I finally watched Minimalism.
Man it was good. I am proud to say this was a goal I was starting to approach before I watched the documentary.
The documentary was about taking an approach that was not only more sustainable for the environment, but one that was more sustainable for your wallet also. We live in a world where we spend carelessly just to keep up with the Joneses. We spend money on fast fashion, constantly needing to keep up with the trends only for the same items to be hidden in the back of the closet within weeks to months- and never seen or worn again. We live in a world where we have to keep up our decor with the season/upcoming holiday. Our car has to be nice and often we get bored with driving the same car so then we buy a second. These are all things constantly manufactured, bought, and eventually thrown away or put on the side of the curb for pick up, and these are all things that our environment cannot break down. The scariest thought is that we keep buying these things just to fill up our home. We have so much space we have to fill, that we don’t even use.

The documentary gave another aspect to this which was really interesting to look deeper into. The happiness of the people that had it all, was nowhere to be found. Instead, the more they purchased, the less they felt like their true self, and the less real happiness they felt. You always hear money doesn’t buy happiness. However, how many CEO’s, Directors, business owners do you speak to that actually harp on it and say, “I worked so hard and it was worth nothing to me because I was not happy”.

Not that you should not work hard. What I picked up from the documentary is that you should work hard, but work smarter, AND work at what you actually enjoy doing. What do I mean by work smarter? It is about the smallest of details… all the way down to your closet. I once read some of the most successful people where a similar uniform every day. For example, Steve Jobs was known to wear a black turtle neck and jeans almost daily. Tom, Facebook’s creator, is known to regularly wear a short sleeve tee-shirt daily with jeans. The reason behind this philosophy? They kept their mornings simple, not stressing the first thing they undergo in the mornings, choosing an outfit for the day, means they have a better ability to prioritize what they will give more thought to to more important issues later in the day. Other perks? Their morning are more stress free, leading to more happiness. Their closets contain basic yet functional items, that they like, so they do not have to continuously spend on “something new” for every occasion. This means less money spent and also, more happiness.

I have slowly started taking this approach in a few areas of my life. It really started when I went to Europe 3 years ago. I have vacationed in Italy every summer the past 3 years exploring more and more of its land. What first impacted me on every trip was the fashion. It was the same everywhere I toured, and it never changed all through the years I visited. It was something you would NEVER find in the U.S. Everyone wore basic, very functional clothing. Sneakers were a must, usually converse or a plain white tennis shoe and it was worn with everything from dresses down to a ankle length black dress pant. Shirts are usually of basic color, no crazy or extreme designs, and a light coat, sometimes even a peacoat for chillier weather. Accessories I have noticed are limited to a scarf or a bracelet but I have yet to see a native with bracelets, a ring on every finger, and a choker to match. Hey, if accessories are your thing go for it, but I was just mesmerized at how basic yet cute everyone looked, and still looking like they were going to work and not to play ball on a field. I quickly wanted to adapt this form of style and ease and started focusing on it immediately- huge perk- it became much easier to pack for these trips!
Another way I started incorporating a minimalistic style was by reducing the clutter in my home. Originally an interior design major, I love all things decor. I am very known within my group of friends to always have my home decked out in colors of the season, with fake and real flowers to match, and changing my vases or decor items to match. Sometimes these changes can take place in just a matter of two weeks and other times every two months. Then I realized it is costly and stressful. Much more stressful than just picking a basic palette of colors that can go with everything and any season, and maybe just making the difference with switching the fake floral arrangement on the dining room table.

Minimalism is the way to go. I do feel more free and like I can actually worry about issues that really matter with just the few changes I have made. I am happy with my 3 tennis shoes, two boots, and two pairs of heels… I do need to incorporate a pair of flats though… maybe. I am still working on minimizing my closet but I have gone through strides on not continuing careless purchases because I am bored on a Saturday and decided to window shop. And as far as my home, I have noticed significant less seasonal trash and a more comfortable, sustainable, yet lovely on the eye, environment. I hope to continue my journey and dedicate more to the really important matters, including my actual nonmaterial happiness.

Any student who has taken any introductory geology (especially at the College of Charleston) have heard of and have studied the environmental impacts of our society over the last several thousand years.  However, in reference to American legislation and the regulation of locations which are deemed by the federal government to be  places of extreme pollution and environmental risk, we have also studied these “Superfund Sites” as location which were so polluted that the federal government had to intervene.  Perhaps the most popular and tragic of these instances is the Love Canal story, which a lower income neighborhood was developed directly over a recent toxic waste dump.  One interesting aspect about these locations which I have realized is that they do not exist only in some far-off neighborhood 30 years ago, or in movies like Erin Brockovich; there are two Superfund sites within 2 miles of our downtown.

http://www.toxicsites.us/

The link above provides an interactive national map of all the current Superfund sites in the United States.  Each dot the map represents  a location with various information including a history, threat index number (1-100 sale) and a list of toxins which are/were present there.  Both locations (The area better know as the bridge to nowhere, and the Macalloy Superfund site rank at  a cautionary 50 and are located both around and between residential neighborhoods in the area between Charleston and North Charleston.  I found this information to be both alarming and eye opening, and led me to find more site like this in areas I have lived in in the past.

A person can do a lot of various things to try to become more sustainable and to lower their overall carbon footprint here on earth. I have always tried to use minimal resources by trying to conserve the amount of water and electricity I used. I would do this by simply taking short showers and turning off lights and many other things as well. However, lately I have taken on the challenge of going vegan. I have previously only been eating fish occasionally that I had caught here locally and that has been hard to give up. But I have been vegan for around two solid months and I feel great. I have been mainly eating a lot of fruits, vegetables, and pastas. Going vegan actually lowers your carbon footprint greatly and can help you live a more sustainable lifestyle. This is because it takes a great amount of resources to produce just one pound of meat. Hundreds of gallons of water are used to feed the animal and to also water the food that the animal eats. So every part of the process of raising livestock uses a great deal of water and land to raise the animals. Therefore, eating no meat lowers your carbon footprint and helps the environment greatly. I could only imagine what would happen if the whole world lived off a plant based diet. A lot of land would be freed up and a lot less water would be used here on earth. Also, the amount of methane and nitrous oxide emissions from livestock would be lowered and climate change may be slowed down tremendously. I would encourage people to go vegan not only because it helps the earth but also because it is very healthy for you and makes you feel amazing!

Following the readings from A Delicate Balance: Constructing a Conservation Culture in the South Carolina Lowcountry from this week in class, I was really made aware of how much these environmental issues we talk about every day actually effect each and every one of us very locally. Despite the feelings that issues such as conservation are more prominent in other area, it was quite eye opening to realize that so much is happening right around us on the peninsula, and surrounding areas, as well.

In Halfacre’s book, he talks about how the rapidly growing area has really affected the dynamic and environment in Charleston, including agriculture and residential life. A huge point he covered which resonated with me was the “Buy local” movement, as many local farmers have been convinced or otherwise forced to sell out their land to big development companies. This only creates more of an issue with the Charleston’s area growing population size. When you buy local, you help support the local economy as well as maintain the Charleston we know and love.

Due to this, Halfacre has really encouraged me to start going to more farmer’s markets, etc. to buy more vegetables and other produce. This is even a great way to ensure you eat healthier, while also helping your community!

Being a Public Health major, I like to find things that are studied as a Public Health problem, but also as an environmental issue. Obviously, most of our degradation of the environment directly affects us. However, something I found quite interesting was indoor air pollution. Before talking about it in class and then watching a TED talk, which was coming up with a stove that would cut down on the problem, I always thought about pollution being outdoor. When I hear the word pollution, I thought of factory emissions or plastic bottles floating in the ocean.

Indoor pollution is a form of pollution that is mainly produced by cooking fires, such as that in third world countries. These fires are inside of the people houses, and are used not only for cooking, but for warmth. For fuel, the people use biomass (derived from living resources, such as wood and animal excriments).

From a health standpoint, the smoke from the fire contained in the villagers house is a major killer. These people, who are mostly women and children, need this fire for warmth and cooking, but they are constantly breathing in the thick smoke. According to the TED talk, some of the children breath in the smoke equivalant smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. This leads to many health problems, such as lung problems and strokes.

From an environmental standpoint, the fires produce black carbon, which is the second biggest contributer to carbon change. As talked about in the TED talk, these fires contribute more black carbon than all of the cars and truck in the world, combined. It can also lead to deforestation, because of the constant need for more fuel.

Though this is a major problem, the cookstoves talked about in the video could be a major help! It not only saves on fuel, but it produces electricity for the villagers to use. This talk gave me a renewed source of hope, because even though sometimes the issues hurting our environment seem overwhelming and impossible to reverse, there are people coming up with solutions that will make areas more sustainable and reverse or stop some of the effects on our environment.

TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Zsj4Lfs_o

Being from West Virginia, I am pretty used to seeing animals in the wild. I spend a good amount of time in the woods and by rivers or lakes when I am at home. This is my first year at College of Charleston and the wildlife that you see near the ocean is a lot different than back at home. The most incredible thing that I have seen here are the wild dolphins. I have seen them before in the distance while on the beach, but in late November, one of my friends and I decided to go for a walk at the battery around eleven in the morning during high tide. We parked in one of the parking spots along the sidewalk closest to the water. As soon as I got out of the car, I heard a commotion in the water extremely close to the edge of the wall. I quickly ran over and looked over the railing and there were two dolphins chasing fish! Assuming this moment would only last a couple of seconds, I called for my friend to come check it out. To my surprise, the two dolphins continued to play and catch fish less than five feet away from us. Sometimes they would go further out in the water, but they would always come back. For a while the dolphins would swim alongside us as we walked, then when they had a fish in sight, they would quickly chase them down. For a while, we were the only ones who noticed the pair. However, it was not long before everyone else who was taking a walk that day noticed that there were two dolphins so close to the wall. This whole thing lasted for around 45 minutes. In moments like these, I try to not focus on taking photos or videos, but instead, to enjoy the moment. However, my friend and I ended up taking a lot of photos and videos. Every time we would try to put our phones away, we would end up pulling them right back out. This obviously is not something that I would get to see at home, so it was great to be there at the right place and right time. It is great to see animals in the wild doing their own thing. It is so much better than seeing them cooped up in a zoo or tank. I like to appreciate the wildlife and wilderness as much as I can, and with that being said, this experience is one of the things that I will remember most from my time here in Charleston.

Before this class I did not think twice about the green businesses. It was like they did not even exist in my mind. I was the type of person that did not care about the environment. I think my blindness of whats going on was because of the the lack of education in the environmental area. I was very curious about the green businesses in the Charleston area so I did some research. I came across the Green Business Challenge. For this challenge businesses have to figure out what areas they want to improve on by going green. These areas are but not limited to energy and waste stewardship, waste reduction, green and local purchasing, and healthiness of the work place. Some of the business that participated in this challenge is SCEG, Charleston Water System, and Boeing. This is a great idea for businesses to prove to themselves that they can do something green for the environment. It is also a great attention grabber. If someone sees that this business is winning awards for going green/greener  then this is only more profit for the company. When people see that the company cares enough about the environment and not just about taking money as everyone thinks then it only drives them in to support this company in a positive way. This is a great step in the right direction for becoming greener. If only every company tried to improve their impact on the environment but hopefully one day we can make it to where everyone is going green.

Cars, trucks, and basically everything else that burns fossil fuels on our roads and waterways are bad for the environment. It’s an immutable fact of life that has just become so obvious to everyone. Modern life, however, would not exist without these machines, therefore we as a society turn a blind eye to what’s happening in order to continue indulging in the conveniences to which we’ve become accustomed. Although automobiles don’t do much to help Mother Earth, governments and automakers around the globe are trying their best to get the greenhouses released from cars under control. (photo courtesy of EPA.gov)

In the United States, legislation titled “the Clean Air Act” (1970) sets air quality standards for the states in order to enhance and protect the quality of life for citizens. Automakers must design vehicles which abide by these standards in order to be sold and driven in the United States.

In 2016, however, it came to light that one of the largest automakers in the world was lying to governments and consumers about emissions on their vehicles violating the Clean Air Act, and it wasn’t even for the first time. Volkswagen, a German car company, was caught using a “defeat device” which provides bogus data on emission readings when activated. In 1973, Volkswagen admitted to using similar devices on thousands of the classic VW Bug models (independent.co.uk). However, this time the company lied on a much larger, much more expensive scale requiring a lot of technological work.

Volkswagen produced around 600,000 “clean diesel” vehicles outfitted with defeat devices to lie about how clean the emissions from these diesel cars actually were. This had the potential for the company to be fined upwards of $18 billion (forbes.com). However, as cited in the Forbes.com article, greenwashing (where companies lie about how environmentally friendly their product is, such as this example with Volkswagen) is often not caught by the US government, which is disheartening.

My family owns, and still drives on a daily basis, one of these deceitful diesel vehicles produced by Volkswagen. As consumers, my parents would not have purchased this vehicle knowing the damage it actually causes. Hopefully the lawsuit the US filed will cause other companies to learn and be honest with consumers about the impact their products have.

The EPA has published a page regarding the specific violations Volkswagen committed, and the final settlement which occurred.