A Nuclear World

By Luke Schmitz

Isao Hashimoto created a short video that shows all of the nuclear explosions between 1945-1998 called Atom Bomb-A Time Lapse Map of Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945.   The video was incredibly haunting, while being almost musical simultaneously.  It began with simply the clicking of time, which was counted by the months of the year.   I felt that this introduction was almost eerie in a sense because it was so quiet, with the simple ticking sound of time along with an explosion noise from each nuclear explosion.  It started out slow, which was what I would have expected because prior to this, I feel that you are unaware of how many explosions have occurred.  However, shortly after, the explosions become like musical sounds because they are so frequent, and the ticking of time acts as a metronome that is constant and subtle.  I felt that it was easy to forget about what you were watching because it felt so similar to a song.  However, it was that effect that made the video so haunting because once you remember that those sounds represent nuclear explosions, it is almost impossible to comprehend how many explosions have taken place.  The video was certainly eye opening, especially when it is shown that the United States has 1,032 nuclear explosions, which was the most of any country.

Full Body Burden is written by Kristen Iversen and explains her story of the Rocky Flats nuclear site.  I thought this novel was interesting because it shows Kristen’s perspective as a child, which shows her innocence.  However, I thought that you could almost compare her innocence and lack of knowledge to the adults in the book.  In the first chapter, it proceeds to say how the elected officials in the area are clueless to the new plant being built in Colorado.  I found this to be interesting because you would think that elected officials should be the first people to learn about huge plants being built, and even they were left in the dark about the plant.  This was a good representation of how big business can have more power than politicians and the government.  I also thought that the book shows how adults have the same lack of information that Kristen has.  On page 12, Kristen asks her mother what Rocky Flats is, and her mother's response is, “I don’t know...It’s run by Dow Chemical.  I think they make cleaning supplies.  Scrubbing bubbles or something.”  I thought that this was a great example of how misinformed the people of the community are and how her mother’s response is almost innocent and something you would hear from a child.  

The use of children seems to be a common theme when discussing nuclear disaster.  I feel as if children are used because they are innocent and shouldn’t have to face the future disasters that nuclear explosions could bring.  The K.I.R. video  Blind is another video that uses children.  The video features a man’s future child who has health problems due to a post-nuclear war.  Once he sees his child’s deteriorated health, he realizes how devastating the world is that he is living in.  I feel like using children in the media is a good way to make an impact because people feel bad for children and can relate to wanting to keep their children safe from harm.  

Into Eternity, directed by Michael Madsen is a movie about Finland creating a nuclear waste site designed underground.  Personally, I found the movie to be ominous and almost frightening.  The movie is very dull in color and has many sounds and beats that are very eerie.  I personally did not like this film because I thought that it was a little difficult to watch due to the lack of music, monotone voices and the fact that every scene seemed so grey.  The scare tactic and monotone voices would have been more effective in a shorter film and would have kept my attention better.  I feel like the full-length movie was simply too long and a bit boring to be as effective as it could have been.

An article on Reuters.com called, “Exclusive-Britain told U.N. monitors of Active Iran Nuclear Procurement: panel,” was written by Louis Charbonneau April 30, 2015.  It shows the concern that the U.K. has for Iranian nuclear control.  I certainly understand the concern that they might have because they don’t want Iran to use any nuclear power for violence.  However, I feel like the U.K. is being hypocritical because they have nuclear control themselves.  Not only that, but according to the video by Hashimoto, the U.K. is responsible for 45 nuclear explosions between 1945-1998.  I feel like a country that is responsible for so many nuclear explosions shouldn’t have so much concern for another country having nuclear control.  I think that this shows just the power of the media because they make Iran seem like the bad guys, when in reality, the U.K. is not an angel by any means.

Activism in the media

By Luke Schmitz

The word activism is a difficult one to define, because everyone has different perspectives on what true activism is.  To some, being an environmental activist means using less plastic.  To others, being an activist means participating in environmental events and protests.  However, some people are extremists and take things into their own hands.  Regardless, being an activist comes in many different styles and levels of participation.  Unfortunately, it seems like the media has a large say in what to label the people who partake in various forms of activism.  

In chapter 10 of “Communicating Nature,” Julia B. Corbett describes different groups of activists and how the media has such a large impact on the way the public views certain groups and ideas.  I think a major part of this chapter is for Julia to educate the reader on the influences of the media.  This is important so that the reader can look at the news with caution and do research on a topic to form personal opinions.  However, I also feel that it is important to educate the reader if they ever decide to become an activist themselves.  This prepares her readers so that they understand how the media might distort their intentions or mislabel them.  

The movie, The East, which is directed by Zal Batmanglij, shows a very extreme example of environmental activism.  This film shows a very grey area because the characters in the group called The East are harming people, but the people they are harming are responsible for hurting and killing thousands of people through the pharmaceutical industry.  In the movie, the media views the activists to such an extreme that they call The East terrorists.  This is a pretty good portrayal of how the media can distort reality.  Although the group does cause chaos, the media portrays them are heartless and harmful people when in reality, they simply want justice.  This movie changed my perspective on the media because I imagined myself sitting on my couch watching the news about The East and I know that I would have thought they were a terrible group of people, when in reality I would be missing half of the story.  The movie helped me open my eyes and ensure that I try to see all angles of a story before forming any feelings on the situation.  

Although The East was a fictional movie, there is activism that occurs in the real world regularly.  In the state of Utah, a man named Tim DeChristopher used peaceful activism to protect land that he felt was sacred.  The documentary, Bidder 70 tells Tim’s story.  Tim illegally bid on land in Utah in order to protect it from being turned into an industrial wasteland.  For the majority of the population, his actions were heroic and justified.  However, because he broke the law, Tim was sentenced to two years in prison.  I think that this is a great contrast to be activism that took place in The East.  Tim was peaceful in his actions and him and his followers didn’t harm anybody.  For Tim, activism meant trying to do the right thing in a peaceful manner.  

Civilians are not the only people who can be activists.  Currently in California, there is a severe drought and the state is running out of water.  However, the governor of California, Jerry Brown, recently proposed a 1.1 billion dollar drought relief bill.  The bill will cover water recycling and drinking water quality, according to the article, “Jerry Brown, lawmakers propose $1.1 billion drought relief bill amid increasing tension,” which was written by David Siders on March 19, 2015 in the Sacramento Bee.  I think that this story is very good because it shows a politician being an activist.  This is important because politicians have the power to enact change, so it is pleasing to see Jerry Brown being environmentally friendly and active.  

David Goodman wrote an article in Yes Magazine, titled, “Deep in the Amazon, a Tiny Tribe is Beating Big Oil.”  It is about Southern Ecuador and how 1,200 people of a tribe called Kichwa have fended off large oil companies from draining the land of its oil.  This story is interesting because it shows the power that activists can have.  In this case, a small village was able to overcome a much larger foe.   They have an interesting approach to their activism, which is both a lifestyle and has turned political.  The article reads, “In 2008, Ecuador’s constitution became the first in the world to codify the rights of nature and specifically sumak kawsay.”  Sumak kawsay means living in harmony with the natural world and that nature has rights they deserve to be protected.  I think that this article is very powerful in showing that even the little guys have a chance at defeating large oil companies.  

The novel, The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood is a fictional, post-apocalyptic story.  In the novel, there are two groups that could be considered activists who are trying to fight for the sake of humanity.  The first group is called the God’s Gardner’s, and they are a peaceful group of people.  Their leader, Adam One who says, “Our role in respect to the Creatures is to bear witness…and to guard the memories and genomes of the departed.  You can’t fight blood with blood.” However, there is a second group called the Madaddams, and they are more violent.  Their view is, “Peace only goes so far…there’s at least a hundred new extinct species since this time last month.  I think that you can compare these two groups to Tim DeChristopher and the members of The East.  If these people lived in the world created by Margaret in her novel, Tim would become a member of God’s Gardners, while the members of The East would join the Madaddams.  Even in the fictional story, there are different forms of activism that are portrayed.

Ultimately, It is very clear from many forms of media that there are far different kinds of “activists.” Both the members of The East and the Madaddams are portrayed as violent activists.  However, the God’s Gardners and Tim DeChristopher would be considered peaceful activists.  Lastly, Jerry Brown is showing political activism.  Lastly, the Kichwa combined their lifestyle with political activism to fight off large companies.  Although all of these people have different methods, they are all considered activists.  

Superfund Sites

The U.S. is filled with many factories and industrial sites throughout its borders.  But what happens to all of the toxic material from these sites?  What happens if these sites are abandoned and all the harmful chemicals are just left there?  Luckily, these sites are far away from people and wouldn’t have any major effects on the health of our citizens, right?  In 1980, the United States implemented a policy called CERCLA, otherwise known as Superfund.  It was established to help cleanup abandoned hazardous waste sites.  There are over 1700 Superfund sites and 1 in 6 Americans live within 3 miles from a Superfund Site.

National Geographic released a short clip in 2014 that can be found on YouTube called, Do you Live Near a Superfund Site.  The clip is short, but incredibly powerful.  It is meant to be an informative clip about Superfund Sites and gives off an incredibly ominous tone.  The music in the background is dark and mysterious, which almost seems to give the viewer chills while watching.  Also, I thought the clip was very powerful because it shows different superfund sites, which all appear dark and toxic. However, most of the time, there are either animals or people that are showed right next to the toxicity.  In one part, there are children playing baseball right next to the Gowanus Canal.  I felt like the Gowanus Canal is almost personified here because it looks like a dark being that is hovering over the innocence of these children.  I think the point of this clip was to raise awareness and push viewers to want to know more about Superfund Sites and I think it succeeds in doing so with the use of dark imagery and ominous music.  

Paul Voosen wrote an article for National Geographic published in 2014, called, “Wasteland.” In his article, he includes the personal story of a man named Jun Apostol who lived in a neighborhood in Los Angeles right next to a Superfund Site.  By using this personal account, it is a great way to show how the public truly feels about these sites.  Apostol explains how when the site was bad, people in his neighborhood were getting nauseous and property values were decreasing.  However, this article is interesting because it shows how Apostol feels after the EPA cleaned the site.  He says that, “People have forgotten about it” and goes on to say that he has respect for the EPA’s intervention.  I think this is an interesting point of view because it shows that once these sites are cleaned, people go back to their daily lives and think of these sites as a thing of the past.  After this paragraph, Voosen gives statistics on how there are 1700 Superfund Sites in the U.S.  I think this is done on purpose to show that although these sites can be managed, there are still thousands across the United States and it is still an ongoing problem.   

I feel that people generally have a greater reaction to a situation when they know that the harming of children is involved.  Grist posted an online article in 2006 called, “Houston kids living near a Superfund site tell their stories in pictures,” which shows how children are affected by toxic sites.  The article uses words that really make the reader have sympathy for these children.  It says, “these youngsters come of age amidst toxic waste and illegal dump sites; all too often, their neighbors are poverty, neglect, and despair.”  I think that this sentence uses very powerful imagery because it truly shows the hardships that these children face surrounded by a Superfund Site.  Luckily, a woman named Rhonda Adams created something called GROW, a program that gives children cameras, art supplies and lessons in everything from photography to lead pollution.  The children then document the Superfund Site and make collages.  I feel that this is an awesome image of light vs. dark.  The children are born into this dark, evil and toxic community, but they are fighting their way out of this hell.

I found a TEDx talk on YouTube posted in 2014 by Natalie Loney, the Community Involvement Coordinator for the Gowanus Canal.  The video is called, Cleaning up a local superfund site:  Natalie Loney at TEDxGowanus.  I found her presentation to be very informative but with an added sense of humor.  Unlike some informative speeches, Natalie added a sense of humor and optimism that made the speech very enjoyable to listen to.  Her humor is shown when she is explaining how there is no freshwater that is able to enter the Canal so it is never flushed out.  Then, in a sarcastic and humorous tone, she explains that the Canal had “additional sewage added to it to flush it out.”  I also thought that her speech was very optimistic because for every problem that she spoke about regarding Gowanus, she had a plan to remedy the problem.  This speech had an opposite effect that the clip from National Geographic had.  That clip was dark and ominous, while this clip was more humorous and optimistic.  Nonetheless, I feel that both clips are equally as powerful in gaining awareness.  The Nat. Geo. Clip is used to scare the viewer into taking action, while Loney gives the viewer optimism and a sense of power that there is a remedy for the Canal.

An article posted in 2013 by the Epoch Times called, “Canal Side Development Reshaping Gowanus,” shows how there is flourishing property values near the Canal.  I found this article to be interesting because the author, Sarah Matheson writes about how putrid and toxic the Canal is, however, she also includes how it has a bright future due to rising housing prices and increased development around the Canal.  I feel like this article shows the greed and incompetence of both developing companies and the citizens of the area.  Sarah writes that, “Entrepreneurs have brought trendy business concepts to the neighborhood in recent years,” which shows that there is increased development in the area.  However, Sarah also writes, “Contaminants from manufactured gas plants, tanneries, mills, and chemical plants that used to operate along the canal have left mutagenic and carcinogenic agents, coal tar and other industrial waste in sediment in the canal.”  I can’t help but feel like this article is informative to the public to understand what they are getting themselves into by moving to such a toxic area.  As the reader of this article, I almost thought it was humorous because of the incompetence of the people moving into these neighborhoods surrounding the Canal.  I hope that it raises awareness in potential residents of surrounding neighborhoods.

The HBO show called Bored to Death is a comedy about a writer in Brooklyn who is also an unlicensed detective.  However, the second season of the show, which aired in 2010 has an episode that is called, The Gowanus Canal has Gonorrhea.  Although the Gowanus doesn’t literally have a sexually transmitted disease, it is symbolic for the Canal as being a dirty entity.  I think this is interesting because even in a fictional television show, the Canal is being depicted as being toxic.  Perhaps going swimming in the Canal wouldn’t give you an STD, but in another article, a man writes about a hypothetical and figurative situation on what would happen if he drank a glass of water from the Canal.  The actual effects of the Canal are much better than getting an STD.

Dan Nosowitz posted an article in 2010 on popsci.com, called, “What would happen if you Drank Water from the Gowanus Canal?” This article can be shared on any form of social media such as Facebook and Twitter.  I thought this article was very cool because it puts you in a figurative situation of drinking a glass of water from the Canal and talks about some of the impacts of the Canal.  In regarding the effects of drinking the water, Dan writes, “Some pretty nasty gastrointestinal punishment, ranging from some light puking to full on E-coli or dysentery.”  Not to mention, the different carcinogens and other cancer inducing chemicals.  Reading this article makes me feel like I am put into a situation where I really drink a glass of water from the Canal, which disgusts me and makes me further understand the toxicity of the Canal.  Aside from the figurative style of writing, I also thought that some of the pictures that were included in the article are very powerful.  There is a picture of the dirty Canal and in the foreground of the picture there is a life preserver that is dirty and laying there lifeless.  I think that this image shows that even something that is used to save lives is struggling to survive.  The life preserver looks worn down and useless next to the life-draining Canal.

The media uses different techniques to describe Superfund Sites, from using comedy, imagery, figurative writing, and music.  However, it seems to be a common theme that Superfund Sites are toxic and negative additions to our nation.  In all of the sources that I found, they all seem to be informative to the viewer or reader so that people understand the detrimental consequences of Superfund Sites.  However, it is also a common theme that many people are fond of the Superfund policy because it is doing a great job at cleaning up these hazardous sites. 

Coexistence

By Luke Schmitz

We live on a planet that is filled with creatures of all shapes and sizes.  There are giant whales in the sea, small insects and everything in-between.  I think it is easy for people to forget that they are not the only creatures around and disregard the other creatures that inhabit the planet.  Because there are many people who are so removed from nature, those people get their opinions of nature based on many different advertisements, and not their own experiences.  Unfortunately, the different forms of media/advertisements give false perceptions about animals.

In the sixth chapter of “Communicating Nature,” Julia B. Corbett writes about how many advertisements we are exposed to on a daily basis.  She also explains how the environment is featured in many different advertisements and is used to attract products to people.  I feel that Julia includes this in her book to educate the reader so that you don’t fall for advertisement tricks.  She writes that it is an oxymoron for companies to use the environment in their advertisements, while they are not environmentally friendly at all.  I feel that the purpose of this chapter was almost like a warning to the reader to shop for products that are actually environmentally friendly and ignore the products that pretend to be.  Often times, advertisements are what give people certain perceptions of animals.

In the book, Dwellings and her essay “Deify the Wolf,” Linda Hogan explains how everything in nature is connected and has meaning.  However, she writes that humans have negative feelings towards certain animals, such as wolves.  This is similar to chapter seven of Communicating Nature because Julia writes about how people have preconceived opinions of different animals based on how they are “sold” to us.  People have had hatred towards wolves for a long time because they are perceived as fierce predators.  In fact, we are taught that wolves are bad from a young age in stories such as Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs.  Linda has a much different approach towards wolves than most people, and compares humans to descendants of wolves.  In regards to a wolf howl, Linda writes, “It stirs inside the body, taking us down from our world of logic, down the deeper lost regions of ourselves into a memory so ancient we have lose the name for it.”  I think Linda is trying to show that the wolf is a majestic creature and she compares them to humans to show people that the wolf is not a bad creature at all.  I personally think wolves are amazing creatures and it is so sad that humans have been so cruel to them in the past.  It is great to see people like Linda advocate for such a beautiful and intelligent predator.

Unfortunately, wolves are not the only animals that have been targeted by humans.  In Taiji, Japan, dolphins are captured and either sold or murdered for their meat.  The film, The Cove exposes the atrocities that are taking place in Taiji towards dolphins.  The film is directed by Louie Psihoyos and shows Ric O’Barry capture video footage of the dolphins being murdered.  I think that what makes this film so powerful is because it shows how many human characteristics dolphins have.  Ric explains a situation when he was holding a dolphin that committed “suicide” in his arms.  The dolphin closed its blowhole so that it couldn’t breathe.  Ric uses anthropomorphism by using the word suicide to make the dolphin appear more like a human.  

The common theme among many of these films and writings is that animals have very human-like qualities.  I think that they are especially given these qualities to show readers that these animals are living creatures that should be treated respectfully.  In the essay, Am I Blue by Alice Walker, she writes about a horse and gives an incredible amount of human characteristics to the horse.  Alice explains how Blue (her neighbors horse) was very “lonely” in his paddock.  Blue then gets a female horse to mate with and seems much happier.  Once his mate leaves, Alice writes, “If I had been born into slavery, and my partner had been sold or killed, my eyes would have looked like that.”  I think that this quote is extremely powerful because it truly depicts Blue as a human.  Blue is portrayed to have loved and lost, which are emotions that are generally associated with humans.  While reading this, it feels as if you are reading a romance drama about two people, which truly shows how similar and connected animals are with people because they can both feel similar emotions.   

The film, How I Became an Elephant, tells a story of a 14-year-old girl named Juliette West and how she embarked on a mission to save the South East Asian elephant.  I think this film was very inspirational because of how young Juliette is.  She is merely 14 years old, and many people would probably consider her just a child.  However, this child shows how much can be done as long as there is the willpower.  If one 14-year-old girl can make such a difference, then the viewers should be inspired to help make a difference as well.  According to a New York Times article titled, “Elephants to Retire From Ringling Brothers Stage,” the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey announced that they would no longer use elephants in their circus acts.  New York Times Reporter Richard Perez-Pena writes, “The debated reflect people’s unwillingness to accept animal treatment-from laboratories to farms to film sets to bullrings-that their grandparents might have taken for granted.”  The article shows how activists that are fighting for animal rights are achieving their goals of protecting animals.  Remember, all animals are living creatures sharing this planet with us.

Luke Schmitz -- Blog 4: Garbage/Consumption

By Luke Schmitz

Technology has advanced at an exponential rate in the past few centuries and has had very positive effects on our everyday lives.  However, there are many negative effects that come along with the positive ones.  First-world countries have learned to be reliant on luxuries such as electricity and automobiles, forgetting that these things require a large quantity of fossil fuels.  Although most people only see the benefits that these luxuries supply, obtaining these fuels can be dirty, unhealthy and incredibly dangerous.  This increased dependence on fossil fuels has helped to further distance people from nature and aid in our dependence for modern technologies and materials.  

In Chapter 4 of “Communicating Nature,” Julia B. Corbett explains the differences between “wants” and “needs” and how often times, we want certain things simply for their symbol in society.  She writes, “In this way, our ‘needs’ are not so much needs for objects as they are needs for social meaning and differentiation.”  I feel that Corbett is trying to reach out to a wide audience, explaining that our desires for materialistic objects are sought after for social acceptance.  She is trying to explain that we use these objects as ways to define ourselves, which is unnecessary and untrue.  I feel that when most people read this, it will make them aware of how they are using materialistic objects to define themselves and hopefully help them stop.  

In Chapter 5 of “Communicating Nature,” Corbett explains how removed we really are from nature.  Even when we think we are entering nature, we are still so far removed from it.  When people visit national parks, they use different means of transportation to visit.  Most people visit in cars or use planes to get to the park, emitting pollutants into the air while trying to “escape” into nature, which is ironic. Aside from that, many people stay in hotels, which have electricity, running water and other modern elements of life.  I think that reading this helps for us to understand how much reliance we have on technology and gives the reader insight on how to change that.  For example, the next time someone visits a national park, they can remove themselves from a hotel room and try to camp instead.   

Many people will know Morgan Spurlock as the man who made a documentary about eating McDonald’s three times a day for a full month.  After the documentary’s success, he created a television show called 30 Days, where he lives an unfamiliar lifestyle for a full month.  In one episode, Morgan lives with a mineworker and his wife, Dale and Sandy Lusk for 30 days.  I felt that this show did a great job in raising awareness of how dangerous the mines are because it had such a personal approach to it.   It reveals the dangers and damages created by the mine industry and what the men need to go through on a daily basis at work, which includes traveling deep beneath the ground breathing in terrible toxins.  Dale’s brother Coy was a miner for 30 years and is filmed because he developed Black Lung, which is a disease that occurs from inhaling coal dust.  I felt that this added to how personal the documentary is because it was exposing the disease in the family and the hardships that come along with it.  When viewers see personal struggles from an everyday person, they feel they can relate, which helps to raise awareness towards how miserable conditions are for miners due to our severe dependence on coal for energy.

There are many effective ways to reach out to people to raise awareness for our overconsumption and how to limit the effect we have on our environment.  Annie Leanard is an environmental activist who made a short film called, The Story of Stuff to try and help raise awareness towards our overconsumption.  However, I found the film to be very dry and ineffective in raising awareness.  There is no background music and the entire film has a white, bland background.  Although Annie does incorporate cartoons and animations, I felt that her speech was more of a sales pitch and did a poor job at captivating an audience.  I feel that she would need to stop spitting facts, have more music and perhaps different pictures or videos to make the film better.

In the film Synthetic Sea, by Captain Charles Moore, he explains the damages caused by plastic in the sea.  This film is very effective in reaching out to people because I think many people react to dying animals.  It shows how plastics are polluting the sea and killing many innocent creatures.  Although we still produce a large amount of plastic, it is pleasing to know that some people are fighting towards producing zero plastic waste.  Lauren Singer is a 23 year old girl living in Brooklyn.  Lauren has not produced waste in over two years!  She produces all of her own household items such as toothpaste and deodorant and hardly uses any plastic at all.  I really like the way she advocates being sustainable, because she doesn’t try to convince people to follow her lead, but she tries to set an example so people get motivated by her actions.  I think that her attitude is very similar to a man named Colin Beavan, who also tries practices what he preaches.  I think that people do not like being told what to do, but if they see how others are living a sustainable lifestyle, it is easier for them to follow along. 

Colin Beavan made a documentary about him and his family creating absolute minimal impact on the environment for a year.  No Impact Man follows the family as they stop eating meat, eat locally grown foods and turn off their electricity.  I found this to be a very motivational film because the family was practicing what they preached by living a lifestyle that produced such small impact.  I also thought it was interesting to note how Michelle (Colin’s wife) seemed to struggle with the changes in their lifestyle the most.  She was used to constant shopping, coffee drinking and eating steak.  However, the lifestyle changes seemed to have the least impact on the couple’s daughter, a two-year-old girl.  I thought this was interesting because it showed how their daughter had yet to develop a dependency on modern technology and was able to cope with these changes easily.  I also really enjoyed how Colin said he would try to give up everything so that after a year, he could see what is realistic to ask others to give up.  The documentary had a very realistic approach to it and Colin used his family as the “test-dummies” before trying to convince others to follow in his footsteps.  The documentary forces you to ask, What am I willing to give up in an effort to save the environment?