fast and were so elegant in the water, simply spectacular. The second is just daily interaction with my Cat; she is so smart and curious that everyday I am enchanted by her.

As for whether or not we should save nature, the answer cannot be summed up in the usefulness of it, yes I could argue about all the potential medicinal finds we are losing in the Rainforest everyday do to de-forestation, but I believe nature is important to save not for the narrow concerns of humans, but for the intrinsic value of nature itself. I once saw the comedian Dennis Miller, someone I used to respect, arguing for drilling in ANWAR, and his well thought through line of debate consisted of the fact that he probably would never go and see these Caribou in the Alaska wilderness so why keep it around? So basically his argument was that since ANWAR was not ever likely to contribute to his own personal enjoyment of life that there was no reason to keep it around, and he said this with a straight face! I guess it is the same mentality that would cause someone to chant, “Drill baby, drill!” A mentality pinning an imaginary “us” versus “them,” where the “them” are environmentalists and not the environment, because as has been demonstrated many times through Hurricanes and Tsunamis, you cannot beat Mother Nature, Mother Nature will always beat you. However, more importantly it is not necessary for something to be used or enjoyed by humans for it to have value, nature needs to be saved just because we have no moral right to destroy it.

If Elected...

Article about McCain, Obama, and climate change...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/us/politics/19climate.html?hp

Processed. Mmmm mmmm Good!

Is it even possible to eat without damaging the environment? I can't think of any agricultural method we could adopt to prevent environmental damage. Hmmm. Well I can't say that I think too much about the environment when I make food decisions. I eat out ALOT. And when I don't eat out, my diet basically consists of ramen noodles, quesadillas, turkey sandwiches, canned soups, and cereal. I know I'm not exactly the pillar of nutrition, but it's pretty much how I've eaten my entire life. I went from nursing to ramen noodles and Taco Bell. My mom worked all the time so every night was "yoyo" night aka "you're on your own". So instead of your standard meat and potatoes, I ate processed and processed. I have tried to eat healthy, but organic foods tend to be way more expensive, and I don't have the time to make myself a decent dinner. Unfortunately, quick and easy does not equal healthy, but it does equal more environmental damage. Everything comes in a package, and most of the time, it's a single serving package within a larger package. Most of the food I eat is packaged in plastic, which definitely isn't biodegradable. My diet basically consists on what is convenient at the time. Even worse, I drink ALOT of bottled water. Today in my marketing class (as I sat there with my 1 liter Dasani), my professor was talking about bottled water and how much environmental impact it causes. Apparently it takes 1.25 gallons of water to produce a plastic bottle that holds .25 gallons. All that water wasted for my convenience.

The food item on my list that probably had the most environmental impact was my three taco platter from baja fresh. It had one beef, chicken, and shrimp taco. Probably one of the most environmentally damaging meal ever. I don't even want to imagine how much of the cow was wasted so I could have a few cubes of beef. Let's skip the meat and get to the packaging. It was a plastic platter with a plastic cover in a plastic bag. And of course, none of them are recyclable, and the bag would have been reusable if the salsa hadn't leaked all over it. I have been trying to cut down on the fast food, for health and environmental reasons. But it's really hard when that is available. I mean, look at AU, your healthy choice is SubWay. Yuck.

Chickens at the Gate...

The subject of food choices and the environment has always interested me, not only because I like to think of myself as being somewhat careful about what I eat, but also because in my former life I was a Chef. I remember many times, usually when opening an enormous box of cleaned chicken breasts, pondering just how so many of animals it took to produce this one box of food, and how relatively inexpensive it was. I always joked that if I ever got to the gates of Saint Peter that a long line of chickens would be waiting to have a little chat with me. In the “Story of Stuff,” from class I learned about externalized costs and the true costs of eating, especially meat, to our diets.
I would have to say that in examining my food list, I would say that the greatest environmental impact was on the amount of meat I eat. I tell myself that I do not eat as much meat as I used to, especially beef, and I try to eat more chicken and fish. Yet I still can see that even in doing this I still use up a proportionately larger amount of the planets resources than I could or should. For example, from the reading, “The Oil We Eat: Following the Food Chain Back to Iraq” Richard Manning illustrates how eating tuna is maybe a thousand times more wasteful that eating plants as tuna is so far up on the food chain, simply due to the multiplier effect of fish eating fish going up the food chain. I guess the lesson is to become a strict vegetarian, yet here too are problems, as Manning also points out that most of the crops we eat start out as unprocessed and require enormous amounts of energy to turn into edible food. It seems the way we eat in our society today is so geared away from the environment, so completely divorced from the way we should be feeding ourselves that it is difficult if not impossible to not have a large environmental footprint no matter what personal food choices we make on a day to day basis.

Coffee with Guilt

It reflects poorly on me, but I’m inconsistent about keeping the environment in mind when making food choices. I try to be conscious of where my food comes from and how much energy it takes to get there, but I always end up feeling guilty, and wonder if there is much I can do to change this on an individual level.

One way might be to start with the beverage I depend on the most: coffee. As a coffee drinker, I wonder what initiatives I should take to have less of an impact on the environment. Should I only drink organic coffee? What if I bought from a local roaster? Another question I ask is how to go about this without being hypocritical: what good is it to bring a mug for coffee if coffee production is destroying natural eco-systems that will never fully recover?

Although coffee has a tremendous impact on the environment, beef has the greatest environmental impact. Eating beef is costly: deforestation, water scarcity, soil erosion, and loss of biodiversity are all results of cattle and beef production. And to think that beef is produced in abundance for the West…while millions of children and adults suffer from malnutrition and die from hunger. Based on my little knowledge on this issue, I'm going to cut it off here for now. Hope to add more after our next class.

"I'm not a plastic bag"

I would like to think that I have the environment in mind when making food choices. After all, we can all agree that when it comes to food, most people would like to know where exactly their food comes from and how did it get to them in the first place. Personally, I'm a nerd when it comes to food items such as fruit and vegetables and actually enjoy reading the little "Made in Guatemala" stickers or whatever country it may be. With geography and in particular geo-politics in mind, I wonder what exactly it took for that Granny Smith to make it to me in the first place. Is the apple from some tiny, quaint rural Guatemalan town or is it more likely to be from the outskirts of a place like Guatemala City and simply thrown onto the back of a truck? My guess is Option 2: Guatemala City, but your guess is as good as mine.

Regardless of what type of environment the apple came from, it is even more interesting to wonder who exactly was responsible for picking the apples, managing the orchards or farms, and ultimately who is in charge of the overall operations that allowed me to purchase the apple in a grocery store thousands of miles away from its birthplace. This is where the labor issue comes into the story.

If we are talking about keeping the environment in mind, then it is important to keep the workers in mind. Is the worker being paid a decent living wage on the apple orchard? How are the living conditions on that same orchard? Perhaps questions like these have encouraged some people to opt for organic foods in grocery stores such as Whole Foods, where they are more likely to know where exactly their food items come from. Yet, just because a product was grown locally, does not always mean it is environmentally or ecologically friendly. I have nothing against places like Whole Foods and Trader Joes. I love them, especially because I live above a Trader Joes at home, but I wonder sometimes why people shop at these places so much? I have come to realize that a lot of the reason has to do with the culture that comes along with shopping at trendy grocery stores like these. Being a Whole Foods shopper does not just mean you are buying groceries, but instead it comes with a type of progressive culture that is aimed at the "saving the planet" type of crowd. The people who truly believe they "do their part for helping the environment" through buying organic foods, using their "i'm not a plastic bag" to carry their items home, and maybe even opting for that $4 Odwalla every once and awhile. There is no problem with this kind of lifestyle, even if it means spending a few more dollars on a Granny Smith that was locally grown on an orchard in the town over. But, it is still important to make an effort to take this type of mindset with a grain of salt. Yes, maybe it is trendy or more liberating to shop at Co-Ops or Whole Foods instead of the overwhelmingly large and crowded Sam's Club or Cub Foods. But, the real question is related to whether or not your food items have had a greater environmental impact on the social, political, and economic systems of where and who it came from in the first place.

I have to admit, if we're talking about the food or drinks we have consumed in the past few days, then the eco-footprint for my choices would not be the greatest example of what to do right. I eat a lot of chicken, vegetables, and fruits, but even more so I drink a lot of Chai tea and coffee products. If anything, I pay closer attention to the types of wasteful containers, plastics, and styrofoams that are used everyday so that I can have my coffee or tea. I have started to use my own mugs and containers more, but the reality is that it is very convenient to order a drink at places like Starbucks where you don't have to always worry about bringing your own cup, especially if you're in a rush. I know this may seem trivial in terms of one coffee cup, but I think it's important to think about how your eco-footprint can affect the environment in relation to waste. Just think of the thousands of others out there who are consuming the same types of coffee or tea drinks each day. Where does that waste go? Luckily, I believe our generation is more socially conscious of environmental effects, but we still have a problem with actually taking action to solve many problems. Maybe that Granny Smith was from the neighboring town, but does that alone make it better and more environmentally friendly than the Guatemalan apple that was shipped over a few days ago? It is definitely a question worth investigating.

The question of whether or not technology can save us is not the type of question that has a simple answer. I can see arguments for both sides - viewing technology as both destructive and constructive. Whether or not technology can save us from an environmental holocaust, now that all depends on how we utilize it.
If we were to spend billions of dollars in research for greener technology and had millions of people working on that project, of course technology could have an incredible effect on the environment. We could do more to save precious wetlands and rainforests, or create machines to purify the air. What we can do to the environment with technology is still relatively unknown because technology is always changing. But we need be smart with our new technology and not waste research on things that might hurt the environment more, like how to build new factories ten times faster (causing ten times more pollution), or build robots that could destroy us all (or at the very least steal all our jobs!). It is scary to think about what some technology could mean for the human race, but it's also fascinating. Thing of all of the things we have yet to discover because we don't have the technology. Maybe we will discover that people can move to Mars and live there, or that there is another galaxy out there with thousands of hospitable environments. But even moving to another planet would not solve our problems, just move them around. Until humans learn how to live less wastefully, technology will not be able to help that much. We need to learn how to work with technology and our lifestyles if we want to truly make a difference.