Urban Botany

Buy Nothing Day Dance Party

2008-11-28T17:47:00.003-05:00

Because it did not seem like enough to just not shop today, instead I went to Union Square for the "Dance Your Debt Away" Dance Party with Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir. Rev. Billy exercised the shopping demons at Starbucks and Barnes & Noble, we danced in a conga line around the Square. The band played and the choir sang.

And a couple hundred people didn't buy a single thing.

Buy Nothing Day 2008

2008-11-28T12:22:00.004-05:00

Last year we went out with a video camera and gave away Unshopping Bags on Buy Nothing Day. Rather than just not shop, which wasn't such a stretch for us, we thought this would be a good way to let others in the community know about BND and the problems with consumerism.

Today my camera crew isn't available, so I'm just going over to Union Square for the Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping BND Dance Party. Maybe I'll post some photos later.

PETA's Plastic Give-Away

2008-11-17T21:53:00.012-05:00

Wow. I used to really respect PETA, until they started hawking plastic wish-bones for the holidays. Seriously, they are giving away 5 little plastic packages each containing 10 plastic wishbones. So we vegetarians and vegans can take part in that holiday tradition of deep cultural significance: competing to see who gets to make a wish after a big Thanksgiving dinner.

OK, I'm not even going to go into the whole friendly Native Americans welcoming their future oppressors, and Puritans sitting at table with "savages" myth. For now.

Rather, here is the first thought that struck me: Hasn't PETA ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? They claim these wishbones and their packages are recyclable, but let's face it: 99.99% of them are going to end up in a landfill, or in the ocean, where they will probably be swallowed by sea turtles who will choke and die. Because most curbside recycling programs don't accept all plastic, or even most plastic. And most plastic that is recycled, gets made into other products that are themselves not recyclable. So more resources are used to make more of the original plastic products. Factories are producing more plastic with each passing decade, and spewing toxic by-products into the environment, destroying the habitats of: animals.

Animals, PETA, animals! Do you hear me?

Maybe I'm missing something. I'm a first generation American and can't remember ever seeing a wishbone on Thanksgiving; never competed for a chance to make a wish after a big dinner of rice and beans and Haitian pate. It's just not part of my tradition. So someone tell me, maybe one of the 125+ vegans and vegetarians who entered PETA's plastic wish bone give-away contest: Why is breaking a piece of plastic more important than protecting the environment that we share with all living things?

Update: The fake plastic wishbone fun continues! See my follow-up to this post over at Fake Plastic Fish. Be sure to check out the comments. Can you tell which ones are from PETA people?

The Case for Third Party Candidates

2008-10-11T08:54:00.007-04:00

My friend from the Green Party called me out the other day for letting the Democrats off the hook too easily. Here is what he had to say in the comments to my last post:

Rejin, I'm glad you brought up this Sarah Palin lunacy. The problem is that Joe Biden is hardly any better.

I'm sick of the way the pundits, including most bloggers, are discussing the Vice President candidates' debate. It is so energy-sucking to read even intelligent comments about the debate, because they're mostly about form: Who won? Who will the American people think won? Who was able to parry the other's tricks?

We've turned politics into Family Feud, where you have to guess what you think others are guessing about what others have guessed.

So Joe Biden is never really taken to task on his actual legislative record. He has "experience," but experience doing what? He can "walk across the aisle" to work with Republicans .... But no one asked him, on what?

No one challenges him on his crucial defense of the credit card companies, and how this feeds into the current debt crisis.

No one challenges him on his support for The War On Drugs -- and all that means for the huge incarceration rate in the U.S. (What is it, now, 2.5 million actually in prison at any given time, and twice that figure in the courts, on probation or parole?)

No one challenges him on his and Obama's statements concerning the "Surge" in Iraq -- a euphemism for a large expansion of the war; or on his quotes supporting Bush around WMDs in Iraq; or of his proud support for bombing the hell out of Yugoslavia under the pretext of "defending Kosovo."

No one challenges him (or Palin) on their statements in favor of "Clean Coal" -- as if such a thing is possible without serious environmental calamity; carbon-trading and offsets, and why their support for such schemes is just a free-market way of destroying the earth and letting them get away with it; genetic engineering of agriculture; liquid coal, stored under the ground and polluting drinking water; agro-fuels, exported from countries whose people are starving but who have turned their lands into cash-crops for SUVs elsewhere; mass use of pesticides; nuclear power plants, which they both support -- oh, my god, that's their solution? That's what's in store for us? As the saying goes: "Better active today than radioactive tomorrow."

and, No one challenges either of them on their support for the $700 billion bailout of billionaires on Wall Street, except to ask, "What programs will you have to cut as a result?" Why not provide immediate relief to those facing foreclosure or eviction, instead of to the banks foreclosing them, evicting them? And, what about forcing open the corporate books for all to review, if they're going to be bailed out by our tax dollars?

On the other hand, if I hear Sarah Palin use the word "Maverick" one more time, I'm gonna call up James Garner and ask him what he, the original t.v. "Maverick", thinks about McCain stealing his alter-ego (Rockford files be damned).

Parry ... thrust; thrust ... parry. Instead of worrying so much about "what will play for the American people" -- who, I think, are far far far more intelligent than liberal New Yawkers give'm credit for (people don't know what to do, we feel impotent, helpless, blown about by forces beyond our control or influence and so lamely grab onto any straw that's offered) -- how about focusing on the substance, on the policies being argued, and forcing the candidates to go into depth on them? (I know, that's why Palin and the Republicans wanted each answer limited to 1.5 minutes; imagine if she had to keep repeating the word "Maverick" for 3 minutes at a clip!)

The way punditry works is to comment on how one thinks the comments would play on others. Hey, what are we, chopped tofu? What about what we want?

I'm sick of the Meta-Comments -- comments about how other comments might play, regardless of their content. It's all a big game -- What's the score!? -- Place yer bets, now!

Mitchel Cohen
Brooklyn Greens / Green Party

My reply was that I plan to vote for McKinney and the Green Party, but rather than fight with people who feel it is urgent to vote Obama to (once again) keep the Republicans out of the White House, I have just been raising questions about the democrats and letting people come to their own conclusions. Too many people are satisfied with having more choices when buying deodorant than when choosing a presidential candidate. Is that what living in a "free" country is about?

I like the way Duncable framed the case for voting for third party candidates in his comment to the Alternet post following the October 2 debate:

I'm done voting against someone, because that's not how the system should work. If there were no 3rd party candidates, I wouldn't vote at all, so I'm not throwing my vote away. I'm exercising the basic rights that I ought to be guaranteed in a "democratic" society, not bending to the will of the collective conscious of this terrified and spineless nation.

Everything is Political

2008-09-19T09:35:00.004-04:00

Some green bloggers have shocked their readers lately by writing critically about the GOP’s scary vice presidential candidate. There are those who just want to read about changing their light bulbs, and find other tips for lowering their individual carbon footprint. These readers are appalled when a blogger “gets political.” Never mind that the positions and policies of elected officials can steer the country towards continued dependence on greenhouse gas emitting fossil fuels and further loss of biodiversity.

We miss the point of the Green movement if we fail to realize that everything is political. We (Americans) live in a society whose culture of consumption, excess and waste, has been shaped by the powerful advertising machinery of corporations. They had all the help they could buy from a government only too happy to hand out corporate tax breaks, deregulate, and promote the corporate worldview. In many cases corporate executives and politicians are interchangeable: today’s governor or V.P. will soon be serving on the board of directors of a multinational corporation that contracts with the military or develops agrofuels.

Rather than focusing resources on developing energy alternatives (or restructuring to reduce national energy consumption) the US government is fighting a war to secure a large share of the world’s remaining oil reserves. That oil is not primarily for the people, but for the corporations who will then profit by selling it to whoever can pay the most. The war is likely to continue no matter who is elected in November because as the system is designed, the corporations control the government. They contribute the big bucks to the candidates (on both sides), they own the media that does its best to steer public opinion. They leave nothing to chance. And while some of us carry our reusable bags and grow a few vegetables, the corporations package ever more unnecessary products in non-recyclable packages and build shopping malls to entice us to drive and spend.

If we want to be effective as environmentalists, we need to get beyond changing our light bulbs. We need to organize around all the issues that affect our world and its diverse populations. And that certainly includes speaking out against a politician who could, on a whim (or based on a personal belief) obliterate everything we are trying to achieve.

Carnival of Trash

2008-09-16T07:33:00.004-04:00

Please check out the Carnival of Trash (#3) hosted by Beth at Fake Plastic Fish. (Because apparently I'm not the only one obsessed with garbage.) While you are there, be sure to check out some of Beth's other articles and links for good information about the problems with plastic.

Here Today, Garbage Tomorrow

2008-09-04T18:47:00.006-04:00

Lately, I’ve been exploring the world of garbage.

Actually, I have only been reading about garbage. Elizabeth Royte actually went to the transfer stations, landfills, recycling plants and compost facilities and wrote all about her discoveries in Garbageland. And in Gone Tomorrow, Heather Rogers traces the history of waste disposal, from the toss-it-out-the-window era to the contemporary “sanitary” landfill. Before reading these books, I was uneasy about the mountain of trash my household generates. Now, I am completely obsessed with reducing that mountain. (And my family thinks I’m weird for being so interested in trash.)

Despite what we have been led to believe, it is not normal to discard tons of packaging, used paper products, broken toys, and outdated electronics and just expect them to conveniently disappear. But we have been trained to think so (and do so) because it is great for business. As Elizabeth Royte observes:

“The changes in garbage handling helped constitute an infrastructure crucial for mass consumption and discarding. …emerging garbage collection and disposal methods met the manufacturers need to have mounting levels of commodities, including packaging, tidily hauled away.”

In the years after World War II, the industrial system was producing vast quantities of stuff, and they needed to make sure the public would keep shelling out for it. This is when planned obsolescence was invented, easy credit became available, and marketing tried to make everyone feel like they were the only ones on the block not out buying more crap.

“Had they been obliged to deal with their castoffs more directly, perhaps greater numbers of people would have diagnosed the emerging system of mass production and consumption as deeply flawed.”

In other words the mass production system, as it is designed, relies on the regular removal of stuff that never should have been made in the first place. For the inane reason of making space for yet more stuff. If our trash did not disappear so regularly and effortlessly, we’d have to be a lot more selective about the products we choose. If we all had to store our trash for a year (or a month or ten days, as some have challenged themselves to do) we might choose things that didn’t have excess packaging. We’d think about whether each item were made to last, could be repaired easily, repurposed if necessary, or ultimately composted at the end of its usable life. Most importantly, we would have to ask ourselves if we really needed that shiny new thing in the first place, or whether we would be better off without it.

Food or Fuel?

2008-04-24T17:05:00.002-04:00

In the last few weeks, the insanity of turning food crops into fuel for developed-world cars has become apparent, as rising food prices all over the world affect populations that were already threatened by hunger in such far flung countries as Pakistan, Mexico, Egypt and Haiti. This is the logic of our consumer driven economy, where morality is turned on its head. While the world worries about getting enough to eat, the over-developed countries are more concerned with feeding their cars and trucks. Rather than accept that the days of cheap fuel are over, we choose to rely on techno-fixes that convert food resources needed in some areas of the world, to energy "needed" in other areas. Consumer conveniences trump the survival of millions of starving people.

Americans may not realize that our government's policies caused countries like Haiti to depend on the US for food in the first place. By flooding the Haitian market with cheap imported rice, the US caused the collapse of local agriculture. Farmers couldn't compete, lost their land, and moved to the city to look for work in the assembly plants. Haiti went from producing 95% of its rice in the 1980s, to importing 80% of it from the US today.

Haitian President Rene Preval has promised to subsidize the cost of rice, but said the solution in the long term will be to grow more food locally. But can such a plan succeed if it contradicts the US's policy of maintaining dependent countries that are markets for our exports, and provide the cheap labor needed to produce our consumer goods? The same scenario is repeated in many countries: Mexico (traditionally a corn producer) now imports corn from the US, and former Mexican farmers cross the border "illegally" in search of work.

In the mean time the US, which is responsible for the situation, should be responsible for the food subsidy as well. Instead, our government helps further enrich agribusiness companies by subsidizing biofuels.

This is not a situation that can be fixed with temporary food aid. This is a result of the basic structure of the global economy. People in the West need to look at the way we live, the way we consume, and the government policies that support this way of life.

Funny Music Video

2008-04-18T11:09:00.003-04:00

OK, I know I am obsessed with plastic bags, but I am not the only one. Here is a funny music video by Tim Minchin on Youtube.

An American in Cuba, plus more, on Steal This Radio

2008-04-11T11:33:00.005-04:00

Mitchel Cohen blasts away at the illusions many Americans have about Cuba, reading the first chapter of his essay "An American in Cuba." But first, he phones Cathryn Swan to talk about her great blog Washington Square Park and the destruction the NYC administration is wreaking on our public parks.
Steal This Radio, #38. Listen to the podcast here.

(Also read Mitchel's essay, "Listen, Gore: Some Inconvenient Truths About the Politics of Environmental Crisis." at Counter Punch.)

Amsterdam: Cycling and Sustainability

2008-04-11T09:36:00.003-04:00

Since January, my friend and favorite filmmaker Randi Cecchine has been in Amsterdam where she is editing her latest project, Trail of Feathers: The Misile Dick Chicks Take On America.

I have read so much about how bicycle friendly Amsterdam is, and how Europe is so far ahead of the US when it comes to environmental issues in general. Because I can’t wait for her to return home (in a couple of weeks) to hear all about her adventure, I decided to interview Randi and her boyfriend Pieter Dijkshoorn, who teaches Dutch language and culture to immigrants, to hear their account of how living in Amsterdam compares to New York City.

UB: Randi, in New York you mainly circulate by bike. Do you bike in Amsterdam? What is the infrastructure (bike lanes, parking, et c) like? How do most people travel around the city?

RC: When I was in Amsterdam last summer I only rode my bike- except a few times I took a tram when it was really rainy. This winter I haven't always had access to a bike, and I live very close to Centraal Station where the Metro runs, and my editor lives right on the Metro line, so I've been taking the Metro often. It is so cold and rainy here in the winter, biking is no fun. It has been a nice experience to learn more about the public transit system here.

The basic infrastructure here is geared for bikers to rule the roads. Very few cars enter the cobblestone heart of the city, and they drive very slow and carefully, extremely aware of bikers and pedestrians. On wider streets there are separate lanes for: Cars, bikes, pedestrians, and trams. Each lane has its own distinct light- a little person for the pedestrians, a bike for the bikers, and a regular light for the cars. There seem to be no yellow light, just green, flashing green and red. Also on some bigger intersections there are countdowns to signal when the light will change, especially for bikers.

One of the things that is most difficult to adjust to in Amsterdam is that people are not as impatient as in New York. Bikers stop at a red light and wait for it to change. The lights are timed very carefully - when a car has a green light, they might only have a window of 30 seconds to make that turn, so it is important to respect their chance at the light. When I first arrived here I was acting very New Yorky - impatient. I wanted to 'jump' red lights, and found it impossible to just stand and wait. Finally I've learned how to keep still, breathe, and enjoy the break.

When I returned to New York last summer I was on the Hudson River bike path, stopped at a red light, enjoying the chance to breathe and look around. Suddenly I realized that many bikes were passing me, ignoring the light. There is something about New York that makes us all in such a hurry, we don't want to wait, we don't expect anyone to wait for us.

I was watching some footage of New York the other day and I was simply shocked at the level of environmental noise! The screeching of the breaks of public buses down our avenues, the sound of the breaks in the subways. The metro here is quiet, the buses don't screech, and the sound of the tram on the tracks, and its cute bell, are really just quaint. I think New York's old transportation system, that is so impressive - that my great grandfather helped to build, blasting the tunnels at the turn of the last century - places a great deal of psychic, brain stress on us. I understand why so many people wear iPods in New York, and not in Amsterdam.

I also think that some people are more sensitive, and as a sensitive type, I feel a great deal of peace living somewhere calm, human. Here the loudest sounds on the streets are the large packs of horny mammals- young white boys- American and British tourists- drunk, stoned, looking for sex. They are a constant part of the landscape, and I live in a very touristy neighborhood - but they are not 'native' - and are tolerated because they help the economy, but they are not a part of normal Dutch life.

But that brings me to the much larger, more complex questions of Dutch 'tolerance'- a concept that from the outside appears the opposite of what it is. Dutch tolerate legal marijuana and prostitution, but that doesn't mean they like it. They are very practical people who believe in self-policing. You don't pay to enter the public transportation system - you stamp your ticket, or carry a pass, and only if you are stopped by 'control' do you have to prove that you paid. People are expected to do the right thing, and a good deal of the time they do.

UB: You've told me that the Dutch bring their own bags when they shop, a concept which many American find bizarre, archaic, even unsanitary. What motivated the adoption of this policy (bag tax, lack of availability of disposable bags...). Have you been able to adapt?

RC: Well, I try to remember to bring my bag, but I don't always. Also when I shop at the farmers market they actually do give plastic bags. I shop more frequently here than in New York, and I'm also sharing the job with my boyfriend, so I experience much fewer plastic bags in my life.

On the other hand, we use large plastic garbage bags here, they are very strong and good quality. In New York I use plastic shopping bags for garbage to go down the chute in my apartment building, so the bags are re-used.
This time in Amsterdam I've been trying to be more realistic and less idealistic in my observation. There is waste here, there are plastic bags, it isn't perfect…
In the grocery store not only do you bring your own bags, but you also bag your food yourself. In most grocery stores there are two counters where the groceries go,- so two people can be bagging their groceries. But in smaller, more crowded stores sometimes there is only one.
The other day I was bagging my groceries. I brought a bag but it wasn't big enough. There ARE free bags you can take, but they are very thin and small. I was trying to bag everything, there was a long line behind me, I wound up having to buy a plastic bag for 40cents, and I found myself getting very anxious... thinking people in the line were becoming frustrated.
But they weren't. Amsterdammers are just patient. At a restaurant you could wait 20 minutes to get a menu, or your drink. People are simply not in a hurry, and don't seem on the brink of irritation the way we are in New York. Also, waiters and waitresses aren't earning their wages in tips, so they aren't always trying to charm you.

PD: It is environmental thinking: when you get plastic bag, it will add to all the plastic bags. They are a bit of a threat to the environment. Sometimes they get into the ocean and there are all kinds of plastics in the oceans. They are going to break down into small particles and end up in the sand on beaches, and that's most dangerous, so they say.
RC: When did you start bringing your own bags when shopping?
PD: Some people do it, others don't, and sometimes you forget. It was in the 70's, there was a lot of environmental thinking in the 70's. The message was: bring your linen bag, for example.
RC: Did people complain? Did they do it?
PD: Who would complain? The plastic bag manufacturers, maybe. The shop owner must buy them, I guess, so maybe he has fewer bags to buy!
RC: What about the concern it could be unsanitary?
PD: Yeah, unsanitary, nobody cared about it, really. Why, because it is old? Your items are often in plastic already, so the bag would be, for example, one pile of germs, and they wouldn't get into the plastic. All the articles are protected. Nobody died from it, no.
RC: But the other day you bought cauliflower not in plastic and put it in your backpack. The same dirty backpack you put everything in.
PD: But you have to cook it. You cook it and the germs will be dead.

UB: Last year after a shorter trip over there, you told me it was hard to keep bringing your own bag in NY when everyone else wasn't. Will any of your Dutch habits survive the transition back to New York living this time?

RC: This is such a good question! I feel a bit more inspired to shop at the farmers market... but I wonder if that will happen. I don't think my plastic bag use in New York is much of a problem - I generally have just enough plastic bags to throw my garbage away. I really want to think hard about Freshdirect (the grocery delivery service) could someone do an environmental study on it? I like Freshdirect, when I shop that way I always have food in the house and feel more in control of my spending than when I shop at the store around the corner.

UB: When I was in Geneva (for a few months, 20 years ago) there were giant recycling containers near the supermarkets. We would bring our glass bottles, and separate them by color into different slots. I imagine the Swiss recycle plastic now, too. How do the Dutch recycle? Do you think they produce as much waste (about 4 1/2 pounds per person daily) as Americans? Do they use as much packaging or as many disposables as we do?

RC: Can you tell me about recycling here? What do you recycle, and what don’t you?
PD: A lot of things. Of course paper, glass.
RC: What do you do with paper?
PD: It goes in the paper box, around the corner, next to the glass box.
RC: And you get refunds on some glass? A deposit?
PD: For beer bottles, for cola bottles, plastic bottles also. They were very expensive, the deposit used to be a guilder! Now it is 20cents.
RC: How much back on a beer bottle?
PD: Small 10, bigger 20.
RC: Do ... how to call ... homeless or vagrant people collect bottles for deposit?
PD: Yeah, some people do.
RC: There is NO plastic or can recycling here!

UB: How do you think Amsterdam compares to NY (or urban US generally) on housing, in terms of energy efficiency, affordability, density, ...) ?

PD: It is a new era of using wind energy. People talk a lot about energy, they have the wind energy for the last 30 years. There's a windmill in North Amsterdam.
RC: There's a power plant when you come down the Haarlemmerdijk- you see smoke stacks, what is that for?
PD: It is an electricity center with oil or coal.
RC: Do you notice it?
PD: Of course when it is beautiful weather you see it and you see that smoke comes from it.
RC: How do most people heat their homes?
PD: Gas, it is the cheapest form of fuel, cheaper than electricity.
RC: Do most people in apartments buy their own heating stove?
PD: Sometimes you have central heating added to the house, if you don't have that, you have to buy your own stove like me. And you pay a lot extra when you have the central heating system, that is included in your rent, like everywhere.
RC: Do you know you much you pay for gas?
PD: I pay, I don't know, gas and electricity together are about 50 euro. It is complicated, it was more but the electricity and gas company split- the market is coming ...
RC: De-regulation and privatization?
P: Yes with all these things, the phone and post offices... so yes I pay about 60 euros for gas and electric.
RC: Back to energy efficiency, do people talk about this stuff? How to make a home more energy efficient? Insulation?
PD: Insulation of windows is the main thing, the most cold comes from windows. More things, people who try to put solar panels on their roof, you can have a subsidy not for the installation of the panels, but a subsidy for the using of the ... when you use it you get a credit added to your bill because they want to stimulate it.
RC: Amsterdam has lots of historic preservation regulation: you can't put brand new window styles in certain houses, right? There were regulations about double glass windows, subsidizing for it, but not any more. In other words, the windows still have to be in the old fashioned style, on the front.
PD: You have to wait on the beauty commission. They can be very particular.
RC: So that affects energy efficiency?
PD: The companies use it to sell products, say we are "duurzaam" (“keeping lasting value”), green energy... new word, all the companies try to say it, because it'll sell products better. It could be the case.
RC: I think that the Dutch are very careful with their money -
PD: I guess so, they are known for it.
RC: So using less energy isn't only about protecting the environment, it is also about saving money. Somehow I think this suggests a relationship between the American debting lifestyle and the environmental crisis.

UB: Here is a big one: Rising sea levels could devastate Holland, which is partially below sea level. Does this affect how seriously the Dutch take the threat of global warming? How is the government dealing with this? Is it something people just expect the government to deal with or is everyone aware of the issue?

PD: Holland is partially below sea level.
Of course, the new idea is the TERP, a man made hill, and you can build a house on it as they used to before because there were lots of floods. You can still see them in Fresia, now they try to construct a terp, build a house on it, just to make it safe...
RC: Flooding in your lifetime?
PD: When I was born there was a big flood- the last catastrophe, all Zeeland was under water. It was 1953. After that they made the delta 'works'- which they tried to sell to New Orleans also, they could hold a flood with it.
RC: Did New Orleans buy it?
PD: There were advisers in Holland who went to New Orleans, I don't know if they sold anything.
RC: How is the government dealing with it?
PD: A problem, nobody will deny. There is a special secretary of state, Jacqeline Cramer- she deals with the environmental problems in general.
RC: I asked you the other day, how many articles normally about environmental issues in the paper each day?
PD: Yeah every day, you could say every second page there is something about environmental problems.

(All photos by Randi Cecchine. See the rest of the series here.)

Beyond Affluenza

2008-04-07T19:17:00.006-04:00

Today Crunchy Chicken posted a good interview with Dave Wann, one of the authors of the book Affluenza. I read Affluenza a while back, but I have a very bad memory. I do remember it enough to recommend the book, as well as Crunchy's Affluenza book discussion.

(You can also read some of my previous posts about consumerism.)

SUVs and Fuel Prices

2008-03-21T11:00:00.006-04:00

Wondering whether rising oil prices have affected SUV sales? Read this article about how Fuel prices have SUV owners anxious to unload big vehicles.

A Fossil Fuel Free Future

2008-03-17T10:34:00.001-04:00

A few days ago, I posted a link to an article about how the democratic presidential candidates have both received funding from the nuclear industry. I had been wondering where they stood on the nuclear energy issue, and the article answered some of my questions. (I don't mean to imply that McCain is any better: according to this chart on Grist, he wholeheartedly supports a nuclear future.)

After posting that link I became embroiled in a debate with pro-nuke blogger Red Craig, who is aware of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb global warming, but reduces the issue to a choice between nuclear energy and coal.

I am going to make a disclaimer here: I am neither a scientist nor a journalist, and my posts are not as researched as articles in a scientific journal. However, the ideas and opinions I share on Urban Botany are informed by a lot of reading, both online and in print. Energy is not my specialty; in fact I am much more interested in the issues of waste and global resource depletion. It's based on this point of view that I believe that beefing up the nuclear infrastructure is not the way to salvage the climate or preserve the biosphere. Rather, it would replace one long term problem with another.

We are already feeling the effects of spewing waste from fossil fuels into the air. If we allow the nuclear power industry to build a lot more plants, they will generate a lot of radioactive waste that has to be stored on land or underground. And there is no safe, fool-proof way to do so. No one wants the nuclear waste that already exists to be stored near them (would you?), and there is no way to neutralize it.

Craig claims that clean, renewable power technologies like solar and wind can't provide enough energy "without something to back them up." I think he's probably right. The way developed countries consume energy at present can't continue. As Bill McKibben says in this Alternet article:

We need to conserve energy. That's the cheapest way to reduce carbon. Screw in the energy-saving lightbulbs, but that's just the start. You have to blow in the new insulation -- blow it in so thick that you can heat your home with a birthday candle. You have to plug in the new appliances -- not the flat-screen TV, which uses way more power than the old set, but the new water-saving front-loading washer. And once you've got it plugged in, turn the dial so that you're using cold water. The dryer? You don't need a dryer -- that's the sun's job.

We shouldn't turn the planet into a nuclear wasteland so that we can maintain the Western way of life. We also can't count on magic technologies to allow us to continue our wasteful ways. Rather, we have to adjust to the reality of a fossil-fuel free future.

Growing Challenge Update: Week 5

2008-03-17T09:05:00.004-04:00

Not much to report this week, I have just been watching my sprouts grow. Some of them, anyway. The very casual approach does not seem to have worked for the beans (which any school kid can grow in a cup, right?) Maybe they were from a bad batch. Just in case, I had better read up on how to start seeds indoors.

Meanwhile, the tomato seedlings are getting big enough to transplant, the basil (pictured above) are doing nicely, and the peppers have finally sprouted.
I better start thinking about where I am going to put everything.

Spotted a new kind of bird in the yard, too: sparrow sized, but bluish gray with a bright yellow beak. One of these days we'll get a bird book so we can identify our visitors.

Plastic Industry Fights Back, Part 2

2008-03-13T18:33:00.008-04:00

A few months ago I noticed that retailers and plastic bag manufacturers were teaming up to counter the plastic bag ban proposals that were sweeping the country. (See my posts here and here.) MSNBC reporter Kari Huus picked up on this in an article published today.

The plastics industry ... quickly and quietly joined with retailers and other business interests and launched a successful counterattack, using lobbying muscle to quash proposed bans. In the face of the onslaught, the cities have instituted voluntary recycling programs that proponents of the bans say are ineffective and likely to remain so.

I hope this will generate some scrutiny of the activities of trade groups like the Progressive Bag Alliance (now known as the Progressive Bag Affiliates), who'll do whatever it takes to protect their profits.

Presidential Candidates Backed by Nuclear Powerhouses

2008-03-10T09:36:00.004-04:00

I have been wondering where the democratic candidates stand on nuclear energy, and found some interesting answers in this article from AlterNet.

Claiming the United States cannot meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions if nuclear power is not an option, Obama wants to spend $150 billion over the next 10 years to develop new "climate-friendly" energy sources. Clinton says the issue of nuclear waste storage can be overcome by American technological innovation.

Not surprisingly,

The nuclear industry has helped bankroll the presidential campaigns of both Senators Obama and Clinton.

Will zero-carbon-emission nuclear power plants save us from the devastation of climate change, only to poison the planet with radiation from uranium mining and nuclear waste? It is too bad solar and wind proponents don't have resources to buy candidates the way the nuclear industry does.

Fidel Castro Resigns

2008-03-08T07:22:00.011-05:00

On February 19, after 49 years in power, Fidel Castro retired from the presidency of Cuba. I have been wanting to write some kind of tribute to him. Not because I think he was perfect or he turned Cuba into some kind of Utopia. I know that there are a lot of complaints and controversies surrounding his leadership. Nevertheless, Cuba's achievements under Castro, and his historical significance, can't be denied.

Before the revolution, Cuba was a client state of the US, with an economy based on tourist dollars and export agriculture. All the wealth was concentrated in a few hands and, like other countries in the region, the majority of the population was very poor and largely illiterate. When land and other resources were nationalized, the wealthy were (naturally) disenfranchised. Education and health care, rather than being privileges of the elite, were made available to everyone. Today Cuba has almost universal literacy and more doctors per capita than the US. (Read more here.)

These issues may not seem like such a big deal to people comfortably established in (over)developed countries. To put those achievements in perspective, you have to compare Cuba to other countries in the region, like Haiti. There, illiteracy handicaps 55% of the population, and many lives are lost to diseases and infections that are preventable or can be easily and inexpensively treated elsewhere.

A lot has been written about Cuba's environmental initiatives, particularly since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the US imposed trade embargo that left Cuba with little or no access to fuel and other goods. Hundreds of thousands of bicycles were imported (from China) to help solve the transportation crisis when the flow of gasoline was cut off. With petro-chemical fertilizers and pesticides no longer available, organic urban and small-scale agriculture became the norm, enabling Cuba to feed its people despite predictions that the starving masses would overthrow Castro and beg for foreign aid to save them. And most recently, Castro has questioned the techno-fix of transforming food crops into bio-fuels to replace a dwindling global supply of oil. If the policy changes that the US hopes for don't materialize, Cuba is on its way to developing a local, sustainable economy.

The Cuban government has not been perfect. There are rumors of political prisoners and of the silencing of political dissent. But lets not hold Castro to a higher standard than we do with, say, George W. Bush. Remember that no country imprisons a higher percentage of its population than the US. And political dissent here is both actively repressed (ask any activist - or bystander - arrested at a New York demonstration during the Giuliani years) and misrepresented or ignored in the press. If a massive demonstration is happening and the mainstream media only says to avoid midtown because of traffic congestion - dissent is successfully marginalized.

Cuba, meanwhile, offers living proof that the US empire can be resisted, that there are alternatives to the corporate-controlled, neo-liberal economic model. It is a beacon to other countries in the region, and to oppressed people around the world.

Growing Challenge Week 4: Thinking Outside the Fence

2008-03-08T07:08:00.004-05:00

For the last few weeks we have been getting our seeds started indoors. I'd like to say I have been very scientific about it, and researched our last frost date to calculate the optimum timing for starting the seeds. But no, that's just not the way I do things. Since I am defining a successful garden as: at least one non-agribusiness salad more than I had last year, I am pretty confident about my chances.

So I began the Growing Challenge a few weeks ago by planting tomato seeds, because I knew where they were; added peppers when my Mom brought me some seeds from the garden center; and last weekend, planted the basil seeds I'd saved from last year (because I found them) and some beans that Mom had saved. (She looked for her seeds when I told her about the fabulous toilet paper roll seed pot idea.)

I'd like to say that all these seeds are for heirloom varieties, carefully selected for our growing zone, soil type and micro-climate. But in fact, they are all generic, chosen because they were available locally, which is important because I don't drive. Since the garden is limited to containers for the time being, I also didn't want to order specialty seeds, have them shipped from potentially far away, and then only use a small percentage of what comes in the package.

In fact, if the sprouts are successful, I will still have far more plants than I have space for. So I'll share some with Mom, help my sister and brother-in-law plant a garden at their new house, and maybe even have enough to encourage some friends and neighbors to garden. (And there is always the yard of the abandoned house next door, the playground down the street - note to self: research guerilla gardening techniques.) If I can manage to keep the seedlings alive for the next few weeks, maybe I can extend my gardening project beyond my own fence.

Growing Challenge Update: Week 3

2008-02-26T17:25:00.004-05:00

Is the road to sustainability paved with homegrown veggies and herbs? Gardening may not be right for everyone, but we have a nice size yard (and its not paved over,) and live in a neighborhood where even agribusiness produce is hard to find. So this year I am participating in the Growing Challenge, and count on eating at least one organic and local salad this summer.

This weekend my son and I had planned to make some newspaper seed starter cups for our peppers. I had found instructions for them here and there, and they looked so easy. But when my version turned out to be too flimsy, I did a little research and turned up this brilliant idea:

Luckily, there were a bunch of toilet rolls in the recycling bin (note to self: put out recycling this week). We quickly processed 1/2 a dozen into little cups, scooped soil into them, and lined them up in a plastic tray. After planting one seed per cup, we labeled the rolls with the date and the letter P. We watered the cups and put the tray in the window next to the tomato seeds.

Last week when we planted the tomato seeds we decided to keep our fingers crossed, because I wasn't sure exactly how old they were. After 8 days I thought we would have to get new seeds and start again (plus, my fingers were getting sore), so I was thrilled when I opened the lid and saw the tiniest of shoots beginning to grow. I soaked them, sealed the lid, and will have to try to keep myself from checking on them every few minutes. (Rhonda Jean at Down-to-Earth suggests that seeds can be viable long past their use by dates, and outlines a simple way to check for germination rates.)

Each week, Melinda at Elements in Time does an amazing job of summarizing the progress of gardeners from various continents participating in the challenge. If you need some ideas and inspiration for what or how to grow your own this year, Melinda's would be a great place to start.

The Local Environmental Movement (an interview)

2008-02-24T09:28:00.017-05:00

This week I had the opportunity to spend some time talking about my ideas and about Urban Botany with C. Marshall Bell. Marshall is a New York University journalism student, working on a short film about the environmental movement in New York City. For this project he identified various individuals and groups working in different ways to green the city.

After he interviewed me, I decided to turn the tables and interview him right back. Read on to find out more about the film, and what Marshall has discovered about the local green movement.

UB: What prompted you to do this film?
CMB: Over the past year, I have learned more and more about the environmental movement. I would even say that environmentalism was never a subject of thought until coming to college. That said, I did a story last semester about a community garden in Brooklyn that raised enough money to install a composting toilet. When I interviewed the garden's director, he really impressed me with that idea that he did not expect to make any world-changing difference, but what he valued was making the most difference he could in his own backyard (literally). I am really impressed with the efforts New Yorkers have taken to lead more sustainable lives, one step at a time. Hopefully my film can capture the baby steps.

UB: Who are some of the people you've met while working on it?
CMB: I've met some great people: a small shop in Brooklyn that only sells "sustainable" products, a dry cleaners in Queens that uses a brand new cleaner that does not contain the toxic chemicals that generic cleaners do, as well as a number of experts in the field who are so passionate and knowledgeable about their field. It's refreshing to meet these people. It makes you realize that you're not the only one who really cares about this stuff. It also inspires me to do more on my end!

UB: Is New York City's government doing enough, or is it up to individuals and business owners?
CMB: Well, as much as New York City can do and its citizens, the major source of our ecological disaster right now are the industrial capitalists. Their disregard for our environment has long since been covered by profit motives. This needs to stop. The future is really in their hands.

UB: Who do you project as an audience for the film, and what do you want them to get from it?
CMB: Initially, it will only be my classmates and professor. I want to put all my efforts in this film and at least build a small Youtube audience. If they can see that leading a sustainable life does not take a great deal of effort, hopefully it will inspire them to take steps of their own.

UB: What is your next project?
CMB: That is a question I do not know yet. I'm always excited to read online about interesting stories and characters. The world is constantly changing and is always unpredictable and that's the beauty of journalism. I get to tell everyone about it.

Do you know of other great groups or individuals making a difference locally (in NY or elsewhere)? Please let Marshall and me know in the comments.

I can't wait to see the film this Spring, and will be sure to post links to it when it is ready to premiere!

January 2009 Update! Marshall's film, "Slowly Growing Greener," is complete and can now be seen here on blip.tv!

Winter in the Garden

2008-02-23T16:53:00.008-05:00

My Turn to Play

2008-02-22T13:15:00.006-05:00

Oh, the games bloggers play.

A few weeks ago, Chile Chews (a cool blog about sustainable living) tagged me for the Archive Meme (in which I post links to a bunch of my past posts, then share the love by tagging five more blogs). At the time I was living at Virus Central, we were all sick one after the other, and even a trip down memory lane seemed like too much work.

But we are all better now, so here goes.

First step is to post the rules (which I will clip directly from Chile - why reinvent the wheel, right?):

Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favorite blog posts that you've written using the following guidelines.

Link 1 must be about family. Link 2 must be about friends. Link 3 must be about yourself, who you are... what you're all about. Link 4 must be about something you love. Link 5 can be anything you choose.

Tag five other people, including two bloggers that are newer acquaintances so that you get to know each other better.

Read their archive posts and leave comments.

The problem, of course, is that I don't really write about personal things. In this forum. Because I spend so much time journaling, (navel gazing is what I think they call it), I tend to reserve this space for ideas that I think someone else will actually want to read. Things going on beyond my front door; World Changing Issues, like plastic bags and compost. So I may have to interpret those categories a bit loosely, bear with me.

1. The post about my family has got to be the one about Toy Recalls, in which my son finally got his replacement Thomas trains, and promptly outgrew them. Or maybe it should be our Buy Nothing Day video, which turned into a fun family project. (Ha, two for the price of one.)

2. Our friends Cybil and Andre invited us to their upstate studio for the holidays. (Their names link to an image of their fabulous art work, a collaborative sculptural book they exhibited at last year's Venice Biennale. This link is the post I wrote about our get together.)

3. Myself. Have I written about myself? Only in my very first post, I think, when I wrote about why I was starting UB.

4. I know it sounds cliche, but I really do love trees. In this post, I enthuse about the Mighty Oak. (Or rather, mini oaks. I'm sure there will be more this year, too, so let me know if you would like one.)

5. Ah, anything I choose. (What a luxury!) It has to be We Are the Polar Bears. The photos (brazenly clipped from elsewhere online, I'm afraid) say it all.

Now I get to pass on the Archive challenge. I'm going to go local on this and tag Anne at Sustainable Flatbush, Ethan at Green Brooklyn, Jesse at Humane Recipe, Xris at Flatbush Gardener, and another dear artist friend, Soraya at Escapadas. Again I'll quote from Chile, "Do it if you want but feel free to bow out gracefully if you so desire."

Living Like Ed

2008-02-21T18:20:00.006-05:00

Wednesday evening I was at Strand bookstore (getting my brother a copy of "The World Without Us" for his birthday - Happy Birthday Ron!). I came across a crowd gathering for a talk and book signing with Ed Begley, Jr. Ed is an actor, environmentalist and currently stars in the reality show "Living With Ed."

Ed was signing copies of his new book, "Living Like Ed" which he calls "a summary of my lifestyle from the 1970s to today – all the things that I have done and continue to do to save energy, resources etc. and live a simple and healthy life." I was impressed and very encouraged by how many thoughtful and well informed people were in the audience. Ed and Ramon Cruz (from Environmental Defense) had so many ideas and useful info to share.

A video of the talk can be seen on Strand's website. And also check out the interview with Ed that Crunchy Chicken did last August (from which I swiped the above quote) and her review of the new book here.

New York City to Recycle Electronics

2008-02-19T15:07:00.003-05:00

Last week the City Council approved a new electronics recycling bill. The NYTimes calls it "one of the toughest electronics recycling laws in the nation." I am a little skeptical, considering what a wimpy plastic bag recycling bill (and here) the same City Council recently passed.

I didn't have time to wade through the complexities of the proposal yet. It seems to put a lot of the burden on the manufacturers, which is great if it will encourage them to design their products to last longer and be more repairable and recyclable. But I wonder what it will mean for corporations to design and run recycling programs: will it create opportunities for them to advertise their greenness? Will my recycling bin have a big logo on it? Shouldn't the City be the one to design such a program, rather than leaving such an important responsibility to corporations which, let's face it, are more concerned with their bottom line than they are with resource management or the environment?

Check out Sustainable Flatbush's round up from the last few days about this and other recent environmental developments in New York.
(Thanks, Anne.)