Actions of activism

By Anthony D'Angelo III

There comes a time during certain situations where action is needed. No more talking, planning, debating or biding time.  It’s time to take a stand. To be on the offensive rather than the defensive.  It may be a sudden rush of adrenaline and emotion that compels one to act. It may be months of meticulous planning to make the perfect statement at the perfect time.  

Dictionary.com defines activism as: “the doctrine or practice of vigorous action or involvement as a means of achieving political or other goals, sometimes by demonstrations, protests, etc.” I believe that the key to this definition is action. Activism is tangible. Activism is bold.  Knowing this, it’s important to understand how different media sources portray acts of activism. This point was stressed in chapter ten of Communicating Nature. Understanding the who, what, where, when and why of activism is crucial in determining the level of success one may have. 

Bidder 70 was an inspirational film based on a true story of real life activism by Tim DeChristopher. The movie documented this brave young student/activist and his struggle to save a beautiful piece of land, adjacent from Canyonlands National Park, from oil and drilling companies. It became clear to me that this act of civil disobedience started out by accident, but became something that would come to define Tim’s life. Tim wasn’t really sure what he was going to do, but he showed up to the highly disputed Utah BLM Oil and Gas lease auction anyway, and spontaneously made himself a martyr for the environmentalism movement.  I think this theme of martyrdom is emphasized by the mood of the film. The viewer almost forgets that this young man’s future is in serious jeopardy, because the movie has such a strong sense of optimism and “coming-togetherness.” For example, the scene from the courthouse when all the demonstrators are rushing the building and chanting “We have power” really makes an impression. It shows that Tim’s cause is strong, and the activists are united.  Tim was more interested in justice for the environment than justice for himself.  In that sense, his activism can be seen as more than just civil disobedience. The film portrays him in an almost Christ-like way. Tim made a selfless sacrifice for a just cause, and in doing so, stirred the masses and united the people in a way that Tim’s enemies could have never predicted.

In contrast to the true story of Bidder 70, The East was a fictional depiction of eco-activism ( or eco-terrorism, depending on how you look at it.) The east is a group of activist who plan and execute attacks on various violators of environmental rights and morals. Sarah, a highly trained intelligence agent who is sent undercover to expose the plans of the east, finds herself torn between the life she used to know and the one she is pretending to live. This relationship between “old Sarah,” “new Sarah” and The East, I believe, is representative of the extreme differences amongst the sides of the environmental movement. 

Old Sarah =  Extreme right           New Sarah = the optimal balance           The East = Extreme left

“Old Sarah” represents the government and big corporations. She is ex FBI, and currently privately employed, symbolizing two of the main enemies of environmentalism. She is sneaky, resourceful, infiltrating and forceful. She is spying on the group, because they are threatening to take action against important corporate figures.

The East are the fist of the environmental movement. They are daring, anonymous, silent and loud at the same time. They are the voice of anger and discontent. They live a life of minimal consumption. They represent the extreme wing of environmentalism because they use fear, in this case internet threats, to try to make their points. 

“New Sarah” I believe, is symbolic of optimal activism. Both old Sarah and the east use violence and deception to accomplish their goals, just like the government and terrorist. But “ new Sarah”, the Sarah that questions and changes her environmental morals, stays true to her belief that two wrongs don’t make a right. She wants to expose the big corporations and corrupt government officials, but not at the expense of human life. This compromise is key to understanding one of the main themes of the film. In this case, extreme activism is walking a thin line between activism and terrorism.  Activist need to focus their ambitions in ways that not only complete their goals, but stay within the lines of morality. In the end, new Sarah’s weapon of choice is knowledge. Rather than exploit her fellow field agents, she tracks them down and converts them to her cause. And they expose the system without violence and terrorism.

Another fictional tale involving activism is The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood. This story has different levels of activism in it. The obvious activism tie in the story is the God’s Gardeners.  This group has essentially removed itself from society, due to the horrors that exist in the modern world. They are activist because they actively abstain from the modern world, and instead value sustainability and the natural world. But there are more underlying themes of activism in the story, such as passive aggressive shots at the meat industry, big government, big corporations, and the exploitation of women.  

To further understand the varying levels of activism in this story, I found an article titled “Before the Flood” by Guy Dixon. This article is a Q and A with Margaret Atwood. In it, she addresses the idea that her book if a form of “activist writing:”

“You've described The Year of the Flood as the blueprint for a possible future, a warning. Is it correct to describe this as a form of activist writing?

What is activism? I'm not an activist by nature. I'm a rabbit in the Eastern astrological chart, and we like to stay in our burrows and lead quiet lives. In the Western astrological chart, I'm a Scorpio, and we like to spend our time in the toes of shoes, and we're quite happy there unless somebody puts their foot in. [laughs]

I mean, some people are professional activists. That would be Naomi Klein and other people. It's their métier, it's their business. So I would say that it's not activist writing in that sense, since there is no "one thing" that I want the reader to do.

I don't want you to come out from the book and sign a petition. I don't want you to invent a disease that will wipe out humanity. I would say activist writing has a goal in mind, a very specific goal that they want the reader to do.”

“There are, though, elements of satire, such as the religious sect in the book, God's Gardeners, turning the energy-saving habit of not taking elevators into a religious dictate, or the Secret Burger restaurant that serves meat of highly suspicious origin. 

Utopias, dystopias - which are actually the flipside of each other - they always have a satirical element, either explicit or implied, because you cannot really write about the future: We actually don't know what's going to be in the future.

But do you believe that dystopias are actually possible? 

Mine are. Yes, absolutely.”

Although Margaret says that she isn’t directly writing about activism, we reader, just like Guy Dixon, get the connotation that there are underlying themes of activism. “Secret Burger,” without knowing anything about the story, sounds sketchy. It echoes the sentiments of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle; what’s in your meat is a secret. It needs to be exposed. 

Another example of this passive aggressive activism within the story is the exploitation of women. There are many examples of feminism issues within the story, however I believe the most significant detail in the story concerning feminism is the settings of the two locations in which Ren and Toby are trapped. Ren is trapped in a sex club, signifying the exploitation of woman for man’s use. Toby is trapped in a high end salon/spa, signifying the exploitation of woman for woman’s use. 

Feminist activism is depicted very differently in the article “Deep in the Amazon, a Tiny Tribe is Beating Big Oil” by David Goodman. The articles details the battle that the Sarayaku people have waged with oil and drilling companies in the heart of the Amazon. Although the article is about the entire community’s fight, the woman of the tribe are emphasised greatly. The picture on the article, followed by the opening paragraph, set the stage for a symbolic woman’s battle with big corporations. “Patricia Gualinga stands serenely as chaos swirls about her.” I get the image of a calm woman, wearing her convictions on her sleeve, standing strong amongst the chaos that is New York City, the concrete jungle. This article, much like Bidder 70, has a very positive connotation. You get the sense from the mood of the writing that the pendulum is swinging in the direction of people who insist that “‘nature has rights deserving of protection.”

Activism comes in all shapes and sizes. How one chooses to take a stand doesn’t matter; it’s the taking of the stand that matters. The importance is taking action, not just talking about a problem, but trying to remedy it. Whether through the media in books, movies and articles, or whether through real life acts of courage, activism is a compelling tool used by the environmental community to make a difference in the way we view and understand key issues. 

Solar Energy Solutions

By Anthony D'Angelo III

Our sun is the king of our solar system.   

It contains 99.8% of the entire mass of our solar system, is 4.6 billion years old, and burns at a surface temperature of 5,500 C. The sun is so massive that roughly 960,000 Earths could fit inside it. It’s responsible for all the orbits of every planet in our solar system, and its solar winds can be felt as far as interstellar space. 

The sun is the giver of life here on this planet. Our perfect location within the “goldilocks zone” of the sun enables our planet to sustain liquid water, something that our science believes is essential for life as we know it. We’re just far enough that we won’t melt, but were close enough that we won’t freeze in the voids of space. The next time you lay on the beach sun bathing, think about how lucky you are. Millions of years ago, nuclear fusion occurred within the sun’s core, at about roughly 15 million degrees C. That energy, after millions of years, found its way from the surface of the sun to your skin within roughly 8 minutes and 20 seconds, traveling anywhere from 147-152 million kilometers at a given time. That energy, the same energy responsible for nuclear bombs and a surface temperature of 462 C on our sister planet Venus, is just so perfectly far away from us, that it warms your skin. The energy of our Sun has provided a foundation for weather, climate and human vision, amongst everything else. 

There is a lot we do not know about the sun. However, we know enough to realize the planet’s potential for efficient solar energy consumption. We know the solar constant is “the amount of energy from the Sun at the distance of the Earth (outside the atmosphere). It is 1367 Watts per meter squared.” In non-science terms, “If all the sunlight energy striking the Earth's surface in Texas alone could be converted to electricity, it would be up to 300 times the total power output of all the power plants in the world!” That information is staggering. All of the energy we will ever need in the existence of our species could be attained in a matter of days, if our technology catches up to the potential. 

Knowing this, it’s imperative that we as a species give serious consideration to solar energy solutions. The media will play a huge role in how the average person thinks and feels about solar energy potential. Let’s explore a few different media perspectives on solar energy. 

An online article I read dealt with one of the key issues concerning feasible solar energy: energy storage. As mentioned earlier, the sun gives us more than enough energy to use. We just need to figure out how to convert and store it efficiently. This online article, posted on July 22, 2014 from the online magazine RenewableEnergyWorld.com titled “Keeping Up with Energy Storage,” points out the obvious links with the energy storage sector and the solar energy sector. Together, these two industries are going to change how we convert and store solar power, by making the technologies more affordable and more efficient. The writing isn’t very reader friendly if you’re not into scientific articles, however it still details important messages in a readable way. The power grids in many countries, including our own, are outdated and inefficient in terms of toady’s technologies. By implementing smart grids, capable of storing more energy at cheaper rates, we have a chance to start making environmentally friendly decisions from the foundation of our energy uses, and that is immensely important. 

Solar energy for technological use, such as electricity and heat conversion, is in and of itself rooted in technology. The sun can warm your rooms with low-impact technologies such as skylights and angled windows, however if you want the sun to power your T.V. or make your shower water hot, you need to install a good amount of technology in and on your home. Many states, 45 to be exact, have solar energy companies that will install these technologies in your home for no money down, which is a wonderful incentive to get people to convert. However, five states, including North Carolina, have state legislation that bans free installation of solar technology. A pro solar activist website, NCWARN.org, is fighting against the lobbyist of Duke Energy and the monopoly they have over the North Carolina solar industry. A common theme in environmentalism is the greed of fossil fuel energy companies. There is definitely some irony with this issue as it pertains to solar companies. We think of solar energy companies as having this positive connation because they are helping the alternative energy cause. However, the same greed and politics that have handcuffed our ability to change the fossil fuel dominance over our government is now showing its face in the alternative energy industry, all to make a buck. If you believe that the people of North Carolina and every state deserve the incentive of free solar technology installation, you can sign a petition here.    

According to seia.org, “72% of online adults in the U.S. use social networking sites, representing a huge potential market for your solar business. Social media can help advertise your product and grow leads, but it can also help brand you as an expert on solar in your community.” As an “online adult” who at any given time uses 5-6 different types of social media, I completely understand and agree with this assessment. But even going further, I believe we need to make the youth believe in alternative energy, to foster a sizable movement from the oil burning days of our grandfathers to green movement of the 21^st century. And social media is a great tool to get the message out there, to all markets. The American Solar Energy Society Facebook page has over 100,000 likes. The Solar Energy Industries Association Instagram site (seia.org) has a meager 452 followers.  That’s not enough, considering Kim Kardashian has 25 million Instagram followers. What we need is celebrity help and endorsement, along with a stronger push by all solar companies to develop a connection with their customer base through social media and any other outlet. 

The reason I absolutely love this YouTube video, Energy 101: Solar Power, uploaded on Aug 23, 2011 by Energy and Environmental News, is because it does a great job combining the various issues I have discussed so far, such as solar energy storage and reaching the youth about alternative energy, while also doing a great job of describing how solar energy is used. The video is very viewer friendly and fits into the stimulus needs of younger audiences who might otherwise be bored with an alternative energy informative video. The animations, and the very simplistic way of describing how solar works, combine for an effective teaching tool. Another reason I loved this video was because it made the connection to a point in my thesis, that the sun is the giver of all life here on this planet, and all (99.9%) life forms use the sun in various ways. I think this is an important point to make when spreading the word about alternative energy. The sun has been, and still can be, our biggest source of energy.    

To bring in a different perspective, I decided to investigate a 2009 Technical risk assessment performed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Program. The article is pretty straightforward. The research was conducted to assess the technical risk of implementing large scale solar investments, as well as how the technology itself will impact the research and development budgets of the U.S. Department of Energy. It is important to look at this point of view because often when we think about alternative energy, we romanticize the environmental impacts, but don’t calculate the feasibility. This assessment did just that: using experts from all over the country, including leading researchers and professors in the field, to create projection charts for estimated costs at various time intervals (2010, 215, 2020, etc.) The results are encouraging: as technology and computing power improves each year, the cost of implementing new solar technology will decrease over time. The power will become more efficient, and conversion rates will increase, thus making the investment over time cheaper and less risky. This was not a terribly interesting read, in fact, it was really boring. However, the scientists were very accredited and the research seems legitimate.  

Finally, I investigated a blog on a prominent environmentalist website, reset.org, titled “Potential Environmental Impacts and Obstacles of Solar Energy,” written by Ajay Pal Singh Chabba on July 1, 2013. Again, I feel that it is important to investigate the negative impacts of implementing solar technology, the same way we assess the negative impacts of fossil fuel use. Almost all energy use and consumption will come with either short term or long term consequences, and this article highlights these consequences, not to deter people from solar energy use, but rather to educate everyone about the potential impacts. For example, the creation and manufacturing of solar panels requires high levels of energy output that can also have environmental effects on the areas in which they are being built. Also, there are the concerns over sound and vision pollution of the areas in which these plants are being built, as well as potential for toxic waste spills. 

I think that what these various media sources show about solar energy is that there is great potential. It’s not going to be easy, and there are going to be negative impacts in the short term. However, all the energy we will ever need is being released every second on the surface of the sun. If we really care about the future of our planet, we need to rethink energy usage. The sun is the most powerful entity in our lives. We need to use the positive technological advances of our generation and apply them towards our future energy needs. The sun has always been here for us. It was here before humans, it will be here after. Maybe if we learn to better utilize the greatest gift in our solar system, we can make a positive difference here on Earth and potentially beyond.   

Why do animals matter to us?

By Anthony D'Angelo III

This title, taken from chapter 7 of communicating nature poses a very important question. Why do animals matter to us? Is it some innate connection with “animality” that draws us to them? How can some people destroy animals without a care, while others spend their entire lives protecting them? Do animals connect human beings more with nature? Do animals have the same natural rights, feelings, emotions as humans? These questions were all raised throughout our readings and viewings this week. The answers may be different for some. The important part is that we ask these questions in the first place.

“Am I Blue?” By Alice walker was a nice read, filled with moral and ethical issues that are personified through the story of the horse, Blue. I had to read it a few times to really grasp how I wanted to interpret the story. One of the first things that stood out to me was the subject of inequality. Throughout the story, there are multiple references to slavery, racism, injustices for the Native Americans, a hint of Eco-feminism, animal cruelty, etc. However one of the underlying themes of inequality that I derived from the story early on was inequality amongst sexual orientation. She refers to the person she was staying with as her “companion” and “partner.” yet never reveals his/her gender. A little bit of research from an article titled “Alice Walker on motherhood and estrangement from her only child” revealed that Alice does not identify with one sexual orientation, but considers herself “curious.” I couldn’t help but believe that including her partner/companion in THIS story was deliberate. I’m not exactly sure why, but I know it wasn’t by accident. Maybe she wants to make the parallel between animal cruelty and human cruelty. She does describe the horse with human emotions such as bored, angry, hateful and hurt. Maybe this story about Blue the horse isn’t just looking to expose animal cruelty. The more obvious theme of this story was indeed animal inequality; humans losing their childhood connections with animals, and thus, losing any sense of moral or ethical concern for animals.

“No, I was shocked that I had forgotten that human animals and nonhuman animals can communicate quite well; if we are brought up around animals as children we take this for granted. By the time we are adults we no longer remember.”

But maybe, it’s using animal cruelty as a metaphor or symbol for human cruelty in general. I think there are lot of ethical issues being brought up in this short story, some obvious, some not so obvious.    

Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of poetry. But what I like about our class is that we use multiple sources of media and literature to discuss important themes concerning Environmentalism. In this case, I thought the poem “Meeting Wolf” by Mary Oliver was beautiful and appropriate, and really gave us a chance to interpret freely without the constrictions of visual aid or lengthy, wordy description.

Line three, stanza one: “inside his golden eyes” instantly brought me to back to another environmental work: Aldo Leopold’s “Thinking like a mountain.”

“We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes.”

There is something amongst the environmental community that is symbolized in the eyes of wolves.  Maybe wolves are a great symbol of freedom and nature. Maybe the eyes of the wolf personify the struggle of the natural world vs humans. Whatever it is, I’ve come to realize that the wolf is a very important symbol.  

I found yet another connection to Leopold and this poem. The third stanza states:

“And this is what I think: I have given him intrusion.”

Similarly, Leopold writes:

“I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes—something known only to her and to the mountain.”

Maybe the wolf is symbolic of the mystique of nature. Maybe the secrets of the wild are hidden within the eyes of the wolf.  Humans cannot comprehend the connection between non-human animals and nature. Humans will and cannot see through the eyes of the wolf.

Linda Hogan’s “wolves” expands upon this connection with humans and wolves. At one point, she makes reference to how the Anishnabe people believe that we descended from wolves, long ago. Darwin would disagree, but the spiritual connection is touching and I believe more symbolic of this idea of wolves, nature, and our connection to both.

“No matter the reason we say we are here, all of us are intent on seeing the wolves, or hearing them wail the song our Ancestors new the words to.”

“How I became an Elephant” and “The Cove” were incredibly eye opening films about the exploitation and mistreatment of animals, particularly elephants and dolphins. I noticed many similarities within these two films. The filming style is smooth and informative, yet purposely disturbing. The videos seem to combine documentary like interviews, first person perspective shots, and cinema-like filming.  The films focus in on two main protagonists and their battles to save animals: Juliette West and Ric O’Barry . Both are inspiring characters that the directors use as a source of inspiration to personify and figurehead real life movements for animal equality. And both of these films have sub messages or themes that extend beyond the surface.

Ric O’Barry is an incredible character who tells a fascinating story about how he basically created the demand for dolphins, and how he plans to destroy the industry he helped build. The film also exposes the selling of dolphin meat laced with mercury, and the subsequent government cover up.  I thought “the Cove” was a very powerful movie. I liked the use of home-video style scenes, and the ironic marketing films used by sea world and what we perceive as positive interactions with dolphins. Irony seems to be a huge theme in this film. The irony of the Japanese town with all the dolphin signs. The irony of Ric O’Barry being the flipper trainer. The irony of being able to eat dolphin meat while watching dolphin shows. Trying to keep a low profile in japan while at the same time making a film to exploit dolphin mistreatment to the world. I think that irony is a great tool that is well utilized in this film.

On the surface, Juliette is a totally different character than Ric. However, her convictions and her story are motivational in the same way. Her story has the sub-plot of becoming a woman, and learning what she wants to stand for as a strong young lady. The film also incorporated this theme of eastern ideologies mixing with western ideologies, for a common cause. I think that the innocence of Juliette aids in her quest to draw the audience to her cause.

These films really wanted to upset people, and for me, it worked. The voice-over explanation of how sound stresses out dolphins, while showing the dolphins being rounded up and selected for either sale or slaughter, was incredibly sad. The scene where the one dolphin was swimming towards the crew, while bleeding and dying, was really upsetting. The abundance of blood and gore from the elephants and dolphins was intentional and well-used. Watching the elephants being beat and chained really made me empathize with these creatures in a way I haven’t since I was child. I think that is where the theme of “Am I Blue”, this idea of a natural childhood connection with animals, resonated with me. Also, the deep sea diver from “the cove”, Mandy, made a point that I really connected with strongly. I recently went snorkeling in Aruba, and swimming amongst the hundreds of fish was a life changing experience. The entire dive was silent, and I felt a connection with wildlife that I hadn’t ever really felt before. I really loved and appreciated the scene with her swimming and petting the dolphins.  

My article relates to a point that I made earlier in the blog about Alice Walker and using the story of blue to personify other human issues through the tale of animal cruelty. This article, “Animal cruelty and domestic abuse,” makes the connection between cruelty towards animals and cruelty towards humans.

Comfort vs. Consumption

By Anthony D'Angelo III

Consumption was the topic of the readings and viewings we examined this week. Communicating Nature chapters 4 and 5 identified a bunch of concepts and terms that our class used to analyze a variety of works this week, ranging from documentaries, TV shows, YouTube videos and online articles. One of the subjects of chapter 4 was “the links between attitude and behaviors.” I think this was an essential theme to this week’s focus on consumption, because our society is so used to overconsuming, it going to take a serious revision of attitude in order to change our behaviors.

30 days: Working in a Coal Mine did a good job making the connection between coal energy to modern technology. It also showed just how hard and dangerous this line of work is, and how important the job is to the economy of West Virginia. The first thing I noticed was the star power of Morgan Spurlock, who directed, produced and stared in the famous documentary Supersize Me, as well as many other very popular TV series and documentaries. Spurlock has a very recognizable face, and gives instant credibility to whatever it is we the viewers are about to watch (one of the miners even says something along the lines of “I recognize you from that McDonald’s movie.”) He looks and acts a little goofy, but it plays to his audience in a way that captures their attention and even their concern for him. 

This show has a very friendly appeal to it. The background music is perky and upbeat. The producers added cartoon illustrations to show what Spurlock will be doing in the coal mine. The family orientation throughout the show was also very heartwarming.  I like the personal camera shots of Spurlock, divulging his inner feelings about that particular scene. I like seeing someone’s eyes when they are talking to you. The cameramen also do a great job focusing in on the faces of the other workers. It really connects the audience to the people that actually do the job.

I really connected with the shoveling scene of the movie. I have a background in the construction industry, and I remember starting out as a laborer. I really connected with the pain he was feeling after the first day of shoveling for hours straight. How he describes his pain: “beaten with a shovel for hours” and “run over by a coal truck” really resonated with me. I could almost feel my knuckles swell up, my back start to ache, and my biceps lock up. The use of hyperbole in his description of the job is well placed, and justified.

The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard was a very interesting video that is different from anything we have examined in this class so far. It combines cartoons, video blog-style filming and an almost interview or teaching-like intimacy with the audience. It was originally a two hour lecture that was condensed into a “made for YouTube” video. It almost felt like “Environmentalism and Consumption for Dummies” as told by the left. I had a hard time absorbing all of the messages being thrown at me. I felt, while watching this video, that I had been stricken with temporary Environmentalism ADD. From government bashing to breast milk toxins to pollution and over use of resources; it just felt like too much.  It seems as though Leonard’s massage was being directed at junior high students and not adults. It felt way too generalized and dumbed down for my liking. I think the video could have been better had it been a little longer and more descriptive, and maybe had shown some kind of evidence or stats to back up her claims.

No Impact Man was clever and original, but just like The Story of Stuff, I couldn’t really connect with the movie on a personal level.  I found it almost offensive that this privileged, Manhattan-based family did this cutesy, family orientated, eco-friendly experiment (on camera, watched by millions using electricity, for profit). I really have a hard time with these kinds of documentaries. Yes, in theory, this family is trying to make a difference. But are they really making a difference, other than bringing attention and publicity to the issue of overconsumption? (Which shouldn’t be overlooked, but it’s not an “eco” impact as much as it is a publicity stunt.) I feel that this documentary serves as more of an advertisement for the issue of overconsumption rather than a blueprint for how society can change.

I couldn’t help but imagine what all the ladies in our class were thinking when this notion of “no impact man vs no impact family” arose.  If the idea of Eco-feminism came to my mind, I can only imagine what everyone else was thinking.      

“23 year old hasn’t produced any trash in two years” by Chelsea Huang was an optimistic article that I found very appealing for different reasons than most people. I don’t see myself ever being as dedicated to the cause as Lauren Singer. However, her message of “don’t talk about it; be about it” I found was an incredibly refreshing take on environmentalism, from the perspective of an engineering major. 

“Being an environmental studies major you learn quickly that nobody likes being told what to do. I learned really fast to not tell people how to live because they'll never change or learn from you."

Everyone has their own way of trying to deliver a message, and I thought hers was subtle yet affective and very respectable. She seems to be opening up new avenues to send her messages with her blogs and her new position at The Simple Co. I just find it hard to believe that she entirely cut plastic out of her life. The classrooms she learns in, the stores she shops at, the public transportation she uses all in some way utilize plastic. So the idea that she has eliminated plastic from her life I think is silly. But her incredible lifestyle adjustments and personal belief system is very admirable and I think the sustainability and environmental community could use a bright mind like hers moving forward.

Realistically, I connected with the issue of consumption a lot less than other issues we have discussed up to this point, including climate change and fracking. However, the use of paper on our campus horrifies me, and if I’m going to make any contributions to reducing consumption, I feel that I can do my part by using less paper. This article, “Ten Easy Ways to Reduce Paper Consumption,“ details ten very easy ways to consume less paper. Another easy way we can use less paper here on Stony Brook campus would be to allow more use of personal electronic devices in the classroom, and ban printing entire chapters of books at one time. 

When researching ironic green advertising, it seemed only fitting to use BP, who has spent millions since the gulf oil spill to try to convince Americans that they are an environmentally friendly company.

LOL.

This particular advertisement makes the claim that just one year later, the gulf water is a beautiful blue color and the sky is sunny and clear. Oh and by the way, the rigs are still there, and BP’s “commitment” to cleaning the gulf is still strong. To me, this ad is offensive, and is a slap in the face to all the people that lost their businesses.  I’m sure the people of the gulf coast area would like to see BP “commit” themselves elsewhere.