Inclusionary Planning: A New Concept

(CMP 4280 Ecology Planning Workshop Class 1)

Today we had our first CMP 4280 (Ecology Planning Workshop) class and went over a few of the previous year workshop's documents. After going over those documents I started to brainstorm some of the other things that should be included in helping Bluff become a town.

One concept that occurred to me was the idea of inclusionary planning. What is inclusionary planning? In working with Bluff, Utah we need to include all it's residents (human, animal, insect, and plant), environments, cultures, characteristics, infrastructure, landscapes, needs, wants, past, present, future, etc. This is inclusionary planning. In other words inclusionary planning is seeking to incorporate everything and everyone into the planning process.

After sitting through the third class period our discussion turned to our potential to effect change in the places of influence we have. One specific thing that happened during the class was a brief discussion on who the "developer" truly is. Professor Goldsmith said something along the lines of, the developer is you and I, it is the public, city, and stakeholders, its everyone potentially involved. This is another way to better understand inclusionary planning. The development or plan includes all potential parties.

This way of planning, if not already the current track for planning, should be the future and only way to plan.



Definitions:

Inclusive: including or covering all the services, facilities, or items normally expected or required.

All-inclusive: including everything or everyone.

Ways You Can Help the Environment Today!

On the TRAX train last Thursday I had a conversation with a classmate on the things we have learned in our Green Communities class. We were both in awe of the information and harmful things we had been doing to our environment unknowingly. Right before I got of the train the conversation moved to housing and the question was raised as to why, with the evidences we have, doesn't the Local, State and Federal Governments implement new building regulations in favor of greener more environmentally friendly designs and resource efficiencies?

The know how and technology is there we just haven't started to mass produce homes with the same green guidelines. In our day there are so many subsidies on everything we never know what the real costs are. Using green technologies in home building is not only naturally cheaper, but they are drastically cheaper monthly for heating and electricity as well. It would have you thousands of dollars a year to have a home built with green technologies, and it would be a lot nicer too.

A video I watched the other day that opened my eyes a bit on this topic was the following video:

Often times when studying the topics I do I feel helpless as to what I can do to make a difference. Well here are a few ways:

• Next time you are looking for a home, ask about the following:
• Does it have a grey water system
• Does it use solar power
• Was it built to use natural sunlight
• Does it have a rainwater harvesting system
• Quality of insulation
• Does it have double pane windows 
• Does it have dual flush toilets
• Does it have a programmable thermostat 
• Does it have a green or cool roofs
• Was it built with reused building materials 
• Is it a zero energy home

Why or how does this help?

It's simple really, the more you ask about it the more realtors look for those types of properties. Which splashes over to builders building new homes using these technologies. 

• Write your local, state, and federal government representatives pushing for green technologies to be mandatory building practices.

Why or how does this help?

If green technologies became the law all homes would be built better and in the long run cost thousands of dollars less. Carbon emissions would decrease thus improving air quality and these same regulations would be used to build commercial and other buildings. This would become a standard building policy and would become a major topic for governments to focus on.

There are several other ways to help, these were just catalysts to help you get started. Have other ideas share them in the comments or need other ideas contact me today!

Soliphilia and the Zero Waste Project

I have been racking my brain to see how I can make a difference today in the world in which we live, in class on Tuesday a young lady came in and spoke to us about the Alta Sustainability Leadership Awards. Although this didn't give me an idea it did solidify a feeling I had the other day to finally put a project into play in order to improve the world around me.

The thought that popped into my head was "Zero Waste", a post that I was trying to write but couldn't get the right angle on how to write it. Today we were asked to write about soliphilia - the love of and responsibility for a place, bioregion, planet and the unity of interrelated interests within it.

This idea of the zero waste stems from my soliphilia for my neighborhood, Orem, Utah County, Utah, the United States, and the world. I have been made aware of my waste and want to participate in not only reducing my waste, but eliminating what I don't recycle. Everything can be reused or repurposed, my problem has been knowing how to do that.

That is why I'm creating the Zero Waste Project. The Zero Waste Project is basically getting educated and making changes in our lives to reduce product purchases and our carbon footprint, reuse products, and recycle everything.

I have almost no clue on how to go about doing this, that is where the other part of soliphilia comes in. We need to work together to get educated, then make a change.

Things I know:

How can I reduce product buying and my carbon footprint?
First a carbon footprint is the measurement of amount of carbon your activity emits on a daily basis.

- Was is this bad? It's bad because the amount of carbon dioxide we emit is messing with the delicate balance in our atmosphere. Too much carbon dioxide = more trapped heat, and that leads to a lot of potentially negative effects.

(Before I started studying Urban Ecology, I had heard the term carbon footprint, but didn't really know what it meant. This part is to help those of you who don't know what it means.)

To reduce our carbon footprint there are a lot of things we can do. Drive less, turn off your car instead of letting it idle, use less of the AC and heater, turn off lights, only plug your phone in when you need to and don't have it plugged in over night, (this one is tough but) watch less tv/netflix, use natural light more, turn off your computer, unplug appliances you aren't using, close the fridge door faster or don't let it stand open, try switching to solar power to charge phones and appliances, or switch your home to solar power better insulate your home, bike more, walk more. There is a ton we can do!

As far as products,

How can I reuse products?
I have a few shirts that have holes in the elbows. I can give them to the DI, mend them, or make them into something else like a blanket, bag, dog toy, scarf, bracelet, braided rug, dish towel, pajama pants, pillow or pillowcase, doll, belt, sling, home decoration, bean bags, beanie, Halloween costume, bibs, patches for other shirts or coats, etc.

Shoes can be donated: Nike's Better World

Here is a list of other ideas on how to reuse your stuff: Ways to Repurpose Old Things

How can I recycle everything?
It's not easy right now to recycle everything, but we can start small and grow from there.

Orem does a recyclables pick up every other week, they just came by this past week which gives us a little bit of time to prepare. Call Orem city and they will get you a blue recycling can, it needs to be the blue one, because everything else gets taken to a landfill.

There are hundreds of ways you can get started in this process, if you have other easy, creative, and/or fun ways please share in the comments below!

The Dilemma

In class last Thursday we were broken up into groups of four and each given separate roles in a particular dilemma. One role was a city council member, a second role was a city planner, a third role was a single parent, and the last role a family with a new born on the way.

City Council Member:
The city council member had just received funding for a new school that was to be built a few miles from a higher trafficked highway, and a single parent development that was to be within 300 feet of the highway. They received the funding for that project and were asked to begin the process of designing it and building it. The commercial buildings near the highway bring in a great amount of revenue.

City Planner:
City planner has studied and knows that housing built within 300 feet of higher trafficked roads places children especially those under the age of three at high risk for health problems. It is the city planner's job to make sure all projects that are carried out are done so with all parties in mind, with a focus on improving the social, economic, and environmental health of the city or communities.

Single Parent Family:
The parent currently lives in a not as good neighbor hood and sought out a realtor to find a place in the neighborhood where their friends family lives. They have put down a deposit on a dream home in that neighborhood, and then were informed by the realtor that the neighborhood wouldn't be safe for the kids to live in because it is in close proximity to the high trafficked highway. The parent has 12 hours to back out and get their deposit back.

Family with Newborn:
The family loves their home, and neighborhood. It is in close proximity to all the highway entrance for easy access to work, the grocery store, parks and other amenities. It is their dream home, and if what the realtor says is true, it isn't safe for their newborn, and they won't be able to sell their home if others find out.

After receiving this dilemma and having read over our roles we first established the problems or concerns of each party involved.

Problems:

• The single parent needs to find a new place to live preferably near their friend, and get their deposit back
• The family has to figure out how to sell their home if it comes out that it is bad for children. They also need to find a new place to live, that could still be similar to their dream home.
• The city council member now knowing this information needs to find a new place for the housing development, potentially losing their funding.
• The city planner needs to figure out a solution that will appease all parties and still be in line with what is best socially, economically, and environmentally for the city and communities. The city planner needs the residents to speak up in order for the housing development to be moved from its current planned location.

We were given 40 minutes to come up with possible solutions to these problems. At first it wasn't easy, we all played our roles and tried to get the best outcome for ourselves. After all our problems were on the table we could start discussing potential solutions.

Solutions:

• Single parent first should get their deposit back.
• The neighborhood where the family lives should be rezoned for commercial use, allowing the family to sell their home.
• Those in the neighborhood informed and encouraged to install HEPA filters and other precautions to reduce potential toxins.
• The city to build a green screen buffer between highway and residential areas until redevelopment is completed.
• The new development tabled until better location(s) can be found for the development
• The current place for the new development rezoned for commercial use, boosting economy further, as well being an appeasement to maintain funding for the development and allowing it to be changed to mixed-use housing with certain portions being designated for single parent families. (Also allowing the single parent family to move to one of these new developments with their friend family.)
• In further redevelopment of the city bike lanes can be added, bus public transportation increased, and car pool lanes added to promote alternative modes of transportation or reduced traffic on the highway. (Eventually adding in more permanent public transportation systems making the city a more walkable place.)
• Introduce these issues into the education systems of the city.

Several other solutions were submitted, but as a group we decided on the listed solutions above as they were the solutions with the best possible outcomes for all parties. There will come a time when each of us will play one of these roles, I share this with you all in hopes that it may help you achieve the best possible solutions for your future community as well as understand the process and needs of other all decision making parties. (The process is below.)

Process:

1. Identify all affected parties
2. Collaborate and list all the potential issues that may arise
3. Think through all possible solutions and their scenarios
4. Decide upon best possible solutions
5. Implement short and long term strategies to help you achieve those solutions in the quickest and most effective time frame.

The Precautionary Principle

About 3 hours ago I had no clue what the Precautionary Principle was, so I am not claiming to know everything about the topic, not even slightly. For class we were asked to read the three links at the bottom of this page, and they were listed in the reverse order from how I have them listed. I listed them this way on purpose, because if you actually want to be able to stomach it all this is how I would have read them. You don't have to read them, but I think a lot of people will find them interesting, I did. (Keep in mind the third article on this list is thick with information. If you can make it down to the section on asthma and highway exposure that is where I think it gets most interesting.)

What is the Precautionary Principle?
"The 1998 Wingspread Statement on the Precautionary Principle summarizes the principle this way:

When an activity raises threats of harm to the environment or human health, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.

All statements of the Precautionary Principle contain a version of this formula: When the Health of humans and the environment is at stake, it may not be necessary to with for scientific certainty to take protective action."

They put it a lot better than I could. If you want to learn more about the principle you will want to start here the Precautionary Principle FAQs, then read the Precautionary Principle background and explanation.

If you are anything like me clicking that link and reading the articles might be too much to ask of you, so here is a synopsis of what is there:
FAQs:

Q: Why should we take action before science tells us what is harmful or what is causing harm?
A: Just because we don't have loads of proof doesn't mean we should wait until we do. An example of this is smoking. They couldn't show case studies that smoking caused cancer until a lot later, but that didn't mean they couldn't tell people to stop because they believe it leads to cancer.

Q: How do we implement the precautionary principle?
A: "Any action that contributes to preventing harm to humans and the environment, learning more about the consequences of actions, and acting appropriately is precautionary." Meaning take measures to stop current harmful actions, and prevent future ones.

Q: Why do we need the precautionary principle now?
A: Why is this even a question? We have so many harmful activities, chemically or otherwise, happening around us right now, and we have the left over toxins from years of harmful activities floating all around us. We need this now more than ever.

Background and Explanation:
"The release and use of toxic substances, the exploitation of resources, and physical alterations of the environment have had substantial unintended consequences affecting human health and the environment. Some of these concerns are high rates of learning deficiencies, asthma, cancer, birth defects, and species extinctions; along with global climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion and worldwide contamination with toxic substances and nuclear materials...We believe there is compelling evidence that damage to humans and the worldwide environment is of such magnitude and seriousness that new principles for conducting human activities are necessary...Therefore, it is necessary to implement the Precautionary Principle: When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically."

After reading all this including this last article on "Near highway pollutants in motor vehicle exhaust" I was surprised we haven't already put an end to our current gas guzzling cars.

This is where the precautionary principle should have kicked in a long time ago. If you don't think cars are a harm to humans and the environment, look up what the top five killers of people in the US are. You can also look up the amount of injuries that occur even on a monthly basis from motor vehicle accidents. This isn't even mentioning the "high rates of learning deficiencies, asthma, cancer, birth defects" that are caused, at least in part, by motor vehicles. If you want to argue any of them go outside any high traffic, or even low traffic road, on a day where inversion is visible and tell me how you feel.

We know that smoking kills, and have made massive strides in eradicating it. We know that cars are the number one killer in the nation, but have done little to nothing to eradicate it. I have a car and drive also, so I am inditing me just as much as anyone else in this. If cars lead to this so often why do we still drive? Add the pollution from cars and highways, lack of exercise, and disconnection from society that leads to suicide and other things and cars just might be the most lethal killer in all of history!

Now what do we do with this information? Public transport is hard to use and can't get you everywhere you want to go. Use it as much as you can. Write to the city and state and ask for lines to be expanded, seek to supplement driving with walking or biking where possible. Do what you can to make our environment, and families safer.

Links:
http://www.sehn.org/ppfaqs.html
http://www.sehn.org/wing.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1971259/

Balancing a Planet with 7 Billion People

I was sitting in my Green Communities class the other day and at the beginning of each class we have the opportunity to share something cool that pertains to our field of study. The video below was shared in our last class. After you watch it I wanted to share a few things:

Towards the end of the short clip it says:
"So it's not space we need, it's balance."

Then gives the following facts:
- 5% of us consume 23% of the world's energy
- 13% of us don't have clean drinking water
- 38% of us lack adequate sanitation
7 Billion People:
- Speaking more than 7,000 languages
- Living in 194 countries

7 billion reasons to think about 7 billion.

I wanted to focus this post on the balance mentioned here. It isn't asking us to live without these things, it is asking us to be aware of them and seek to do better with what we are given.

Often times I feel a little helpless as to what I can do, or even guilty some times at the messages presented to me. You aren't alone, there are 7 billion of us who feel or experience this at one time or another in our lives.

I want to share a store that, I feel, will help us know at least where to start.

A man was walking along a deserted beach at sunset. As he walked he could see a young boy in the distance, as he drew nearer he noticed that the boy kept bending down, picking something up and throwing it into the water. Time and again he kept hurling things into the ocean.

As the man approached even closer, he was able to see that the boy was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and, one at a time he was throwing them back into the water.

The man asked the boy what he was doing, the boy replied,"I am throwing these washed up starfish back into the ocean, or else they will die through lack of oxygen. "But", said the man, "You can't possibly save them all, there are thousands on this beach, and this must be happening on hundreds of beaches along the coast. You can't possibly make a difference." The boy looked down, frowning for a moment; then bent down to pick up another starfish, smiling as he threw it back into the sea. He replied, "I made a difference to that one!" 

You don't need to do everything yourself, nor can you. In the video over and over again it used "us," meaning together we can make the difference. Turn off a light, start recycling, shut off the water while brushing your teeth, use your car less or walk and bike more. Donate to good causes, or seek to volunteer. Plant a garden or eat locally grown food. Conserve energy, and reuse waste, in Boy Scouts we practiced the motto: leave no trace. These are simple shifts we can all make in our lives to leave smaller traces, and help give back and make the world a more equitable place.

All 7 billion of us are human, and we have a lot more in common than we do differences, no matter where we are from. What more can you do to improve the lives of those around you on our planet?

What are You Wasting?

In class on Tuesday we were asked to write about our own excess, or in other words what we are wasting. Last semester we started our Intro to Urban Ecology class by looking at a Starbucks coffee cup, and all the hidden energy it took to make it. We talked about the upstream and downstream cycle of the cup including what materials went into its creation and where it went after its intended use.

I will focus on the after the cup is used cycle, and how it relates to what I have wasted over the last 24 hours. The last few days before this class period, I came home almost every day to find our garbage can full of trash. I'd empty it out only to find it full again within 1 - 2 days. Thinking that I didn't contribute much to the flow of trash out of our house, I thought this a well timed observation.  Here is what I "threw away" in the last 24 hours:

• 1 craft singles cheese plastic wrapper for my sandwich
• 1 paper towel 1/2 sheet from wiping the counter
• 1 inch long piece of spinach stem that fell on the floor
• 1 Rice-A-Roni Box with mix packet for my lunch
• Gas in my car that idled for 3 mins (before I turned it off. I was pulled over for doing a California rolling stop at a stop sign at 11:56 PM in the middle of nowhere.)
• Electricity for my laptop as I browsed the internet.
• Electricity for the fridge I left open while making a sandwich.
• Extra water as I left the faucet on while rinsing my mouth after brushing my teeth.

Somehow the garbage can was full again after "throwing away" the few things I did. I was still surprised at the excess waste that I found in my life from just letting things run or needless trash. Honestly, I felt helpless as to what I can do to reduce the things I placed in the trash or how they could be reused. That was until I watched the following video:

I looked up projects for recycling in Orem and found their schedule. They pick up recycling every other week and only accept certain things. Those certain things did not include the following:

• Plastic bags and clear plastic wrap
• Video and cassette tapes
• Shredded paper
• Glass, plates, mugs, and pots/pans
• Food, liquids or yard waste (like the organics in the video)
• Food-soiled cardboard, paper cups/plates
• Carpet, cloth or textiles
• Used paper towles/tissues
• Construction/industrial debris
• Electronic waste
• Automotive parts
• Medical/Bio hazardous waste

Some of the items Orem City won't recycle can be picked up by Dunn Recycling, a private company. For those items still not accepted by these two companies there are other sources in Utah that will take the rest. The recycling program isn't fantastic, but the more we use it the more it will grow.

We could do similar to what is being done in New York, by asking to buy city government's organic waste for our own community and home gardens. If interests in organic material were to increase in the city's eyes, they would work harder to collect more as they are now able to turn a profit. This could be one potential solution, but what are other potential solutions for helping city and state governments to be more recycle friendly?

There is No Away

As I was looking for my class "Show and Tell" piece I came across this video:
Last semester in Intro to Urban Ecology we talked about the face that there is no “away." I, as I am sure you as well, use the phrase "throw away" on a daily basis.

I see a piece of plastic and I toss it in the trash can, where all useless things go. It's trash, it served its purpose and now has no further use. After watching this video my eyes were opened, and I was reminded of the "away" principle I was taught last semester. There is no away.

I throw a piece of trash away, but where does it go? Most of the time in a trash can which hides it from my view, and masks any potential scent. I empty that trash can into a larger garbage can so a dumpster truck can pick it up, and take it "away" to a refinery or landfill.

Is it "away" from me? Yeah, at least for that moment, but it's not truly away. It could come back by acid rain, toxins in water, stench on a windy day, disease from degraded environments of people or animals, and so many other ways. It's never really away!
This video brings value to our everyday trash. The thing I use, might have outworn its use in that form, but what other good could come of it? Next time you place something in your "trash can" think how else it could be used, or what more could come of it! Every pebble has a purpose.

Green Walls

I've heard of (and studied) green roofs, at this point I think everyone has at least heard of them once in their lives. In class on Tuesday I heard a new term that strangely I had never thought of or heard before: green walls.

The term "green walls" includes all vegetated wall surface types. And green façades, living walls, retaining living walls, biowalls, vertical gardens, modular green walls, vegetated mat wall are all types or other names for green walls.

I am not sure why I felt the idea so revolutionary, when it would have been so easy to take the green roof idea and move it down to the walls or even the floor. (Yeah I said it green floors, talk about really being surrounded by nature in it's original state! Wake up in the morning and your feet fall upon warm grass. This isn't me advocating the idea only taking the existing and connecting it to other similar areas.)

As I searched for more information on green walls the first several results, outside of wikipedia's green walls page, were all commercial companies completely ignoring the real benefits of having green walls. They listed things like: "There is no better way to brand your company as being "Green" than with a beautiful Living Green Wall by Ambius." If you want to be superficial that is probably who you should use to build your new green wall.

To their defense they did state a few other benefits to having a green wall, just on other pages:

• Plants look attractive
• Provide a pleasant and tranquil environment
• Plants help reduce stress - "We experience less stress when there are plants around us."
• Buildings are more stimulating and interesting
• "People in offices [with green walls] are more productive, take fewer sick days, make fewer mistakes."
• "Patients in hospitals benefit greatly from being more in touch with nature."
• "There is even evidence showing students perform better in improved learning environments."
• Plants improve air quality

Green walls or interior plants also help with:

• Reducing carbon dioxide levels
• Increasing humidity
• Reducing levels of certain pollutants, such as benzene and nitrogen dioxide
• Reducing airborne dust levels
• Keeping air temperatures down
• Plants help lower background noise

(I am using this information from ambius.com, and a lot of their information can at least in part be supported in the article "The Effect of Indoor Foliage Plants on Health and Discomfort Symptoms among Office Workers")

The best list of benefits I was able to find came from, the Green Roof's website page: (See their page for more information on each benefit)

• Aesthetic Improvements
• Reduction of the Urban Heat Island Effect
• Improved Exterior Air Quality
• Local Job Creation
• Improved Energy Efficiency
• Building Structure Protection
• Improved Indoor Air Quality
• Noise Reduction
• Marketing Potential
• Increased Biodiversity
• Improved Health and Well-Being
• Urban Agriculture
• Onsite Wastewater Treatment

To close my post, I ask you and me to think about what other current ideas we have, and how can we expand them into other areas?

Ecology and Ecosystems: How Do You Engage?

There were several intriguing thoughts or principles from the pages outlined; my thoughts however focused on the following section, “The parts take on their specialized roles only within the context of the whole... it is misleading to think of parts as if they were independent. In natural systems, parts and whole interact with and influence each other continuously. What we call parts are in complex webs of relationships; that can never really be separated.” I am writing this on the complexity of the relationships woven not just in our communities, but throughout the world. We affect every person who has lived while we have been on the earth and who will ever live until the end of time.

As I pondered this thought my mind got carried away to those I have affected and the ways in which I affected them while moving through this mortal sojourn. I was born in Vallejo, California and my parents, and grandparents on my father’s side were in attendance, as well as 3 nurses and 2 doctors. I grew up and had 3 good friends in Vallejo, than my family moved to Independence, Missouri where I stayed until I graduated high school. At that point I moved to Provo, Utah where I lived with my brother and his friend. A year later I served a 2 year LDS mission for my church in Donetsk, Ukraine after living at the MTC for 3 months. On return of that mission I lived in Logan, UT where I attended Utah State, and followed that up with a few years in Spanish Fork, and 4 in Orem, UT. I also have visited 40 of the 50 states, and 14 different countries on 3 major trips to Europe.

Why does this matter? In every place we live, visit, or pass through we affect those around us either positively or negatively. I helped shape the personality of my best friends, and family growing up by the experiences we had together. In turn they have shaped their friends and extended family and so on. I have done the same for every other person I have come in contact with since before birth, because just as a leaf landing on a pond causes a tiny ripple so does every single interaction we have with everyone.

How is this possible? Let’s say I pass a girl in the hall and I smile at her, several things could happen with her. She could think I was attracted to her or just friendly, either way a smile brightens her day and changes her reactions to those in whom she comes in contact and so on. Adversely I could cut someone off on the freeway, and potentially negatively affect that person’s day. Even walking by someone and them having to adjust their course even slightly changes their entire life and when they will arrive where they will arrive. Now multiply that by all those I have ever met in every country, city, or place including the MTC and the thousands of missionaries going all over the world; I affected them and that ripple continued to who they came in contact with and so on. Everyone on the planet is affected by every other person on the planet.

Me being on the planet fills a hole of the collective human species that only I could fill, and that is the same for everyone. You have come in contact with me and therefore changed the rest of my life and everyone else I will ever come in contact with, which can easily span the world especially now that social media is around to link us more easily. Even those individuals who have never met are affected because that person fills a void, just like a plane full of passengers. If you have taken up that seat, you affected all the others who wanted the seat and they will fly on other planes and affect those around them. You fill that gap everywhere, from the food you eat, to where you live, sit, classes, jobs, vehicles, Internet pages, etc. Because you are taking those spots no one else can, and it fills that gap like no one else could. Only you will do everything you will ever do. Something has to fill that space, and if you choose not to, you have affected others because your choice made it possible them to fill that spot.

Not only does our influence span the time and space in which we live, but it will forevermore influence those on this planet. Your ripple continues just as water will never be the same after the leaf has touched it. Every atom or particle will forever be affected in its eternal path. We are rewriting history simply by existing. You and I have changed every living being forever, and it is impossible not to.

Every relationship we experience in this life whether small or great creates a footprint on that of all other organisms that we will never be able to take back. Ultimately our goal should be to make that footprint a positive one, one that improves the world around us both socially, physically.

Is There An Ecological Unconscious?

I am currently enrolled in a class at the University of Utah entitled: Intro to Urban Ecology with Professor Stephen Goldsmith. In the course he asks us to turn in a journal entry for each class period. Over the next few weeks you will see my responses to the topics we discuss in the class.

Today's topic is on solastalgia, topophilia, or specifically Is there an ecological unconscious?

Solastalgia - "is a neologism coined by an Australian; The philosopher named Glenn Albrecht in 2003 with the first article published on this concept in 2005. It describes a form of psychic or existential distress caused by environmental change, such as mining or climate change." In other words it's the feeling you have when your home is being changed negatively in front of you.

Topophilia - "(From Greek topos "place" and -philia, "love of") is a strong sense of place, which often becomes mixed with the sense of cultural identity among certain peoples and a love of certain aspects of such a place." It is the love of place.

Ecopsychology - "studies the relationship between human beings and the natural world through ecological and psychological principles."

Today's Journal:
Growing up in Independence, Missouri, in the family I did, helped to establish the solastalgia I feel today. I will have to build upon this Idea to help others really understand my thoughts on this subject.

My parents both went to Brigham Young University. My older brother did as well, and my oldest brother despite going to UVU loves BYU just as much as the rest of my family if not more. In Missouri there are MU fans and KU fans, and the deal there is you either love MU, and hate KU or vice versa. Can you stay out of that battle? Yes, but it can be difficult with others trying to make you choose, or being so staunch in their own opinion and distaste for the other option that it bleeds over to you. (As if there are only two opinions.)

As I said before growing up in Independence, Missouri meant for me that the only influence I had in the battle between BYU and U of U was a love of BYU, and a distaste of U of U. In a neutral environment, meaning an environment where either an equal amount of U of U fans and BYU fans reside or where neither influence exists, it is easy to stay aloof or unbiased toward one or the other; however that wasn’t my background.

In addition to that upbringing I have lived in Utah Valley for 4 years, and continue to receive the same message from the vast majority of BYU supporters. I went to Utah State University and loved it. USU is a school packed with outdoorsy people and nature. It allows one to relax and be close to mountains, rivers, lakes, fields, etc. I have lived in Utah for 8 years now, and this has adapted to be my environment. In other words no matter where I go in Utah, it feels like home.

Fast forward to today and how all of the above stated background applies. We have been challenged to answer the following question with this paper: “As our environment continues to change around us, the question Albrecht would like answered is, how deeply are our minds suffering in return?”, and base it on the ideas of Topophilia, Solastalgia, Ecopsychology, and I am adding a 4th term of Technological Nature.

(Technological Nature - All things are nature, from the computer screen in front of me to my backpack and the building I am sitting inside. They might not be nature in its original state, but all the parts to make every thing we have came from nature. Technological Nature as I am coining it is nature + invention. In other words everything designed is technological nature. As everything is nature in one form or another.)

Everyone no matter who they are, are adaptable. Most feel, whether consciously or subconsciously, that the world changes around them, and that they are constant or not moved. I am one who feels that way consciously. I am still in the same city, and people and relationships surround me, nature, in its original state, is still almost everywhere with a backdrop of mountains. My local natural environment hasn’t changed. I live in Utah Valley still, and commute to the U.

As listed above we feel like things move around us and we are constant. Following this my environment is constant, yet due to my commute I have been feeling moderate to extreme solastalgia. Not in the sense that the mountains are being torn down and nature ripped from me, but my peers’ distaste for the U over the years has sunk in at least in part. No matter how good you are at staying aloof from a side, with years and years of anti-persuasion toward something it is hard not to feel it at least a little.

The crazy thing is I enjoy the U, and have nothing against it, but I find it difficult to fully immerse myself in the University and its activities because of all the years of negativity toward the school. I didn’t attend the game on Thursday, despite the love of football, because strangely in my mind I felt frowned upon, or rather felt I would be frowned upon for going to the Utes football game. I am a true blooded Aggie and my family was ok with that. They know I am attending the U of U, and getting a degree is great, but it just doesn’t seem as sweet as it would have been at a different school, any other school.

My Solastalgia or “pain experienced when there is recognition that the place where one resides and that one loves is under immediate assault” comes from the school I attend. It is ridiculous to feel this way and yet I feel I have little control over feeling a homesickness by going to the U. It isn’t USU where I fit in perfectly and people seemed to love being in the outdoors as much as I did. We avoided the BYU, U of U discussion altogether. We were Aggies and didn’t care. BYU could keep their “Zoobies”, and U of U their “Apostates”. That is what everyone else believed, but at USU it didn’t matter! We had animosity toward no one because we had nothing to prove. If we beat one of the schools it was an upset. If we lost it was normal. We loved USU and had a pride in it.

What adds to this solastalgia is USU’s main color is blue, as is my life long favorite color. Blue is motivation by intimacy or friends and closeness. Red is motivation by power. I always avoided the Red answers in personality tests because Red to me seemed that I would be prideful and power hungry, and I am not, or at least I don’t want to be.

This is where all of my thoughts and feelings come together. In High School I was a Fort Osage Indian, and our colors were Red, White, and Black. I should feel at home here, so why do I feel all this unease? I guess because my norms of the past 7 years are what are under attack, and it is a really odd feeling. I am still at a University, despite the colors being different, the people for the most part are the same or similar. Solastalgia is a real thing, and I am definitely going through it.

How do you experience solastalgia?