TwXLT "Consumption and Pessimistic Entropy" - Waste Not, Want Not: Relational Summary 7

Funny....kind of... :)

The chapter titled “Consumption” in the Story of Stuff gives a detailed sense of just how much we shop, buy…consume.  In 2004 we spent more on watches, shoes and jewelry than for higher education ($100 billion vs. $99 billion).  In 2003 the United States and Europe spent $17 billion on pet food, yet we could end hunger and malnutrition for just $19 billion. The comparative lists go on and on.  We want a two or three car garage to use most of it for storage.  Leonard continues to describe how shopping is viewed as some sort of right, and to challenge our rate of consumption has led her to be labeled by some as “Marx in a ponytail” and for Colin Beavan aka No Impact Man, who lived in NYC experimenting with a minimal-consumption lifestyle, to receive hate mail even including the threat of death.  She also mentions one of my favorite books, Walden, by Henry David Thoreau, and how he was called “unmanly” and “very wicked and heathenish”! (Leonard, 2010) What?! This blows my mind.  Who could insult this book and the way it leads you through the winding magic of nature?  It gives me peace I can only otherwise find out in, well, nature.

Fleissner and Hofkirchner’s paper titled “Entropy and Its Implications for Sustainability” is quite a bit more dense, diving into the physics of sustainability and the contradictions therein. One concept in particular though seemed to resonate with me since I have pondered about on my own before, not knowing it had a name. Georgescu's Law states that “…in a system like the Earth (nearly no exchange of matter with the environment) mechanical work cannot proceed at a constant rate forever, or, there is a law of increasing material entropy. This means that it is not possible to get back all the dissipated matter of, for instance, tires worn out by friction.” (1997). 

This "disorder" makes sense to me.  Nature rules. 

This is very interesting to me, personally.  I would like to know exactly what he means by “get back”, but I would tend to agree with him on the basic (pessimistic?) concept.  I do not believe that people or the planet (in the future as far as we can see it) are capable of returning matter “back” to a natural state, near its source location, as a way to reverse our damage.  I do believe that if humans were to cease to exist the planet would eventually, probably, breakdown and recycle all our messes so that nature could thrive again.  But for the sake of our current reality (a world with humans) I would agree with Georgescu-Roegen: we are doing irreversible damage.  As I have said before, I’ve been told I may be a bit of a pessimist but I would rather make changes now than push our planet any further down a path of doom.  We know we cannot continue to function indefinitely like we are functioning now. Too many companies are using finite resources as if they were infinite.

I found an interesting review of Georgescu-Roegen that refers to him as a “genius pessimist and a philosopher of process”.  The author states that he was a complex character who believed in the inevitable running down of the economic process.  This is what I have always held true and believe to my core; if we are not living in harmony with nature, we are destined to fail.  How could anyone think that that a society that depends on nature, yet is built on the exploitation nature, could survive?  I learned that Georgescu-Roegen and I have our perceived pessimism in common and I gained respect for him because he did not just stay safely in one field.  Georgescu-Roegen was a mathematician and economist who dared to enter the field of physics, and then bring all three studies together.  That is incredible to me and I appreciate his efforts and contributions to the study of sustainability.  We need a wake up call.

Sources

Fleissner, P. & Hofkirchner, W. (1997). Entropy and Its Implications for Sustainability. Implications and Applications of Bioeconomics. Retrieved from https://igw.tuwien.ac.at/igw/menschen/hofkirchner/papers/infoconcept/entropy/entropy.htm

Sers, M. (2017). Georgescu-Roegen: The genius pessimist and the philosopher of process. Economics for the Anthropocene. Retrieved on December 24, 2018 from

https://e4a-net.org/2017/03/29/georgescu-roegen-the-genius-pessimist-and-the-philosopher-of-process-by-martin-sers/

The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health-and a Vision for Change

Annie Leonard / Free Press (publication:2010-03-09)
Read "Consumption"

PhRB "A Vision for Change" - Waste Not, Want Not: Relational Summary 6

PhRB—

High grasslands showing the beauty of Mother Nature. Andes, Ecuador. 

In her book “The Story of Stuff”, Leonard shares her lifestyle of living in a “tight community” where resources are shared rather than purchased.  The community is more sustainable than most due to the fact that the people buy less Stuff and throw out less trash.  They rely on each other first, and the economy second.  Carpools, shared babysitting, traded goods and borrowed tools are a way of life for her.  However, she is careful to point out that this is not a sustainable life either—closer, yes--but they still function within a system so based on “fossil fuels, carbon emissions, toxic chemicals and wasted resources” that it is IMPOSSIBLE to live a completely sustainable lifestyle without disengaging from society as we know it (Leonard, 2010).

Ecuadorian Shaman shares knowledge of a lifestyle shared with nature.

Up until this point, things are looking pretty bleak.  It’s so easy to get overwhelmed, feel hopeless and want to give up under a cloud of depression.  Thankfully, page 241 of “The Story of Stuff” states my above-mentioned thought almost verbatim.  It’s not enough to just be “greener” or recycle better.  That will just put us on a slower track to the end of nature, the environment and natural resources and, because of that, the end of life and the end of us.  We ARE nature; inexplicably connected whether we acknowledge it or not.  The Vision for Change as explained by Leonard is to change policy and our entire system until the sustainable option IS the DEFAULT option! To start, the suggestion made is to join a movement that you are passionate about.  I am fortunate to work in my passion at an NPO that focuses on sustainable agricultural solutions specific to various areas of the world.  I love my work and feel so much purpose and meaning in it. 

Moss growing in the clouds.  Pichincha, Ecuador. 15,000 ft. elevation.

The website Wiser.org is a great site that serves to connect agencies with each other to grow the movement toward the changes in the world that need to be made for us to be a sustainable, healthy world. I signed up at https://wiser.org/stay-informed/ to be informed of ways to help support that movement via texts and emails.  The idea is that “Things get better everyday, not just less bad” so that our children see that we have a vision for the future, rather than just a way to improve on the grave problems we have created (McDonough, 2015).

Sources:

The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health-and a Vision for Change

Annie Leonard / Free Press (publication:2010-03-09)
Read "Writing the new story"

Resource Abundance by Design | William McDonough (2015). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKlqL_nuh_c

PhRT "Biomimicry" - Waste Not, Want Not: Relational Summary 5

PhRT –

Tell me again how bad it is.

Sometimes I think I am too much of an empath to work in sustainability.  I get overwhelmed by the immensity of the issues, and the lack of concern from society.  When reading about waste, I often think about the years I spent traveling overseas.  These issues seemed to make more sense.  Maybe it was because I was seeing the problems from the view of the people who struggle to meet their basic needs and therefore, their behavior reflects this and there are fewer choices to actually be made.  It is just the way life is.  Flash forward to the more recent times in the United States, and the things that people do are much more about choice and reflect their own values (or lack thereof).

A small community in rural Ecuador.

Let me think of a concrete example.  In a very small coastal town called Puerto El Morro on the edge of the country of Ecuador, people live in poverty yet, because of the poverty, they see value in things others may not see as valuable. They use rocks to smash plantains to serve with a lunch of rice and shrimp.  The shrimp are from the river running by the town.  The food is local by necessity, but it is sustainable and healthy.  There are walls built from 2 liter bottles because, well, Coca-Cola has reached every corner of the globe.  If those bottle can be used, the people are happy to use them instead of throw them out. Milk and water are sold in bags, which is surely less plastic that a gallon jug.  Also, most grocery plastic bags are used and reused.  The dumps, for example, near Cali, Colombia, are a haven for the poor to find their food and other items still usable in some way.

A typical home near the coast of Ecuador.

Now, that brings us to one of Professor Culhane’s videos about the Zabaleen people in Egypt (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=kzQCmBspNZo) who are thought to be unholy because of how they pick through, process and use the trash thrown away by their neighbors in the nearby cities. As mentioned in the video, I would certainly agree that we should be thankful to these people instead of viewing them as dirty.  And why do we glorify the kind of wasteful, materialistic, throw-away culture that we subscribe to so often in the United States?  I wish there were no shame in using trash that would otherwise pollute the environment, and I wish there WERE shame in tossing trash like our society does without regard to where it will end up. 

A puppy near a trash pile, rural Ecuador.

A life close to nature in rural Guatemala.

Our society has it all backwards.  The video “Natural Capitalism (taking natural capital into account)” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=Cq7Yn5pUJ3A)  explains that Natural Capitalism models nature, a term called “biomimicry” (Sustainability Illustrated, 2016). Everything depends on the environment; both society and the economy.  So why would we NOT put our natural resources as the highest priority to respect and manage?  As the paper titled “The Entropy Law and the impossibility of perpetual economic growth” states, “Such high-entropy matter depletes finite stocks of ecosystem services provided by the ecosphere, hence are incompatible with the long-term growth in the material scale of the economic process.” (Romeiro & Earp, 2012). The very concept of exponential growth is not modeled by nature. Exponential growth is supported by human greed and the idea that more and more and more is somehow better. But it’s not.  Nature teaches us that balance is important.  Matter changing forms into new life is important.  Circular systems are important.  We have so much to learn from nature, if we could just listen. 

Sources:

Culhane, T.H. (2018). Intrigo for Waste Not Want Not Module PhLB: Doing God's work with the Zabaleen. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=kzQCmBspNZo

Romeiro, A. R. & S´a Earp, H. N. (2012). The Entropy Law and the impossibility of perpetual economic growth. Institute of Economics. Brazil.

Sustainability Illustrated (2016). Cod fish and natural capitalism—biomimicry. Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=Cq7Yn5pUJ3A

"Mushrooms Save the Planet" - Waste Not, Want Not: Relational Summary 4

Fungi in my garden.

Over the last year, I have experimented with gardening and permaculture.  I chose a small area of land on our five acres because I did not want to be in over my head.  I installed a drip irrigation system with a 5 gallon bucket, fenced it neatly, loaded it with horse manure and began planting.  To my delight, mushrooms started popping up.  I was always told that was a sign of good soil and air.  My dad used to say this and he knows how to garden!  While reading for class this week, I was reminded of a process I witnessed this past summer here in South Florida.  We let the chickens range and they wandered the garden and ate some tomatoes, okay, okay...a lot of tomatoes! A few weeks later I noticed that tomato plants were popping up in the yard, more than an acre away from the garden.  While scratching my head, I realized, I had the chickens to thank!

Now on to this weeks readings and you will see how they relate to my experimental garden last summer...

According to Crosby, mushrooms can help clean up our mess on this planet in three ways.  They can break down microbes and chemicals to harmless forms and they can render heavy metals immobile because of their root systems. Fungi press enzymes that can breakdown hazardous molecules into carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.  The dense root part of the fungi can capture and hold dangerous heavy metals that cannot breakdown (Crosby, 2017). That is pretty amazing.

Baby Jackfruit tree and mushrooms in my garden.

In Calamur's experiment, the hazardous chemicals in batteries were put in a bin with sawdust and fungi (Pleurotus ostreatus spores) and compared to a control group.  The fungi did have an effect on the chemicals as shown by an outcome of lowering the pH of the trial bin.  This is significant because there is hope that these spores could be used to make batteries harmless to people and the environment after their use.  Currently, batteries leak potassium hydroxide, which is highly toxic to people and animals and it finds its way into water supplies.  There is a need for people to correctly dispose of batteries, but there is no real "green" way to use and dispose of batteries.  California has made it illegal to dispose of batteries in the trash (Calamur, n.d.).

Foraging chickens on our farm.

In my own life, I have never thought to much about batteries. I do love mushrooms though and find them fascinating.  On my farm and in my garden, they pop up in the finest soil.  I often take a picture and try to identify them (and have yet to find an edible one, but that's another story). Stamets' YouTube video is a short story about the magic of mushrooms to breakdown petroleum-based hydrocarbons.  The best part was not only that the mushroom grew huge, but also they started a whole life cycle back to nature that would have not occurred without them. After a few weeks the oyster mushrooms died and rotted, they grew spores, flies came and then maggots, birds ate the maggots and let seeds they had eaten in their waste.  The seeds grew and there were plants growing in what was once hazardous chemical waste (Stamets, 2017)!  I am always amazed at the human power to interfere with Nature and Nature's power to evolve back to perfection.

Surprise tomato plants! Thank you chickens.

Works Cited:

Calamur, S. (n.d.) Mycoremediation of Household Hazardous Waste through Pleurotus ostreatus. Retrieved on November 15, 2018 from https://clu-in.org/download/studentpapers/Fungal-Bioremediation-of-Household-Hazardous-Waste.pdf

Crosby, W. (2017). Mycoremediation – Using Mushrooms To Clean up Toxic Waste in Our Environment. FungiAlly. Retrieved on November 15, 2018 from http://fungially.com/mycoremediation-using-mushrooms-clean-toxic-waste-environment/

Stamets, P. (2017). Bioremediation with Fungi. Retreived on November 15, 2018 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=239&v=BelfLIJErek

 (Links to an external site.)

Links to an external site.https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=239&v=BelfLIJErek

"Bio Gas Session at ECHO Global Farm" - Waste Not, Want Not: Relational Summary 3

Yesterday I got to see Jerry Comellas (a USF Global Sustainability graduate who works with https://www.facebook.com/rosebudcontinuumand https://www.facebook.com/SolarCITIES/) talk about biogas digesters in MY town, FORT MYERS!! Woohoo!!! He spoke at ECHO Global Farm's 25th Annual International Conference (which is an amazing event every year). Is anyone else attempting to build one of these beasts for the first time? Im totally intimidated, but Im thinking of giving it a try this coming year.

What struck me about the November 6th lecture was the relaxed conversation at the end of class between Dr. Culhane and the presenters from Haiti.  I always enjoy the excitement and passion of the Haitian culture--two things that Dr. Culhane has no shortage of either!  The conversation had such a beautiful, lively tone as it touched on the spirituality of "residuals" (notice I dare not use the word "waste"!).  Someone asked if a God who created such a wonderful, complex world, would also create "waste" defined as a bi-product with no further use?  Dr. Culhane's answer reminded me of the law of conservation of matter, only one step further.  Everything re-evolves into other forms while maintaining the same amount of matter, but what if it were all useful?  What if waste were not a thing? What if we just need to form it into a useful state and pair it with the specific environment that it will improve upon, rather than degrade?   What a revolutionary idea! 

I believe the problem is not the residual products themselves, but rather how we, as humans, handle them.  We can do "our part" and recycle and shop responsibly, but this is the tip of the iceberg.  I am interested in how we get to where there is no "cradle-to-grave" product lifeline because everything is used in constant circles.  Isn't this the way nature intended?  Nature functions, it thrives, on circles of life.  Nothing is wasted in the natural world.  Nothing.  Therefore, we humans are failing because we have created a system that does not work.  It is a system where we only see a small part of the life of our stuff and we turn a blind eye to the rest of it.  

Watching the session on bio gas digesters yesterday was thought-provoking.  We can take the nastiest of waste (old food, animal manure, even human feces) and turn it into useful fertilizer AND methane gas for cooking.  It sounds crazy, looks weird, but kind of feels right. I watched Jerry Comellas light a blue flame on an open grill and place a pot on top as he casually answered questions.  The bio gas digester had been rigged with a tube to run the grill--no propane tank or electricity needed. Im not sure which I enjoyed more: the presentation or the looks of wonder (tinged with disbelief) on the people's faces.  Once again I am inspired.  We can do better. 

“The Measure of Success” - Waste Not, Want Not: Relational Summary 2

"I realized that being stuck on a broke-down chicken bus in never-ending banana fields with moms with crying children and men peeing in empty beer bottles really did not feel any worse than one single day at the corporate job I had just left." 

Learning is not a linear process. We are free to learn through the exploration of a field of knowledge and subjects and dive in deeper where we feel most called to do so. In addition, we are reminded that real learning is not about quick and temporary memorization or regurgitating a story back to its source, but rather about absorbing, processing, improving, and then applying real life information and data to reduce the amount of waste that we create as humans. Lastly, what stood out from last weeks lecture for me is that we, as Global Sustainability students, are not only creating content for our university, but for a much broader audience of anyone who may be interested and willing to help fight the war against garbage and waste.  This resonates with me because I care about this issues deeply and want to make real change wherever I can. 

I am somewhat impatient and tend to view the world through a very realistic (some would say pessimistic) lens. One personal difficulty I have is that books, conversations and studies related to this topic seem to all begin by painting a very grim and hopeless view of the world, which spikes my anxiety, produces a crippling fear, and lingers on my mind. Because of this, I decided to start at the end, specifically the end of the book The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard since the cover of the book had a silver lining “...our obsession with stuff is trashing the planet, our communities, and our health—and a vision for a change”.  

A vision?  

What could that be? 

Hope? Oh, please...

I flipped to the end of the hardcover book and searched for a vision for change in an attempt to spare my overwhelmed and apparently delicate soul. I needed to focus on solutions.

Through other textbooks related to economic and global issues, I have come to have negative feelings associated with the term “economy”. To be honest I just feel that it is a reflection of money, power and exponential growth.  Our measurements of success are things that actually are unhealthy, unsustainable and do not bring happiness or peace. Annie Leonard begins by explaining that gross domestic product (GDP) is not really an accurate measure of how well a country is doing, especially if well being is in any way related to sustainability!  Why can we not see how many people, resources, and creatures could fall through the cracks on a system that measures well being based on gross domestic product?  Much to my relief, the author offers some alternatives here, including the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare, the United Nations Human Development Index, or even the Happy Planet Index. 

How do we move from our current measurement of GDP to an alternative that considers other areas of wellness? Many community leaders are often lost when it comes to defining environmental, economic, and social objectives and clear ways to measure progress towards those goals. How wonderful would it be to be part of that process? As someone who is learning the art of global sustainability (both through formal education and the informality of real-life), I am humbled and proud at the same time to think that I could help fill that need in the world.  This is something at the core of my existence that I feel is so important it is worth dedicating my life to. Maybe this is why focusing on actual solutions means so much to me.  Maybe this is why sustainable solutions for clean energy make me so happy and why bringing the process of waste full circle or remodeling our human behavior after Mother Nature is so exciting and hopeful to me.  When sustainable solutions become financially viable for large industries we will see them change very fast. I would like to be part of the process to make those options viable—to make the sustainable option the door that we can’t afford not to walk through. 

The next point that Lenard makes in her book The Story of Stuff, is that if we cut back on the amount of money that we spend on wars we would have more money for schools, healthcare and other social needs. In some of the final pages of The Story of Stuff, she breaks down the amount of money used for military spending and clearly shows that there is plenty of it but argues that we are putting it in the wrong places. Interestingly, she adds that the country of Costa Rica is one of the top ranking countries on the Happy Planet Index and they abolished their military in 1949.  Since then, they have used those funds to promote social welfare with in the country.  I have lived in Costa Rica and can say firsthand that it is a very environmentally friendly, peaceful, happy little country and I never felt threatened without a military.  Even so, cutting military funding is not as hopeful or realistic to me because I feel the fear embedded in the American culture whenever I am here in the United States. Many Americans believe that we need a military (and maybe rightfully so because of the way we have/do behave as a country). There is so much change that would need to come about because, as Gandhi put it, "A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people."  We have a lot of work ahead of us on this one. Nevertheless, it is never too late to start. 

Another fascinating argument for change has to do with the Free Market. According to most economists, the Free Market will adjust prices to an optimal balance, but Leonard asks the question “who is that price really optimal for?” Why do we not consider the price of air, water or soil—elements vital to our existence?  What about the price of public health or the lives lost in the international conflicts fueled by a global shortage of nonrenewable environmental resources?  Leonard suggest that we start by internalizing our externalities by bringing production to a local process that is respectful of our planet. Could this be a solution? 

As I consider how this information relates to my life, I am mentally flooded with ideas and experiences.  There is no shortage of correlations to how I live and aspire to live. Many years ago, I watched a documentary called Happy. The conclusion of the documentary was that we have it all wrong. The happiest and most peaceful people on the planet are the ones who have some money but not too much. They are the ones with basic needs are met and time for family and socializing, not the millionaires, rock stars, Hollywood actors, or your neighbor’s friend’s cousin’s brother who won the lottery.   Statistically that type of excessive wealth actually brings depression, mental illness and an increased rate of suicide. 

Personally, I have been blessed to learn that lesson at a young age through jobs that paid very well but felt completely empty. I was also able to work in Humanitarian Aid and Community Development for years with just enough income to meet my basic needs. I did not have enough money for a decent vehicle, a nice place or any extras. While living abroad, I took public transportation, wore the same pair of ugly shoes repeatedly and used cell phone that was so basic and cheap I did not have to worry about it being stolen. Those some of the most meaningful, happy, peaceful and healthy years of my life.  

Just go and travel and do not think of reasons why you might fail.  I packed my suitcase for Honduras amidst whispers of 'how dangerous'....'chickens on the buses'....'murder capital of the western hemisphere'. I left anyway and I have never regretted it.  It led me to many more adventures and a different way of seeing the world and how we live in it.  One of many lessons: being stuck on a broke-down chicken bus in never-ending banana fields with moms with crying children and men peeing in empty beer bottles really did not feel any worse than one single day at the corporate job I had just left. 

People are people wherever we go and we all want the same basic things: health, family, peace, stability, love...  I began to see a society based solely on profit as a failing one.  We are focusing on the wrong variable here.  Sometimes I lay in bed at night and reflect on the day before.  The things that I am most proud of are the things that will be good for this planet long after I leave it, like planting a tree with my daughter.  That feeling is my compass, my north star, my shining light in the disorienting darkness.  If I can keep doing those things then I will continue to experience a happiness far beyond anything the lottery could ever comprehend. 

"Cycles" - Waste Not, Want Not: Relational Summary 1

In the book Cradle to Cradle (ch. 4), I read about how everything in nature has a purpose and is useful.  The cherry tree blossoms to make seeds, but the petals of the flower fall and are decomposed and turned into soil.  Waste is not wasted; it is used as nutrients, as food. I read about how unnatural the concept of waste is!  Our system of industrial infrastructure completely ignores the clean cycle of nature for nutrients.  Recycling products is a start but it is so far from being efficient.  We recycle literally a handful of substances, when in reality, EVERYTHING could be recycled.  Does that sound far-fetched?  Actually, that's the way it has always been and the way nature intended.  It's only been the last few hundred years (a sliver in historical time) that humans have taken to exploiting and using the Earth and her resources with pure ignorance.  Now we know better, so don't we have to do better? 

In the introduction of Upcycle, I find a glimmer of hope. If Walmart can make big moves in the right direction, surely there is a chance for us all to change for the better.  And if a company executive, who clearly states he does not want to make changes until they "make financial sense" can set an intention of change that brings about economic opportunities/challenges for energy companies and leads to reaching a net-zero goal, there must be hope!  In this example, the executive was only willing to state that the company wanted to become sustainable with it's energy use but only once it meant not having to spend more money.  Being a large, international company, this statement got attention.  Soon renewable energy companies were able to provide a solution that fit the company's current energy budget and the company was pleased to make the change.  The best part is that this huge change started with a single "Sustainability Officer" (insert you or I here, potentially!) who questioned the company executive without challenging his authority or honesty.   

I realized that I would have likely pushed the CEO and urged him to spend more of their budget because it's with it and the right thing to do.  It probably would not have ended on a good note. However, I learned that there is a better way.  What I learned from this story is to meet people and companies where they are.  If we cannot make sustainability make sense economically, we will be fighting an exhausting, uphill battle. I need to change my perspective from "How do I get people to care?" to "How do I make it make sense for people to care?" and that way I can move from trying to convince the world I am right to a stance that presents opens doors that I can then assist people to walk through.  I remember my Conflict Resolution studies (at Nova University before transferring to USF). "Conflict is about stance." It's about perspective.  What's your angle?

Cited:

-McDonough, W., & Braungart, M. (2002). Cradle to cradle: Remaking the way we make things. New York: North Point Press.

-McDonough, W., & Braungart, M. (2013). The upcycle. New York: North Point Press, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.