Live Green

       My woman and environmentalism class watched No Impact Man the other day in class. The movie had an interesting take on being environmentally impact free in an environment like New York City, which at first seems ridiculous. The mass majority of people who knew of the movement that the main male character Colin was doing were extremely critical of it; some said he wouldn’t be able to maintain and some claimed it was foolish.

       His goal was to live impact free by not using electric, prepackaged items, learning to plant vegetables, buying used clothes, not using the elevator and just living off the grid in general. The film showed how Colin the father and main character pushed this no impact life style on his family, and how it was difficult for all of them to adjust to the changes. His wife Michelle had the hardest time adjusting because she was use to buying expensive clothing and drinking her fancy coffees. There were many interesting role reversals in the film that highlighted the struggles they endured. One aspect of their lifestyle that was especially different was that Colin was the stay at home parent who would do the grocery shopping and the raising of their daughter while his wife was at work.

        Even though this assumption that each gender has specific roles is outdated and sexist it still showed some stereotypical reactions from each partner. Colin who was used to being the stay at home dad would complain and get irritated when his wife wouldn’t see how much of a struggle it was for him to keep the house going and continuing this no impact lifestyle. His wife Michelle is a businesswoman and is at work all day long and can’t see why Colin is complaining when she’s the one out in the real world working a job, and can’t see why Colin can’t be a little flexible in his no impact lifestyle which was forced apron her. Many times during the film there is a however a very typical struggle for couples. Michelle wants a child and Colin doesn’t, and wont to take her serious. He does participate in trying to have a child but won’t sacrifice his project which is hurtful for her. The couple do eventually get pregnant with another child, however there is a miscarriage. The family sees its ups and downs on this year long impact free lifestyle, but they eventually become stronger from it.

To Make a Farm

        In the documentary To Make a Farm five Canadians share their struggles and excitements as organic farmers. Its shows how difficult it can be to organically harvest livestock and produce, because the heavy regulations of the NOP(National Organics Program) serve to make the lives of these farmers extremely difficult and for farmers who are trying to make a living on small farms this is especially difficult. The movie shows several scenarios for organic farming, and shows many different things that threaten to impede on their lifestyle.
       One female woman is shown raising livestock, and organic vegetables all after having a long term career in a totally unrelated field. She shows how woman and environmentalism is growing, and how woman like her are strong, and in the film they are doing things which were stereotypical male roles for farms. The other cast shows the struggles of farming with crop losses and issues with raising livestock, often you can kind of get why they do the whole thing when you see how proud they are when it does finally work out for them.
        I could never see myself having the courage like they did to put it all on the line, and pack up everything to become a farmer, especially when you consider how different life is for them and how much they are at risk to loose. There was a lot to be gained from seeing this film and I was able to see how rewarding and tragic organic farming can be but I also learned how difficult organic farming, and sustainable farming can be. The movie as I should mention, because this is for a women’s studies class, has great stories of woman living a lifestyle that was once thought only a man could do, and shows how  women are now changing from living in the city to becoming farmers.

Tree Hugging

 

         My woman’s studies class went to Tanglewood Nature Center again on Friday, however this time it was much different than the last time we were there. My instructor told the class that we would be hugging trees, and that this time we would be going to a different part of the nature center. The idea of hugging trees was really funny to me at first; images popped in my head of extreme naturalists tying themselves to trees.
        The experience ended up being quite different than I imagined. We were in a more remote part of the park and the forest was very dense. The class split up into groups of two and were asked to put a blindfold on their head as their team mate would walk them hand in arm to the tree of their desire. The person walking you to a tree would try and disorient you to make it harder to later find your tree. I was paired up with one of the only other guys in the class, and this proved to be interesting. At first neither of us wanted to hold the other ones arm, however this luckily passed because walking without the aid of a partner would have been disastrous in this situation.  It was really unnerving trying to move without the use of your eyes, but the interesting part was how much more in tuned you became with the environment around you. This came in handy when you were brought to your tree, because it helped you to feel features on the tree that you normally wouldn’t; this would eventually help you identify which tree was yours when the blindfold was taken off. The features of each tree were different from one another and it was interesting to see how unique each of them actually was.
        I really liked this activity, and even though I was first filled with preconceived notions of tree hugging I was eventually able to see how it made me aware of the unique and special aspects that set each tree apart from one another.Check out this link for the benefits of tree hugging.

Scavenger hunt

     

        The other day my woman’s studies class and I went on a scavenger hunt at Tanglewood Nature Center in Elmira, N.Y.  I had never been to Tanglewood even though my parents live right near it, so this was an opportunity to finally see it. The drive to the nature center was really pretty, and the nature center had a remote feel to it even though it was only ten minutes from downtown Elmira. I was surprised to see that they had signs at the park for timber rattlesnakes warning people to avoid them. This is interesting because I was always told that there was poisonous snakes in that area, but there existence was not acknowledged by the D.E.C for many years. www.tanglewoodnaturecenter.com
        My group was given a list of items to find at the nature center. Some of these items included an animal larger than a breadbox, a squirrel, and various colored things. My group and I had a blast finding these things, and even though we weren’t able to find everything on the list the experience was enjoyable. At one point during our hunt we had to find something funny and capture it on film to show the class. My group chose to take a video of me trying to pet a goose; which was actually quite frightening because the goose tried to bite my hand off.
        The scavenger hunt was a great experience for me because I hadn’t been on one since I was a kid and it gave me a chance to slow down and appreciate the natural world around me rather than wandering aimlessly like I do when I normally hike. I would recommend doing this activity to any class that has the opportunity to go hiking, and I feel that no matter what your age is you will enjoy it, and it will help you to see details in nature that you may normally pass by unnoticed.

An Inconvenient Truth

          The movie “An Inconvenient Truth” by Al Gore is truly inspirational. Former presidential candidate Al Gore tries to inform the public of the ever- growing concern of climate change. The biggest challenge he faces is getting people to see this as a real problem and not a politically driven movement. For many years the Republican Party has tried denying the existence of global warming despite the massive amounts of scientific data proving it as a real issue.

          Al explains many of the points in the film in a presentation which he has given over 1000 times in various locations across the globe. He hopes to give people an understanding of what’s going on by presenting them with real data. Al was first introduced to the concept of global warming when he was a young college student; long before it had been brought to the attention of the general public. He had been shown by his professor the recent discoveries made. His professor had recorded Co2 levels in our atmosphere and had discovered that levels were rising rapidly. The connection was then made that this would, and has since caused global warming. Even though it is now known that greenhouse gases like Co2 cause the temperature of the planet to rise it was not accepted then, and many people denied the data, and the implications of global catastrophe. Al along with other scientist and activists struggled for many years to get politicians and the public to accept the facts and take action to change. Unfortunately many people still deny the existence of global warming and continue to see it as a political debate rather than the ecological concern that it really is. Many people even saw this film as a campaign ploy by Gore, which is funny because he never even ran for president again.

        The effects of global warming are real and they can be seen worldwide. In the film real data of ice core samples show the rapid change in Co2 levels and the direct correlation between Global temperature and rising Co2 levels. The melting of the polar ice caps is one effect that is shown in the film and Al Gore states that predictions of a 20 foot rise in sea levels in the next life time is very possible. This point has brought with it much controversy and skeptics. However within the 10 years that have passed since the film was released we have seen rising sea levels; the effects of which have caused unpredictable weather changes across the globe. The Hurricane Katrina incident in Louisiana which broke the levees was mentioned as an example of this in the film and many more strange weather events have happened since, causing alarm for people everywhere. This is ironic because the panic that Gore was criticized for creating when the film was released was later proven with even more bizarre weather changes and events. Gore doesn’t want people to give up, in fact he shows how we can change this with the very way that we live. Many changes have taken place since the film that have proven effective; like the increased use of high efficiency cars and appliances and a reduction in dependency on fossil fuels. These positive predictions that he made have shown dramatic environmental impact, and can be seen with a recent decline in the rate of global warming.  

Avatar

 Avatar by James Cameron is the story of an alien race known as the Na’vi that inhabit the planet Pandora. The story is full of struggle, as humans try and understand and become a part of the Native culture; while other humans use the planet and the natives for their resources. The main character Jake is given the task of communicating with them in an alien hybrid body. He is led by Dr. Grace Augustine who is played by Sigourney Weaver. Dr. Augustine has had contact with the natives for a long time, and she is a strong female. She has an understanding of the symbiotic relationship between the natives and their planet, and she wants to help them no matter what it takes.

  The Dr. and especially Jake form a close bond with the Na’vi; Jake even becomes one of their own. The Na’vi have a connection to their mother god whom they call Ewya. Jake is taught of this strong connection by one of the female warriors who is given the task of teaching him their ways by the Female Shaman leader. This film embodies Ecofeminism; which is a philosophical and political movement combining feminine ideas and ecological concerns. In the film one thing that really stood out was when they stated that humans had already killed their own mother (Earth), and now they are threatening to kill ours (Ewya). This is very similar to the views of Ecofeminists who see our own planet as being a mother who provides for us. The Na’vi are under the threat of humans destroying their planet just for the profit of their resources. The sad thing was that only the Na’vi and the scientists involved in communicating with them were able to see how much stronger a bond they had with Ewya than us humans had with our own mother (Earth). The Na’vi were truly connected with the planet and felt her pain and shared with her; only taking what they needed for survival. This connection is most evident with their Tree of Souls. The Tree of Souls had the spirits of the deceased Na’vi flowing through its branches, and the Na’vi were able to communicate with these spirits.

In the end the humans want to destroy not only the home tree but also the tree of souls just so they are able to obtain the “unobtanium” located under the trees. It is a horribly tragic scene when the humans destroy the home tree and you see the Na’vi hysterically scream and cry. There are four strong female roles in this film which really capture the essence of woman in ecology. The Dr., the military pilot, the female shaman, and the female warrior all have strong leading roles in protecting Pandora and its people. They show how important it is that woman take active roles in ecology, and how strong of an asset they can be in the fight for environmental conservation.

Litter is the enemy!

       For the class project “litter is the enemy” the class was split up into groups. Each of our groups was responsible for picking up litter on the side streets of Elmira around Elmira College.  We were each given the challenge of finding the nastiest garbage we could find, and one of the groups certainly accomplished this when they found not only used diapers, but also used condoms within only minutes of leaving the campus. 

       My group was on a role with finding garbage as well and after only a little while we found a dead bird on the side of the road. We also found loads of empty cigarette packs and other objects like plastic bags and disposable cardboard storage containers that had clearly been pitched out of people’s cars as they were driving. It was sad to see how disrespectful people were treating the environment, but on the other side of things it was nice to have people thank us and be appreciative of our help. One lady stopped and asked if she could take a picture of my group. She said that she thought it was great what we were doing.  This type of unity was really special for her to see; especially in the midst of all the racial tension, and lack of unity going on in Baltimore where a young African American male had been killed by police officers. 

       I really enjoyed doing this activity because it made me feel like I was giving back to the community. I was born in Elmira and have many family members who live there so keeping the community clean is personal to me. The highlight of our experience was finding a pair of used panties on the side of the road; which still makes me chuckle when I think of it. I hope that everyone one else in the class had the same experience that I did, and I hope that taking the initiative to do this will have an impact on the actions that other people in the community  take to keep the streets free of litter.