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.