Refilling instead of landfilling

There are two pieces of good news for us today at Penn State. It's amazing, the work that the original crew of Alex, Jared, Steve, and I started almost 3 years ago has spread farther and deeper.

First, Penn State's green.psu.edu from the Office of Sustainability fills us in on the bottle refilling stations across PSU. Those early and strong efforts (victory fill at right) to work with the Office of Physical Plant paid off. Today, there are 20 bottle stations at University Park and a few more across the Commonwealth campuses. 18 more will arrive at University Park in the next two years.

Second, tonight at 7 pm, the Bucknell Green Film Series will be showing Tapped, Stephanie Soechtig's debut feature film about the surprising and far-reaching impacts of the bottled water industry. The film probes topics like the petroleum used to make plastics and transport bottled products long distances, excessive groundwater withdrawals by bottling plants, and the general lack of regulatory oversight over the bottled water industry. Who profits and who loses out when society prioritizes convenience over sustainability?



Following the film, the a post-screening discussion and Q & A session about bottled water and its impacts here in Pennsylvania. The discussion will be moderated by Cathy Curran Myers, Director of the BUEC and former Deputy Secretary for Water Management at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. I (Peter Buckland) will also be a panelist discussing our work advocating on reducing bottled water here at Penn State.

Teach children to be good stewards

I (Peter Buckland) was recently invited to write an opinion piece for the Centre Daily Times on my vision of education. It is a broad appeal for democratic place-based education. I wrote:

There are three ways to retool school and society for a sustainable future: First, most schools are not democratic. Children generally do not have meaningful influence on school policies. But the sustainable future will require people to fully participate in civic life, to make the decisions that affect their lives. Given opportunities to help govern their schools with caring adults working with them, children will have an opportunity to learn the skills of self-governance by self-governing: informing themselves of issues and perspectives, persuading others to adopt new points of view, negotiating compromises and implementing solutions.

Second, most schools reflect the biases of the larger economic system, minimizing the crucial historic and current roles of indigenous people, nonwhite immigrants and women. We need to honor and focus on those roles and live into their cultural practices and beliefs. By grounding ourselves in part in movements for justice and how they changed society in the past, the sustainability movement can build on those successes.

Third, schools should better connect children with the places where they live. Here in central Pennsylvania, our children can learn the histories of Penns Valley, Bellefonte and surrounding towns. They can learn how the stream water in Galbraith Gap Run flows from Bear Meadows to meet Spring Creek. They can come to know the subtle changes in tree stands in Cooper’s Gap,learn to recognize by sight and sound the myriad birds that cohabitate with us and understand the cyclical seasons of the wild and domesticated plants and animals we live among.

Read the entire piece at this link.

Responding to Nestle

3E-COE president Peter Buckland responds to a Nestle employee who has argued for bottled water in the campus paper.

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To the editor:

Yesterday, Nestle employee Tom Uhl argued that “bottled water is actually a better environmental choice than other packaged beverages.” Newsflash: water is better for you than soda full of chemical additives and high fructose corn syrup. Uhl’s argument is a distraction.

From beginning to end, the more than 50 billion bottles of water sold in the United States wreak environmental, social, and economic havoc.

First, it takes 1.85 gallons of water to manufacture one bottle of water – more than 14 times the amount of water finally delivered in a 16 oz. bottle itself. Why waste so much water?

Second, bottled water is fossil fuel intensive through its production, transport, cooling, and its disposal. Why waste so much oil to move water around?

Third, with a national plastic recycling rate of between 17% and 20%, I hardly think that we can call this a good environmental choice. Why waste so much plastic?

Finally, bottled water commodifies a biological need. It puts water into a “beverage” (it is still water isn’t it?) for “on-the-go” people (what are we hamsters in wheels?) at a price 700 to 10,000 times that of municipal water. Who profits? Not local communities and economies and the bioregions in which they live. It lines the pockets of already excessively rich people who have no right to that water. Why waste the money?

So do your part – grab a reusable bottle or cup and drink essentially free water from our Spring Creek Watershed.

"The wisdom to follow nature’s example..."

These were my statements to the press today for the National Wildlife Federation's call for more sustainable action:

Thank you for coming today.

It is my great joy to say that the Centre region gifts us with abundant rainfall, mountain gap streams, deep wells, fertile soil for agriculture, gorgeous forests, and wildlife that brings rich experiences to all lives. As a modest gardener and naturalist (and I do mean modest), mountain biker, teacher, and father I love this place so much.

By disposition, I am an optimistic person. What isn’t to love about the Seven Mountains or the fields of the Penns Valley? Just go to Allen Seeger or Penn’s Creek and you will know what I mean.

But by forecasts and data, I am a pessimist. I doubt our collective ability to get out of this mess. As a nation, we are failing to act responsibly in the brotherhood and sisterhood of nations. As a wealthy community, much of whose wealth comes from the dizzying success of Penn State University, we are failing to act responsibly in the brotherhood and sisterhood of interconnected Pennsylvania communities. Why?

If you look at the data of the recent past and the experience of too many people in Pennsylvania and the American northeast you find troubling trends.
- Pennsylvania, according to an assessment released last year by Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Governor’s office, generates 1% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions though we only house a smaller portion of that global population.
- We see fish kills in rivers because of rising temperatures that make life great for fish parasites and awful for fish. Fishermen can tell you this. This is climate change in action.
- If you listen to farmers, like my Uncle Tony from Whitney Point, New York you know that hay crops come in almost a month earlier than they did in the 60s. And it’s not because of advances in fertilizers. Steadily rising seasonal temperatures.
- If you listen to the Union of Concerned Scientists you’ll see that temperature spikes caused by climate change hurt everything from the hemlock tree susceptible to bark beetles to dairy cows who have trouble thermoregulating in extreme heat let alone produce milk under duress. Many of us eat beef and drink milk. This will be a challenge.
- If you examine the wake of our fuel consumption, you see tragedy. Whether it’s the TVA coal ash spill almost two years ago, the Gulf oil gash and geyser, or the natural gas tragedies across the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and the delinquent companies that run them, we are confronted with the limits of our progress at the expense of people and the places where they live with the plants and animals that support them

All of these things align with the sad and quite certain statement contained in the National Wildlife Federation’s 2010 report.

Let us speak plainly. Poor and weak people and the non-human environment have paid, are paying, and will increasingly pay for our way of life. These may seem like radical statements but they are corroborated by too much data to be waved away.

If we want to live with something approximating the standards of living we enjoy, we need to act now to maximize our collective welfare in a way that stops doing what President Lyndon Johnson called an experiment with the atmosphere. This is no longer an experiment. Today, the United States plays a game of chicken with other “developing nations” that is running millions of humans off the road, runs over thousands of non-human species a year, and is in a collision course with the physical limits of our planet. The United States, for all its power and might, cannot overcome planetary physics. Nature limits us.

We rely on fossil fuels the way that dope fiends rely on heroin. We all do. In this room almost every piece of technology that we use relies on coal, natural gas, or petroleum. They will run out. Everyone knows this. You. Me. Ed. Dr. Mann. We all know. And yet we do not collectively act to change it knowing that we are driving ourselves right over an abyss. It’s like we are the alcoholics on the Titanic who’d rather fight for the last bottle of bourbon when we know that we can survive if we just drop it and get on the lifeboat…if we only knew where the lifeboat is.

I think we do know where it is. It is in a more sustainable way of life. To start, and only to start, it lives in the reduction of our dependence on the obviously disastrous path before us that will bring us to 600 ppm CO2. In part, that means a retooling of our national economy, our industry, and our education systems away from fossil fuels and focus them on the sources that have fueled organisms on this planet for billions of years – plants have harnessed the sun and birds and insects have taken flight on the wind and we all need water. With all of our ingenuity and intelligence, I hope that we can have the wisdom to follow nature’s example and sustain ourselves without eating ourselves, and the rest of nature, in the process.

Thank you. (Peter Buckland)

The dangers from natural gas drilling to our water

Pennsylvania is on the march to opening up all of the Marcellus Shale for natural gas drilling. To learn more about the Marcellus Shale go here and here. I've been taking a bit of time to look into this because I'm concerned about what it might do to the water in our rural communities. I worry about what can happen to watersheds and then the people that drink from them, the agriculture that depends on those watersheds, and the wild ecosystems.

Here's a piece to really worry you from Water Under Attack.

WYOMING! from JOSHFOX on Vimeo.

I am worried about these things: destroyed water wells for the narrow profits of natural gas companies. As one of the ranchers says in the video, "It's amazing that what took Mother Nature millions of years to build can be destroyed in a few hours with a piece of heavy machinery."

Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education

This month's issue of Voices of Central Pennsylvania features a story on a Pennsylvania website dedicated to green education. Sounds right up our alleys.

The Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education (PCEE) features information for teachers and other educators on agriculture, business and industry, children, environmental non-profits, higher education, and local government. Their educational directory is located here and provides a broad range of materials (please peruse and evaluate). And, if when all is said and done with your time at Penn State and your looking for some employment or you are thinking you'd like a shot at an internship, check this link.

Their calendar of events is incredible. We should use it this coming year to help us coordinate our activities. You can also get linked into their newsletter here. Consider the incredible resources we have in the sidebar at right in conjunction with something as regional as this and then materials via Shaver's Creek, our state park system, and the Center for Sustainability and you can see some wealth of ecological education.

The way the recession could affect Pennsylvania state parks

The following press release came out earlier this month from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. In my opinion, we are blessed with some great natural areas, state parks, and state forests in Pennsylvania. I've hiked, biked, and camped in several state forests including Tioga, Forbes, Michaux, Allegheney, Rothrock, and Bald Eagle and am constantly blown away by the beauty and grandeur in our state. There are also thousands of square miles of basically untouched forest where the "wild" is kept in wilderness. But the upcoming state budget before the state's senate could threaten that. Read on and consider calling DCNR or your state senator:

NEWS RELEASE

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol
Harrisburg, PA 17120

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Christina Novak
DCNR Press Secretary
(717) 772-9101

SENATE’S BUDGET WOULD CLOSE AT LEAST 35 STATE PARKS, PUT HELP FOR COMMUNITIES, NATURAL RESOURCES AT RISK
Families, Outdoor Enthusiasts Would Miss Out on Popular Destinations; Businesses Relying on Visitors Will Suffer Millions in Losses

HARRISBURG (May 14, 2009) — The millions of visitors who flock to Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests to relax and experience nature’s beauty would have fewer opportunities to do so under a budget plan that passed the Senate last week.

If enacted, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources acting Secretary John Quigley said the Senate proposal will force the agency to close at least 35 state parks and 1,000 miles of state forest roads, which would sharply reduce access for anglers, hunters and hikers.

Under Senate Bill 850, an additional $19 million would be cut from DCNR’s budget beyond the difficult but prudent reductions Governor Edward G. Rendell proposed in February.

“Families that cannot afford to take a vacation because of the tough economic times could always count on enjoying a little rest and relaxation at a nearby state park or forest,” said Quigley. “However, if the Senate’s budget proposal is enacted, there would be even fewer of those opportunities as we would have to close a number of state parks. That means less traffic and fewer dollars being spent in the rural communities with businesses and jobs that count on these parks and forests.

“The Senate’s proposal would be absolutely devastating to these rural areas and to our efforts to preserve our natural resources for present and future generations. In contrast, the Governor’s budget proposal reflects the difficult economy we now face and would still allow us to provide a quality outdoor experience for our citizens and visitors,” Quigley said, also noting that closing 35 state parks would turn away more than 3 million visitors and wipe out at least $57 million in visitor spending on products and services in nearby communities.

Many other programs that enhance a visitor’s experience at a state park or forest, protect natural resources, or help communities offer more recreational opportunities also would suffer under the Senate’s proposal. About 40,000 acres of forest would be vulnerable to gypsy moths because the department will not be able to apply treatments, while a program that offers one million tree seedlings for purchase by landowners would be eliminated. The seedling program helps protect watersheds, control soil erosion, reclaim former mining areas, and provide food and cover to wildlife.

In addition, DCNR would likely remove state forest rangers who serve as the primary contact for visitors and who promote safety and enforce the law on forestlands. Local governments and communities that depend on DCNR for important topographic, geologic and technical information, as well as help with 1,000 active grants for parks, trails and other recreational developments will receive less help under the Senate’s proposal.

Quigley also noted that the Senate’s plan does not restore funding for the department’s heritage tourism grants, despite repeated criticisms by the caucus when Governor Rendell made the difficult decision to cut the program.

Pennsylvania has 117 state parks and 2.1 million acres of state forests, including 3,000 miles of roads that provide access to the forests.

Seven Generations School in East Penn, PA

Future teachers keep your eyes peeled. There is a new charter school opening in the Lehigh Valley that, at least on the face of it, seems to be doing the things we are striving for. The Seven Generations School, named after the Iroquois proverb that says we should act with the interests of the next seven generations in mind, seeks to be a school that focuses its curriculum on ecological interests.

If we take the FAQ statements to heart, they seem to see that we have to have a more sustainable world and that schools are one of the linchpins. They have recognized that a school that integrates disciplines also develops individual people who are critical thinkers and good citizens. To show the extent of their own citizenship and its commitment to environmental awareness and concern, they've already developed an extensive list of contacts with local universities, businesses, and community organizations who are themselves committed to a more sustainable planet. What is most heartening is that they are pursuing a zero-waste policy and an edible schoolyard.

It looks like this is no place to learn about bubble tests. Other charter schools have tended to regress to the mean, meaning that their innovative curricula have wandered into the perceived safe zone of the average public school. Will this place be different? Let's hope so. Free from some of the traps of NCLB, it might do its students, teachers, and community a lot of good.

PASA 2009

Hi all. I just want to say that I got to go to the PASA Conference today and had a really positive experience. This weekend I will post a more complete rundown of what I did and a couple of connections that I made. All in all, I think that the world of sustainability is doing well. People are developing consciousness and laying the groundwork for real change. At the institutional and governmental level we have a lot of work to do but I think that we are really in a good place at a good time because things are so bad...if that makes sense. The reality of stepping back and doing more on our own scales is setting in.

Just to show you what I mean, I post here a video by Roger Doiron of Kitchen Gardeners International about getting President Obama to put a garden on the White House lawn (something not without precedent):

Ensuring clean water gets to the Chesapeake

For those readers not in 3E-COE (how many might that be at this point?) there is a local meeting of the Penns Valley Conservation Association meeting to discuss maintaining clean streams and profitable farms. We in central Pennsylvania thrive on agriculture but our farms create a lot of waste (manure, chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, etc) that gets into water ways that are themselves part of the Chesapeake watershed.

We've know for quite some time that the Chesapeake is suffering the aggregated effects of our unmindful land and water use. Recently, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF linked above) released a report (link here for the pdf) that ties the decline of the Blue Crab with the Chesapeake's worsening waters which are tied to our farming and waste disposal practices here in Centre County. They report:

Less Crab habitat Sediment from runoff and algal blooms caused by nitrogen and phosphorus pollution are darkening the Bay’s waters, killing the underwater grasses that young crabs need as shelter from predators. More than half of the Bay’s eelgrass has died since the early 1970s.

In total, it is a steady choking of all of the life in the bay. We care most about the crabs because we eat them and sell them. They feed our economy as they feed us. In 1993, 347 million crabs were caught in the Chesapeake. Last year, just 132 million - a nearly two-thirds decline. That 1993 catch is larger than the current estimated population of all crabs in the bay. We in Pennsylvania, through waste runoff into streams like Penns Creek (pictured below) are starving them.

The PVCA meeting is the kind of local community interaction that can help ameliorate these problems. It is an example of local informal education that we need to consider becoming a part of. For those of us becoming trained as school teachers, we might want to join ourselves to this kind of small activism because it brings the community into the school and the school into the community, eliminating the false barrier that says "School is school" and "Work is work" and "Home is home" and all of that stuff is separate from nature because "Nature is nature." We are part of nature at every second.

Perhaps we ought to reach out to these folks and see what we can learn from them.