In 2014 researchers at West Virginia University discovered a software in Volkswagon automobiles that could distinguish between when the car was being tested from when it was not.  When in test mode, the automobiles preformed up to 40 times better on emissions tests than normal.  In 2015 the EPA did a study and announced that Volkswagon had cheated on emissions tests, the company immediately conceded that they had rigged 500,000 vehicles to bypass emission laws.  It came to light that the cheating software had been implemented worldwide in 11 million cars all over the world.  VW stock plummeted, CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned, and they were forced to recall defective vehicles.  Lawsuits piled up from people whose cars had lost value due to the software.  In October of 2015 Volkswagon offices in Germany, Italy, and France were raided by police in search of incriminating documents.  VW set up a fund to compensate people for lost car value, and agreed to fix or buy back 500,000 cars in the US.  In total, the scandal cost Volkswagon about $18 billion.  Although the company says that senior executives knew nothing about the software, several more resignations occurred.  The emissions scandal was a direct violation of the Clean Air Act.  The Clean Air Act signed into law by Lyndon Johnson in 1963 is meant to reduce emissions on a national level.  One executive was recently arrested for conspiring to defraud customers, impede regulators, and violating the Clean Air Act.

Lately, I’ve been contemplating ways that I can contribute to making Charleston a ‘greener’ city. My passion for sustainability as well as plant life- and frankly, food- has lead me to many of the various community gardens all over Charleston. MUSC’s Urban Garden is by far the most impressive and extensive, and it’s so easy to help out! I got certified to become a volunteer there so I may garden as I please. I believe that the garden is a great way to create a natural habitat for all sorts of critters while providing fresh, seasonal food for the community!

The typical volunteer activities include planting seeds, such as carrots and greens at this time of year, weeding, tilling the soil, and harvesting! The best part is, all participating volunteers get to take home whatever they want. It’s a great way to build community ties and introduce the joy of gardening to all who are willing to participate.
Like many college students, I do not have a backyard or any other way to grow food for myself, so I am very grateful that the urban garden provides an outlet for anyone who loves to see things grow. I believe that the urban garden is a wonderful example of what can be done with an empty lot. Can you imagine if there were gardens like this scattered throughout all major cities? Fresh, local fruits and vegetables would be abundant, and free to all who are willing to lend a hand to make it happen! I encourage all of you to give it a try if you haven’t already, and I guarantee you will not be disappointed!

Recently, deforestation has caused a lot of destruction to the natural environment of Guatemala. Logging, forest fires, and agriculture are the main causes of the deforestation, and the issue is difficult because it’s hard to pinpoint any one effective solution. Illegal logging is a major problem, because many of the rural indigenous people live off the land and cut down trees for firewood. People also cut down trees to sell for the quality of the wood, and this occurs on protected land and national parks as well as non protected lands. There have been programs implemented in attempt to reduce this problem, such as educating indigenous people on how to harvest wood sustainably, however the problem remains.

Forest fires are another major cause of deforestation. Drug cartels have been burning large areas of land for landing strips and trails near the borders of Mexico and Belize in order to traffic the products. I was recently in communication with a woman who lives in Guatemala, and she said that gangs often start fires and raid houses for valuables when the surrounding area is evacuated.  Not only is this a wicked crime to commit, but it is also detrimental to the natural environment of the area, which leads to much bigger problems.

Agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation in Guatemala, as many of the indigenous and rural people are farmers. All forms of deforestation cause a decrease in soil stability in mountainous regions, but agriculture has the greatest impact because it is so widespread and not illegal. Many people farm on steep slopes in the mountain, and the lack of trees to hold the soil together makes the area much more prone to landslides. Guatemala has suffered from multiple tragedies in the past due to the deadly combination of hurricanes and weak, unstable slopes.

While there are many initiatives being taken to mollify the impact of deforestation in Guatemala, the government has neither the will nor the money to put effective strategies into practice to reverse the impact of deforestation. However, awareness is the first step towards taking action to resolve a problem, and educating people on the impacts of their way of life and how it can be made more sustainable is becoming more widespread. Much of the natural environment remains pristine in Guatemala, so there is definitely hope for the future!

For a while now I have considered myself environmentally conscious, I took an environmental studies class in high school and the subject immediately caught my attention. Since then I have always tried to keep myself educated on environmental issues, and I thought I was doing a pretty good job. I would read news articles, research environmental issues, and watch documentaries on environmental problems. But it wasn’t until I stumbled upon the movie Racing Extinction that I had fully understood a large area of the problem. Racing Extinction discusses and investigates illegal and detrimental activity in oceans. Whether this be unsustainable mass fishing, or poaching endangered animals.

This movie not only discusses the problems with these environmentally, but why it is that very few people know this problem. When it comes to environmental problems people tend to care about problems they can see,  such as deforestation and habitat destruction. But very few people are able to get an up close look at what is happening to our oceans, and due to this lack of education they don’t understand the consequences of these issues.

I can say that I was one of these uneducated people. I considered myself well versed in environmental issues and yet I didn’t know the environmental problems in the ocean, which make up 71% of our earth’s surface. I was a proud “vegetarian” because I understood and had researched the issues with the agricultural industry and what it is doing to the environment, but I continued to eat fish without being educated on how that choice may impact our planet. All and all this movie opened my eyes to a whole new side of the environmental movement, and educated me on very important issues that need to be brought to light.

After watching the Cowspiracy documentary, I decided to try out not eating any meat and see how long I can continue this way of lifestyle. Today, I am on my 12th day without meat in my life. However, in order to keep my protein intake at a good level I have decided to still eat fish. In ways benefiting my health, I have started to feel much more healthy, and I have loss the craving of meat itself all together. I feel like I have much more energy than I did before, and I have had a much lower amount of acne on my face than I did before. As for the environment, I feel that my lifestyle choice has benefited the community around me. Since going meatless, I have saved large amounts of water because of me not buying meat products; the amount of water given to the cows has now been limited. Also, I have limited the amounts of greenhouse gases and methane produced in the environment. Another reason why I wanted to only eat fish is because the large amounts of antibiotics that is given to meat to limit the amount of diseases being spread. I just want to limit the overall amount of synthetic material, chemicals, or drugs that I am ingesting. As for where I have been shopping, I have been going to Earthfare for the fish, and local farmers’ markets on weekends for things like fruits, vegetables, snacks and bread. I feel that shopping local has supported  my community and low country by keeping the middle man out, and allowing to sustain the local food growth scene. Also, locally grown food tends to be more healthy in that you know where it is coming from, allows for less processed material, and more organic foods. I have always been an organic food advocate, but now I have started a new change in my life for not eating meat. I will see other benefits I am sure, but for now this is how I feel that I have given back to myself and the local community.

Before taking this class, I had heard of the concept ecofeminism before but had no idea what it actually meant, probably because I have never taken the time to actually look the word up and see what it was all about. After reading the assigned material and discussing it some in class, I finally understand what the concept of ecofeminism actually is.  After our class on Tuesday, I wanted to look up ecofeminism and see more examples of how feminism and the environment are connected with each other.
One example that I found is the use of “pinkwashing.”  The term pinkwashing is brand new to me, but after reading about what it actually means, it made me a little frustrated.  Pinkwashing “is the application of the breast cancer symbol on products that contain toxins and chemicals that can cause cancer.”  One article I read talked about one example of this with one of the larger oil companies.  The oil company was promoting breast cancer by using pink drill bits, while also using these drill bits for fracking.  By fracking, they are using carcinogens such as lead and sulfuric acid that can lead to cancer.  These carcinogens also “are being used in and around aquifers to find natural gas.”  Basically, companies are using techniques like this to make a bigger profit but they aren’t worrying about what dangers that, not only women, but everyone and the environment will face because of it.
This article really made me wonder what other ways ecofeminism is happening all around me that I am not even aware of.  I understand making a profit, but does the profit justify what problems it will cause to our Earth and the people that are living on it?

https://wmeac.org/ecofeminism-environmental-justice-gender-intersectional-lens/

I know this topic might be a bit premature since the talk of Germany’s green policies is not until Friday but I was inspired to go ahead and write about my experiences there for this blog post. My entire family is from Germany so we go and visit them as often as possible. I went to visit this Christmas and I was amazed by how environmentally conscious the country has gotten over the years. For starters, I know this is starting to begin in America too, but I ended up carrying all of my groceries back from the store for my grandparents cradled in my arms because I did not realize you had to pay extra to get bags. I know here in the states some grocery stores are starting to do the same. The only one I am aware of is Aldi, which is a store based out of Germany. There was also a moment where I was talking to my grandmother and she was saying how she had to rethink how to package and store a lot of things since plastic bags are all but gone in Germany. I was taken aback when she said this because I am so used to plastic bags just being everywhere and being a product that people just expect to have. That moment made me realize how behind America is with some of its environmental policies.Everywhere in Germany, one sees houses with solar panels on its roofs, especially with any new construction. The houses are made of stone to better insulate so that costs can be saved with heating and cooling. Everywhere there are LED lights and in places such as northern Germany, wind turbines are part of the landscape.

The way the German political system is set up, they have a multi-party system. If a party gets a certain percentage of votes, they get to have a say in the German political system. The Green party in Germany has gained a lot of power and is not shy of exercising its power. In some cases, I had to listen to my relatives complain of how it can be taken to the extreme sometimes. For example, an entire new subway tunnel system was disallowed due to a certain species of lizard that called those rocks its home. Or, a new soccer complex was not allowed to be built since the floodlights would confuse the bats that inhabited the area. While these measures may seem a bit extreme, is it worse than just not considering what might live in the forest before we flatten down? Alternatives are also always trying to be found and compromises are possible.

Most of Europe has taken the initiative and talk of becoming more sustainable and environmentally friendly is the norm. In the mean time in America, environmental groups have to struggle for every step towards sustainability. How hard would it be to ban plastic bags? How hard would it be to encourage people to start to bring their own grocery bags. How difficult can it be to make sure that every new construction is run on some form of sustainable energy? Steps are being taken in many parts of the world to better the environment on a large level and I hope the time has come where America will do the same.

Last semester I joined a club called Garden Apprenticeship; which aims to explore ways to create a sustainable urban agriculture within the low country. There is an abundance of food insecurity that we as a community within Charleston are unaware about. To help combat food insecurity, we started a project last semester at Florence Crittenton. This program is for pregnant teens, from ages 10-21, and it provides medical help, parenting skills, counseling, a home, and education for these teenagers. Every Friday a group of us would go out to this run down garden and try to revive it. All it took was a few containers of soil and seeds, mulch, weed picking, a raised bed, and some compost. Towards the end of the semester we started to grow romaine lettuce, pak choi, lacinto kale, and chinese cabbage. The women were able to have food justice and a brightened landscape outside their house. The urban garden gives the women access to fresh, healthy food, which they might otherwise not be able to afford. Many cultures revolve around food, by growing, cooking, and eating it. I hope the garden helped the women feel a sense of community. The food that was grown also had no pesticides and more nutrients, such as antioxidants. This semester the club has many more goals; such as creating more urban gardens for other impoverished communities within the low-country and also learning how to become more sustainable ourselves.

This semester and into the summer I think it would be exceedingly rewarding to start my own garden by utilizing efficient use of the little space I have outside my house. I would need to build a raised bed, start small and slow, enrich the soil with compost, pull out weeds, protect the investment with mulch, and by then hopefully I will not have failed too many times before I achieve a good yield of vegetables.

Before taking this class I had no idea about the effects on agriculture, especially in Charleston. Chapter nine in the reading, A Delicate Balance : Constructing a Conservation Culture in the South Carolina Low country, was very enlightening in my opinion. I did not know a lot of Charleston’s agriculture was affected daily. I found it quite surprising learning that “South Carolina has been losing about thirty five acres of farmland daily to residential and commercial development, and the low country has experienced the greatest of those losses”. That little piece of information was the most shocking to me because I know Charleston has a lot of construction and stuff going on, but I did not know that it was that drastic. Saving farmland is very important because farmland is not just for raising up animals to produce meat, it is much more than that. Having a sufficient amount of farmland is vitally important because you need land to produce the locally grown vegetables and fruits that we consume. Also in the chapter I found it reassuring to know that organizations like the Charleston County Greenbelt Bank Board is taking initiative to purchase rural land just to help protect it from companies trying to use it for development. If more organizations like this step up and participate to preserve the Low country’s farmlands more acres of land can be saved from development. Another aspect of this paper I was inspired by was Margaret Fabri, she stated that if “we don’t have many rural spaces left, and if we don’t protect them now, we will have none left”. This statement means so much because she is promoting taking action, which is what needs to be done to make changes so that more land can be saved. Just this statement alone signifies that action needs to be taking now before it is too late.