Sustainability @ MindSay 
All Across the Ups and Downs
new job coming up. thot i'd take the weekend off. hold my shit down.
meaning: cross the cultures cross the city --> bathed in radiant lights of day and street light nights
1. don real fur. skate down to the bros and the girls drinking James Ready in the hot hot hot afternoon light... some were down with the veggie burgers --> this is sorta East Village North in a way so it's all good (understood?)
2. when Nixon and I finally made it up north there to the midtown Italian - Portuguese festival, the burning ball in the sky had shifted to a sentimental circle that was bent on adding colour to the evening of Brazilian dancers, uniformed stage bands and the six blocks jammed with immigrant families, young couples and blue collar workers. the empty streetcar tracks disappeared with the curve of the hillside into the distant haze of the midtown landscape -- it was a light but thick green.
3. saw an old roommate i hadn`t talked to in years. that went pretty well. looked pretty bulky. i thought he would be a bitch to me. but he was pretty cool. but he did talk a bit in riddles, if you know what i mean. like, the way people talk to you when they have some negative opinion about you (i.e. their ego is telling them they`re better than you) but they don`t really want to tell you.
4. heard a new version of this laid back band`s wikkidist song. we had to pass through one dark bar, and head through a curtain to the back room to take in the set. the guitar screams california. the lyrics inspired. apparently the drummer holds shit together. they could be for hippies or hipsters -- and yet they wouldn`t belong to either category. somehow the tunes are crisp and marketable. you just know they don`t think they`re better than anyone -- ya know... apparently they`ve just started recording my favourite track -- and, this stoked me out, the drumbeat they just laid down is pretty damn intense, the lead singer says...
5. gathered gossip on the inner-workings of the jungle crews of the city. one of the star players in the scene is looking for a new home. *but i may have already witnessed the next step --- I talked to a powerful party promoter that`s trying to bring FG on board... that was random but nice to hear
6. met up with my womens studies girl and just chilled on her porch at like 3 a.m. or whatever. i guess she likes dubstep now. and MIA. obviously. I guess the new vid with Rye Rye is just SMOKING HOT. (i.e. the girls are smoking hot -- chillin on a couch or something). this coming from a women`s studies major.
7. made some beats. yeah.
8. and etc.
meaning: cross the cultures cross the city --> bathed in radiant lights of day and street light nights
1. don real fur. skate down to the bros and the girls drinking James Ready in the hot hot hot afternoon light... some were down with the veggie burgers --> this is sorta East Village North in a way so it's all good (understood?)
2. when Nixon and I finally made it up north there to the midtown Italian - Portuguese festival, the burning ball in the sky had shifted to a sentimental circle that was bent on adding colour to the evening of Brazilian dancers, uniformed stage bands and the six blocks jammed with immigrant families, young couples and blue collar workers. the empty streetcar tracks disappeared with the curve of the hillside into the distant haze of the midtown landscape -- it was a light but thick green.
3. saw an old roommate i hadn`t talked to in years. that went pretty well. looked pretty bulky. i thought he would be a bitch to me. but he was pretty cool. but he did talk a bit in riddles, if you know what i mean. like, the way people talk to you when they have some negative opinion about you (i.e. their ego is telling them they`re better than you) but they don`t really want to tell you.
4. heard a new version of this laid back band`s wikkidist song. we had to pass through one dark bar, and head through a curtain to the back room to take in the set. the guitar screams california. the lyrics inspired. apparently the drummer holds shit together. they could be for hippies or hipsters -- and yet they wouldn`t belong to either category. somehow the tunes are crisp and marketable. you just know they don`t think they`re better than anyone -- ya know... apparently they`ve just started recording my favourite track -- and, this stoked me out, the drumbeat they just laid down is pretty damn intense, the lead singer says...
5. gathered gossip on the inner-workings of the jungle crews of the city. one of the star players in the scene is looking for a new home. *but i may have already witnessed the next step --- I talked to a powerful party promoter that`s trying to bring FG on board... that was random but nice to hear
6. met up with my womens studies girl and just chilled on her porch at like 3 a.m. or whatever. i guess she likes dubstep now. and MIA. obviously. I guess the new vid with Rye Rye is just SMOKING HOT. (i.e. the girls are smoking hot -- chillin on a couch or something). this coming from a women`s studies major.
7. made some beats. yeah.
8. and etc.
Ever wonder where those chicken nuggets originated?
If you don't have the time or focus or inclination to read the whole book, do read the second chapter - The Year of Eating Locally.
New Sustainability Blog
Hello all! Please check out my new sustainability blog at:
http://megantmorrison.mindsay.com/
Have a great day!
http://megantmorrison.mindsay.com/
Have a great day!
Chipotle Clarification
It's always nice to be able to say you were wrong about something when it's in a positive way. For many years I've had a prejudice against Chipotle Mexican Grill because I'd heard it was owned by McDonald's and because of the whole Fast Food Nation thing. Though I'm not 100%, I do try very hard to be conscious of where my dairy, eggs and meat come from. (Yes, yes, I wish I could be a real vegetarian but the fact is, I can't shake meat, and really for my health issues the best protein is meat protein.)
So a few weeks ago I got a coupon in the mail from a nearby Chipotle offering me a free burrito, burrito bol or salad. The coupon sat around for a while and I finally put it in my purse this week but couldn't bring myself to use it, and then decided I could score my free meal if I got a meatless burrito. Since I've been bored beyond tears at work, I went to the website and was so happy to see that I've been wrong about the quality and origins of their meat products. At least at this point they are very careful to show how careful they are and that sustainability is of importance to them. The McDonald's tie is still fuzzy to me, but I do believe they're related somehow.
Tonight I stopped after work, got a grilled chicken burrito w/ guacamole and trotted out with my free burrito in the bag! (Of course, I did my weigh-in BEFORE I ate it all up.) It was quite yummy, and I will go back. And as happy as I was to tell people they shouldn't eat there, I must be as happy to say if those issues are important to you, too, then you should check 'em out and be more well-informed than I was.
So a few weeks ago I got a coupon in the mail from a nearby Chipotle offering me a free burrito, burrito bol or salad. The coupon sat around for a while and I finally put it in my purse this week but couldn't bring myself to use it, and then decided I could score my free meal if I got a meatless burrito. Since I've been bored beyond tears at work, I went to the website and was so happy to see that I've been wrong about the quality and origins of their meat products. At least at this point they are very careful to show how careful they are and that sustainability is of importance to them. The McDonald's tie is still fuzzy to me, but I do believe they're related somehow.
Tonight I stopped after work, got a grilled chicken burrito w/ guacamole and trotted out with my free burrito in the bag! (Of course, I did my weigh-in BEFORE I ate it all up.) It was quite yummy, and I will go back. And as happy as I was to tell people they shouldn't eat there, I must be as happy to say if those issues are important to you, too, then you should check 'em out and be more well-informed than I was.
Workshop with Peter Cumings
The workshop with Peter Cumings was perhaps the most inspirational and informative session we’ve had since our arrival in Australia. We were encouraged to develop our individual definition and ideas of sustainability through group discussions and self reflection. So what is sustainability?
There is no completely right answer, but these are some of our reflections:
Conscience participation in the web of life
Recognizing that we are both insignificant and significant – while we are just another species on the earth, our actions are the most earth-altering
Sustainability is about a lot of things – cultures, species diversity, economics, spirituality, etc…
Recognizing our place in the environment and acting responsibility, keeping in mind that we may not know the full effects of our actions
Living off the “interest” not the “capital” of our planet; being able to “bequeath” the capital to future generations
I realized in this workshop that I am a fairly thoughtless consumer. I do not look to see where my clothes come from before I buy them; I do not look into the companies which I invest in; I do not check to see if my food was harvested in Chile, shipped to Japan to be processed, and then finally sent to my grocery store in California. For this reason, I am responsible for countless carbon emissions which never before crossed my mind. I was not figuring in externalities in the cost of my purchases. Although this realization was shocking, rather than feeling discouraged by this new information, I felt empowered by my belief in my ability to change my lifestyle, as well as to gently influence others to embrace sustainablity. As consumers, we control supply through the things we buy, the questions we ask, and where we buy. If we act as healthy, sustainable consumers, the market place will react in a positive way. Already in the past few decades, for instance, the demand for organic food has risen tremendously. Although this raises questions as to where supply comes from (of course it is better to buy local organic food), already producers are aware that trends are changing.
Have you ever thought about what percentage of your food you grow vs. buy locally vs. regionally vs. internationally? What are the carbon, health, and humanitarian impacts? While doing this exercise in class, I thought about spices. Here is a hypothetical situation: The curry powder that is on your table was picked by poorly-paid workers in a small town in India. These spices were then dried and shipped off to a processing plant at company headquarters in Hong Kong. After being packaged and labeled, these were shipped to a distribution center in NYC. Finally, they arrived at your local store in Fresno, California where they sat waiting for you until the day you purchased them. How many thousands of miles has this spice traveled? How much power was used by the many facilities the spice passed through? On top of this, spices have very beneficial effects for the body; their shelf life, however, is only about a year. By the time you ingest those spices, have the beneficial properties all but disappeared? What would be the difference in TASTE and health benefits between fresh curry powder and curry powder that is several years old?
There are so many things we can do: Start food co-ops with our neighbors, family, or friends, grow your own food to eat and trade, shop at a farmers market, learn to freeze/pickle/dry/can our own foods. These things benefit our community, our health, and have countless other effects across the board. 80% of the water in the US is used for farming; however, everyday, millions of grocery stores in the US throw excess produce into their garbage bins. This means we are throwing away the resources -- the water and energy -- that went into the "extra" food.
Households are a key level of engagement and we can very easily learn to cut back on our emissions by adjusting our habits and thinking about sustainable design. Most energy used in a household comes from space heating, space cooling, and water heating. By lowering the temperature on our thermostate by 5 degrees in the winter (to 65 rather than 70), and keeping it higher in the summer (at 75 rather than 70), as well as by taking 5 minute showers, we can save a tremendous amount of energy.
The following is a site about sustainable housing: http://www.subiacosustainable.com.au/
By the end of the workshop, I felt overwhelmed by the amount of changes that I thought I should make. I considered gardening, how to become more involved in the local community, strawbale houses, my food purchases, clothing purchases, and many, many other things.
In my reflection, I was more hopeful: “I feel like it would be so easy to attain, yet it is such a foreign concept. I guess that’s why we need dedicated communities. If our communities were dedicated, we could have a much smaller impact on the earth and our lifestyles would not have to be changed dramatically.” Realistically, very few people around the world will be living in solar-powered, strawbale communities with local gardens in 2060. But people may be buying more local food, driving LPG cars (which release half as many emissions as petrol cars), and building their houses in a way that allows them to use very little central heat and cooling while still being comfortable. The differences will be subtle, but they will have big effects on the world.
Other ways to make a difference:
Recognize that sustainability is a cyclical process.
Be bold and influential – become great at what you do and be charismatic
Engage with people from all levels of society
In closing, I should say that Peter Cumings is an amazing, generous man with a passion for sustainability.
Check out the website of his company, Sustainable Futures Australia here: http://www.sustainablefutures.com.au/
Megan
An interesting tidbit: Cane toads, an introduced species, are killing off goannas – a large lizard which preys on crocodile eggs. Many people in Queensland are very worried because Crocodiles will have a 100% birth rate, rather than the 20% birth rate of previous generations.
There is no completely right answer, but these are some of our reflections:
Conscience participation in the web of life
Recognizing that we are both insignificant and significant – while we are just another species on the earth, our actions are the most earth-altering
Sustainability is about a lot of things – cultures, species diversity, economics, spirituality, etc…
Recognizing our place in the environment and acting responsibility, keeping in mind that we may not know the full effects of our actions
Living off the “interest” not the “capital” of our planet; being able to “bequeath” the capital to future generations
I realized in this workshop that I am a fairly thoughtless consumer. I do not look to see where my clothes come from before I buy them; I do not look into the companies which I invest in; I do not check to see if my food was harvested in Chile, shipped to Japan to be processed, and then finally sent to my grocery store in California. For this reason, I am responsible for countless carbon emissions which never before crossed my mind. I was not figuring in externalities in the cost of my purchases. Although this realization was shocking, rather than feeling discouraged by this new information, I felt empowered by my belief in my ability to change my lifestyle, as well as to gently influence others to embrace sustainablity. As consumers, we control supply through the things we buy, the questions we ask, and where we buy. If we act as healthy, sustainable consumers, the market place will react in a positive way. Already in the past few decades, for instance, the demand for organic food has risen tremendously. Although this raises questions as to where supply comes from (of course it is better to buy local organic food), already producers are aware that trends are changing.
Have you ever thought about what percentage of your food you grow vs. buy locally vs. regionally vs. internationally? What are the carbon, health, and humanitarian impacts? While doing this exercise in class, I thought about spices. Here is a hypothetical situation: The curry powder that is on your table was picked by poorly-paid workers in a small town in India. These spices were then dried and shipped off to a processing plant at company headquarters in Hong Kong. After being packaged and labeled, these were shipped to a distribution center in NYC. Finally, they arrived at your local store in Fresno, California where they sat waiting for you until the day you purchased them. How many thousands of miles has this spice traveled? How much power was used by the many facilities the spice passed through? On top of this, spices have very beneficial effects for the body; their shelf life, however, is only about a year. By the time you ingest those spices, have the beneficial properties all but disappeared? What would be the difference in TASTE and health benefits between fresh curry powder and curry powder that is several years old?
There are so many things we can do: Start food co-ops with our neighbors, family, or friends, grow your own food to eat and trade, shop at a farmers market, learn to freeze/pickle/dry/can our own foods. These things benefit our community, our health, and have countless other effects across the board. 80% of the water in the US is used for farming; however, everyday, millions of grocery stores in the US throw excess produce into their garbage bins. This means we are throwing away the resources -- the water and energy -- that went into the "extra" food.
Households are a key level of engagement and we can very easily learn to cut back on our emissions by adjusting our habits and thinking about sustainable design. Most energy used in a household comes from space heating, space cooling, and water heating. By lowering the temperature on our thermostate by 5 degrees in the winter (to 65 rather than 70), and keeping it higher in the summer (at 75 rather than 70), as well as by taking 5 minute showers, we can save a tremendous amount of energy.
The following is a site about sustainable housing: http://www.subiacosustainable.com.au/
By the end of the workshop, I felt overwhelmed by the amount of changes that I thought I should make. I considered gardening, how to become more involved in the local community, strawbale houses, my food purchases, clothing purchases, and many, many other things.
In my reflection, I was more hopeful: “I feel like it would be so easy to attain, yet it is such a foreign concept. I guess that’s why we need dedicated communities. If our communities were dedicated, we could have a much smaller impact on the earth and our lifestyles would not have to be changed dramatically.” Realistically, very few people around the world will be living in solar-powered, strawbale communities with local gardens in 2060. But people may be buying more local food, driving LPG cars (which release half as many emissions as petrol cars), and building their houses in a way that allows them to use very little central heat and cooling while still being comfortable. The differences will be subtle, but they will have big effects on the world.
Other ways to make a difference:
Recognize that sustainability is a cyclical process.
Be bold and influential – become great at what you do and be charismatic
Engage with people from all levels of society
In closing, I should say that Peter Cumings is an amazing, generous man with a passion for sustainability.
Check out the website of his company, Sustainable Futures Australia here: http://www.sustainablefutures.com.au/
Megan
An interesting tidbit: Cane toads, an introduced species, are killing off goannas – a large lizard which preys on crocodile eggs. Many people in Queensland are very worried because Crocodiles will have a 100% birth rate, rather than the 20% birth rate of previous generations.
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