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Sustainability, and Virginia Tech

Slightly disappointed today with my last post and the direction my blog is going in there (minute by minute updates) I'm going to re-focus more on issues, thoughts, and cooler stuff that I do.  I don't really think anyone cares what I did at 4:54 PM yesterday... So today, I reflect on the ideas surrounding sustainability and where I go to school, Tech.

What is sustainability, really?

Well, when you think about "sustainable,"what are your first associations? (answering a question with a question haha). I would venture a guess that most people think of "being green," priuses, and buying food labelled "organic."  I really don't know though. What I can say is that less than 10% of Americans think the environment is American's biggest problem right now (most go with economy).

So, when I say sustainable, I mean things are closed cycle, socially just, and community-oriented.  Most people would say (I hope) that we live in the most advanced society ever, but I can't say with certainty that as a nation we are happier or more fulfilled than ever before.  Are the reasons that underly this human nature, and that we are stricken with some human condition that leads us to fight wars and torture people. even though we can create ununseptium (newest element, got made just a few days ago I think)? Again, a question that I can't answer.  So more or less, sustainable design to me uses the breadth of human knowledge to create communities that self-reliant, fulfilling, and pleasant to live in.  "Going without" doesn't have anything to do with what I consider to be green, unless that without is referring to McDonald's of course haha, but rather the sustainability movement with which I associate myself encompasses all areas of life, taking on more than just the purely environmental challenges of society, recognizing where we have failed and relying again on our knowledge and our belief system to engineer a better future.  Hopefully this is clearer with some examples.

What it all comes back to

Examining in depth the issues which confront the environment and America, and looking for a more sustainable solution, the problems can all be said to stem from the way in which we design spaces [the built environment], and how many people we're building that for [population].  And the third leg of sustainability, what we value socially, morally and religiously [core values].

The built environment

Working with alternative transportation, and how Blacksburg and other cities are designed (not so much designed, but more or less have fallen), and examining other issues as well has reinforced my belief that our very need for transportation over long distances (20 miles to work every day, 5 miles to the grocery store, and 7 miles to go hang out with Bob) every day is a failure of design.  Electric vehicles, partnered with clean energy generation, have the potential to reduce green house gas emissions from such trips...but should that be the end goal?  Coming to college, it has been an unbelievably awesome experience to live in the same building as 800 of my peers. being so connected with something always to do, yet most American's dream of suburbia where they have their own house, isolated from the social interaction possible in a dormitory.

I propose instead that we design cities that are walkable, bike-able, and are connected cultural centers where people can live, work, and play at the same time.  Sounds dreamy, but really it's just denser living which completely eliminates the need for elaborate, and inefficient, modes of transportation.  Tech has sprawled over the years, and for most people it is unreasonable to walk to classes from their apartment or house, and that is a shame, and is a result of community design.

I'll have to leave with that, but hopefully more on the population and values aspects later!

Know your food, people!

This is a draft of a letter to the editor, as part of our ES final reflection. Still a definite work in progress, I've been adding and cutting from it to keep it under 200 words.

I'm not going to tell you that you should eat vegan, vegetarian, flexatarian, or whatever, to "save the environment." All I'm challenging/proposing is that you take the effort to understandwhere your food comes from, and what your decisions to eat it mean to your health, our local economy or the industrial agriculture system. As long as you can be comfortable with whatever that means, then I can have no problem with you eating a McDonald's cheeseburger for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Here's one real example: When thinking about whether to drive or walk to campus, consider that cheeseburger for breakfast. Looking closely at the way we grow corn today, it operates on genetically modified corn, engineered to grow in close quarters, in vast monocultures, and heavily reliant on tons of fertilizers and pesticides (both fossil fuel based). Then think about the tractors, the combines, the semis transporting it and finally, the cow eating it (as today's Holstien cattle are fed solely grain). It then takes 35 pounds of grain to make one pound of cow.
You'd literally burn more gas walking than driving your car an equivalent distance, with red meat as your fuel of choice.
Then ask yourself if this bothers you at all. If it does, as I think it should, do your homework. I'd suggest reading Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, as the best thing you'll do over break