Sustainable Cities

Why are sustainable buildings so weird. I have researched this over and over again and one would think that buildings that are meant to last would be larger and a little more simpler. Is it something about the design that makes these buildings built better to last longer? I can see the greater use of trees and shrubs to promote a healthier breathing environment. Can anyone answer this question? When I think of something lasting forever I think of a strong structure without many pieces to it. I know these are all just depictions of buildings but one needs to ask.

What I also want to know is if there are already blue prints for these buildings, why are they not being built already. Sustainable designs seem to more costly at first I suppose. Building green is not the cheapest thing to do. This is where my research project came into play. Trying to find funds to help support sustainability is not the easiest thing.



It would be so amazing to attend a school like this. To be able to go to a school that was independent when it came energy uses and other such things. This does seem to look expensive and the materials that would be needed to make this school would not be easy or cheap to find.



Another example of weird looking buildings of the future.



An idea that would work, however building on water would only pollute water in the end I think. There is a lot more space available on water. One problem that would be faced would be weather, like storms and tides.

Searching for a Utopia

Planning

I am very organized when I want to be. When I am organized I typically plan for myself, and what I can guess, as my today’s day needs. But when I find Utopia, I really don’t know what to expect. If the place is perfect then why do I need to plan? Why am I anxious that I even have to plan for a perfect place? OK, I did plan to have a perfect single day, but it was only for myself. I forgot that even Utopia will have a lot of other people who have their own plans and they were also well organized. There is the difficulty. No amount of planning is helping me in search of my Utopia. It seems the more I plan the more conflicts, and when you have conflicts how do you have a perfect place. So planning to the tee won’t bring me to my Utopia.

Transportation

I drive, I walk, I take a plane, I take a train, and I simply travel. Destination sometimes know and sometimes unknown. Let me say I am looking for an ideal place and I just go there. I get there, and it is ideal but I don’t know anyone. I have to work. I have to eat. I have to make friends. I have to live there. Perhaps many more things I have to do to be in a new place, although it is ideal. How do I do it? Who do I find to make it ideal? Even when I travel to an ideal place, the only thing that is simple is getting there. Our roads make it easy and airlines make it simpler. But how do I not feel tired? How do I erase the newness? How do I begin an instant transformation? What do I do if I only find an ideal place but may not be ideal to live in? Just because I am able to make the journey doesn’t get me to my Utopia.

Technology

I am quite savvy with technology. I like to be available and I like to find people. I am mobile. I am connected. I am most times available. Here is the problem. If everyone else is doing the same thing, how can we find each other? If someone will not respond how do you deal with it? We perhaps need to invent transporters so you can be bodily transported to them, find them. Sure thing, this is not going to happen in my lifetime. So, my surrounding myself with my gadgets perhaps is no way to find Utopia. Some times it could well be I am trying to find someone who don’t want me to find them. Sometimes I may be trying finding someone who doesn’t want to be found. Sometimes I am trying to find someone who doesn’t want to respond. So, my technical abilities will not lead me to my Utopia, as an ideal place for one is no place to live.

Money

I am not referring to wealth or Lakshmi. I am simply speaking of money. It runs out, and needs to be made. I am sure we all know. If I am in Utopia I don’t need it. The trick about money is it does deliver most of the worldly needs. Place to live, car to drive, clothes to wear, food to eat, tuition to pay, families to take care of, things to buy, smoke, drink, travel, tour the world, hire others to do your work, build, destroy and what ever we can think of it buys them for you. But why do I need money in Utopia where I have peace of mind and love. How can an ideal place to exist, we must need money. It needs to be built, it needs maintenance and it needs nourishment. Then again if I am going to work to make so much money to nourish an ideal place, for god’s sake how can I be peaceful? Do I have enough days in this life to undertake such an idealistic plan? No way.

Waiting

I spent a lot of time in waiting. I just do. I don’t mind waiting. My mind is trained to wait. It doesn’t get tired of waiting. It simply waits. While I am waiting for my Utopia, my mind doesn’t think of consequences. It simply believes I am going to find it. When I fall asleep each day like I did (perhaps I did not) yesterday, it ignores the time that has elapsed. Perhaps it too knows the trivial pursuit of finding Utopia, and it is conditioned to wait. Goodness it has no memory of yesterday but it begins fresh everyday waiting, and wanting to find Utopia. If I tell it not to wait, it says why not? What other alternatives you have? As it is my mind I have no choice but listen to it. It always wins. So I add waiting as probable cause to finding Utopia.

Society

Even Utopia has rules and regulations. Our societies are full of things we made up to conform the people who live them. Generally they are good to follow, but doesn’t support idealistic life. To be ideal there will be no conformity. So, when I live in conformity how can I be in Utopia?

Myself

Hummm.

What can I say? I am a normal person. I don’t think I am very simple, but I know I am uncomplicated. I think, I write, I work, I live, I love, I play, I plan, I travel, I organize, I sometimes can be charming. I also know each of these good things I imagine doing are for myself and they may not be the same for anyone else you wish to join in Utopia with. That’s the major problem. Hey why me? Even communists failed to live in Utopia. Plato just imagined it, and Atlantis is under the sea and I can’t live there. With all the daily pondering I am having a tough time finding Utopia on earth, so why would want to be a fish?

No doubt when I go through today, I will be traveling, I will be looking, I will be waiting, and I will be wishing to find my Utopia. What is life for except to find a perfect place to live in? I am sure I will find it. But if I don’t how would I know?


This article on trying to find a utopia poses very many interesting questions and topics. I enjoyed how this spoke it gave the reader questions to ask himself or herself to see if they are truly finding the utopia that they are trying to find. In my research paper i mention many of these different aspects such as not knowing a destination or what he is about to do next. That leaves things without endings so the person can expand or do whatever they want at that point. This process of not knowing what is next takes so much stress off the normal human being in today's society. Everybody is always in a rush and thinking "Oh, I have to do this or I have to do that." The article speaks about how he can get wherever he wants via plane or car but what if he doesnt want to travel in that way because it is not his ideal way to travel which then would not be his utopia.

Did you know about human rights day?

Why is it that I have never heard of this? Why didn't anyone on campus talk about it? Or did i merely miss the memo? Why does it seem like we remember Christmas, Birthdays, and Party times but not a national day devoted to human rights? Are we that de-sensitized that we don't even know what's happening in our own world? I think it's unacceptabel that a national day of recognition goes unrecognized. It's the same attitude that caused some to believe that the holocaust never happened. If we don't give honor where it's due then we aren't helping our society, we're ignoring it.

The Environment and Bill McKibben

Sustainable Buildings

I thought that this video was really cool, not because of the buildings, but because of the Albert Einstein quote. It says "A problem cannot be solved on the same level of thinking that caused the problem." I thought that this quote just summed up everything that we have been talking about. It goes along with what Bill McKibbon said about how we need to change the way that we think if we want to change the planet. The people in the video are trying to do just that. While I do not think that the building style in the video is the way of the future, it is nice to see that someone is trying to think outside the box. We need to do more of this in every area of society so that we don't end up with a world like that of Oryx and Crake.

Sustainable City Design

This video is part of a series of videos on YouTube about sustainable city design. I believe that city design is going to be one of the keys in determining whether or not we can turn everything around. This talks about how the city has a high population density is in the center of town and along transit lines. This is very important in designing a sustainable city. What needs to happen is that we need to shorten the distance that people and things have to travel to get where they need to go. Travel and transport are two of the main contributors of carbon to the atmosphere. By designing our cities more effectively and with the environment in mind, we can make a major difference.

Thank You Sweatshops

From the clothing we wear to the toys our children play with, store shelves are stocked with goods made in sweatshops. Workers labor in unsafe conditions and are paid wages so low they must struggle to feed and shelter their families. The aisles we shop are lined with products made in factories that exploit child labor and fire and harass workers when they try to improve their lives by forming unions. This video reveals the harsh reality of how many stores that we shop at and trust, are victimizing innocent people and children. The worst part is, when we buy a new sweater or pair of tennis shoes, we do not think twice. We are not aware of the situation. We must research this issue so that before we make our next purchase, we are fully aware of the consequences.

The Sims, Nelly Furtado, and our Environment

This video is a great awareness tool to spread the message of helping our environment. It is cool and modern, utilizing popular outlets-video games and music, attracting the younger generations. Through Pop culture, the serious and important issues of pollution and global warming are reformed into something the youth can understand.
The video is simple, yet provides a big message, and a clear solution. We need to take the small steps that we can, as this will have a great impact on altering the fatal course our planet is facing. The problem is not out of our control. If every single person took these steps, recycling and not spending resources carelessly, think of what a difference it could make on our planet!
The video also seems ironic to me, and perhaps sending the message that if we can utilize technology and create video games such as the Sims and others, can we not utilize technology to help avoid global warming and ultimate destruction of our planet as we know it?
Last, I like that the video discusses England and was made there. This reminds us that this is truly a global issue that affects us all.

Sustainable Cities

This video is great. It discusses many if not all the issues that we have been talking about in class. It is almost like a mini 11th hour, but it mentions more about city growth and sustainability. I used this video as a great jumping off point for my research project on problems and solutions with sustainable cities.

SAVE WATER!

The average person in Mozambique uses only 1.3 gallons of water a day. One toilet alone uses on average 1.6 gallons when flushing. The average American family uses about 300 million gallons of water A DAY! The lawns in the US consume around 270 Billion gallons a week of water. That's enough to water 81 million acres of organic vegetables for an entire summer. Instead of watering your lawn to keep it perfectly green, you could cut back a little and use the water to give back to your family by saving money. To tell when your water needs lawn, step on it and if it doesn't spring back up when you remove your foot, it does not need water. You can also buy a low flush toilet and low flow shower heads (these shower heads can save you around 750 gallons of water per month). Drinking filtered water instead of bottled water can also help. The final thing that can really help is using drip irrigation to apply water directly to the roots, and only when it is needs. in the long run this will help save millions of gallons of water so people aren't using their own sweat to bath in.

Deforestation

This video helps everyone who watches it just how important stopping deforestation is. The little girl in the movie is a perfect reminder to help us cut down on some paper uses and make sure to use only 100% post consumer recycled paper while at work, in the classroom, and even at home. Try to print things double sided and try sharing books and magazines with friends and loved ones. Over 100 million pounds of junkmail gets produced every year.
To help the girl in the movie and anyone suffering like her, find out which organizations you can donate too to help them live long healthy lives.

Foolish Assumptions About Gas, Or Otherwise?

I was driving with my friends the other day and we had passed a gas station with unleaded prices as low as $1.75. I was ecstatic! Me being a driver for over two years, it's good to see the prices back where they were back in 2006 when I first got a car.

But then my friend piped up, "Those prices are going to shoot right back up in a few more weeks if people don't stop buying gas like crazy." And I was caught off guard like, why wouldn't people be buying gas like crazy when you can fill up your tank for less then twenty dollars? This is great! She replied with the facts. The reason they lower gas prices so low is so that people can appreciate it and lower their gas consumption, meaning driving less. I was confused for a minute or two. That didn't make the slightest bit of sense to me but later I got to thinking that maybe it's true. We probably should take advantage of this time because no matter what happens, the government can do whatever they want with the prices because of how dependent we are on it today. If they see that we can cut back, maybe they'll be nice and keep prices this way. What bothered me was the fact that I didn't know about this. So how many other California drivers don't know this? I don't keep up with politics much but I'm positive I can't be the only one.

For us to change our daily routines to cut on driving can't be an overnight thing, but I know over time we will see more electric cars on the freeway and cars with alternate fuel sources. I don't believe this tactic with lowering gas prices to try and decrease consumption is a very effective idea. There are many people that can't help but drive several miles a day to get to where they need to go. Obviously the solution right now is having more people carpool and take trains. How can we get the word out about this? How can we make this tactic more effective before the prices rise to that dreaded 4 dollars once again?

We Must All Do Our Part-Reusable Grocery Bags

Jennifer Moore
Dr. Geraldine McNenny
FFC: Imagining Utopia
7 December 2008
We Must All Do Our Part-Reusable Grocery Bags
Ok, so the environment is definitely a “big deal”, but for most of us out there, we aren’t about to forfeit our cars, our washing machines, and our ways of life in an effort to better the world we live in. To some, the decision not to make drastic changes in the way we consume, use, and dispose of everything in our life may seem so pathetic, so ignorant, and so well for lack of a better word, stupid. However, when attempting to foster change we must look not only at what must be done, but also what can be done. People are essentially driven by selfish motives. Yes, most people still want world peace, a world without hunger, and a sustainable future, but at the same time they are reluctant to change in such a way that dramatically alters their life overnight. In other words, the movement towards a sustainable future and a more eco-friendly world must occur gradually with as little altercation to everyday life as possible. Rather than radicalizing the way in which shop, drive, or operate machinery, we must instead replace old conventions of life with new ones that are easily implicated, practical, and that simplify, not complicate life. One small change that seems to be a growing trend in supermarkets across the country is the advent of canvas, reusable grocery bags. Instead of utilizing the traditional paper or plastic bags that are harmful for air and land pollution, these bags provide an opportunity for the average citizen to make a difference in the environment.
The best type of change occurs when it occurs as a result of the average person doing his or her part. As is often iterated in environmental campaigns, we all must live on this earth together and if we don’t all start caring, none of us will be left. By moving to reusable grocery bags, we can eliminate some of the worst types of air pollution caused by plastic bags and remove them from the parking lots, alleys, and sidewalks where they exist as a blot on the landscape. Of course, many would ask, “well what about biodegradable plastic?” Yet this is not the answer either. Biodegradable plastics, while they are definitely a step in the right direction, they are not an absolute solution because they still take time to decompose and part of their production can still cause air pollution. Then, there’s the question of paper bags. After all, they decompose right? Well, sort of. See the main issue with these is that cause seventy-five percent more air pollution in production and they also encourage deforestation. It seems that with the methods of production and disposal on hand right now, that reusable grocery bags are the best answer today.
In order to better the environment, we must employ the resources of every person around the globe. And, in short we must all do our part. So think about picking up twenty of those reusable bags next time you’re in the grocery store. We can all do something. Check out the impact of grocery bags on the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l4GoBsfwTM.

Anti-Aging on the Horizon

I was recently very surprised and shocked when I read this. A scientist by the name of Aubrey de Grey claims to have identified the seven causes of human aging, and says a "cure" could be as little as 20 years away for humans. He currently heads a project at Cambridge University that seeks to greatly slow aging on mice. Scientifically, nothing has come up against him, although his technology, known as SENS, is still quite a ways from the practical stage.

I am mostly perturbed by the questionable morals of it. To me, it is a completely unnatural technology and very much in the vein of Oryx and Crake. The line needs to drawn somewhere, and extending our lives through so dramatically (up to 1,000 years!) seems far beyond it. Yet, Grey (and others) argue that aging is just another disease and that we wouldn't be playing God ("it's unnatural for us to accept the world as we find it").

Anyway, here's an very well-done video on the subject that presents pros and cons to Grey's argument. It is in 8 parts, if you're inspired to watch it all.

Jack Johnson Sustainability Awareness

This is a great idea to educate the youth and upcoming generation about sustainability and get them excited about becoming involved active members of the community. Celebrities have the ability to draw attention to certain causes and this should be utilized to its fullest capabilities. Music is an effective, powerful way to emphasize specific issues and bring awareness that is necessary.

The Bilderberg Group

There is a secret society of the world’s most elite leaders known as the Bilderberg Group. It is a group of powerful men including individuals who may be president in years to come. They meet in secret once a year in a hotel and it is believed that they address policies and set agendas. Because of the secrecy of the Bilderberg Group, its members have gained a conspiracy theorist image. It is scary to think about conspiracy theorists and secret societies and what would happen if it were to succeed. This is a video that gives a brief history and analysis to the debate and controversies surrounding the secrecy of the conference. It emphasizes the idea of a one-world community.

GREENPEACE

As a follow up to the last post, here is a promotional video for the Greenpeace organization. As you can see, the group supports civil disobedience with a group effort. Greenpeace started with a couple of determined defenders of our oceans. Since they established the Greenpeace organization, the group has gained thousands of members and successfully: put an end to nuclear testing, started a global ban on dumping radioactive waste at sea, started an international moratorium on commercial whale hunting, made agreements from Coca-Cola and Unilever to phase out refrigerants that harm the ozone layer and cause global warming, put a ban of polluting new waste incinerators in United States and several other countries around the world, and many other major victories.

Fur Seals

A couple months ago, I joined the organization called "GREENPEACE". It is an environmental group of activists that work to make the world a better place. It lobbies for environmentally friendly legislation in Congress and strives to inform everyone about the major current issues with the environment and animal populations. Ever since I joined, I have received several e-mails updating me on such issues. The latest e-mail was both shocking and disturbing. 

It read: 

"Dear Briana,

Last year I visited a stunning fur seal rookery on the Pribilof Islands- only to learn now that dead baby fur seals are washing ashore on the beaches, most likely due to starvation. These islands in Alaska's Bering Sea are also the home to the world's most abundant food fish- Alaskan Polluck. 

The fur seals' food, pollock, is being vacuumed away by massive industrial fishing ships, and wildlife is starving as a result. Steller sea lions, are being forced to spend more energy foraging to take in fewer calories, and their birth rates and youth survival rates have declined.

For years, Greenpeace has warned that industrial fishing would destroy this fragile environment, but the fisheries managers have buckled under pressure from industry. As a Greenpeace ocean campaigner, I've personally been ridiculed and insulted for these warnings. 

I wish more than anything that I had been wrong. But now we know that the pollock population is on the brink of collapse, and along with it the survival of marine creatures that depend on pollock."

Greenpeace tries to grab the attention of every person so that they will donate and help change the problems on our planet. It is really easy to sign up with the group, and members often come to Chapman to recruit people. All you have to do is donate a minimum of 20$ a month to their cause.

Global warming at the extremes of the earth : Habitats and cultures everywhere react to climate's rapid changes

Polar Bear Listed in Endangered Species Act, but U.S. Government Limits Its ProtectionThe polar bear was officially listed as threatened under the U.S. endangered species act (ESA) on May 14, 2008. This the first creature brought under the act's protection for habitat loss that is linked to global warming. The official reason given was loss of Arctic sea ice and predictions that the ice will continue to decrease. Although global warming has been identified by most atmospheric and polar scientists as the main reason for Arctic warming and melting of sea ice, the U.S. Interior Department did not use this as a reason and clearly signaled it would not apply the law to greenhouse gas emissions.
Dirk Kempthorne, Interior Secretary, specifically said the listing would not prevent any sea ice from melting and that he would "make certain the ESA isn't abused to make global warming policies." This despite clear language in the ESA to control any activity causing harm to a listed species and requiring government agencies specifically not to jeopardize species by their actions. The wording of the listing document appears to be an attempt of the government to list the bear due to clear evidence of shrinking habitat yet not take all the steps to limit the loss. It seems analogous to President Bush's notorious "signing statements" limiting his acceptance of a Congressional law.
This could set up another court challenge by NGOs like the Center for Biological Diversity which originally brought the proposal and took the Interior Dept to court twice to get action.
"Threatened" under the ESA means a plant or animal may soon become endangered (at immediate risk of going extinct) if actions are not taken to protect it and its habitat.

Bad News for the Environment

While I was exploring the internet today, I found a startling article from the Environmental section of www.msnbc.com. Unfortunately, recent research shows that greenhouse gas emissions have actually INCREASED from the U.S. from 2006 by 1.6 percent. The article details that this year's colder winter is cause for an increase in greenhouse gasses from not only the U.S. but nations worldwide. What this means to me is that we are stuck in a vicious cycle. Because the seasons are getting harsher and more unpredictable (due to global warming and the already present greenhouse effect) the world is forced to use more energy to stay comfortable. Thus we are actually perpetuating the problem! No doubt that next year's results will follow in the same pattern as the climate shift will certainly continue. For all those interested, the article, posted yesterday, is available at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28039737/.