get ready, get set

The Impact program is divided into two parts: a team project (2/3rds of time) and an individual project (remaining 1/3rd). Last Tuesday we heard presentations from 4 distinct neighborhoods in the different "burrows" of NY; Manhattan, Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens. From the neighborhood directors presentations, we were able to decide which community we were most passionate about.

I ended up choosing a neighborhood in Staten Island as my first choice because it seemed like the neighborhood where we could make the biggest impact. The Port Richmond community, in Staten Island has so many assets and charm, but there has not yet been a effort to really promote those assets to neighboring communities.

The trip over to Staten Island was absolutely breathtaking. We went early in the morning while the air was still cool. Fun fact: the ferry ride was free, so tons of tourists use it as an opportunity to get an amazing view of the skyline and the Statue of Liberty. After they cross the water, they run to the ferry back to Manhattan!


Picture taken in Port Richmond, next to their park. Children playing in a fire hydrant fountain during a free summer school session.


Then on Saturday, I went with one of my good classmates to the Museum of Modern Art and purchased this wickedly awesome lens from the giftshop!

design entrepreneur boot camp

Just finished my second day of class. It's been really amazing so far. I'm super excited about the charted course. I don't have much down time, so I will record some brief reflections for you here.

My dorm is small, clean and does a great job of encouraging me to get outside!

My suitemate (bathroom buddy) named Jacky Minkler is fabulous. Very sweet, creative, enthusiastic about fully experiencing the city. She is from Albany NY, so she visits the city relatively frequently and has many friends here.

My teachers are really amazing and devoted to the project and helping us imagine and pursue ideas that are realistic and truly effective.

I LOVE walking the street, zig zagging through masses of people on the sidewalks. I've had lots of practice; both in real life (scrambling out of church services) and virtually (frogger)!






I ADORE seeing the daring outfits that women and men sport in this town. People are not afraid to take creative risks, which inspires me in my own work north of the pavement.

Now I'd like to share some pictures with you.


This was my lunch plate from Monday. Catered by Wichcraft. SOOO yummy!


Care package each student (13 total) received on first day of class. Materials include binder from NESst (this will teach me about how to make nonprofits financially sustainable), organic IMPACT tote bag, large unruled sketchpad (BINGO!), baby pocket moleskin, and Sappi Ideas that Matter inspiration book.

mailing address

You've Got Mail is one of my favorite movies of all time. But seriously, send me some mail and I'll send you a post card!

S. Bess McLaughlin
101 Ludlow Street, #416
New York, NY 10002

preparing

In about one week, I will be heading up north to NYC! Preparations are being made to ensure that the garden, pup, and CSA subscription will be cared for while I'm away.

Earlier this week, I found out my future suitemate's (meaning that we share the bathroom) email address, so I looked her up on facebook and she looks really cool and I also checked out her graphic design portfolio on Behance.com and was very impressed.
She's from NY state, so it'll be really great to have someone from the region to hang out with and show me the ropes.

As the School of Visual Arts draws nearer, my internship for Mperfect Design comes closer to an end. I'll be really sad to leave Matt and Jason. I've learned so much from them and they're soo much fun to work with. I hope in my future occupations I am surrounded by humorous people! I also really loved the caliber of projects they had. For example, they are currently working on projects with the Nulu Festival, Yew Dell Gardens, the Speed Art Museum, and Actors Theatre. I hope they can still carry on when I leave (insert humor here).

Eco-Journal: Louisville part 2

For my Environmental Ethics class I am keeping an Eco-journal about 5 main topics: cars, food, animals, energy use, and the Louisville environment. This is the final entry.

1. Step back and look at the kinds of things that you've noticed. What can you discover about your attentiveness to environmental problems- mostly things that affect you directly? Matters of environmental justice? Animals? Air quality? Transportation? Personal things? Mostly structural?

Looking back on my last entry, I realize that the problems I perceived in my local environment were all things that directly affect me. For example, until last year, I never had any problem with allergies. I think this is because growing up, I lived in the east end of Louisville were the population density and carbon emissions are less concentrated.

I recently found a study conducted by the University of Louisville about the different risk areas for asthma development (which is a disease commonly enhanced by breathing carbon dioxide, similar to allergies) in Jefferson County. It shows that children living in downtown and west Louisville areas were disproportionately affected by asthma than those who live in other parts of town. This is definitely a environmental justice issue because the study showed that the children living in poor areas of town were more likely to develop asthma. This situation perpetuates itself because asthma is a costly condition.

Flower burglary is not a very serious issue, but I would like my neighborhood to appear as lovely and inviting as possible so that more drug-free people will move to the area. I think that people need to start moving back to the center city where everything is more closely located. This will also help reduce the crime rate in Old Louisville simply because people don't want to commit crimes when they have a higher chance of being caught. When my boyfriend, Jeff, moved into this building 5 years ago, he said drug dealers and prostitutes hung out on every corner. Now there are a lot more young families that care about improving their quality of life.


This afternoon I conducted my first Tap Water Challenge on UofL's Belknap Campus. During a tap water challenge, students are asked to identify different types of water; Aquafina, Kroger Bottled Water, and Louisville Tap. Then they are asked to pick their favorite.

Of the 51 students we challenged from 12:30-3pm:
25 preferred Tap
14 preferred Kroger Bottled Water
12 preferred Aquafina (which cost twice as much as the Kroger Bottled Water).
We also got 70 signatures asking President Ramsey to implement more conveniently located water fountains.
Yay for being proactive!

Eco-Journal: Louisville part 1

For my Environmental Ethics class I am keeping an Eco-journal about 5 main topics: cars, food, animals, energy use, and the Louisville environment.

What environmental problems do you see around your city/neighborhood/campus?

1. Bottled Water. Every day I witness students and teachers carrying and drinking from #1 (PETE) plastic containers which are not safe to reuse and are not recyclable in the traditional sense of turning a resource into more of the same quality of resource. I'd really like for everyone to stop drinking bottled water, but I think that most people don't see it as a potential problem.

That is why I have committed myself to starting a Tap It! campaign on UofL's Belknap campus. Many universities around the world have made the steps to become free of bottled water. Just last year WASHU, University of Portland, and Brown University made the change. The first step is to raise awareness through informational pamphlets and a Tap Water Challenge featured at UofL's Earth Day festival. I hope to see you there!


2. Flower Burglars. I know this sounds really silly, but in my neighborhood (Old Louisville) there is a serious problem of flower burglars stealing bushes, flowers, small trees, and potted plants from people's front yards. These flower burglars come in several forms. First, there are the types that dig up a whole plant (in order to re-sell or re-plant in their yard) and second are the people that simple pick the colorful head of the flower (to sell or simply give to strangers).

Two days ago I heard someone singing outside my window. I looked and saw an older man holding a big bouquet of yellow tulips in his left hand and plucking more with his right. I know this man because last spring he has tried to sell me the same flowers. A couple years ago the city planted hundreds of yellow tulips on the small sidewalk plots of grass along Oak Street. I bet they didn't realize that they were fueling the flower burglar economy.

The problem is a). that the plants cannot pollenate without the blossoming head b). it's stealing and c). I'd love to plant a row of sunflowers in front of my fence, but I know that someone would either dig them up or pluck off the head.


What are the most pressing environmental problems facing Louisville today?

I think that the most pressing environmental problem facing Louisville today is air pollution, particularly carbon dioxide. Last year Louisville, KY was ranked the #1 city for worst spring allergies. I believe that a large percentage of Louisvillians would not have developed allergies (or such severe allergies) had it not been for the serious air pollution problem. Currently, scientists have been been finding a significant correlation between air pollution and development rates of asthma (and other similar medical conditions). I think that biggest reason that I hate air pollution is because it hits young children (0-14 years) the hardest. I feel like we have a responsibility to the future generations to clean up our act.


Are individual-level solutions required or likely to be effective? How about structural/political solutions?

Both individual-level and political actions are absolutely needed to make the necessary changes for a better future. First, a body of people need to be educated about an issue in order to work together and encourage their political representatives to make legal changes in the system.

Eco-Journal: Energy Use

For my Environmental Ethics class I am keeping an Eco-journal about 5 main topics: cars, food, animals, energy use, and the Louisville environment.

1. Go to earthday.net and calculate your ecological footprint.
Results: If everyone lived like me, there would need to be 3.3 Earths to provide enough resources.


2. What do you think?
About 60% of my energy usage came from "Services" like farmers, bike mechanics, electricians, and garbage men. I image it is good to have Services as a major contributer of an ecological footprint, because it means that you're helping contribute directly to workers' economic growth.

I didn't like how quick and generalized the survey was. I have taken various ecological footprint surveys in the past and I have found that the one's that go into more detail in their questioning give more accurate results and provide better feedback for possible changes in behavior. I feel like this survey involved a lot of assumptions.

3. Were you surprised?
Yes, I was surprised because I feel like I'm making an effort to live a low-impact life and I was still consuming over my share of resources. I think that this is due to me living within the American system. For example, When I come to school, the toilets dump 3 gallons of water per flush (sometimes more, depending). But in some European countries that understand the importance of conservation, their toilets use much less. This is a similar situation to private transportation. For a long time within the United States it has simply not been a priority to make fuel efficient cars.

4. Could you reduce the size of your ecological footprint? How? Should you? Why or why not? Yes, I should reduce the size of my ecological footprint because it is not fair that my demand on the ecosystem be larger than what it can sustainable produce for the rest of the planet's population. One way that I plan on reducing my footprint is through my food source. This Spring and Summer, I will be starting a backyard garden and expanding my rooftop garden. I'd also like to help various neighborhoods utilize small plots of land within the city limits to grow food, so that Louisville can become more self-reliant and resilient.

5. How, if at all, did changing variables change things? Why? Even if I became vegan, reduced my waste by not buying packages things, and stopped flying airplanes, I still would need 3 planet Earth's to support my lifestyle. Even when I selected all of the least-impact options (no electricity, all local food, no car, no bus, no plane, tiny apartment complex, the results were still unmanageable (3.1 planets).
I took the quiz over, but said that I lived in Switzerland and my results were drastically different. The site said that if everyone lived like me, we would only need 1.5 Earths. It also stated that the average person living in Switzerland needs 2.4 planet Earths. And I thought it was odd that it didn't tell me the size of the average American's footprint.

Thermostat Temp
7am-11am: 66 degrees
11am-6pm: 62 degrees
6pm-10pm: 66 degrees
10pm-7am: 62 degrees

Metered kwh usage for February: 5419
February bill: $396.48
2,000 sq ft apartment with 5 housemates.

How many lights do you typically have on?
In apartment, there are always 5 lights on, 14W each. My dearest Jeffery assures me that we need these lights to be on all of the time for safety reasons. If you make your house look occupied, people will be less likely to break in.
How long are your showers? about 6 minutes.

Eco-Journal: Animals

For my Environmental Ethics class I am keeping an Eco-journal about 5 main topics: cars, food, animals, energy use, and the Louisville environment.

Do you own one or more pets? Yes; two cats and one 20 lb. dog
About how much do you spend on them? Total: about $35/month.

How much of what they consume is made of animal matter? The cat food is very high in protein (36% chicken), while the dog food is a blend of meat (30% lamb) and rice. The doggie treats we buy are made from various fruits and sweetened with molasses.


What percentage of your meals includes animal products, and of what sorts? About 10% of my personal meals include animal products, such as milk, eggs, cheese. I rarely eat meat because I am commonly unaware of the source. But I'm very surprised to realize that although I am not directly contributing to factory farming, I am indirectly through my pets. I guess the solution would be to buy dog and cat food from local, humane suppliers. I bet they have some companies like that in Sacramento, California.

How about your clothing, your car, etc.? Most of my leather products are bought second-hand. For example, I have a leather messenger bag, leather boots, and a leather belt. When I was 16 years old I was vegan for 6 months and during that time I learned that it was very difficult to be truly vegan because there are animals products in many things, like computers, bubble gum, felt, and old pianos.

What is your relationship to animal testing? I don't know enough about the subject to have an informed opinion.
Do you visit the zoo? Yes. My grandmother used to take me very often as a child.
Have you hit squirrels with your bike? No.

Do you hunt? Not currently. But when I was a child, I would sometimes go fishing with my grandparents.
Do you rescue wildlife? No.
Does your relationship to animals make sense to you? Yes. Humans have bred certain animals to depend on them for food, shelter, etc. My pets are like my children and I deeply enjoy my time with them. I take the time to learn about dog psychology in order to better communicate with him about the rules of the house.
Does it reflect an ethic to which you want to be committed? Yes.

Boxed Water Is Better?

I recently found out about this boxed water company claiming to be the green alternative to bottled water. Say WHAT? So I went to their website and investigated. They make several claims:

1. The containers are mostly made from trees, which eventually grow back.
REALITY: even if they're made from "well managed" forests, they are not taking into account the hazardous chemicals used in the bleaching and processing of the paper.
2. They take up less space (than compared to plastic bottles) when they are shipped to the filling location.
REALITY: they might take up less space, but these plastic-lined cardboard boxes are sure heavier than the all-plastic alternative.
3. They're recyclable!
REALITY: Only 21/50 states have recycling facilities that accept this type of carton. On the other hand, plastic bottles (commonly made with PETE type 1 plastic) are much more widely accepted.



I definitely do not want to advocate the use of bottled water. My point is simply that if this company really cared about a green alternative to bottled water, they would focus on bettering the public municipal systems that we already have in place. We need organizations to fight for stricter regulations for what constitutes safe drinking water, and we need to do a better job of using that water (for example, we need to set up grey-water systems in homes, so that people are not pissing in perfectly good drinking water).

I was so upset by the "Boxed Water is Better" campaign that I decided to write them a letter. It read:

Hello,

I recently found out about your "Boxed Water is Better" product, and I wanted you to know that I strongly disagree with the concept behind your product and the green-washing involved within your marketing scheme. If you really want to do some good while you hydrate the human population, try turning your efforts to strengthening tap water regulations within the United States (and possibly the rest of the world).

I sincerely hope that you find a more responsible way to make money.

Thank you,
Bess McLaughlin

If you agree with me, feel free to copy/paste the body of this email to them. Their email address is: hello@boxedwaterisbetter.com

Eco-journal: Food

For my Environmental Ethics class I am keeping an Eco-journal about 5 main topics: cars, food, animals & plants, energy use, and the Louisville environment.


Eco-journal Entry #2- Food
Collect Data

Whole Wheat Pasta, Kansas- 742 mi
Whole Wheat Bread, Kansas- 742 mi
Organic Potatoes, Idaho- 1,886 mi
Cereal, Washington- 2,427 mi
Chocolate, California- 2,232 mi
Peanut Butter, Virginia- 487 mi
Spaghetti Sauce, California- 2,232 mi
Blackberry Jam, Kentucky- 91 mi
Organic Spinach, California- 2,232 mi
Cheese, Illinois- 316 mi
Milk, Illinois- 316 mi
Eggs, Kentucky- 34 mi
Tortilla Chips, Kansas- 742 mi
Salsa, California- 2,232 mi
Organic Apples, Washington- 2,427 mi
Walnuts, California- 2,232 mi

How many miles does your food travel to get to your plate?
21,084 miles
What is the average distance that your food travels?
1,318 miles
Do you think it matters whether your food has to travel a long way, or what mode of transportation it uses? Why or why not?

Yes, I definitely think it matters how long people's food has to travel before it gets to them. It also matters what type of transportation was involved in the shipping process. For example, food shipped by boat is going to have a different carbon footprint from food shipped by plane. Typically, the longer the distance food is shipped, the larger the environmental footprint.

From looking at my data, I feel the urge to move to Sacramento, California, because that's where a lot of my food is grown, but I know that when it gets a bit warmer, Louisville's farmers markets will start again and my "food footprint" will decrease dramatically.

Mother Nature

Here are some pretty pictures of automobiles covered in snow.

Bicycling For Louisville

The Interim Executive Director of Bicycling For Louisville spoke to my Environmental Ethics class this week. Her name is Amanda Fuller and she brought up a couple of interesting points that I wanted to share with you.

1. In 2007, Louisville residents spent 38 hours a year in traffic. While this is down from a peak delay of 44 hours in 2004, it is still far higher than our peer cities where residents spend an average of 29 hours. For more info, click Greater Louisville Project.

2. In order to improve bike safety, we have to grow the biking population.

3. You should sign up for their newsletter here.

Personal Transportation

For my Environmental Ethics class I am keeping an Eco-journal about 5 main topics: energy use, food, cars, animals & plants, and the Louisville environment.

Eco-journal Entry #1-Energy Use
Collect Data

Warm Season (above 30 degrees)
How many miles do you drive in a given week: 0
How many miles are you a passenger in a given week: 10/2=5
How many miles do you ride on a TARC in a week: 0
Carbon output based on miles driven: 3.23 lbs.
Approximate annual emissions: 873 lbs.
(CO2 emissions from a gallon of gasoline = 19.4 pounds/gallon)

Cold Season (below 30 degrees)
How many miles do you drive in a given week: 0
How many miles are you a passenger in a given week: 10/2=5
How many miles do you ride on a TARC in a week: 10/10=1
Carbon output based on miles driven: 8.78 lbs.
Approximate annual emissions: 790.5 lbs.
(CO2 emissions from a gallon of gasoline = 19.4 pounds/gallon)
(CO2 emissions from a gallon of diesel = 22.2 pounds/gallon)


bag lady cart + laundry = one load of fun

Analysis
Should you be a passenger less? Yes. Carpooling is great, but Jeff and I are pretty fit people and can easily bike around town.
Could you drive less? I could definitely bike more during the warmer season. All it would take is a little patience and planning.
What factors contribute to miles driven? Weather, temperature, and amount of luggage.
How much control do you have over those factors? I feel like I don't have a lot of control over the weather or temperature. But I do feel control over my luggage load. Biking to the grocery store isn't very difficult and neither is biking to do laundry (check out the photo-though now I walk it 5 blocks to the laundry mat). NOTE: I dry my clothes with the power of the sun. I hope to create an easy way to haul stuff on my bike with materials I already have.

Vampires are Going Green

My fiance spotted this advertisement in an edition of WIRED magazine.



VampirePowerSucks.com

The History of the School Garden

Have you ever wondered about the history of school gardens in the United States? This video describes the history of the school garden in America and offers reasons why school gardens are making a comeback.

Somehow looking back at the past gives me hope for the future. When I watched this video, I realized that children have not changed fundamentally since the early 20th century; they're still curious, creative, and hungry for knowledge. If the schools featured in the video could have such great success back then, then they can surely do so now when it is most vital to the resilience of the surrounding communities.

Bess's Inbox

Here are some good organizations that I subscribe to:


Food & Water Watch
Earth Save
Sierra Club
World Wildlife Fund
Credo Action
350
ilovemountains
Lazy Enviornmentalist
Slow Food USA
1sky
True Majority
Corporate Accountability International
Food Democracy Now
begreen.org
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth
Breaking New Grounds
Transition Louisville
Sustainable City Forum
Transportation for America

I was going to put them into categories, but there's a lot of overlapping and most of them are self-explanatory.
Enjoy!

Defending Recycling

Click on the image to go directly to a great website that clarifies common myths about recycling.

America weans off the bottle

click on image for full article
"New York, Illinois and Virginia state governments now bar bottled water at public events and in state offices. Cisco and Google ditched it from their corporate campuses as well."

YAY! This MSNBC article discusses the decreasing influence of the bottled water industry. I really love to hear stories like this.

Take some action!

For the next couple of posts, I want to share with you some of the organizations that I am a member of (local, national, and international) that are doing positive things that I support.
I encourage you to visit some of the sites and subscribe to the causes that you feel passionate about.

Here are some organizations that deal specifically with Louisville:


Sustainability City Forum is designed to raise the community's awareness of sustainable practices. While the ultimate goal of providing a catalyst to moving Louisville and the region towards a sustainable model for the nation, each forum in the series will focus on different aspects of sustainable practice and will sometimes have different audiences. Great events- usually held at Glassworks. Free events, must RSVP.


Transition Louisville works to tap into community passions, expertise and resources to create a better future for this and all generations. They are a group of Louisville residents taking the initiative to make our community more sustainable, adaptable and connected as we face new and uncertain energy, economic and environmental conditions to come.


Breaking New Grounds is a project by Heine Brothers to use used coffee grounds into a tool for strengthening the community. They have a community garden in Louisville's west end where coffee grounds are used for composting. They need lost of volunteers because their project is expanding like CRAZY!

And here is an organization Kentucky-specific:


Kentuckians for the Commonwealth focuses on protecting the rights of people in Kentucky. They have campaigned for the restoration of voting rights for past felons (KY is currently 1 of only 2 states that takes away voting rights from all formed felons). Right now they are advocating against Mountain Top Removal Coal Mining with their I Heart Mountains campaign.

Climate Change Conference 09

FUN FACT: Only 10% of corn grown in the USA can be consumed by humans.

On Dec 9th I carpooled to a Climate Change Conference in Lexington, KY. Here are some of my notes from the event:

Radley Horton- The Center for Climate Systems Research, Columbia University
Effects of climate change on water in KY: increased precipitation decreased water quality, more floods and more droughts.
Effects of climate change on agriculture in KY: livestock suffer increased thermal stress and disease, crop yields increase initially longer growing season), but decrease later.
Effects of climate change on ecosystem: in KY: threatened bat population (important for bat reduction), grasslands and oak forests threatened.
SOLUTIONS: 1. mitigation 2. adaptation 3. risk management

Health and Climate Change
World Health Organization did a comparative health analysis, looked at the effect of climate change on disease. In creased diarrheal diseases, malaria.
KY related issues: allergies, asthma, new allergies, air pollution and traffic issues (respiratory disease, ozone, dust, blood brain barrier, forest fires), flooding, heat stress, stroke, illness
find more info here: http://www.who.int/globalchange/news/fsclimandhealth/en/index.html

CDC: Health and Climate Change
top priorities are:
1. heat stress
2. injuries
3. water born diseases
4. mass population movement- international tension

FUN FACT: when people exercise, they gain full access to 10-20% of their unused sweat glands, which help regulate body temperature!

Steps for KY:
-Education (exercise, diet, healthy living)
-Insulation (centers, incentives, transportation)
-Acute weather events (warning systems, community plans, publicity)
-Watch for caution signs
-Monitor and improve air quality