World Changing Post #3

Bright Green Consumerism pg 81

Rebecca Tulis

The article about Bright Green Consumerism talks about the importance of using green products and getting the word about these products out in the world for other people to take part in. They use the example of a golf ball-cleaning machine that uses less energy and how while it is a risk to try and sell it, it could actually become a hit if one person were to use it and find it to be both sustainable and have good quality. The fact of the matter is, we, as consumers are constantly looking for the best object and pay whatever is needed to be more sustainable.

The article basically says that it is the consumers who have the most power and who can or cannot help our environment. We can buy the higher priced material that serves our environment or we can spread the word about these certain products so others will use it and therefore be more environmentally conscious.

Bright Green Consumerism reminds me of the hybrid industry. One of the main reasons people buy a hybrid is to feel better about themselves and so they can know that they are making a difference. One person may buy a hybrid SUV thinking that they are serving the environment when they could have easily just bought a small car. In a way, we are persuaded into buying these “sustainable” products because others are buying it and if others like it then so will we. We also want to feel better about ourselves and a way to do this is to drive a hybrid, no matter if it can make a real difference or not.

Even if a product proves to be green or not, it is all about how we, as consumers, bring it out into the world. The way to get the greener products out into the world is to buy it and express the importance of using it over something else. As it is said in the article, “We have the power to use our money and influence on others to support companies that are making better stuff.”

Steffen, Alex. World Changing: A User's Guider for the 21st Century. New York: Abrams, 2008

World Changing Post #2

The Barefoot College pg 359

Rebecca Tulis

I chose to read the article about the Barefoot College because it was something I simply never heard of before. From its name alone, I thought the Barefoot College was a society that educates impoverished people. I soon found out that the Barefoot College is just that. It is a community-centered organization that focuses on becoming more developed and environmentally conscious. The organization started in a small, poor village called Tilonia. Over 200 villages in India are becoming more sustainable and are gaining a new knowledge about their environment and how to protect it.

What I found the most interesting about the barefoot college was its completely sustainable campus. Solar power is the main source of electricity and they have special water systems that clean out the water. People are trained to specialize in a certain subject and from there they may become a solar power engineer, a wa­­­ter system mechanic or even a chemist. I never knew these programs existed and I was really interested in how people living in these poor areas have the opportunity to not only contribute to their community but gain an education that would help them designate a career for themselves.

These small villages are becoming efficient communities in which each person contributes through his or her job and at the same time he or she helping the environment. The Barefoot College hopes to make the lives of these villagers easier. We are constantly thriving to make our lives more enjoyable and learn as much as we can about the world. However, while we do this, we may not be as sustainable as we could be. The Barefoot College strives to become more developed just like we do but does it in a way that doesn't negatively affect our environment.

Steffen, Alex. World Changing: A User's Guider for the 21st Century. New York: Abrams, 2008

KRisten Zelenka World Changing Response #4

Kristen Zelenka
World Changing #4

For my fourth response to World Changing, I decided to read an article entitled “Healing Polluted Land.” I chose this article because in lecture today we touched upon brown fields, which I learned are industrially contaminated areas in urban areas that can not be used anymore due to the pollution.

The article discussed that on the cutting edge of the Green Revolution is the process called “bioremediation” which is an organic process that involves the absorption of contaminants by plants who then process and release them into nonhazardous components (250). The plan is to grow plants in these brown fields and then let nature take its course in cleansing them. In order to make neighborhoods better, we need to take the worst possible aspects of them replace them with the best things we can imagine (250).

Mushrooms are part of a cleansing process called mycoremediation and work as great biological filters. They “can remediate soil and sediment contaminated by heavy oils petroleum products, pesticides, alkaloids, polychlorinated biphenyls, and even E. coli” (251). In areas that they were introduced, they were revitalized the soil and brought flowers and wildlife back.

If we can fully adopt this practice in the run down areas of our cities we can revive them and make them better than they ever have been. I agree with the article that it is very important to learn from our past and not completely cover-up our mistakes. Duisburg, Germany is a perfect example of keeping history visible despite its harsher aesthetics. You can still see the decayed factories and tanks while walking though the park on winding paths. I believe that this is an easy practice to be implemented into all of our cities and that it should be done so as soon as possible.

Meghan Schwend World Changing Post #3

World Changing Response #3

Meghan Schwend

Green Roofs and Green Facades (Page 256-257 of World Changing)

In cities, space is limited and so are places of outdoor recreation that are abundant in the suburbs. One solution to this, is building green roofs on flat-topped buildings. When planted with grass, these roofs can be used for gardening, playing in, and anything else that one would do with a backyard. This gives city-dwellers a significant amount of added space and freedom. In addition to improving life from a recreational standpoint, green roofs defend their respective buildings against harmful UV damaging UV rays, not to mention creating oxygen. These roofs can be low maintenance when planted with indigenous plants that are appropriate for the climate. No added water source is needed in most cases; the foliage is watered by rainfall.

Much like green roofs, green facades protect the building’s exterior surfaces by blocking UV rays. Climbing ivies, supported by trellises can grow anywhere on a building, aesthetically improving the building’s exterior. In addition to these, green facades can lower homeowner’s cooling bills by acting as an added layer of insulation.

Green roofs and facades are two relatively easy ways that homeowners and city building owners can improve the aesthetics of their structures. Both work in ways beneficial to the environment to improve human’s quality of life. Green roofs give tenants an extra living space to enjoy, while green facades naturally regulate homeowner’s home temperatures. I believe that in the near future, dense cities worldwide will understand the benefits of these to green practices and will implement them in future building designs, as well as use them in already erected structures.

Meghan Schwend World Changing Post #2

World Changing Post #2

Meghan Schwend

The LifeStraw (page 208 of World Changing)

One product that has the potential to change the lives of those living in developing countries is the LifeStraw. Clean water is a human necessity that is not always available to those living in poverty. The result of this is diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid, and cholera. All of these serious diseases can be easily prevented by a simple, inexpensive water filtration system. This is where the LifeStraw comes in.

This LifeStraw is a tube that can be placed directly into the water source (i.e. lakes, rivers, and water channels) and used like a straw. The tainted water is sucked up through a system of filters to the user’s mouth. The first filter used gets all of the large sediment and bacteria clusters out of the way. The next step has iodine-filled beads that kill the smaller viruses, parasites and bacteria, such as E.coli, Shigella, Salmonella, Enterococuss, and staphylococcus aureus. The last part of the filtration system is granulated carbon that kills any remaining impurities as well as neutralizes the smell of iodine from the second chamber.

What is so innovative about this product is its availability and cost. One LifeStraw and be used for about two years and costs only $4. That is as much as four bottles of water cost in the U.S. The availability to those who need the LifeStraw most is just as innovative as its simple, yet effective design. I have a lot of confidence that this filtration device will drastically change the lives of people of developing countries.

World Changing Post # 5

By: Ling Jie Gu

It seems as though, based on what we have talked about in lecture, many environmental systems are on the verge of collapse. To restore these systems, many environmental groups are on the verge of elaborate dissonance when it comes to issues regarding policy or political environmentalism. For instance, when president Obama vowed to restore America’s lead as the user of cleaner energy, he received many acts of dissonance and outrage from other factions of the party. It’s not that these members of the party are naysayers; it merely means these “naysayers” are attempting to formulate the political system in a way that helps everyone understand what preserving the environment essentially means in terms of economic growth, foreign policy, domestic income, self-preservation, etc.

It seems that since these naysayers attempt to understand what exactly has been happening over the past few years regarding the important aspects of environmental policy-making, it’s also important for them to realize that environmentalism isn’t only confined to the “green crowd” – rather, it sharply refers to different aspects of the ways of doing things in people’s minds.

It is then ultimately understandable if a person is adamant about an issue that he or she believes strongly about. However, this issue isn’t confined to merely the classroom, or his or her own interests. It really helps people understand the fact that these people merely wish to understand the world around them and briefly want to be assisted in a way by others. Communication has incredible power. One must understand his or her actions in the context of their surroundings. When the surroundings are on the verge of collapsing from an eco-imbalance, many humans – me included – feel potential remorse at the potential loss of what is around us, for it matters whether they are or are not good.