Final Thoughts on Sustainable Communities

Sustainable Communities has been a nice departure from the norm. Every other class for me this semester is very quantitative and very exam driven. It was nice to step away from that every Tuesday and Thursday this semester. 

I was excited, though a little apprehensive, at the beginning of the semester. Though there was no pressure to cram for a test, it was really up to me to stay on top of my required blogs and projects. For the most part, I am pretty driven - and mostly by internal motivation. So, generally this was not a problem. However, my general workload this semester was so high, I was afraid I was falling behind at times. 

Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed the co-teaching, co-learning concept of this class. I loved reading my fellow classmates' blogs. So many times, I walked away thinking, wow, I never would have heard of this if they hadn't written that blog! Similarly, I enjoyed writing my blog pieces, especially for the readings. Maybe that is surprising? I'm not sure, but I felt like it allowed me to explore some ideas that we might otherwise not have discussed. It gave me a creative outlet of sorts to express my vision for sustainable communities. And, I got to indulge in discussing my home-away-from-home, Indy, on more than one occasion. Since I think Indy is doing some cool things lately, I really enjoyed talking about the city. 

As for the other components, I found the outside experiences very useful. In fact, I wish I could have attended more just for personal enrichment! Each of my outside experiences was pretty different and they all provided me with some great information.
My personal project was a great opportunity to try out something I'd been thinking about for a while. I feel like I could have done more with it - tried to use even less plastic, blogged more, etc. I had wanted to contact various companies and encourage them to use alternatives to plastic or to stop using plastic windows on their products (I mean why? Isn't a picture good enough?). But, unfortunately, I did not get a chance to do so. (Though I have in the past...but that's another story). Though at times I felt my actions were lacking, I will say this project was constantly on my mind. If I purchased something fairly unnecessary that was in plastic, I immediately was thinking about why I was doing so and whether I could make different choices in the future to avoid such a purchase. 
Finally, the group project was pretty challenging. I found it difficult to wrap my head around what exactly we were trying to do for several weeks. When we finally had some concrete information, it felt like it wasn't enough. I felt a little let down that we did not have a more tangible (ex. GIS) deliverable for BCOS. BUT, I do feel like our group did a fantastic job. It was just the nature of our categories and our personal areas of expertise. 

I don't have too many suggestions for changes, but there are a couple of things which come to mind: 

1. Perhaps put more emphasis on the policy instruments used to make these changes in sustainable communities happen. In the real world, we will probably need to think about such things in a more specific way.
2. Don't spend too much time on blogs - we were supposed to read them anyway.
3. Provide a little more guidance on the group project.  I know we could ask questions, but often I didn't know what questions to ask. 

Overall, I really loved being a part of this class!  I met some colleagues I otherwise wouldn't have and enjoyed their varying perspectives on the different topics!

Until next time,
Katie :) 

project plastic overhaul: final thoughts

I found my personal project to be quite challenging. In fact, to be truly transparent, I am sitting here working feverishly to finish up a lot of projects for the end of the semester. And, as I sit here in my shared office space in the MSB-II building, working on blogs, grading papers, and  making adjustments to presentations, I have one of these sitting next to me: 

Yup, a plastic bottle. Exactly one of the main things I pledged to do away with for the semester (and preferably forever!). 

The other day in class, Professor Brown mentioned Sarah had tweeted about a blog post where a 23-year-old had begun to live without any waste. I went to said blog post, read it, and had a little chuckle. Here's the thing, that girl was inspired by the exact same blog & book I've been raving about all semester, the Zero Waste Home blog. I couldn't help but be amused that no one in class noticed this fact.  

Honestly, though, I am truly impressed this 23-year-old met her goal so quickly. Meeting my plastic goals was a real struggle on some days. One of my bigger personal weaknesses is this: with food and drinks and sometimes clothes, I have very little self control and often make impulse purchases. And that is why this project was so challenging for me! 

I can easily say no to the plastic trinkets and decorations, can easily conserve my use of face moisturizer, switch to bar soap or visit Bloomingfoods to fill up my honey, shampoo, conditioner, and hand soap, and can easily walk past certain items or find alternatives to certain plastic wrapped items.

But, I am terrible at planning ahead, at cooking for one, and at forcing myself to eat the veggies at home when someone asks if I want to grab dinner. I am horrible at walking past that vending machine when I got 5 hours of sleep and I want the quick caffeine or sugar fix. When everything else is my life is dictated by a schedule set by another person, when I can't get in my runs or bike rides or even walking my dog, I CAN get some feel good endorphins from that sugar and caffeine. And, so, I do. 

I've always had quite the sweet tooth and enjoyed my caffeinated pop. But, since starting grad school it has spiraled outta control. I had hoped to reign it back in with this project and self-imposed limits to buying less plastic. Some weeks I succeeded, but other weeks (like this one) I failed miserably.  

Regardless, most weeks I did hit my goal of purchasing 50% less plastic than I purchased the first week of class through some highlighted actions noted below.
Successes:

• Finding bulk dog treats in Bloomington
• Finding refillable shampoo, conditioner, and soap at Bfoods
• Replacing my plastic razor 
• Buying only tortilla chips that came in a brown paper bag with a small plastic window 
• Decreasing purchases of plastic wrapped cheese 
• Visiting Bfoods for plastic free salad bar and hot bar to-go food
• Only buying 5 plastic wrapped cookies/donuts at SPEA (compared to a daily cookie last year)
• Forgoing plastic straws
• Reusing my same plastic container for the olive bar
• Purchasing more fresh, non-plastic wrapped veggies at the store & farmers' market 

In situations where I have ended up with plastic unexpectedly, I have tried to make the most of it. I ordered a shirt from online and used the plastic packaging to take out some trash today (Kleenex, mostly, I wish I could get more on-board with reusable handkerchiefs or tissues). The few times I've purchased meat, I've gone to the counter to purchase it so it will be wrapped in paper - instead of a plastic-wrapped styrofoam container. One weekend, my mom visited and brought a locally sourced roast, from which we made a pot roast in the crock pot with only non-plastic wrapped veggies, including sweet potatoes, white potatoes, onion, and carrots. 

Fails: 

• Occasionally (but rarely) forgetting my reusable grocery sacks
• Succumbing to food/caffeine cravings at the vending machine
•  Making online purchases and simply hoping the packaging would be "greener"
• Purchasing plastic wrapped candy or lots of yogurt

One weekend, I went tailgating and took cheap OJ in a plastic container.  I arrived to the shindig without any cups for people to pour their drink it.  I didn't even think of it. Soon, a friend showed up later with "red solo cups". I was so mad at myself - I have plenty of cheap, but reusable, plastic cups at my apartment. I rarely use them, opting for glass cups instead, but that would have been the perfect place for using them. 

Forgetting my reusable sacks wasn't the end of the world. My roommate and I only use a small under-the-sink trashcan. Unfortunately, collectively, we are far from zero-waste and so we do use the plastic grocery bags for trash bags. 

Would I like to change this? Well, yes. But, certain things are out of my control. I cannot force other people to reduce their trash or consumption. I can only educate people about my reasons for reducing my plastic (and in general my waste), try to make it more of a social norm, and work for policy level changes to implement certain ideas.

Case-in-point, if plastic bags were banned in Indiana, I would be fine with it. I would find an alternative to our current trash set-up. But, I personally think reusable grocery bags are still quite the novelty in Indiana. Even my own mother will not use them - despite my pleas, despite my leveling with her about my own occasional fails, despite my attempts to make it a norm. Basically, this is a place I think policy changes are necessary to facilitate quick, widespread change. And, that goes for many plastic wrapped things. Here's the thing: I literally cannot purchase cauliflower from a grocery store. I've yet to find it not wrapped in plastic. Why is that the norm?? 


So What's next?

• Use Winter break to solidify certain habits, like purchasing more fresh foods and learning some recipes to increase eating from/at home
• Move toward less waste overall - not just less plastic -- How?
1. Begin Composting 
2. Make less unnecessary purchases 
3. When purchasing, seek out second hand items 
4. When purchasing new items, pay attention to clothing (not brand) labels - is the item made of more natural fibers? (A recent scientific publication noted the high amount of plastic waste from synthetic fibers)
• Dispose of other plastic items in my life - think personal care products, e.g. make-up, face wash, lotion, pens, office supplies, magnets, cleaning products - and replace them with at least more sustainable options

  

  Plastic pens that are now out of ink.
  I've replaced them with a metal pen with refillable ink.

Now that this blog post is pretty much a novel, I just want to say this project has taught me a lot. I've learned how hard it is to change ingrained habits - and I want to change. And, I've discovered preparation is key to success.  I think I'd have been more successful or felt more successful if I'd been more prepared. Finally, I am excited to continue stretching my boundaries to see how far I, personally, can go with "Zero Waste" idea.

Outside Experience #3: NPR Visits SPEA

OnThursday, November 13th, NPR Cities Project did a broadcast from the SPEA atrium.  I would have attended this event no matter what, but their topic was only too appropriate for our Sustainable Communities course.The discussion revolved around Urban Life in the 21st Century and the idea of designing for "resiliency." 

They started the discussion with some quick info: that 80% of the U.S. population lives in an urban area; that the 21st century is expected to be the "Urban Century"; and the question, is resilience the new sustainability?  

Resilience, per the speakers, is the idea of adapting to climate change rather than mitigating climate change. Accordingly, the top 3 important considerations for resiliency are location, design, and mobility:

• Location - is a community in a flood prone area? a fire prone area? a coastline that's eroding?
• Design - includes engineering, science, visual, and structural considerations
• Mobility - transportation considerations - making multi-modal cities, including alternate pathways and redundancies

A few cities were highlighted: 

• Staten Island - they are tearing down some homes to let nature return & provide a buffer
• Yemen & Phoenix - implementing a light rail, tall buildings and narrow streets to take advantage of shade, & decrease the heat island effects

 This event really made me sit and think about the idea of adapting versus mitigating climate change. It also made me think of some environmental justice issues. 

For starters, while I like the idea of resiliency, I cannot support only adapting to climate change. I think it needs to be used in addition to aggressive climate change mitigation measures. To simply make plans to adapt is risky. However, I also recognize the fact that at this point, we are likely too late on addressing climate change to simply mitigate. We need a robust discussion about both adaptation measures and mitigation measures. We need to implement policies aimed at decreasing CO2 emissions and other GHG emissions, such as methane. Also, we need to look at areas where people maybe should not be inhabitants. Maybe it is better for some coastlines to be buffers. Maybe there is a way to encourage these buffers and also use them to some degree for hiking or exploring or nature classes. Perhaps there are means to directly & economically benefit from those areas returning to nature. Finally, I think adapting our urban centers and implementing systems to make them more resilient is also a necessary part of the puzzle. We need mass transit options that are extensive and reliable in all major cities to discourage the use of individual cars. We need safe bike lane infrastructure to encourage travel by bike in cities. We need more trees and better buildings to make the most of city living while respecting nature. Essentially, I want the best of both worlds. I want the US and individual states to take all of these actions!

As for the issue of environmental justice...the main speaker was discussing these issues with the perspective of having dealt with Hurricane Sandy.  And, that's great. But where was this conversation 9 years ago when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans? Well, I think part of the answer is that (some) New Yorkers are wealthier and have a voice to bring these issues to light. They will demand these issues be addressed and their government will respond. Unfortunately, I do not think that's the case in New Orleans. Thus, they did not see this sort of rebound and response after Hurricane Katrina. If I'm not mistaken, there are still negative effects lingering in certain areas of New Orleans.  

I think this NPR discussion is great for SPEA. Hopefully it sparked these same sort of thoughts in many of the audience members. 

beyond food: project plastic overhaul

Whether altering my food purchasing habits is an easy and effective way to reduce my plastic is still up in the air. After some trips to the grocery store, I return with plastic free veggies and maybe a loaf of bread in plastic. And then sometimes, like tonight, I return with bagged popcorn and single serve yogurt. So, reducing my plastic consumption in that area is continually a work in progress. 

However, the other week, I ventured to Bloomingfoods (or Bfoods, as my roommates and I often text) to check out their refillable stations. If you haven't been, I would highly recommend it.  And, while here in Bloomington, we aren't too fond of Whole Foods, I know in some stores they have similar set-ups. 

What's so great about the Bfoods refilling stations? Well, it's not just food.  Of course they have an abundance of bulk food options - including pasta!  But, they also have refilling stations for shampoo, conditioner, and hand soap! 

So, I filled up on some honey - and refilling my current bottle was only ~$2.50 while a new bottle would have been ~$4-$5, for the same exact brand. 

AND, I finally refilled a shampoo bottle. I wanted to reach this point forever. Here's the thing - I actually don't go through shampoo very quickly. Really. I think I bought the bottle I used for refilling about a year ago. So, I finally emptied it and refilled it with the only brand available at Bfoods. 

I'm happy to report, the refillable shampoo is perfectly fine - my hair seems about the same as always! The next time I go to Bfoods on the east or west side, I also hope to get some hand soap. I will gladly keep using the refilling station at Bfoods while I'm in Bloomington.  After graduating, I will seek out this feature at businesses where ever I land and if it's no where to be found, I will be suggesting it to my local stores. :)

The cycle of local and big-box stores

This is identical to the strip-mall Wal-Mart from my hometown,
but this picture is not from there.

I am not quite old enough to remember my hometown without a Wal-Mart. This fact spurred me to call my dad and ask if he remembered when it opened. According to him and my mom, it must have been sometime between 1989 and 1991. But, I do remember doing almost all of our non-grocery store shopping at Wal-Mart. I do remember that there was never a vibrant downtown or local economy. Even the restaurant scene was primarily national, chain fast-food places. Presumably, in the past at some point, the area had a thriving local economy, though no more. 

But, it was the 90s. No one talked about reviving the local economy. It was a TREAT to go to the next town over and eat at a chain, sit-down restaurant. As high school students, my friends and I frequented Wal-Mart for costumes and goody bags and candy and we were excited about eating at Red Lobster before formal dances. 

My senior year of high school, my AP English teacher opened our eyes to the problems with Wal-Mart, and thus, non-local businesses in general. We had to write a research paper on the corporation. Now, I didn't immediately make drastic changes, because, well, there was no where else to shop, essentially. But, now I don't think I've been to Wal-Mart more than 3 or 4 times in the last 5 years. 

Some might say this is a tired topic. Everyone knows the evils of Wal-Mart! The buy local revolution is taking over! 
Well, I suppose that's true. Maybe none of us shop at Wal-Mart, but ... I'm guessing we all shop at some box stores - Target? Kroger? Kmart? Marsh? Meijer? So, on that note, I would argue, it's not a tired topic, because we still have these other big box stores competing with our local businesses for customers.

And, according to this 2012 Bloomberg article, big-box stores aren't exactly going away. Instead, they are shifting to meet consumer demands and refitting their models to smaller stores. Or consumers are purchasing from online retailers instead. 

So, if we know local is better, why do we continue to shop at these places?  I don't know. Sometimes, I'm not sure where else to buy some reasonably priced t.p. and paper towels. Right? Or if I want to buy conventional make-up, basic white socks, or heck, food, because let's face, most of us grad students don't do our primary grocery shopping at Bloomingfoods (as much as I love it).


Despite the Roseland text enumerating all the ways Wal-Mart has tried to clean up their environmental footprint, I just can't get on board. As long as big box stores are committed to increasing growth, consumerism, and profits to the demise of local economies, it's difficult to say they are helping community economic development. As we have learned this semester, a big part of sustainability is a strong community, one that comes together with local food, local commodities, walkability, and dense communities with local shops on the first floor of buildings lining the downtown streets. Big box stores are the anti-thesis of all that, as Post Consumers discusses.

However, the local movement has been very successful in certain sectors, particularly restaurants, breweries, and wineries. Now, it's almost blasphemy to suggest grabbing food at a national chain restaurant. New local breweries and wineries are opening all the time. Some people might give you the side-eye if you bring Bud Light to a party instead of Sun King or Upland.  And, speaking of Upland, they had to expand their building to accommodate the people flocking to their doors. 

It seems the local movement IS going pretty strong. But, I think it needs to be stronger. A greater cultural shift will need to happen for people to begin buying, for instance, locally sourced clothing. Additionally, much of the info I read discussed people's inclination to order much of their necessities from online retailers, generally, market leader, Amazon. This is not much better than box stores, especially when it comes to enhancing the local economy and eliminating "economic leakage". 

As for my hometown? 

This abandoned Wal-Mart picture is from Plainfield, IN,
but the one in my hometown looks identical.

Well, Wal-Mart decided a couple of years ago that their strip mall location was no longer good enough for the economically depressed town. Instead, they somehow got permitted to abandon that location and build an entirely unnecessary Super Wal-Mart on the outskirts of town. And that abandoned Wal-Mart and an abandoned KMart building, not a quarter of a mile away?  Well, they are still sitting empty. And the local economy is still struggling to take hold. 

But, I'm still holding out hope the buy local cycle takes over my hometown soon and a thriving local economy takes the place of the box stores and chain restaurants! 


 

the hunt for plastic free zucchini bar ingredients

Now, a little about a recent Kroger shopping trip, when I specifically went to the store to gather some ingredients for zucchini bars. I needed eggs, Bisquick, oregano, vegetable oil, cheese, and an onion. 

The onion and eggs were easily found without plastic. The rest, not so much. 

I picked up a box of Bisquick, shook it, squeezed it and decided it must have plastic packaging inside the box. (Yeah, I don't really buy Bisquick ever.) Luckily, we have smart phones! So, I typed "Bisquick substitute" into Google and I immediately found a way to make it at home with ingredients I already had. 

Next up, vegetable oil. I'm pretty sure there is not a single glass bottle of vegetable oil in existence. I looked and squeezed every bottle. All were plastic. In this case, I knew my roommate had some at home, so I opted to use hers because I rarely need vegetable oil. 

Additionally, I think butter could be substituted. Zucchini bars are not exactly a "baked good" so I'm not positive about this. Maybe I'll try it next time. Of course, butter wrappers cannot be recycled, so maybe vegetable oil in a plastic bottle is the better option?

Onto oregano! So, I spent an excessive amount of time in spice section. SO many spices and SO many spices in plastic containers! I decided on an "Italian Herb Blend" in a glass container with a plastic lid. While I was there, I remembered I just ran out of my most favorite spice ever: McCormick's Roasted Garlic & Herb Grill Mates spice. It is delicious. But, I looked for an alternative to this delicious spice that was in a plastic container:

And, I found something similar, but I have to admit that it's not quite as good - I think because of the lack of salt. :) But, it has a glass bottle and metal lid - it was one of 4 spices available in that type of packaging:  

Finally, I also needed cheese, which is also very difficult to find in a non-plastic container. Unfortunately, I looked at quite a few different cheeses, fancier ones and good old Kraft cheese. I could not find anything in paper or something more sustainable than plastic. But, as I mentioned in my last post, the Kraft cheese company has moved to use smaller plastic bags that hold the same amount of cheese. So, I did opt for that choice: 

 

Overall, I feel I was pretty successful in making some delicious zucchini bars with ingredients that used as little plastic as possible. I did not take a picture of them, but they looked exactly like this picture from online which had the same recipe: 

If this looks good to you, go scope out the recipe at that site, here.