Sustainability: Take 2

My thoughts on sustainability are ever changing, the more I learn about it the more I understand just how complex it really is. This class has really opened my eyes to not only other people’s actions, but my own actions. I know I have a lot more to learn about sustainability, but I have grown to really appreciate learning about it during this short class. Recently, I have met a lot of resistance toward the idea of sustainability or the idea of living responsibly from other people; which has made me want to become even more knowledgeable about this subject. I have learned through this, that maybe showing through example is quite possibly stronger than we think. Showing through example sparks a light in other people’s eyes; it allows them to question and want to learn more, but on their own terms. As Mary Anne Curran states in, Wrapping our Brains around Sustainability, “Sustainability is a destination that we aspire to reach with the selection of the sustainable pathways that we choose as we proceed along the journey” (6). Sustainability really is a journey, but not necessarily of right and wrong, but a journey of awareness, of the environment, of one’s self, and of one’s community. These different pathways that can be taken may vary for different people, but I do think that like Derrick Jensen states in Forget Shorter Showers, we need to remember “That humans can help the Earth as well as harm it”. Through sustainability, we should be able to meet our needs as humans, but without taking away the ability for future generations to live and succeed and without taking away the ability for other life forms to live and succeed.

Sustainability 2.0

The concept of sustainability is not just a mindset or way of protecting the environment, but a way of life that serves a number of arenas.  The social justice aspect of sustainability is something that really sticks out to me as an important element of the cause for a better earth.  Communities, and not just human communities, need to prosper in harmony with the land available to them.  When one country has a number of unsustainable practices which harm a third world country that has little negative environmental footprint for the benefit of the wealthier nation, an imbalance occurs that is just as bad as any economic, educational, or health imbalance between the two countries.  The fact that sustainability, a lifestyle of living in harmony with nature, can bring so many social justice issues to the table greatly raises the significance of the term.  I was reading a blog this morning on CNN.com about the Copenhagen climate conference, and I was appalled at how ignorant and backwards-thinking many (at least half of the responses) were.  The basic science is there, and the ignorance and denial that is so evident in the American public for the sake of protecting a wasteful way of life is astounding.  Environmentalists simply saying "down with capitalism" will not solve anything.  America is centered on capitalism.  We have to work with the system already in place to achieve any kind of solution that will bring a nation together.  This goes back to the concept of culturally adaptable versions of sustainability.  I think many Americans would be surprised how little their standard of living has to diminish to achieve a respectable level of sustainability, a level that doesn't achieve its success at the expense of another nation.  We need to re-evaluate the ways in which our consumption patterns relate the the natural world.  While the global economy is important in todays world on a number of levels and will remain intact, a shift to a MORE local economy is possible if we re-think our relationship with the local ecosystem and the resources available.  The blueprints for sustainable models of cities are available.  America just needs the incentives and trust from the public to embrace those models.  If we can fully accept the fact that the earth is all we have to fight for, we can start to embrace some of the sustainable practices that come about from accepting cultural differences and working in harmony with the local ecosystem.  Nothing would exist without it!  A healthy earth=healthy people.  

Sustainability 2.0

Through this class I can now proudly say that I am more aware of what sustainability is or what it means to be sustainable, and would gladly share my knowledge with anyone that might care to listen. Sustainability is a multi-faceted word. It’s meaning can hardly be confined within the boundaries of plurality. According to some, like Orr, sustainability has two basic parts: “technological and ecological”. He views technological sustainability as a means through which humankind can solve the environmental dilemmas at hand and ecological sustainability as a way of discovering what habits or actions got the us into these environmental dilemmas in the first place. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, however, speaks of “sustainable development”, which is that “humanity has the ability to make development sustainable—to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. And the list goes on and on! Many individuals, including some in our class, perceive this multi-definitiveness of “sustainability” as preventative of an overall understanding of the word. I do not agree with this. The fact that “sustainability” has so many different meanings gives it flexibility. In society, flexibility has always been proven as an efficient way of preserving a cause or movement because it allows the individual application on a personal level. For example, it seems that environmentally friendly clothing and apparel are all the rage these days. Some people buy wallets made out of recycling because they want to save the world, others buy them simply because they look cool. In the end, it doesn’t matter why they bought the wallet because either way they are supporting the recycling movement. Applying this concept to the word “sustainability”, it doesn’t matter how one interprets the word, if they are paying attention to the movement, the word has achieved it’s purpose. Because “sustainability” has so many applications, it can be seen as a gateway word. Use of this word might cause individuals to inquire more about the environmental movement. Therefore, sustainability is a word with many meanings lending it flexibility to interpretation and, as a result, greater awareness and acceptance of the environmental movement as a whole.

Sustainability: Take 2

What is Sustainability? 2.0

Sustainability is a process. This is not something that has an ultimate outcome and then it is over. True sustainability is a way of life and an ongoing set of choices. The word sustainable inherently has the word sustain in it, this means that the environment must be able to sustain itself. The reason the environment is so important is because this is the place where everything, not just humans lives. So it is important to maintain the natural cycles that allow change, yet sustain the ecosystem.

A common misconception about sustainability is that it is something that can be achieved. A society can become more sustainable, but unless the actions are ongoing then it is not sustainable. Sustainability implies the use of long term plans, goals, and actions that provide equal opportunities for future generations, indefinitely. The vagueness of the word sustainability allows it to be modified to different cultures, ecosystems, and ideas.

The idea of sustainability includes other initiatives such as conservation, preservation, and restoration. The ideas of conservation and preservation are essential, to observe how nature deals with certain situations, so that humans can re-learn how to mimic nature. This is also necessary to prevent further habitats and species from being destroyed. Once this re-learning has taken place, or at least started to, then restoration can begin. Restoration is possible even more important in striving to be more sustainable as a species. This concept encompasses the idea of trying to remedy past mistakes of overuse, or simply damaging the environment. Biodiversity is essential for maintaing or sustaining the ecosystem’s natural ability to adjust to change. Preserving the integrity of certain things such as soil and water systems is essential, because without maintaining the basics of an environment, the ecosystem cannot replenish itself.

Sustainability is also a mindset, overcoming the idea of human exceptionalism. This idea implies that humans are better than other species and that humans are isolated from the environment. However, through the use of machinery humans have actually had an even greater impact on the environment that many other species. With the ability to travel great distances, such as oceans away, humans have also been responsible for introducing many non-native species, causing native populations to undergo immense pressure. This extra pressure is simply due to carelessness and arrogance.

Sustainability is a form of knowing. Especially a knowing of how the environment works and how to fit into the natural system, rather than trying to step outside of the environmental limits. Although these limits may seem detrimental to the human race, they are a way of keeping each species in check. With the industrial revolution, humans has been able to overcome many of these environmental limits. The only problem with this is that humans have overcome these boundaries with no regard to the consequences. Respect for the environment combined with knowledge of environmental impacts is crucial to sustainability because if you lack respect then there is no motivation to become sustainable. The earth is an amazing ecosystem that provides a tremendous amount of resources, which can be utilized by people. However, if the environment is not cared for then it will no longer be able to provide these resources for people and other living beings. This is what environmental sustainability is all about, maintain the environment in order to continue to be able to sustain life.

The New View (Sustainability 2.0)

I wish I had blogged earlier this weekend so our conversation, or should I say heated debate, over sustainability was still fresh in my mind. However, I can say my originial views of sustainability for the most part, still stand. They are more detailed though definitely. The layout of the class schedule helped me realize some of the different aspects of so-called "sustainability".

I guess since I'm vegan, I've always focused on eating in a way that I feel like lessens my impact on the environment. Even the food production week exposed me to new information though, with the King Corn movie. Man, that movie opened my eyes to something I would have never expected-that our country is based off of one vegetable. Like I've said in previous blogs, two of my siblings are allergic to corn. My brother is mildly allergic to corn, and he just decided to disregard his allergy and eat anything he wants and suffer from occasional migraines. My sister though, has extensive allergies and corn is on her "red list" which contain things that cause her serious health issues. While my brother has known the source of his problems for a long time, my sister just found her's out. So whenever I went home for Thanksgiving, I decided to give my sister's diet a try. Let me tell you, people think being a vegan sounds difficult, try living without corn.

Anywho, I definitely expanded upon my understanding of the different aspects of sustainability. For example, I always had a vague understanding that transportation=bad, but I honestly never thought much into solutions other than new alternatives to fuel and things along those lines. I really enjoyed the Rosenthal article about the German suburb that just didn't have cars at all. Who would've thought that could happen in modern society. During my technology fast, and I guess even being vegan, I felt so liberated not depending on things that everyone else seems to rely so heavily upon. I hope in the future I won't have a car, I definitely think if I plan it out correctly, its a very reasonable possibility.

And just to follow up on the discussion over whether we like the word "sustainability", I thought about it more, and my opinion still stands. I like the word sustainability. I know a lot of people were against the word because its so vague. If it truely is an environmentalist's goal to make the world a healthier place to live, then they should embrace a word that allows for personal interpretations. If someone takes it very loosely, and decides that simply recycling is going to produce a more sustainable environment, so be it! I feel like every drop sort of counts in the end, so no matter how you decide to translate sustainability into the actions you make in your life, its better than doing nothing. I think the ambiguity is its strong point, because it allows for the majority of the population to join the "sustainability movement". And I think environmentalists should be happy with this, even if some people are in it for shallow reasons, they're participating. Even if people are just doing it to be trendy, at least they're doing it.


In a perfect world, passing on my good habits is by definition "sustainability.

SU BIKE SHED, THE EPIC.

I am a bad person but I did actually work on this project, and really enjoyed getting a modicum of work done on it I feel mildly accomplished. Only somewhat though. Here goes:

Week 1 and then some

I suppose I should follow up with some back-story. I had heard about the bike shed as a freshman and had wondered what had come of it. All I heard were tall tales and rumors about a girl who had made it for her capstone, and then abandoned it and lost the key. I had brought it up in SEAK as a potential project, however it was tabled due to lack of interest. I didn’t give it a second thought until may of 2009. A group of folks from SEAK signed up to attend Power Shift, a youth environmental activism conference in DC. A lot was gained from the experience, but one panel in particular stuck in my mind. “Starting a Bike Co-Op." It was basically a round table discussion on the promotion and practical realization of how to start and manage a Bike Cooperative. A lot of good knowledge was bandied about, but thanks to our already awesome Pirate Bike program it seemed to be silly to try and rent bikes out to people. Especially with how bike-unfriendly parts of Georgetown can be. So I took notes, joined the google group and again let it sit on the backburner. Summer came on strong and I found myself living in Austin without a car, and then I did something that has since become an obsession. I bought a bike. For $100 I bought a ‘97 Specialized Santa Cruz. It was a hybrid frame meant for upright riding with tires on the skinny side, but it was no speed demon, still it was the fastest bike I’d ever ridden. I was taken. It made my morning commute fun and exciting and I from there it only got worse. It wasn’t long until I had built my first fixed gear bike and had dived headlong into the throws of a good sized obsession. The more I read about and obsessed over bikes the more I became enamored with bike culture, biker’s rights, and the state of bicycling in America. It was long after that I rode in my first Critical Mass. An event I would later attempt to replicate. The state of alternative modes of transportation in the states is a bit appalling. The personal automobile reigns king and anything else usually takes a back seat to them. Bicyclists, while not in bad shape, were far from protected well neither physically nor legally. Without proper bikes lanes, or at least broad shoulders, the idea of riding a bike on the road was daunting. Not only that but passing laws and enforcement of them is weak, nationwide. There are occasional bright motes of hope, progressive cities that have smart urban planning, but for the most part the idea of riding a bike for more than just leisure was a madman’s pipedream.

It had been a while and I had engaged in three or so weeks of e-mailing, asking around, and trying to figure out where the darn thing was but I found it. The bike shed. It’s across 29, right behind Bob Mathis’ office, in a garage. With his blessing a duplicate key was made the week after Homecoming and I finally got access to the Bike Shed, previously called Giracion, and got a feel for it. It was dirty, unused, and unfinished. It had been unoccupied for a year and the physical plant had stored old limestone bricks, shovels, and other garden tools in it - however it was well furnished. It came equipped with everything needed to fix and build a bike. Almost all the necessary tools, minus screw drivers and a bike pump, were there. Not only that but there were a few rusting old Mountain Bikes in desperate need of salvage, repair, or just plain junking. It took two hours but Jenna, my girlfriend, and I, had it cleaned out to where it was somewhat manageable. We only had one repair stand and the floor was unfinished. Unfortunately for me the easiest thing to fix, a flat, would be impossible, as there weren’t any kits to be found. We lucked out though, as we were finishing up, the man who runs the pirate bikes pulled up in a golf cart loaded for bear with Pirate bikes in need of repair. Steffi, the student worker who repairs them, was getting the rundown of what to do and how to do it. We made small talk, and then thankfully, we were granted partial access to some of the supplies on that side of the garage. As a bonus I was offered a job next semester fixing bikes, but that’s beside the point. With the space cleared out and a to-do list made Jenna and I ate lunch, there was so much to do.

Week 2

Part of the reason I wanted to start the bike shed back up again was to have a place where I could fix and build bicycles. My roommate was tired of having my toolkit eat the only table in our room, and I was tired of having three or four half-finished projects taking up most of the space in front of the tee vee. The other reason was to promote bike culture, and more appropriately alternative modes of transportation. Not only that but a quick google search revealed the closest bike shop to Southwestern was in Round Rock. Unfortunately for those of without a car, it’s a bit hard to walk a broken bike down I-35. Thanks to the pirate bike system, and an unfriendly bike infrastructure the idea of renting out bikes seemed less than feasible. Rather I wanted to be able to provide the folks who do have bikes on campus a place to have them repaired for free, as well as a place to learn more about the machine between their legs.

The most important things for the bike shed was funding and action. Jenna and I had got the ball rolling, but we couldn’t make real progress until we had money. The floor needed finishing, we needed screw drivers, and the shed would have difficulty existing without a revenue stream to support the need for small parts. I looked to the SEED grant to help fill that gap. So, per the grant’s application, two things had to be done: A budget, and a mission statement. Steffi and I drew up a rough budget, we would need small parts for the easiest fixes, things like chains, cables, ferrules, and bolts. The little parts that wear out quickest and need replacing most often. We figured in more stands, and another tool roll or two so more than one person could work at a time. It came out to be a bit much, not even factoring in the floor. It was a rough estimate, and we aren’t professionals, just hobbyists. Next came the hard part, trying to describe, in detail the real role of the bike shed.

What follows is a rough draft of that essay:

The SU bike shed will act as a functioning bike workshop able to provide the means to fix bicycles on campus in a cheap and reliable manner. It will also exist as a support method for the promotion of bicycling here on campus both as a utilitarian activity and as leisure one. The Bike shed will hold workshops on how to maintain and repair bicycles as well as providing a helping hand in supporting bicyclists on campus. Many people have bikes here on campus but there does not exist a bike shop within a reasonable distance and the Bike shed would offer most of services available at a normal bike shop as well as empowering people to continue repairs without us. Potentially we would also rebuild/ repair bicycles for sale back to campus, or donation.

The Bicycle Club that would oversee the operation would run the bike shed the shed. The Shed would hold monthly rides around Georgetown for fun and fitness as well as supporting other events. The SU bike club will also provide a once a month workshop, and an open weekly workshop time in which any person can use the tools available at the bike shed with the supervision of Shed managers. These workshops would encompass aspects of proper bicycle fit, proper riding techniques, wheel tensioning and building, repair and rebuilding of hubs, as well as brake line replacing and how to patch and repair tires and tubes, as well as headset and bottom bracket installation. These workshops would be led by a knowledgeable student and would hopefully encourage students to maintain and utilize their personal bike in a more knowledgeable manner. Hopefully we would also be able to sponsor and hold off campus road and mountain bike rides providing a modicum of support and sponsor bike culture on campus.

Funding would initially go toward the finishing of the shed, completing the flooring, and then would go towards expanding the number of tools and work stands so that the shed would be better equipped to handle individuals. Then we would begin the workshops and providing support to the bicycling community of Georgetown as well as Southwestern.

And that’s essentially what I want to do with the space. Ultimately the Bike Shed is simply a jumping off point for the promotion of Bicycling as a whole.

Week 3: The Event

This is a story on how not to put together an event. This is also a story in what not to do. Unsure of how to promote the shed effectively I used SEAK as a means to get at that. The CPS nuclear energy event had dropped into our laps and a lot of SEAK’s attention had been drawn there, but there was an open weekend in which we had arranged and very poorly advertised a critical mass ride which I had hoped would get a few bicyclists out. I had talked about it with a few of my friends, but I hadn’t whole heartedly promoted it as it should have. The Facebook event was made, and the expectation was laid out on thursday at the SEAK meeting, but when the time came... It was me and two extra bikes. So, after giving it twenty minutes for stragglers I set off on my own ride. I had spent the morning fixing up my fixed gear, the back tire had gotten a nasty gash in it after a run in with something sharp, so I’d be damned if I didn’t have a bit of fun anyways. As I rode down Maple, toward San Gabriel I started to think about bicycling, the shed, and a few other things. It was relaxing, and it felt good to move my legs. The roads I took were narrow, back roads, with small shoulders however I didn’t encounter any driver that was particularly averse to me being on it. Bicyclist’s rights were important to me, especially after a ride three previous weekends ago when I attempted to go south on Austin Avenue and found myself without space on the road (the shoulders were tiny) and the cars going about fifty miles an hour. However Bicyclists rights to a back seat to Bike infrastructure. I found myself on Farm to Market 971, and as I got progressively more lost the more I thought that it was critical that bike routes be established not simply as leisure lanes, but as important aspects of alternative transportation. I had read a few articles that had come out, mostly in the New York Times, on the resurgence of Bike culture on the east coast, mostly New York, after the city drastically restructured it’s streets to accommodate Bicycle specific lanes. Since then the city has progressively become more and more People friendly. Fewer cars meant a more human city. As I rode through Georgetown on a beautiful Saturday afternoon I slowly realized something, there was no one out. I made a quick cut through a subdivision to try and get away from traffic, but there wasn’t a soul on the street, and the street even had sidewalks (A seeming rarity these days). I reached North East Loop, a somewhat largish road and found the shoulder to be acceptably wide, and the road to be nicely empty. It was a good day. The one thing I could think as I struggled up a hill was about the litter and how I hope the glass shards wouldn’t ruin my tires, is how odd it must look to the various trucks and SUV’s that pass buy, some college kid in rolled up jeans on a silly bike with yellow rims struggling to get up a hill with a gradient of no more than 11 degrees.

So what did I want out of the shed and bike culture? I suppose what I wanted in the end was bizzaro world. I wanted a nation of people who rode their bikes everywhere. Where the Highway was an empty strip of endless tarmac waiting for some kid to bomb down it on steel frame trying to get somewhere. Don’t get me wrong, I like cars and I appreciate the technology behind them but the Dream is dead to me. As someone who has always been slow on the transportation train I slowly realize now that Personal Automobiles are not only wasteful, but silly. Bicycles provide an efficient and beautiful means of transportation that no car could ever hope to match, both in efficiency and beauty. I admit beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the efficiency thing is real. Bicycles are the most efficient means of transportation on the road, period. In terms of converting energy to motion the Internal Combustion Engine is sorely lacking. However how do we make a bike nation? Is it possible for us to rely only on bicycles and public transit? What are the social and environmental impacts? These questions rattled around my brain as I showered after getting home. I needed a meal and a sit down.

The Wrap-Up:

Ultimately my Activism Project wasn’t as successful as I would have liked, but it’s ongoing and persists. I have no intention on giving up on the shed, and want to plan another Critical Mass as soon as the weather eases up next spring. I still love bikes, and I still think that this campus is capable of supporting a great cycling community. I look forward to holding regular weekly rides around Georgetown and getting campus informed on how to fix their own bike and giving them the tools to do it. Combining the Shed, and this class did remind of something that I’m still dealing with. I’d love a cycling nation - much more than a driving one - but what of the environmental impact? As we read through “Stuff” the author talks about the make up of his Mountain bike, some 26 (very heavy) pounds of aluminum, rubber, and plastic. I started thinking about my own bikes and bicycle building as a whole. Bicycles are traditionally made of Steel, however Aluminum, Carbon Fiber, wood, bamboo, and Titanium as well as Scandium and bad taste have all been used as materials to build bikes before, and each comes with it’s own supply chain. As a product bikes require the use of toxic brazing or welding, as well as significant energy inputs to create the alloys and chemicals that are needed to bond together any of the aforementioned materials into a sturdy and long-lasting product. As it stands the wooden bikes that exist require more work to become something worth riding (wood offers a strangely soft ride which makes going fast/getting speed hard) and has to undergo chemically intensive treatments to make it long lasting. Despite the lack of Oil inputs, a definite saving grace for the bicycle footprint, the bike itself relies, somewhat, on a global market for it’s parts. It requires numerous alloys and rubbers manufactured abroad and shipped here to sustain itself as a viable means of getting around. Bike tubes aren’t made of rubber that’s grown in the US of A. Tires require a significant petroleum input for them to be as efficient as they are. Not only that the Kevlar or Aramid bead requires specialized materials as well, not to mention the necessity of rubber or cork grips. On a large scale I suppose there are a lot of questions that are waiting to be answered, however I know this. The Bike Shed’s a-comin’. If you need a fix, talk to me, I’d love to help. Also, do me a favor and get out and ride.

Getting Fresh

I mentioned this in class, but I thought I'd post it here for those interested. Joel Salatin will be right here in Austin on Dec.5 to take questions and talk about the movie "FRESH" (about local food movements), which will be screened at the event. Follow this link:

http://action.freshthemovie.com/o/5958/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=8735