McDonough and Braungart
This piece was very intriguing to me, especially in his constant comparison between something natural and man made throughout the piece. He uses logos throughout compelling you to react to the absolutely illogical choices humans have made throughout time, particularly in regard to paper and how we dispose of it, or recycle it.
He then goes to talk about the cherry tree and how it is sustainable in comparison to say a building, this is using pathos and logos to really grasp you and set in the point that we do have an impact and we need to stop and consider what that is.
This is where growth came in and they start right off with asking what a child thinks of growth, I thoroughly like this comparison. This comparison I think is using logos where they question if growth can be doing something seemingly beneficial yet having no consideration for the impact of this decision.
Then they talk about the roof situation and how to remedy this with sustainable roofs made from grass. This is a great idea to me and seems like a logical and ethical decision in which some growth should start where more green roofs are implemented.
It concludes with what it was eluding throughout the piece that we need to work in harmony with nature not against. We need to help clean up the world and make it a better place to live, not continuing to trash it with no concern this is a logical approach.
When goggling cradle to cradle, other than the items about the book it mostly talks about circular flow of resources as opposed to current human approach cradle to death which is not beneficial, only wasteful.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Farm This (final draft)
“All right, I’m up”
“We are out front,” exclaims my sister “ I called you three times already!”
“I will be out the door in two minutes.”
I roll out of bed man my head hurts; I chug two glasses of water and brush my teeth vigorously. Throw on some shorts, a wrinkled shirt, my Birkenstock sandals, and of course my shades, without these the sun would be blinding this time of year. I jump into my sister’s car, my mom and her waiting patiently.
It’s 9:45 on Saturday the third week of July. I am beyond excited and hung-over, my breath the topic of conversation more than once, reeking of Liquor. Why the hell am I up, only sleeping four hours after walking two miles home drunk? Seasonal, local fruit and vegetables of course, the amazing Athens Farmers Market is my destination. Look nowhere else for some of the best tasting food you will ever experience. Lettuce that was picked yesterday, vine ripened heirloom tomatoes of all varieties, mushrooms, and my favorite the wide array of fruit. Even some farmers carrying a few Asian vegetables, locally made cheddar and goat cheeses, along with middle eastern salads and desserts, only to name a few of the many options.
Since I can remember my mom has shopped at this market, arriving before it opens to ensure that we eat the best fruit and vegetables. We were not the typical family; we ate together nightly, enjoying nourishing balanced meals made from scratch. Today this seems to be a novelty, with the masses rushing to the closest fast food chain just to fill their stomachs, with no thought about what it took to make that cheap unhealthy meal.
My mother has also loved to garden my whole life and beginning last year my mom, sister, and I started our own garden at my sister’s house where we grow mostly vegetables. The feeling of working the land, plating the seed, weeding, watering, caring for the plants, and then finally harvesting it, is one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had. This is an experience that many never have had, lacking the feeling of what truly fresh food tastes like.
My environmental ethic has been influenced not only by my mother but also through the media, books in particular. Authors such as Michael Pollan, Carlo Petrini, and Alice Waters have shaped my environmental ethic exponentially. Reading the compelling stories and facts that they divulge in their various writings has truly changed what I eat. No longer do I frequent fast food chains, I eat as locally or organically as possible, only trying to eat whole unprocessed food.
Food is my main concern when it comes to the environment because that is where I feel humans have messed things up exponentially. We have GMO’s instead of natural varieties that are harsher on the environment because they require more chemicals. We have animals that are fed diets in contrast to their natural diet solely to fatten them for profit, we have a meat grading system that encourages that kind of behavior, and then after all that, we ship this food worldwide.
In reality it is sadly no longer possible for all to eat this fresh, due to the fact that not everyone lives in a location that has land to grow crops. Although, many do have land and should take the time to grow some of there own food. We have come too far from where our food originates, this disconnect has dire consequences on future generations. No longer are many people able to identify food in its natural environment, kill for themselves, let alone cook for themselves.
If we fail to change the way we eat, the cost on the future of the environment and humans is a concern. The water ways get polluted daily with run off from farms due to too much animal waste and the water pumped full of antibiotics and steroids. The animals themselves being fed mostly a diet of corn only to fatten them up, which in turn makes more profit, but in reality is costs us our health due to the excess fat in our diet. Vegetables are grown on soil that is so bare from all the chemicals used that the only way to make it fertile is to use more chemicals, a never-ending process that seems only to get worse.
What can you do, how can you help, what needs to change? People need to eat locally especially in season, why not if the food tastes better and benefits local farmers anyway? People need to not eat out of season produce that was grown in South America and then shipped far. As a whole if we don’t change you might not see a difference immediately but eventually it will have an impact. What would you do one day if the grocery store ran out of food, where would you find your food supply
“We are out front,” exclaims my sister “ I called you three times already!”
“I will be out the door in two minutes.”
I roll out of bed man my head hurts; I chug two glasses of water and brush my teeth vigorously. Throw on some shorts, a wrinkled shirt, my Birkenstock sandals, and of course my shades, without these the sun would be blinding this time of year. I jump into my sister’s car, my mom and her waiting patiently.
It’s 9:45 on Saturday the third week of July. I am beyond excited and hung-over, my breath the topic of conversation more than once, reeking of Liquor. Why the hell am I up, only sleeping four hours after walking two miles home drunk? Seasonal, local fruit and vegetables of course, the amazing Athens Farmers Market is my destination. Look nowhere else for some of the best tasting food you will ever experience. Lettuce that was picked yesterday, vine ripened heirloom tomatoes of all varieties, mushrooms, and my favorite the wide array of fruit. Even some farmers carrying a few Asian vegetables, locally made cheddar and goat cheeses, along with middle eastern salads and desserts, only to name a few of the many options.
Since I can remember my mom has shopped at this market, arriving before it opens to ensure that we eat the best fruit and vegetables. We were not the typical family; we ate together nightly, enjoying nourishing balanced meals made from scratch. Today this seems to be a novelty, with the masses rushing to the closest fast food chain just to fill their stomachs, with no thought about what it took to make that cheap unhealthy meal.
My mother has also loved to garden my whole life and beginning last year my mom, sister, and I started our own garden at my sister’s house where we grow mostly vegetables. The feeling of working the land, plating the seed, weeding, watering, caring for the plants, and then finally harvesting it, is one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had. This is an experience that many never have had, lacking the feeling of what truly fresh food tastes like.
My environmental ethic has been influenced not only by my mother but also through the media, books in particular. Authors such as Michael Pollan, Carlo Petrini, and Alice Waters have shaped my environmental ethic exponentially. Reading the compelling stories and facts that they divulge in their various writings has truly changed what I eat. No longer do I frequent fast food chains, I eat as locally or organically as possible, only trying to eat whole unprocessed food.
Food is my main concern when it comes to the environment because that is where I feel humans have messed things up exponentially. We have GMO’s instead of natural varieties that are harsher on the environment because they require more chemicals. We have animals that are fed diets in contrast to their natural diet solely to fatten them for profit, we have a meat grading system that encourages that kind of behavior, and then after all that, we ship this food worldwide.
In reality it is sadly no longer possible for all to eat this fresh, due to the fact that not everyone lives in a location that has land to grow crops. Although, many do have land and should take the time to grow some of there own food. We have come too far from where our food originates, this disconnect has dire consequences on future generations. No longer are many people able to identify food in its natural environment, kill for themselves, let alone cook for themselves.
If we fail to change the way we eat, the cost on the future of the environment and humans is a concern. The water ways get polluted daily with run off from farms due to too much animal waste and the water pumped full of antibiotics and steroids. The animals themselves being fed mostly a diet of corn only to fatten them up, which in turn makes more profit, but in reality is costs us our health due to the excess fat in our diet. Vegetables are grown on soil that is so bare from all the chemicals used that the only way to make it fertile is to use more chemicals, a never-ending process that seems only to get worse.
What can you do, how can you help, what needs to change? People need to eat locally especially in season, why not if the food tastes better and benefits local farmers anyway? People need to not eat out of season produce that was grown in South America and then shipped far. As a whole if we don’t change you might not see a difference immediately but eventually it will have an impact. What would you do one day if the grocery store ran out of food, where would you find your food supply
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Farm this
“All right, I’m up”
“We are out front,” exclaims my sister “ I called you three times already!”
“I will be out the door in two minutes.”
I roll out of bed man my head hurts; I chug two glasses of water and brush my teeth vigorously. Throw on some shorts, a wrinkled shirt, my Birkenstock sandals, and of course my shades, without these the sun would be blinding this time of year. I jump into my sister’s car, my mom and her waiting patiently.
It’s 9:45 on Saturday the third week of July. I am beyond excited and hung-over, my breath the topic of conversation more than once, reeking of Liquor. Why the hell am I up, only sleeping four hours after walking two miles home drunk? Seasonal, local fruit and vegetables of course, the amazing Athens Farmers Market is my destination. Look nowhere else for some of the best tasting food you will ever experience. Lettuce that was picked yesterday, vine ripened heirloom tomatoes of all varieties, mushrooms, and of course my favorite the wide array of fruit. Even some farmers carrying a few Asian vegetables, locally made cheddar and goat cheeses, along with middle eastern salads and deserts, only to name a few of the many options.
Needless to say the option are endless, although maybe not as abundant as they’re corporate multinational counterparts down the street, in terms of selection or quantity. Quality surely takes the cake, grown on local soil barely traveled, ripened to its fullest extent and then picked. No chemical ripening goes on here and many of the farmers even claim to be organic. Even the ones that might not be organically certified due to the high cost required to gain certification, tout their growing methods as being “spray free.” What can they tell me at the store about my food, maybe the state or country that it derived in regards to produce? Ironically nowadays the food I eat travels more than I do in a day, for some more than they travel in a lifetime for one meal’s worth of food.
You may be thinking so what sure I shop at the grocery store what’s wrong with that? The truth is the shipment of food is one of the biggest wastes on our environment with millions of barrels of oil wasted. Before we were able to ship things worldwide people ate locally, seasonally, and healthier. Their meet was pasture fed and their produce was not overridden with chemicals and genetically modified organisms. Today it seems almost impossible to find any information about what used to produce your food unless you feel like buying organic. Even then what can a little label and a few extra bucks get you, piece of mind?
You might feel better for a while about your choice of organic but what does that word really mean, and can you regard something as organic if it shipped from South America. I would surely say that the term organic was not first introduced as a niche market for the wealthy, but as a choice to eat unadulterated food. It was created because people were concerned about where our food chain was heading and from where it began became a concern. Some people starting waking up deciding not to eat factory-farmed meat, while millions still sit apathetically, concerned with more taxing information.
Truth be told if we fail to change the way we eat, the cost on the future of the environment and humans is a concern. The water ways get polluted daily with run off from farms due to too much animal waste and the water pumped full of antibiotics and steroids. The animals themselves being fed mostly a diet of corn only to fatten them up, which in turn makes more profit, but in reality is costing us our health due to the excess fat. The vegetables are grown on soil that is so bare from all the chemicals used that the only way to make it fertile is to use more chemicals, a never-ending process that seems only to get worse.
What can you do, how can you help, what needs to change? People need to eat locally especially in season, why not if the food tastes better and benefits local farmers? People need to no eat out of season produce that was grown in South America and then shipped far. As a whole if we don’t change you might not see a difference immediately but eventually it will have an impact. What would you do one day if the grocery store ran out of food, where would you find you food supply and would it last?
“We are out front,” exclaims my sister “ I called you three times already!”
“I will be out the door in two minutes.”
I roll out of bed man my head hurts; I chug two glasses of water and brush my teeth vigorously. Throw on some shorts, a wrinkled shirt, my Birkenstock sandals, and of course my shades, without these the sun would be blinding this time of year. I jump into my sister’s car, my mom and her waiting patiently.
It’s 9:45 on Saturday the third week of July. I am beyond excited and hung-over, my breath the topic of conversation more than once, reeking of Liquor. Why the hell am I up, only sleeping four hours after walking two miles home drunk? Seasonal, local fruit and vegetables of course, the amazing Athens Farmers Market is my destination. Look nowhere else for some of the best tasting food you will ever experience. Lettuce that was picked yesterday, vine ripened heirloom tomatoes of all varieties, mushrooms, and of course my favorite the wide array of fruit. Even some farmers carrying a few Asian vegetables, locally made cheddar and goat cheeses, along with middle eastern salads and deserts, only to name a few of the many options.
Needless to say the option are endless, although maybe not as abundant as they’re corporate multinational counterparts down the street, in terms of selection or quantity. Quality surely takes the cake, grown on local soil barely traveled, ripened to its fullest extent and then picked. No chemical ripening goes on here and many of the farmers even claim to be organic. Even the ones that might not be organically certified due to the high cost required to gain certification, tout their growing methods as being “spray free.” What can they tell me at the store about my food, maybe the state or country that it derived in regards to produce? Ironically nowadays the food I eat travels more than I do in a day, for some more than they travel in a lifetime for one meal’s worth of food.
You may be thinking so what sure I shop at the grocery store what’s wrong with that? The truth is the shipment of food is one of the biggest wastes on our environment with millions of barrels of oil wasted. Before we were able to ship things worldwide people ate locally, seasonally, and healthier. Their meet was pasture fed and their produce was not overridden with chemicals and genetically modified organisms. Today it seems almost impossible to find any information about what used to produce your food unless you feel like buying organic. Even then what can a little label and a few extra bucks get you, piece of mind?
You might feel better for a while about your choice of organic but what does that word really mean, and can you regard something as organic if it shipped from South America. I would surely say that the term organic was not first introduced as a niche market for the wealthy, but as a choice to eat unadulterated food. It was created because people were concerned about where our food chain was heading and from where it began became a concern. Some people starting waking up deciding not to eat factory-farmed meat, while millions still sit apathetically, concerned with more taxing information.
Truth be told if we fail to change the way we eat, the cost on the future of the environment and humans is a concern. The water ways get polluted daily with run off from farms due to too much animal waste and the water pumped full of antibiotics and steroids. The animals themselves being fed mostly a diet of corn only to fatten them up, which in turn makes more profit, but in reality is costing us our health due to the excess fat. The vegetables are grown on soil that is so bare from all the chemicals used that the only way to make it fertile is to use more chemicals, a never-ending process that seems only to get worse.
What can you do, how can you help, what needs to change? People need to eat locally especially in season, why not if the food tastes better and benefits local farmers? People need to no eat out of season produce that was grown in South America and then shipped far. As a whole if we don’t change you might not see a difference immediately but eventually it will have an impact. What would you do one day if the grocery store ran out of food, where would you find you food supply and would it last?
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Hunting
Frigid, Fool moon lit February night perched upon the side of large oak twenty feet up, in a hunting tree stand. A twelve gauge Remington pump action shotgun loaded, waiting for the first of our kill resting on my lap. Justin, Ryan, and Brain in the back of a Dodge four-dour pickup fifteen yards to my left. All wielding respectively, a forty-five revolver, an Austrian Glock nineteen, and a Thompson forty- five, alert in an unprecedented state of silence. Waiting slightly sober yet reaching my limit of boredom smoking relentlessly. When are the fucking coyotes going to get here I wonder, they keep nabbing Bobby’s horses that’s why were here apparently.
Bobby, Justin’s mom recruited us for this journey to try to protect the farm from these pests. I really just wanted to shoot something thus the tree stand and shot gun, somehow I managed to convince Brian to allow me to use his. Filled with buckshot to compensate for my horrible aim, although I’m still convinced they were blanks. We wait, but nothing ever happens, seems to be a repetitive theme in hunting. Wait and never shoot, almost a waste of time, yet the excitement keeps you coming back. Just the thought of the hunt and possible kill will never get old.
Bobby, Justin’s mom recruited us for this journey to try to protect the farm from these pests. I really just wanted to shoot something thus the tree stand and shot gun, somehow I managed to convince Brian to allow me to use his. Filled with buckshot to compensate for my horrible aim, although I’m still convinced they were blanks. We wait, but nothing ever happens, seems to be a repetitive theme in hunting. Wait and never shoot, almost a waste of time, yet the excitement keeps you coming back. Just the thought of the hunt and possible kill will never get old.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
My most favorite place
Its raining and cold, go figure there is not a parking spot close enough to stay dry prior to my entry, into my most favorite place on earth. I enter its cold, florescent lighting with what appear to be skylights guide me through this maze. The floor is unkempt, things seem to be out of place scattered everywhere. Everything is cheap which to some is ideal although what does cheap really mean? Someone most be getting screwed otherwise it wouldn’t be so easy to fill your cart for under a hundred dollars.
As I try to navigate my way through I end up forgetting why I came here and really just want to leave. No matter what I need its impossible to get it all in the same aisle, one thing here the other all the way across the store. Once I get my low priced goods I decide to attempt to check out.
Walking the entire store to the front I notice around twenty check out lanes, although only four are open, how convenient. I opt for the twenty items or less lane, thinking it must be the fastest. Wrong again, as I finally checkout I am so annoyed that I almost run out the door. Wait, its still raining so I really do run out the door to my car parked far away.
It’s the American dream, the one stop shop, who cares the cost on humanity or the environment? Its cheap, it’s easy and made from outsourced labor, interestingly enough no one cares they still shop here. On occasion I do stop, usually avoiding the place like the plague, only going in dire circumstances do I dare enter and always ten items or less.
As I try to navigate my way through I end up forgetting why I came here and really just want to leave. No matter what I need its impossible to get it all in the same aisle, one thing here the other all the way across the store. Once I get my low priced goods I decide to attempt to check out.
Walking the entire store to the front I notice around twenty check out lanes, although only four are open, how convenient. I opt for the twenty items or less lane, thinking it must be the fastest. Wrong again, as I finally checkout I am so annoyed that I almost run out the door. Wait, its still raining so I really do run out the door to my car parked far away.
It’s the American dream, the one stop shop, who cares the cost on humanity or the environment? Its cheap, it’s easy and made from outsourced labor, interestingly enough no one cares they still shop here. On occasion I do stop, usually avoiding the place like the plague, only going in dire circumstances do I dare enter and always ten items or less.
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