YAY POSTER

Here is my final poster.

NYC Internship

The Council on the Environment's Learn it Grow it Eat it Project will be hiring 2 project assistants for 7 weeks this summer to work in 2 community gardens in the Bronx supervising high school youth teams in the gardens and doing healthy eating outreach in the community.
The job announcement is copied below.


Summer Internship Available

Learn it, Grow it, Eat it Project Assistant Internship

Qualifications: College graduate or commensurate experience, willing to
work outdoors with teenagers, urban horticulture, experience and/or interest in urban gardening, interest or background in food, health and environmental issues especially healthy eating, food access and community organizing, computer proficient, Spanish a plus.

Job Description: The Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC)
is a privately funded citizens' organization in the Office of the Mayor.
CENYC promotes environmental awareness and solutions to environmental problems. In Fall 2006 CENYC launched its “Learn it, Grow it, Eat it”
(LGE) project in five high schools and 2 community gardens in the Morrisania section of the South Bronx. The project encourages young people to take control of their health through nutrition education and improved food access in their schools and community. It has an in-school component that focuses on healthy eating and the environment, and a garden component where students learn to grow their own vegetables. This summer we are hiring 15 high school students from our program to maintain the community garden plots over the summer and to spread the word about healthy eating in the south Bronx.

Under the guidance and supervision of CENYC’s LGE team, project assistant interns will supervise five teenage interns in the community gardens and doing outreach and education in the community. Specifically, in the gardens they will help to plant, weed, water and harvest and other garden upkeep projects. In the community they will help the teens to organize education tables at farmers markets and other public spaces, disseminate information, and conduct surveys to identify healthy eating options in the neighborhood.


Project Assistants will also assist in evaluating the success of the project and the performance of the teen interns.

CENYC is an equal opportunity employer.

Schedule: Monday – Friday, 10-4PM,
July 5th to August 21st 2007,

To apply: Send cover letter and resume (e-mail preferred) by May
18, 2007 to:

Contact: Lenny Librizzi or David Saphire Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC)
51 Chambers Street room 228
New York, New York 10007
212-788-7927 / 7930 phone
212-788-7913 fax
llibrizzi@cenyc.org
saphd@yahoo.com


Salary: $18/hour

Bloomberg Draws a Blueprint for a Greener City

see full article here

Garden Mosaics in society

Digital Era? No Educator Left Behind!

This poster was very interesting and illustrative. It called my attention greatly, since I recall hearing about the Digital Divide in 1998, while I was in my home country, as I learned how some people have access to information, communication, and technology, while others don’t have access to that resource. Technology, today, is everywhere. This poster says that yes, you may have the access to technology, but you also have to have the right attitude and the skills to know how to take full advantage of technology.
I like the approach that this poster takes, as it relates the “digital divide” concept to Garden Mosaics, an international environmental education program targeted to youth which makes use of websites, DVD’s and Internet to decrease the digital divide. How often are Garden Mosaics implemented and what are the effects? Through interviews, observation, and analysis, the researchers studied the attitudes, the degree of access, and the skills of EE. Considering that Garden Mosaics are very beneficial to youth, those who used Garden Mosaics need to be more resourceful in sharing their knowledge with educators, and those who did not use Garden Mosaics showed interest, after discovering how beneficial Garden Mosaics may be. Garden Mosaics need more implementation and application.


Exploring Agriculturally-Based Environmental Learning in Southern Africa

This study explores the role of agriculture towards environmental learning. I noticed that South Africa, Malawi and Zambia take a different approach than USA. South Africa, Zambia, and Malawi use promotion of sustainable agriculture to implement agriculture into schools and education, but USA uses a different approach: Garden Mosaics. However, what was found was that no matter how different the agriculture and environmental learning may be in different countries, he results overlap. There is always sharing of knowledge and skills, learning, and evidence of action and change. What are the effects on society of the different approaches?

4/24/07 Readings...

Garden Mosaics: Neighborhood Exploration, Gardener Story, & Action Project in South Africa


I liked this article very much because of the level of detail that was obviously put into planning these activities. It also gave me a clearer understanding of Garden Mosaics. Students got a hands-on experience and had the oppportunity to discover/explore their neighborhoods.
The article addressed how Garden Mosaics can be used as a tool to connect youths with elder gardeners to learn about the connections between science, people, culture, and
plants. It also stated that this is a way of improving neighborhoods. It was especially interesting to learn that in South Africa, community gardens often were located on
school grounds because this provided security, water, and land.
Cornell Students implemented three programs there: Neighborhood Exploration, Gardener’s Story and an Action Project.
The Neighborhood Exploration created an opportunity for students to see the way the land was used in their community. It allowed the learners to create physical images and then see if there were features missing or common within their community. It also allowed students to find places in their neighborhood where they could obtain fresh food, learn new things, play soccer or netball, and talk with friends. Students were prompted to take photos and collect symbolic items from each place.
The final process for the students was to place the symbols on their maps and create a key.

Gardener’s Story
Participants developed an oral history and took photographs illustrating a gardener's planting practices and “planting tips,” and the connections between those practices and the gardener’s culture. I was struck by what an incomparable educational resource/opportunity the Gardener’s Story could be for students hearing it and visitors reading it.
The Gardener Story is another great way for the learners to discover their community, this time through the eyes of elder gardeners. It provides an opportunity for learners to connect with elders and important community members.


Action Project
Youth applied what they learnt during their earlier investigations and conducted an Action Project to benefit the gardeners and their community. I felt this part was the most worthwhile for the students because now this is their chance to give back to their neighborhood.

Digital Era: No Educator left Behind!

This poster was very helpful especially in terms of my research project. I was impressed with the study and also the results. The study sought to answer two questions:
1) How do urban educators’ computer access skills, and attitudes, influence their implementation of EE programs?
2) How do NYC community educators use the Garden Mosiacs digital resources?

The researchers interviewed 8 community educators from different NYC community organizations and after-school programs.

They found that educators attitudes towards digital technologies may limit the use of computers in EE programs. Also, computer access and skills were not found to be limiting factors.
Most educators did not use the Garden Mosaics digital resources because they were unaware of its purpose or did not have time.
In conclusion, the study found that Urban educators need to do a better job illustrating to educators how useful digital technology can be.

I thought this was a neat study overall and that anything that can help the movement is good.

Posters

The two posters that I like best were titled “Exploring Agriculturally Based Environmental Learning in Southern Africa” and “Digital Era? No Educator Left Behind!” The first of these posters discusses a study performed to determine what effects agriculturally based community and school learning has had in Malawi, Zambia, South Africa and the United States. In order to do this, researchers used a variety of methods including interviews, journals, data logs, photographs, and their own observations to gather information. In the end, they found that while they did not have a large number of recourses and were not always able to foster school community links, change and action did occur. By the end of their study, they could see a visible change for the better coming out of what they did.
The second poster I examined was based in New York and concerned whether or not the limited technological resources of some urban schools is an issue in fostering this form of learning in the youths that they teach. Through interviews with educators, observations and analysis researchers found that although limited technological resources and skills were not a problem educators chose not to use certain technologies when teaching their students. It all came down to educators’ attitudes towards these new technologies. Many were not yet sure of them. Like all new things, perhaps they simply need more time to get adjusted to it. In the mean time, one wonders if this will negatively affect their students. While this will most likely not be their student’s last chance to be exposed to such technology, the earlier and more often they are exposed the better their skills will be. Then their community and indeed this entire country can benefit.

Poster Analyzation

I liked the poster for "Cost Effectiveness". It was colorful, well organized, easy to read, anevery topic in its own place making finding information easy and fast. Bullet points played a prime part and there were plenty of pictures, graphs and tables to even out the weriting. Bold titles made it easy to find exactly the information that the reader is looking for.

EE in Local and Exotic Contexts was also a good poster. I liked how it had clear anactive and colorful pictures dispersed equally throughout the pster. The different aspects of information: intro, local contexts v. exotic, findings, methods, next steops were all clearly defined. However I don't like the harsh red that is ues for the entire poster. It makes it more intimidating and harder to read. The paragraphs donet look too dense but they could be made less intimidating.

I looked at two posters about the Garden Mosaics program.

The first was "The Impact of the Internet Forum on Dissemination of EE Programs". I like this poster because it is a detailed account of the steps taken place to start the forum. I also like how it sparks discussion and gives a good place for people to discuss various issues. Internet forums are good becaue they are a convinent way for people to continually participate in a discussion.

I also looked at the poster "Environmental Education in Local and Exotic Contexts: Youth Forge Broader Communities for Learning". I like this poster because it is gives a little insight into how youth get interested in the environment. This is a big issue now. At the moment there is no shortage of people becoming interested in the environment and persuing enviromental careeres, but the need for people interested in environmental issues is rising, and it is good to know how people become interested in these critical issues.

Reading 4/23/2007

I am so glad that we had a chance to view the presentations on the website. After seeing the powerpoint presentations such as the exploring ag-based environmental learning in southern Africa. I like the way the poster broke down each area that the researchers engaged in. For example, the poster categorized the methods, preliminary findings, and countries explored. I liked the use of geometric shapes and colors. Another presentation, Cost effectiveness educator training,gave us insight on how to organize our presentation in a different way than the others. This one had charts and information divided into columns. Both were informative and eye catching. I also enjoyed the pictures and content of the other presentations on the website.

Resilience

Resilience Article
The article investigates the resilience in communities and the effects that community gardening and civic ecology can have on cities. I thought it was interesting that the definition of resiliencein ecology can be applied in the same way to cities. Diversity provides functional redudancy, which says that if one species is lost to the ecosystem, another with similar functions can replace the lost species and keep the ecosystem stable. This same property can be applied to cities where different ethnic, religious groups, community memebers, NGOs, and government officials can all contribute to management of a resource and if group declines, the resource can still be managed properly. The paper states that resilience can be built through nurturing diversity, self-organization, adaptive learning, and positive feedback loops which will allow a city or community to respond to disasters. The researchers argue that urban community greening promotes these necessary qualities in communities. Civic ecology should be used to build resilience through allowing and teaching people to learn, act and organize. They must become accustomed and accepting of change.

2 Articles on Garden Mosaics website

Garden Mosaics Neighborhood Exploration, Gardener Story, & Action Project in South Africa—Jamila Walida Simon
Researchers worked in Durban, South Africa to adapt Garden Mosaics for community gardens in two different schools. In contrast to the U.S., where community gardens are located in neighborhoods, African community gardens are located on school grounds because they provide security, water and land. The paper focuses on adapting learning activities from U.S. gardens to those in Africa. In the U.S., students begin by learning about their surrounding neighborhood and where fresh food and gathering places are found. However, in South Africa, neighborhood was found to be a western term. The program may be different because of this cultural difference and the lack of access to internet. Next in the U.S. students learn gardeners’ planting practices. This project provides the opportunity to connect with elders and learn about the connections with culture. In South Africa, the children had to be reassured that they were not being disrespectful to their elders by asking questions. Finally in the U.S., students use i.m.science investigations to conduct an Action Project working with gardeners and benefiting the community. In South African schools, the project is similar. The students discuss the collage from the Neighborhood Exploration and the interviews with gardeners. This discuss allows the students to identify issues that need to be addressed in the garden. They analyze what can be done and what materials are needed and carry out the project.

Examining agriculturally-based environmental learning in southern Africa—Marianne Krasny
The poster examines the role of agriculturally-based school-community links in facilitating environmental learning and action in Malawi, Zambia, South African and the U.S. In South Africa, there are Eco-Schools in which the curriculum promotes sustainable environmental management and there are Health Promoting Schools in which food gardens and healthy school environments are used to teach students. In Malawi and Zambia, an organization called Farmers of the Future uses agroforestry in the school curriculum and there is community-based organization to adopt sustainable agriculture and improve social and economic conditions. In the U.S., Garden Mosaics can be equated to these organizations in Africa because it uses community gardens to teach science, multicultural learning, and community action while providing mentoring. Overall, the study found that the three school communities had some roles in common such as being sources of knowledge and skills, providing environmental learning, showing evidence of action and change, sharing knowledge and skills, and promoting incentives for agricultural activities. In addition, the communities’ resources were often limited, there was donor insensitivity, and a culture of dependency. After the study, questions raised were about the connection between environmental understanding and sustainable agriculture practices and ethics. Another question was about the role of school-community links between cultural patterns and sustainable practices.

Resilience and such...

Tidball and Krasny Article

This paper confronts the issue of how we can use the ideas and innovations created by diverse city dwellers to address the risks cities face. "Communities lacking resilience are at high risk of shifting into a different, often undesirable state when disaster strikes. Restoring a community to its previous state can be complex, expensive, and sometimes even impossible. Thus, developing tools, strategies, and policies to build resilience before disaster strikes is essential". I wholeheartedly agree.

I also agree that diversity is the key element in resilience and to retaining functional and structural controls in the face of disturbance. Biological diversity provides functional redundancy, so that if one species declines other species providing the same ecosystem services will step up. I also think this helps with shifting the way people think from disaster relief to identifying what is missing in a crisis to identifying the strengths, skills, and resources that are already in place within communities to continue to function.


Community and Forestry Impacts and the World Trade Center Collapse

This is based on an ecological assessment performed 48 hours after the collapse of the World Trade Center. The writer sees it as an opportunity to learn from the effects of the destruction on September 11, 2001 and hopes it will allow us to better understand the role of the landscape in assisting affected communities to recover and heal.

The reading also dealt with NYC oasis which is an open accessible space information system for New York City. Essentially a database to access open spaces in NYC. I found this to be enlightening. The powerpoint also dealt with the impacts of 9/11 on the surrounding neighborhoods and vegetation. Interestingly enough, there was found to be no permanent damage to air quality.

I found this especially noteworthy:
Due to 9/11:
Heavy deposits (2-4 inches) of cement dust and large accumulations of paper in two block radius from epicenter.
•Samples of the cement dust deposits collected showed elevated levels of lime (calcium oxide--from gypsum board), lead, fiberglass, glass and asbestos (1-2%).
•Elevated pH levels in park and street pit soil samples.
.Particulate accumulations dissipated rapidly outside of the four block radius but significant deposits (1/4 inch-1/2 inch) were detected at 8 block and 12 block intervals (largely along easterly and northerly arteries leading out of impact zone).
•Several mature London Plane Trees uprooted on the perimeter block surrounding ground zero.
•Potentially higher levels of PCBs in ground cover.
•Stress to newly planted parkland and street trees.

Resilience: ability to recover readily from illness, depresion, adversity, or the like.

Plan: a scheme or method of acting, doing, proceeding, making, etc., developed in advance.
Organization: a structure through which individuals cooperate systematically to conduct business.
Adaptive Leaning: learning where a system programs itself by adjusting weights or strengths until it produces the desired output.
Feedback: the return of information about the result of a process or activity; an evaluative response.
Among many other details, what attracted me about the first article were the many examples about how resilience is necessary if a communities and/or city affected by catastrophic events want to recover. This article was informative and touched on coming up with a plan for rebuilding and recovery, on organization, adaptive learning, and feedback. These are concepts of resilience.
One success story is New York, an example of how the concept of resilience was and is still being applied. After the 9/11 event, New York City has shown resilience by performing a plan for rebuilding the destructed site/a preliminary assessment of the situation and what can be done to prevail: resilience. Initiative has been shown through tree planting, EPA tests on air quality, and future plans for reconstruction. This also shows organization. On the other hand, the feedback and adaptive learning role is fulfilled since this initiative to rebuild NYC also has the purpose of providing relief to rescue and recovery workers and to build a sense of community and strengthening society.

First of all, I figured out computers and was able to find the article from last week. I really like that they did research into different cultures and how they garden. I liked the sentiment that much of what is in the latino gardens is more practical than it is a "garden". It benefits those who use the garden much more than anyone on the outside. i think that these types of things in gardens are essential to the idea of a community garden. people should be able to do whatever to their garden so that they can enjoy it the most. if they can appreciate it and really feel a par of it then something has been accomplished.

on this week's article,
I like the idea of increasing resiliance with community greening. I do feel, however that resiliance cannot be looked at so generally. If there is a tragedy, gardening may help people get through the tough times, but there are a lot of factors that affect this asside from the "overall resiliance of the city". the type of tragedy has a great effect on how people handle it. In the case of September 11, it was more of a "we can get through this, we are a strong city, nation, etc." in the case of Katrina, however, it was a natural disaster. there is no way to say "we will stand up to whoever did this to us" because there is no "who". It is possible that greening can help the affected area get through hard times, but I do believe that each situation in each different area must be looked at differently.

Making Scientific posters

http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/documents/QuickReferenceV2.pdf

This website is a quick guide to making effective scientific posters--very short (ony two slides) and is a good example beacuse it gets its point across

Reduce! Reuse! FREEcycle!!

http://freecycle.org/

check it out!

Resilience

The resilience article was very informative on the benefits greening can bring to cities. The article showed that a plan has to be in place such natural disasters happen so cities can be more resilient.I found it interesting that community greening was not only advocated in the U.S. and that it is an international issue for human well being.I find that community greening would be a good way to empower people of other nations instead of having people as "planners" come in an do projects for third world nations.

resilience

The Krasny-Tidball piece is very representative of the ideas that we have studied thus far in this class, and even in my other classes. I think that the most interesting idea in this paper is the idea that cities are in fact no different from any other ecosystem, they too need diversity to thrive. After studying the history of Johannesburg for my Global Cities class, I have become very sensitive to ideas regarding land use and segregation. The horrible decline, inhumane inequalities and the huge gap between the rich and the poor that existed and continue to exist in Johannesburg seem to be the natural outcomes of homogenous land use planning.
Just to play devil’s advocate, I would like to push against resilience and the use of this word in the paper. To me, words like inequality and resilience have duel meanings because our understanding of them has become entrenched with social connotations. For example, inequality is a word that economists use to describe a social factor that can actually spur the economy. And yet, when we think about inequality, we automatically think of exploitation or oppression. The same goes for the word community, as we discussed in class. Resilience, in this paper especially, seems to have a very positive connotation. But what happens when structures of control that are negative are resilient? Would that imply overall non-resilience because of the uneven capacity to adapt? This arguement could go on and on, like we did in class over the word community...

on another note, i really enjoyed the references to planning and community building. I was able to connect ideas mentioned in my planning classes, like participatory planning ect.

For those of you making posters...

here is an excellent resource.

http://www.cmer.wsu.edu/~yonge/ce465/poster.pdf

toilets and green design

yay for green building and design!

Old Toilets Never Die
Filed under: Recycling, Water conservation, Building and renovation, Green building
08:46 am - April 11, 2007



They just take up landfill space. So do old tubs and sinks. But keeping an old toilet in your house, simply to conserve landfill space, could prove to be a bane on the world's water supply, since old models can use up to 8 gallons per flush whereas some of the newest use as little as 1.3.


What to do, then, with those mile-high piles of inefficient toilets? Well, use them to cover your kitchen counter, of course. EnviroGlas, pioneers in the world of recycled glass tiles and countertops, has recently introduced EnviroMODE, a porcelain terrazzo comprised of ground up bathroom fixtures.


Terrazzo surfaces are made up of an aggregate (about 80 percent) suspended in some sort of resin (20 percent). With traditional terrazzo, the aggregate is usually marble, which comes from quarries that blight scenic landscapes across the U.S. EnviroMODE, on the other hand, proves to be an aesthetic boon, ridding the nation's landfills of valuable porcelain and preventing trash dumps from becoming sinks for our sinks.


Fortunately, the world is...ahem...flush with cast-off fixtures, says Patty Bates-Ballard, director of communications and training at EnviroGlas. They've been sourcing their porcelain from municipal recycling programs and from pre-consumer products that don't meet manufacturer's standards. But still, she says, "We get calls at least once a week from people saying, 'I've got a bunch of toilets, and I want get rid of them."


EnviroMODE is suitable for countertops and floors, ranging from $50 to $90 per square foot for countertop applications and $20 to $30 per square foot for floor and wall tiles. While the epoxy resin is petroleum-based, it meets LEED standards for no-VOC emissions and actually contains a small amount of rapidly-renewable coconut oil. For more info, see www.enviromode.com or www.enviroglasproducts.com. And yes, the porcelain is thoroughly cleaned.


Photos courtesy of EnviroGlas and Jason Woelfel.


© The Green Guide, 2006

Resliance

I thought Krasny and Tidball's paper was very informative. Their discussion on Resliance (abilitiy to change , self organization capability, ability to build and improve; vs. biological resiliance: ability to remain stable if a species dies out, or other catastrophe happens) explained away a little of my confusion on the topic. I liked how they discussed the different ways to make a community more perseverant under pressure - this seems like incredibly important knowledge in this time of constant fear of some sort of catastrophe happening to large cities, and especially after 9/11 and New Orleans flooding. The mention of how greenery can create human capital by luring people in to garden, which then creates financial and physical capital, and finally social capital, really struck me. Their arguements also had broad connections to world issues: instead of just sending money, people should reassess the good contributors to resiliance that are already in the community. This will help prevention of later catastrophes and help the community recooperate more successfully then just giving money, if the community finds a way to work within itself, and to foster community cooperation.

I found an article in the Community Greening Review book that I really liked called "New York City's Green Oasis Gets a Holywood Makeover". I like this article because it show how people can accomplish things when they stand up for what they believe in. The articl describes a garden on 8th street between Ave B and Ave C. Steven Speilberg wanted to do a movie on the street but did not like the fact that there was a garden, it ruined the setting. He wanted to destroy the garden for the movie, but the community opposed its destruction. They compromised by letting the film crew cover up the garden, causing minimal damage, and in return the garden was compensated greatly. They were able to get liability insuance, to build a new gazebo, and funding for a party in the garden to spread the word about the community gardening cause.

On another note, I could not find the Tanaka and Krasny Article. Once I figure out where it is, I will post about it. I am sure it is right infront of my nose, so...yeah.

Tanaka and Krasny Article

I found the Tanaka and Krasny article very informative and interesting. One of the reasons I choose to write a reflection on it was because I found parallels between their study and my term project. The article contained some helpful background on the community greening movement.
The purpose of the study was to determine the role Latino community gardens play in community development, open space, and civic agriculture. Interviews were conducted with community gardeners and with staff from non profit agencies. The study found that in addition to the gardens being sites for production of conventional and ethnic vegetables and herbs, the gardens host numerous social, educational, and cultural events, including neighborhood and church gatherings, holiday parties, children s activities, school tours, concerts, health fairs, and voter registration drives. The gardens also offered a way of maintaining Puerto Rican farming practices. In some cases, the gardens also served to promote community activism.

The article also reiterated that urban spaces such as parks and gardens provide a variety of benefits. Yet, community gardens are different from parks in that they are “community-managed open spaces.” The concept of civic agriculture introduced in the article was also very interesting. It offers a way to support community businesses as well as to supply food to poor people. At Latino community gardens, nature education is taught and agricultural literacy is instilled in young people from within a community. I found it interesting that Latino community gardens were so poorly studied. Intuitively though, I knew that they were more likely to occur in really poor areas. The study also illuminated the role of community gardens in providing leadership and landscape design. Since Latino communities are mostly immigrant filled and poor the gardens were predominately places for cultural interaction. The most important point the article made was that these garden are mainly areas of community development where people interact and to a lesser degree places where food is grown. Also, a large majority of the food grown in these gardens is given away instead of sold.

This is such an entertaining book! It has a lot of very interesting articles. I could spend the whole weekend reading it over and over again. If I only had that type of weekend in which time was not a constraint!! The part that attracted me the most was the section about The World in the Garden, but more specifically, I read the article titled Celebrating Cultural Diversity. In this article, I though that community gardens not only represent community, but also diversity. “Almost everyone comes from somewhere else.” The case is that many people move from rural places into town. I thought it was very interesting how Schimberg, the author of this article, pointed out that farming is many peoples way of life in rural environments. But by coming to the city, they keep a connection between the past and the future through community gardens.
For the Managing section, I read the “poem” titled Planning Ahead. I though that it was very interesting how education changes the way people see nature. One may sow a seed, plant a tree, but what makes the difference, or if one wants to plan way ahead, education is the best option and investment.
For the transformation part, I read the article titled Transforming angel. It is very inspiring how one initiative can motivate and encourage others to do and repeat a same positive action. Overall, this book is a gem. It provides a lot of stores about community greening in a very entertaining way, since many of the articles happened in real life.

For Tomorrow...an opportunity!

We will be fortunate to have Dr. Barbara Bedford, of the Department of Natural Resources, Cornell, as our guest in class tomorrow. I know this is short notice, but you may want to do some quick reading on wetlands, her area of specialty, and take advantage of an opportunity to learn about wetland function, wetland science, and even pick her brain about urban wetlands! Dr. Bedford is an award winning wetlands ecologist.

Here are some useful links to "study up."

EPA WETLANDS SITE

URBAN WETLANDS FACT SHEET

EVALUATING URBAN WETLAND RESTORATION

America Community Greening Review

I really like this book. It had very personal, humanistic stories about community gardens focusing on different areas such as the benefits, history, art and compost, managing gardens, and community garden movements around the world. I wish I had time to read the entire book, but I looked over most of it and the points of particular interest to me were the World section and the Transformation section. The article I reviewed was called "Southeast Asian Gardeners: Teaching fish to swim" (149). It talked about the similarities of Thai villagers to North American citizens. The stereotype is that all Asians know how to farm and grow vegetables. Also, gardening in the tropics, you would expect that they could farm all year round because there are 365 frost-free days. However, Thai villagers are reluctant to farm; only plant during the cool season; and do not use intensive practices. Looking at the culture, some of these things can be explained by the fact that rice is the primary crop and food and vegetables are merely used to add flavor and color. There are 3 seasons: cool, rainy, and hot. During the rainy seasons, the vegetables rot from too much rain; and during the hot season there is not enough water and it is too hot for many crops. The only viable season to plant is during the cool season. There is little motivation for Thai villagers to grow their own vegetables. They view farming as a low status activity and wish to rise about their roots into a higher class and income level. The women would rather spend more time shopping and socializing than gardening. The families aim to be wealthy enough to buy their own food, so they do not want to resort to a lower status by growing food. Despite these oppositions to growing food, the article comments on the benefits. Nutritional education programs improve diets. Growing food saves money and can also produce some income. Intensive gardening saves labor, water, and soil fertility. In conclusion, inspiring people in Southeast Asia to grow their own food faces similar problems as people in North America. Successful extension of these practices depends on understanding attitudes, motivations, and sources of resistance as well as developing communication techniques between the people and the educators.

I also read about the success story of Seeds of Survival (SOS) in Ethiopia. It was inspiring to know that agricultural techniques that preserve the world's agricultural diversity and build food security can exist and even out-yield techniques of the Green Revolution that use single varieties of seeds. SOS showed that using diverse seeds can yield 10-15% more produce that even Green Revolution techniques. The article related this success story to community gardens by promoting the growth of heirloom varieties, buying seed stock from small companies, and educating people about the movement.

I looked through the Transformation section because I love the random, reused art pieces that are found in community gardens. The creatures made out of old bottles that we saw on top of the fence of a garden in NYC were really cool. In the book, there were lots of ideas for reusing unwanted items. I liked the bottle tree. The use of bathtubs and car tires for planting gives personality to the garden. Even the fence can be crafted using reused wood or other materials and made into a work of art.

FOR YOUR RESEARCH PROJECTS

Here is a great link to many studies on the benefits of urban green... perhaps useful in your literature reviews.

http://www.projectevergreen.com/resources/index.html

Also, don't forget that there is a vast literature review at the back of your syllabus.

Finally, the following sites may also be of use:

Krasny & Tidball Civic Ecology

Tidball Green Security

Alt Break Reflection

I joined this class to learn something new, and I have not been disappointed! From urban wild life in Central Park, Community gardens, to environmental injustices in Harlem, so much of what I experienced over Spring Break was new to me. It never occurred to me that there would be so many species of birds in a city, that the trees lining the streets of Manhattan have to go through such a struggle to survive, that the community garden movement did so much for the people, or that such blatant wrongdoings were being perpetrated against the citizens of Harlem. Not only have I discovered things that I did not know but I also have been inspired to ask myself a different set of questions.

The portion of the break that I found myself reflecting on the most was the time we spent with the organization WE ACT. The information that they gave us left me wondering what sorts of environmental injustices were going on in my own neighborhood and if any organizations were attempting to correct them. At home, we have days when the news actually gives smog reports warning people with asthma problems to take caution. I am starting to wonder if anything can be done about this at a community level. Maybe we can do more than just carpool.

Reflection Blog

How peaceful urban environments can be in any weather! They seem to provide an unexpected escape from the everyday stress and constant noise of the city. They allow for self-expression and creativity. Looking at the community gardens, I aw how each one was unique to its surroundings. The gardens change with the community. The community and surrounding neighborhood create the garden from nothing and make it what we see today. For example, Open Road had a mosque and a school next door. These organizations contributed a lot to the community and made the garden unique, with its greenhouse, murals, and playground. I also loved the tower and 6th St. and Avenue B. The tower probably sprung from someone’s idea to use objects and junk and others added to it. I see community gardens as a group art project. Everyone has something to offer. Even in Central Park, the park would be nothing without the people who come to enjoy it. It is very man-made and managed, but is important to the wildlife and human-enjoyment of the outdoors in the city. I love spring! I like the surprise of nature that can jump out at any time in the city. It’s like a constant game of I Spy; you just have to be willing to look.

Spring Break Trip

Reflections in Central Park: 3/20/07

I've enjoyed the trip so far. I really liked hearing about Green Thumb yesterday. It is interesting to know how they got started, what they do, and what problems they have faced and are facing now. Today we wandered Central Park. I really like walking/wandering through places around Manhattan, especially the parks. I feel like I've taken a bunch of good pictures, and that makes me happy, but I am not sure if any of them will be really good for my project. I hope that in the next couple days we will go to more parks and places that I can get good pictures of art in parks and gardens. I don't like that my computer is being stupid and so I will have to go through the pics on the camera and delete the bad ones before seeing them on the computer. That never works out well, but I have taken SO MANY pictures that it is necessary.

I will post some pictures later on, but I have to go through and organize them first.

Alt Breaks

Monday: Though it was a little disappointing to not be able to work in the gardens, it was a wonderful opportunity to meet Green Thumb to see how a government funded organization worked, and to see what its employees were like. We learned a lot about the role that Green Thumb plays with the city's community gardens, and its history with the movement. One of my favorite parts of the trip was actually the walk we took to view the closed gardens, seeing the creativity and diversity of each park was so inspiring and contemplative.
Tuesday: This day was frustrating for me because I felt like we didn't do much work, though of course this was no one's fault.
Wednesday: I really enjoyed learning about how city trees are taken care of, especially the tree identification that we were introduced to. I was not that bothered by the fact that we didn't do much pruning; I valued the learning I got out of it. The Central Park tour was nice because I hadn't realized there might be more natural-looking areas, a good example of the idea that even parks in the middle of the city can have a multitude of environments other than the pruned field look. The tracks exercise was quality, though I didn't really get a good sense of the wildlife in the park.
Thursday: A very fulfilling day. I enjoyed the walk to Harlem. The visit with WE ACT I thought was too short and I would have liked to understand more of what they do and how they operate, but nonetheless I learned a lot about the innovative actions they initiate. Working and seeing the community garden was a really essential thing - I can't imagine what it would have been like to have missed this part, to not have been able to talk to a member of the bottom rung of community garden "bureaucracy".
Friday: It seemed harder to connect the Solaire tour to what we were doing the rest of the week, but nonetheless I loved seeing the technology.

All in all, I look back on the week and am incredibly impressed by all that we did. I loved the fact that we were never really doing the same thing twice. We got a good look into all the levels of urban greenery, from the goverment sponsored groups, to the NGOs, to the business side, and community members, as well as a good background in the different ways that urban greenery REPRESENTS itself: parks, sidewalk trees, community gardens, business ventures, memorials.
I found this trip amazing on at least another 3 levels beyond simply the programmed activities, the reason for which should go mostly to our T.A. I learned so much about New York, its feel, the different areas, but also its people and cultures that I've never been so close to before. I'd barely ever considered working with the city before, but this experience makes me want to explore that option more. I also feel so inspired because all of the group members were so interested in the topic and so interesting to talk to, and I loved getting to know everyone a little better each day. Everything we did left me with so much to talk and think about.

Urban Environments Trip to NYC-Reflections

On Sunday, our group (along with other ones) departed to NYC. We arrived at 4:30 pm, and went to the hotel. We relaxed. On Monday, the environmental adventure started. Topic: Community gardens. We went to GreenThumb, a large national community garden organization. We watched a video. By the end of the day, I concluded that soil is really “brown gold,” as the video pointed out. Many people rely on this natural resource. At GreenThumb, I also recall Edie Stone saying: “Community gardens are all about community…gardens are just incidences.” That same afternoon, while walking around downtown NYC, I noticed how community gardens come to represent a culture, its traditions, and unity through a common interest: gardening. I noticed how different gardens have their own style and personality, some of them being more attractive than others (in my opinion). One can see casitas, toys on top of metal fences all around the garden, and a lot of other ways to represent beliefs and a culture. These gardens took me back to my home country, when visiting the country sides and other rural areas. “These places,” I though, “are where people gather and build a common space together, each contributing with a piece of one’s belongings.” Community gardens are, indeed, about uniting people and communities needing to identify with each other, considering that many people are away from home. By the end of the day and during our discussion before going back to the hotel, I also reflected: How will NYC look in 20 years? The NYC green (almost paradisiac) picture that Akesh, at GreenThumb, showed us constantly came to my mind. Is it fair to call this expectation utopian? Is the Environment well and appropriately appreciated?
On Tuesday, the topic was Urban Wildlife, so we went to Central Park. We began by identifying different types of birds (by their sound and color of feathers) around the reservoir: Mallards, Canada Gooses, Buffleheads, Hooded Merganser, Pied-billed Grebe; Northern Cardinal, House Sparrow, Tufted Titmouse, American Robin, Coopers Hawk, Downy Woodpecker.
On Wednesday, the topic was Urban Forestry. We went to Trees NY, and discussed why trees were important. Some of the reasons are: Trees are habitat for wildlife, they provide shade, their beauty adds value to a property, they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, and because they are cool. We went around the downtown neighborhood and identified various types of trees, pruned some, and discussed the dangers that they face (such as being exposed to the asian long-horned beetle which feeds on fresh, not dead, wood). We had a group discussion which raised a question in my mind: Is it better to be an optimism, or a realist when taking environmentally tough decisions in the midst of adversity? It is ideal to be both, but many people tend to go one way or another. What am I?
On Thursday, the topic was Environmental Justice. We went to We Act, an Environmental Justice organization dedicated to build community power to fight environmental racism and improve environmental health, protection, and policy for communities of color. We discussed the problems that would emerge if Columbia University decided to expand over eight city blocks along the Manhattanville waterfront in West Harlem. Afterwards, we went to a community garden and worked a few hours picking up wood boards, and organizing the garden’s warehouse.
On Friday, the topic was Green Design, and we went to the Solaire. The Solaire, in Battery Park City, NYC, is a green design model, and Americas first environmentally advanced residential tower. “Fresher air, natural light, and fresher water… Live Healthy, Live Green.” The apartments are innovative, and the water is recycled; the Solaire has a green roof, and it is built up of natural materials for floor and wall designs. Afterwards, we went to the Irish memorial, where we concluded with the trip activities.
At about 12am on Saturday 24th March, I arrived home, in Ithaca, NY.
...My Environmental Conservation journey has just started!

ASSIGNMENT UPDATE

Because we were unable to work in the community gardens in the Lower East Side on Monday due to weather, there is no Garden Mosaics assignment due.

Please be prepared to discuss in class your reflections on the ASB trip overall, as well as specific observations you want to point out. Don't forget to post your journal entries from Central Park.

See you tomorrow!

New York City!

This spring break has been far different from many of the trips taken by my peers. I am glad that I was fortunate enough to be a part of this trip because it exposed me to a great deal of new experiences. Meeting the non-profits in NYC was awesome because they were each very unique in their goals but were all very interested in encouraging us to get involved. Green Thumb was really cool because they shared an interesting history and I really liked reading about the seminars they offer to community gardeners-- I really think that it is this type of sharing that will successfully make cities sustainable (as opposed to the commercialization seen at perhaps the Solaire). The open access to information and opportunities is what is really important for the success of cities, perhaps that is why the tree pruning was so frustrating--we did not feel like we had equal freedom to make a positive impact. Thursday was the most fascinating day for me. I really appreciated the walk to Harlem and seeing the differences in how the streets were used. Better still was hearing about WE ACT because they were very knowledgeable and seemed to have their long term goals in order. I would love to work with this kind of non-profit in the future, their work seems really exciting. Better still was being able to hang out and help out in the community garden. I loved the natural approach that was taken towards the garden because it really made it seem like you were in a fairy-tale. I was sad to hear that so much of the garden had been lost to development and now I regret not asking what they did to fight the development.

NYC Trip

I am glad that I had the opportunity to participate in the urban environmental alternative spring break trip. Instead of blogging all of the experiences on the trip I rather reflect of the experience that touched me most. That was learning and being informed about environmental justice. We Act a Harlem community action group informed us of the wrongs and misdoings by Manhattan on the Harlem community. In addition, they face a continuing battle with Columbia University expansion into Harlem. We Act fought the city for a waterfront park that now will be separated from Harlem by the expansion of Columbia. The actions by the city and Columbia show a glass ceiling that faces minority populations. That is that minorities cannot live in nice areas and when they do gain access to such spaces the status quo tries to take it away from them. It saddens me that the Harlem community fought hard to have a waterfront park and that Columbia sees that the Harlem community could not possibly take care of have such a green space.I hope that the Harlem community can exercise their basic human right to green space and maintain their waterfront park and fight for their environmental rights.

Along the same lines as Solaire...

Being healthy and green is bound to become a luxury. Just thought everyone would find this interesting.

The first certifiably green mansion
Earth-friendly no longer equals Space Age design. Welcome to EcoManor, built in Atlanta by Ted Turner's daughter. Fortune's Patricia Sellers takes the tour.
By Patricia Sellers, Fortune editor-at-large
March 14 2007: 12:48 PM EDT


(Fortune Magazine) -- From the outside, the Seydel family's new home looks like any old Tudor manse. Well, it's too tall for its quiet block. (Neighbors have complained.) But who would guess that this is the largest eco-friendly house in America? With its 27 photovoltaic panels on the roof, solar tubes that snake into interior rooms, geothermal heat pumps, and rainwater-collecting cisterns, this is, in fact, the first home over 5,000 square feet ever to be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council - and evidence of a new wave of eco-building that doesn't look like eco-building.

"Everybody has in their head a picture of an environmental home - usually some Space Age design," says homeowner Laura Turner Seydel, who moves into EcoManor in March. "We wanted to prove that it doesn't have to look odd."


EcoManor won LEED certification using innovations like geothermal systems, photovoltaic panels and soy-based insulation.

In the attic, cellulose insulation costs more - but is super efficient.

The Seydels at home: (from left) Vasser, John R., Laura Elizabeth and parents, Laura and Rutherford.

Make your house a green machine
Not everyone has the means (or the desire) to build an environmentally sound house from the ground up. But here are five ways to make your own manor more like EcoManor.
Roof:
Install photovoltaic panels, which convert sunlight into electric energy. The Seydels paid $34,000 for their 27 solar panels from One World Sustainable Energy Corp. oneworldsec.com
Lighting:
Solar tubes and skylights direct natural light into closets and interior rooms, and also block infrared heat and UV rays. The Seydels paid less than $2,500 for their Velux components. velux.com
Heat:
Make sure your water heater and plumbing systems are insulated. Or consider a "tankless" model, which can slice your bills dramatically. The Seydels went all out with underground electric pumps, which use the ground temperature to help heat or cool the house. Residential systems average $7,500 and reduce energy costs 30 to 60 percent.
Materials:
For floors, forgo traditional hardwood in favor of rapidly renewable alternatives like bamboo or cork. The Seydels also used Lyptus, from eucalyptus trees, for their cabinets.
Water:
Recycle your runoff: The average home sends more than 100,000 liters of usable water down the drain each year. Thanks to a local company called RainHarvest, the Seydels reuse rainwater and water from sinks and showers to flush toilets and irrigate their yard.


Seydel is also the daughter of Ted Turner - which gives you a clue to where her environmental drive comes from. While her billionaire daddy has practiced what he has preached by buying two million acres to preserve (he is America's largest individual landowner), Seydel thinks big on one tiny tract: a half-acre in Atlanta's highbrow Buckhead neighborhood.

She and her husband, Rutherford, an environmental lawyer, spent $1.5 million to construct EcoManor - some 10 percent extra for going green, estimates architect Bill Harrison. But he predicts that the Seydels' energy costs will be 80 to 90 percent below average for a like-sized Atlanta home.

EcoManor was born four years ago when Laura - who serves on more than a dozen nonprofit environmental boards - and Rutherford bought a shabby two-bedroom cottage behind their sprawling hilltop home. They had planned to turn it into a guesthouse.

But a few weeks after their purchase, a magnificent 200-year-old oak, whipped by a storm, fell and crushed the tiny house. Ted Turner is the one who, after touring the devastation with Rutherford, prodded the Seydels to tear it down and rebuild. "And when they started from scratch, they decided to go eco-friendly," Ted recalls.

Or more like eco-obsessive. Self-proclaimed environmental activists, the Seydels collect rainwater to fill their toilets - low-flush, dual-flow units from Japanese manufacturer Toto. ("Press button No. 1 when you go No. 1, and No. 2 when you go No. 2," instructs Laura, 45, as we tour the master bathroom, which is naturally lit via four solar tubes.) Meanwhile, used "gray" water from the Seydels' sinks and showers passes through filters and irrigates the lawn - which is drought-tolerant, of course.

Throughout the five-bedroom house (the Seydels have three children, 9, 11 and 14), the doors are wheat-core - yes, composed of wheat, and formaldehyde-free. In the first-floor study the wallpaper is recycled newspaper, though you'd never know it: It's an elegant-looking linen white.

The floors downstairs are made of fallen oak from Ted Turner's plantation, Avalon, in Florida. (Upstairs the floors are sustainable wood from Home Depot (Charts), and they don't look as nice.) In the attic the insulation is made of soy-based cellulose. "It's the most expensive but also the most efficient," says Rutherford, 43, as we explore EcoManor's 6,000-plus square feet.

While Laura thinks of EcoManor as the ultimate nontoxic environment (she evangelizes about hemp pillows, jute draperies, and natural cleaning products), Rutherford views their new home as a sort of energy toy. His favorite gizmo, in the kitchen, is a 15-inch monitor that measures and controls the family's energy costs per second - "down to a hundredth of a cent," Rutherford boasts. "If the kids have a party in the basement, I can tell how much the party cost." Predicts architect Harrison: "Five or ten years from now we'll be building homes that are totally self-sufficient in terms of energy usage."

The Seydels are pioneers in a growing movement. Currently there are 98 homes that are LEED-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, but the group, which is based in Washington, D.C., expects some 5,000 to be certified in the coming year. (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.)

Most LEED-certified homes are in the West and Northeast; EcoManor is the first in the Southeast. The movement is spreading to mass-market home development: Between 5 and 10 percent of new homes will probably be eco-friendly by 2010, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Meanwhile, Rutherford wants to entice everyone, especially the luxury set, to go for LEED status. Currently LEED judges favor small homes in their rating system, which effectively penalizes rich folks who like to live large.

"That shouldn't be the case. People who can afford to build stately homes tend to adopt revolutionary technologies early. These are the people who can make a huge impact," says Rutherford, who is lobbying the Green Building Council to ease the restrictions. The council is considering it.

Meantime, the Seydels have already swayed one rich guy: Ted Turner. Even though Turner has given hundreds of millions of dollars to environmental causes, he confesses that he has paid scant attention to building green. (Why bother, since with 22 ranches and other properties, he says, "I don't spend more than a month each year at any one.")

Lately Turner has started using recyclable materials and nontoxic paints - and also has invested millions in a solar-energy startup. Says Laura: "We guilt-tripped him into it."

March 13th

I found “The Greening of NYC, as Seen by A Designer,” to be a very informative article shattering the stereotype of New York as a concrete jungle. The presence of specialized schools incorporating the environment into their curriculum, gardens, parks and greenmarkets was a given to me. I recognize that New York is a very diverse place where one can find just about anything one is looking for. Nevertheless, the idea of locally grown produce sounded odd. This concept of agriculture within a large city amazes me even now.

The Solaire living Green is a wonderful example of how human beings can live in an environmentally friendly dwelling without suffering the loss of convince. This building seems almost unreal. It has everything a person could want without a cost to the environment. It is also a rational way of preparing for our future. All this proves is that we can change our ways when we actually make an attempt at it.

The article “Sustainable Urban Ecosystems” paints a very sad picture and then goes about mending it. Every problem that it mentions has a reasonable correction and a profound incentive to take action. Human beings have clearly altered the surroundings in urban areas; however, we do not have to be as destructive as we have been in the past. We have the education and the technology to change. Now all we need are people willing to make an effort. The mere presence of these three articles proves that those people do exist and that their numbers are growing. These articles give hope.

Tuesday March 13

All Things Considered: This NPR report made a good complement to what we are learning about NYC. I have this idea in my mind of L.A. being all highway, in fact I don't know if I even realized there was a L.A. river! It's kind of amazing to think that this huge city has no park system - I think of my pretty small town at home which had tons of green space. Of course, the industrialization of a big city makes sense that green space would be tougher to have, and I can understand how green space in a city could be forgotten, but it's still amazing that L.A. hasn't one. The community residents are taking the situation into their own hands, and carving our green spaces along the river which I think is a beautiful thing.

The Solaire
This website actually impressed me because I was afraid its mention of environmental engineering was going to be vague. But actually it had many legitamite sounding things to say, not just the phrase ''naturally harvested wood" but it went into that they had a 500 mile resource transporation limit and that it was harvested from sustainably. It was interesting how most of the technology was well known - lots of Energy Star appliances, solar power, insulation - which makes it more believable. I did like their focus on rooftop irrigation, and the inbuilding water treatment system.

The Greening of NYC
I really enjoyed this article. Though the author did perhaps veer from the negative, she made sure to mention some issues that NYC has, for instance programs that have been cut. She gave a wonderful overview of everything that is going on in NYC for sustainability, lots of policy and programs that sound very creative and make me want to look them up (for instance, Transportation Alternatives, Recycle a Bicycle, NYC's Bicycle Blueprint, Big City Forest, the Gaia Institute). I know after reading this that NYC is putting forth a big effort to make the city more environmentally friendly. I especially liked the transporation part, because reducing automobiles would be a really beneficial thing for NYC to do for pollution, traffic, and they already have a great transit system. An fun, educated, lighthearted read, 4 thumbs up.

Slide

March 13th reflections

The Green Apple

In the first article I was surprised to learn that NYC is listed under sustainable cities. The author keeps making reference to the Green Apple instead of the Big Apple, I found this interesting. I think she has a valid point. NYC is such a mecca of fashion, culture and diversity, it is also one of the most visited places in the world. It stands to reason that it could also be the place that could be used to make a bold statement about sustainability. Whatever happens in NYC is largely imitated in the rest of the world therefore, what better international stage to have than NYC to take a stand for the environment. Also, as I read this article I am reminded of a story that a friend related to be about when he lived in NYC.
My friend is from a small town in Louisiana. He grew up walking to the garbage and throwing out the trash, basically doing his part to help the environment. When he become an adult he made the inevitable pilgrimage to NYC, fell in love with it and moved there indefinitely. My friend who we will call Bob, lived in one of the high rises where everyone in his building had the disgusting habit of throwing their trash out the window and into an alley adjacent to the building. He related to me his shock about having witnessed this phenomenon the first couple of times and then gradually he too started doing it because apparently it was the cool thing to do. I was stupefied to say the least. But this is an example of how people copy New Yorkers because they do not want to appear to be an outsider. Peer pressure is still rampant. NYC is perhaps the best place to use its influence and clout for the good of the environment and people are bound to sit up and take notice.
The rise of community gardens, private rooftop gardens are testaments to what a little peer pressure can do. NYC estuaries are cleaner and the fish are returning. Recycling is the highest for any American city with over 1 million people. NYC is also engaged in selling their recyclables now. However, the cut to the Sanitation Budget threatens progress. Education on ecology and the environment is being incorporated into the curriculum in schools and universities.
NYC’s environmental movement is trying to oust the private car. They want to emphasize that you do not need a car to live in NYC. This could also be applied/emphasized in other American cities. It is a bike friendly city.
The author purposely excludes the major environmental problems associated with NYC, which I think is prudent.

Sustainable Urban Environments

Majority of the people in the world prefer and do live in urbanized environments. Urban environments have upset the natural flow of the universe. They contribute to declining environmental quality. I really like these lines, “We have failed to realize the full potential of our green infrastructure because we have designed and managed landscapes as "pictures" rather than as functioning ecosystems. Sustainable urban ecosystems recognize the interconnection of natural resources, human resources, site design, building design, energy management, water supply, waste prevention, and facility maintenance and operation.” They encapsulate the urban environment dilemma.
The study seeks to reconnect people to sustainable environments because sustainable environments have many benefits for people and wildlife. The study also seeks to answer a number of valid questions. We do have to partner with nature instead of trying to conquer it. We have to find a balance between nature and people. That is the essence of sustainability and this class.

The Solaire

One word, “wow.” It almost seems to good to be true. Does this place even exist? The theme “Live Green” is complementary to the first article where the author kept making reference to the “Green Apple.” This site purports that this tower is the first of its kind in America and that it is supposedly environmentally advanced. How advanced is my question? I cannot help but be skeptical. The tower apparently provides more light, cleaner air (I remember someone making a joke about wanting to return to the fresh air of NYC once), fresher water and made from natural materials. It would be interesting to see this place and to ascertain what kind of scales they are using to define the benefits of this tower.
Maybe a little class road trip should be conducted to view this miracle, wink, wink.

The general idea I got from the combination of articles is that New York City is one of the greenest cities, while other places, like Los Angeles, are greatly lacking as far as sustainability and green spaces goes. I really like that New York is able to be such a good place for sustainable practices and green spaces. There are lots of green spaces in New York that are available to most of the residents. The green markets mentioned in at least one of the articles are a very important part of the city. Even though produce sold at green markets is generally more expensive than those sold in the supermarket, most of it is organically and locally grown. And they are even a nice place to visit and be in when not shopping. I also like the idea of green buildings. I think that sustainable energy sources is one of the most pressing issues of our time and will greatly affect our future. If more and more of the things that we create use alternative fuel sources and are environmentally friendly in general, we will have that much less to worry about in the future. I don't know what the real problem is in LA, but I think that it needs to be, and can be, worked out in the near future. People jut need to be dedicated and put in an effort and things will happen. The biggest problem everywhere is that not enough people 1. believe that there is a problem. 2. care enough to do anything about it. or 3. Believe that we, as people, can do something to fix the problem. New York is a start, and hopefully the ideas and practices that are abundant in NY will proliferate around the country and world.

Innovation

The Greening of NYC, as Seen by A Designer
This article talks about Sustainable Cities. My question is: How do you define “Sustainable City?” There is a transition from the Big Apple to the Green Apple, I noticed, when referring to NYC. So, NYC is an example of one of those model cities!! Among all its diverse cultural background and its richness of places and opportunities, some people still find a way to make this place greener. The ecologically interesting places should not be unmentioned. NYC is a place where fascinating events take place, one of them being Earth Day in 1990. And the list of such marvels goes on……
This article talks about how innovative NYC is. The “I Love NYC” t-shirts now make sense to me. What is meant by Sustainable Cities, I ask again. These cities are what we call Sustainable Development hot spots, or places were economy is in harmony with the environment. This article talks about how, because “we” are the world’s top producers, we are compensating that luxury/need/fact with recycling and how to effectively manage waste. On the other hand, there is an academic interest: NYU with its Environmental Management courses and Columbia with its Industrial Ecology projects. Overall, NYC is very healthy. It is a place where walking to go to work is commonplace, and where nature is appreciated in the middle of civilization. And the innovation is like the energizer Bunny…it keeps going and going and going……The Green Apple is indeed an industrial paradise!

Public Architecture and Design-Creating Community The Politics of Open Space Design
Parks are popular social centers in many urban environments. I recall last year reading about Frederick Law Olmstead. After studying in Yale, he traveled to China, and then came back to USA. Olmstead was an ecological visionary and an innovator. Did he or his successors have something to do with the designing of Cornell? This is what I read in “wikipedia” regarding Olmstead contribution to Cornell:
For example, in one of the earliest plans, Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of Central Park, outlined a "grand terrace" overlooking Cayuga Lake.[19] Because the terrace plan was dropped, McGraw Hall appears to face the wrong direction, facing the Slope rather than the Arts Quad.
This article talks about LA, and how it needs parks. Olmstead will be revived, and his transcendental ideas will be applied to LA, a place with a lot of natural beauty.

The Solaire, Live Green
The theme this week is innovation. A blink of the future. What’s to be trendy: water will be recycled, buildings will have rooftop gardens. Think and live green! Sustainability at its apex! Great ideas, now lets get to business….how much does it cost to live this dream? …because, unless one has the Big Green Dollar to make it a reality, this is only really fantastic for the rest of the population. How can this become accessible to all, and is this possible? Somehow!?!

Really long comments....

The Greening of NYC
This article attemps to highligh the sustainable aspects of NYC and I think it does a good job when it comes to describing all of the eco-tourism sites to be visited. I was surprised by all of the places and stores that the author listed. Only in New York would there be an eco-department store! All of the sustainable clothing stores and green buildings sound fascinating and prosperous, but I argue that there is always more to be done. The author supports the idea that NYC is a “Sustainable City” by listing all of the green efforts taking place such as the Earth Day Celebration in 1990 and the environmental schools. I question his examples because they seem to be outdated. The Earth Day celebration was 5 years ago, why was there not one every year? Also, he talked about the recycling efforts made in NYC. If you have been to NYC, I don’t think you will see a major effort any where within the city to offer recycling. He says currently (in 1995) NYC recycles 15% of the garbage and a mandate was passed to recycle 40%. Has this goal been met today? All I can say is that when I was in NYC, I did not see any efforts to increase recycling around the city. This would take some major organization, but it can be done. The city just needs someone who cares to take jcharge. He also mentioned some green projects being looked into such as composting, repair centers, and BYOB. What has happened to these efforts? If this article was written in 1995, then why have we not seen major improvements in these areas in NYC by 2007??

NPR
The Los Angeles River would flood, and so they sought advice about it from Olmstead. He suggested not to build houses near the river, but to build a parkway as a flood control device. I think this is a good idea and I like that people interested in their community are getting involved in building parks and planting around the river. Local governments are letting community input be a part of the design process when landscaping and gardening around the river. The building of the parkways can affect the community as well as government groups’ ideas, such as the Army Corps of Engineers. The project seems very positive and beneficial to the atmosphere of the communities as well as contributing to learning and teamwork.

The Solaire
This apartment complex looks beautiful and spacious. I think it is a great idea to build energy efficient residence building, since so many apartments are inefficient in heating, electric, and insulation and will not change because of the relationships between the landlords and the tenants. I’m sure it would be very expensive to live in these buildings and it is definitely not geared toward the lower class. I think in addition to building new energy efficient buildings, the city should focus on improving the older very inefficient buildings. People end up paying way too much for their heating and electricity simply because their old building systems or the appliances that are supplied with their apartments. I think that these issues should be addressed. In the Solaire, I love the idea of the rooftop gardens and the irrigation set up to water these gardens.

Sustainable Urban Ecosystems
This paper discussed many interesting topics and provided many great research questions about many different aspects of urban ecosystems. They talked about subjects such as identifying and designing methods, analyzing costs, researching people and implementing projects. Of particular interest to me were the impacts of urban environments on people. I was intersted in questions like “What demographic, scientific, economic, and religious trends are most likely to shape urban dwellers attitudes towards nature and their behaviors impacting landscapes? What are the positive impacts of community-based green projects on small groups and organizations that participate?”

Readings 3/13/07

The Greening of NYC, as Seen by A Designer

This article covered the view of greening by a designer. It was interesting how it started by addressing the diversity of NYC and how the people all a responsibility to improve the city. He talks about how designers use recyclables in design. It was interesting to learn that NYC has over 200 eco-friendly locations. Even though the article didn't mention the problems in NYC you could see that through the information provided that their is a lot that can be done and continued to make NYC a more ecological sustainable city.

Sustainable Urban Ecosystem

This article started off detailing the problems in urban environments. From the redirection of ground water and increased need for air-conditioning that causes air pollution. Then in the next part of the article the author expresses urban areas as "pictures" instead of ecosystems.I also liked that the article included possible research questions associated with the material presented.

The Solaire Living Green

I don't know about this concept. It seems a little too Utopian for me. I question all the amenities and improved use of resources the company claims. It says its an equal housing opportunity building but the cost of living there is not listed and it seems to me it would be pretty pricey.I would like to visit it though.

Public Architecture and Design-Creating Community
The Politics of Open Space Design

I am not surprised by the problems that stand in the way of improving green spaces in L.A. since we had an earlier reading on L.A. and from common knowledge about L.A. From the cities layout to political tie-ups. I think it will have to come from the people to advocate for green spaces.

The Greening of NYC as seen by a designer:
This presentation was very interesting. Towards the end it seemed more like a bus tour guiding us through the city, but I enjoyed his talk about garbage and recycling in the city. He mentioned a lot of great places that we could visit during our trip, lets go see the National Audubon Society building!
As a planning student, I have to call attention to his mention of Bryant Park and other BIDs within the city. A Business Improvement District is an area that is given special care and maintenance with money pooled from local businesses in the area. While this seems like a great strategy for greening up the city, it often kicks out the natives. Bryant Park used to be known as a place for drug dealers and bums in the '80's but when it became a BID, the park became privately patrolled. While the removal of drug dealers seems like a great thing, BIDs do not eliminate the problem, they just push them elsewhere. This is problematic and short-sighted, not to mention the fact that it is yet another design flaw that does not serve the community in which it resides.

Sustainable Urban Ecosystems:
This website was clear in laying out its goals and outlining research ideas. I especially enjoyed reading about composting to reduce the % of waste that ends up in land fills.

NPR All things considered:
Los Angeles is known as a problematic city to planners and planning students. The design of the city seems to be the most fundamental problems. The city was founded around the idea of the great American Dream of single family households in suburbs. As a result, settlement in the city resulted in racial segregation in suburbs in LA, traffic congestion, and environmental degradation. The army corps of engineers seemed to have "solved" flooding problems in the same ways everywhere, by simply cementing it over and channelizing it. Pocket parks seem like a good idea for fighting for getting more green space, but they do not seem like great places to actually spend time because of their close proximity to the highways.

The solaire: I am really excited that there is interest in living in a sustainable apartment building. However, this brings back into play the idea that you got to have the green to live green. Why is sustainable living not an equal access issue?

NYC-CCE Internship Opportunity

Cornell University Cooperative Extension – New York City

Urban Environment Program Area

Internship Description

Internship Position Title: Urban Environment Intern

Term of Appointment: Part-time or Full-time, Start date: flexible

Duties: Urban Environment Program Area seeks an intern(s) to provide support for informal, community-based education programs and related activities. Responsibilities may include program planning and promotion, recruitment of participants and organization partners, logistics planning, and program delivery with local audiences, using an array of communication and outreach strategies. Intern(s) will conduct other communications and administrative support tasks, as needed and assigned. Urban Environment programs include:

· “Garden Mosaics and Urban Agriculture” project in Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan, and the Bronx, working with community-based organizations to deliver horticultural and environmental science learning experiences, in farmers’ markets and community gardens;

· An emerging initiative focused on outdoor education and adventure experiences, which will encourage and facilitate urban youths’ engagement with the outdoors in and around NYC;

· “Urban Silviculture,” an integrated research and education project that investigates the relationship between trees and air quality and engages young adults in field-based data collection in the South Bronx;

· “Celebrate Urban Birds,” a collaborative effort between CUCE-NYC and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that aims to involve the public in activities related to urban birds and the importance of habitat in urban environments;

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written). Spanish language skills desirable. Strong computer literacy and organizational skills.

• Academic background in the sciences, environmental studies and/or education;

understanding of and willingness to work in urban communities with diverse populations; ability to work collaboratively with others as well as take initiative and work independently.

• College junior, senior or graduate preferred; graduate students will also be considered.

Contact: Lisa Babcock at llb28@cornell.edu; 212-340-2956

Transforming Cities

I really enjoyed the article about transforming cities. The major problem in cities is that they are overpopulated. Historically, cities have always been the centers for industrialization and rarely made to cater to the people that dwell in them. This article hopes to change all that. What I got from it is that yes, cities are for industrialization and other things but it does not have to be exclusive to this. Cities are for people and not the the other way around basically. People can have their cities and still have them be areas of sustainability, where natural resources are protected and conserved. Also, cities can be places where communities are fostered. Cities continue to grow and so do the problems associated with them. But the situation is not hopeless if we all work together.

My slide basically highlights the things about this article that stood out to me.

Reflecting on the history and the current state of community gardening

Reading Lawson's chapter on the emergence of the contemporary urban gardening movement raises many issues for the current state of community gardening in urban spaces.

Since community gardening rose during a period of national urban deterioration, the challenge today is that urban areas have been transformed into playgrounds of real estate developers. If gardens are such vital resources to poor and delapitated areas where youth can get out of the daily drama of poverty and violence, then what does the current trends of gentrification mean for the youth of today?

If there are no more vacant lots, and those that do exist are being coveted for the right moment to construct a new loft for the young urban professional, than how do we push to transform the ecology of the city with the grassroots community gardening of the past?

Maybe the fight has moved out of the inner city and to the exurbs where the urban poor are now moving. Maybe the farmers who are losing their land to the development of strip malls are the natural allies of the exurban poor who have become alienated by the lack of community fostered by environments based on private vehicular transportation.

I don't know if this is what you were going for, but it is my interpretation of the assignment, and what could go on one slide.