Category: Guest Bloggers

Thank You

4/27/15

As I sit on my 3rd flight within 36 hours, I figured this would be a good of time as any to write my blog post for this semester. This post isn’t about a certain topic or event that I attended, but it’s more of a reflection of my time at the Office of Sustainability. With my classes coming to a close and my internship ending, I wanted to take this time to look back since I will be walking across the cistern in 19 short days.

 

In early December of 2013, I got an email that would change my life in ways that I had no idea. I had been offered an internship with the College of Charleston’s Office of Sustainability to run the Sustainable Greek Initiative for the following semester, something that fit both my interests and my experience as an active member of Kappa Alpha Theta. I had accepted the position and in January 2014 I started what has become the most amazing journey I have been on. I learned so much my first semester with the office and as it turns out, this sustainability thing is kind of awesome and has captivated me in every sense of the word.

 

Flash forward to the summer of 2014 when I had finished my first semester working at the Office of Sustainability. I was moving to a new apartment when I found out that we had been accepted to present at AASHE that October in Portland, OR. I’m pretty sure I was shaking when I found out, and rightfully so, AASHE is a BFD. The summer of 2014 I also applied, was accepted to, and attended the Summer Institute on Sustainability & Energy at University of Illinois at Chicago. I won’t go into much detail other than it was probably the best 2 weeks of my life. Not only was I learning about current issues in sustainability and energy in an amazing city, but I made incredible friendships with interesting people from around the country. My blog post from last semester was on SISE and it can be found here.

 

So now here I am. I’m on a plane flying back to Charleston after being in Chicago to present my research at the 2015 SISE Alumni Spring Symposium. I’ve presented at national conferences, attended amazing lectures, made incredible connections, and all in the past year and a half. 18 months ago I would have never thought I would be searching for jobs in the environmental policy field, let alone be flying to Chicago to present my personal research so I don’t know what my life would look like, or where I would be without the Office of Sustainability. This office has given me the opportunity to grow as a person, a young professional, and as a friend. I’ve learned more about myself than I ever could have imagined and for that I can only say thank you. Thank you for the constant support and guidance. Thank you for teaching me that failure is an important part of learning, just like coffee. Thank you for helping me find my path and for letting me know it’s okay to wander off that path sometimes. Thank you for the laughs and the stress and the chaos and the experiences. Thank you for giving me a chance.

-Virginia Whorley ’15

Screen Shot 2015-04-27 at 3.17.26 PM

Worms are Cool: Vermicompost, pt. 2

Worms: a faceless animal that to most after the age of five is of little interest. I felt about the same way until around six months ago when my friend Simon and I applied for and received money from the College of Charleston’s Office of Sustainability to start vermicomposting on campus. We got 2,000 Red Wriggler Worms to help break down the schools compost. I went from being disgusted by looking at the worms to petting them like one does to their beloved furry friend.   I am in awe of what these tiny creatures can do! Here is what I have learned from putting my hands in the dirt with worms:

 

Worms will eat just about anything.

I am amazed to what I will put in the feeding bin and see completely digested by the worms. All types of fruit and veggie scraps, eggshells, tea bags, coffee grounds, newspaper, junk mail, cardboard, and leaves are consumed by the worms- and the list goes on. (We have noticed that the worms tend to avoid citrus peels, due to the acidity). If it was once growing from the ground the chances are they will eat it, and eat it fast! One worm can eat up to half of its body weight in one day.

 

Worms love each other.

Their companionship comes in more ways than one. The first is their obvious desire to reproduce. The worms reproduce around every 3-4 months, doubling their population. This allows for us to expand the system by adding more stacking bins so the worms have additional space to inhabit and new food can be added to the bins. Worms also support each other when they are stressed. If the temperature, moisture, or food content is too extreme, the worms ball up around each other as a method to protect one another from the poor environment. This is a helpful signal for us to check in with the systems variables and adjust as needed.

 

Small creature can have big effects.

This does not just apply to worms. Many other creepy-crawlers are attracted to the worm bin. Some critters have a neutral effect such as larvae and fruit flies. Fruit flies are a nuisance but will not directly harm the worms. The larvae actually act similar to the worms and decompose the food with high-quality castings. Lately mites have been enjoying our worm’s food. Mites can be seen crawling on the food scraps and look like little red-brown dots crawling around. When this happens, we pick out as much of the infected material as possible. Mites will not harm the worms but will eat their food.

 

Dry worms grow- just add water!

When we received the worms, they were about the size of my fingernail. After no food or water for a couple days in the mail, the worms had shrunk. After assembling the bin and adding appropriate bedding for the worms, we left them alone for a few days to adjust to their new home. When we checked on them next the worms were almost unrecognizable! They were darker in color and some were as long as my pinky finger. This amazing survival technique showed me the durability and evolutionary intelligence behind such a tiny creature often regarded as simplistic.

 

Imitating worms isn’t just for the dance floor anymore.

Dealing with waste issues, our world needs other solutions than filling up landfills. Taking nature’s own systems, proven to work through years of evolution, and using them to solve problems is where future technology is headed. Using worms to break down food and paper waste is natural, efficient, and easy. These worms are showing me how breathtaking this natural process can be. We do not need machines and chemicals to accomplish daunting problems. Sometimes the answer is right beneath our feet- we just need to look!

 

And an obligatory worm selfie:worms

 

-Makenna Coon, ’16

Sustainability & Feminism

Since I was first introduced to it, sustainability has become a crucial lens I use to examine other beliefs I hold. Feminism is no exception. I consider myself a feminist, despite some of the negative connotations the word may conjure up for some. To me, feminism is a movement for equality that ultimately benefits everyone. It seeks to liberate all people from potentially limiting definitions of masculinity and femininity and encourages us to respect each other no matter what gender we identify with. Ideally, it should invite us all to be ourselves, whatever that means to each of us as individuals, and should allow us to do so without fear of being judged by the rest of society. Outside of personal identity, wage equality and other issues, however, feminism deals with some very time-sensitive and life-or-death world problems as well, including those pertaining to the environment. This is where sustainability can urgently be applied to the movement for gender equality. Feminism should be an avenue through which we can raise living standards for people throughout the globe, while sustainable practices encourage being conscientious of the burden our growing population places on our planet and developing novel ways to work with the environment to the benefit of both humanity and Earth.

While the movement for gender equality has made huge strides in the past century, we still have a long way to go. It’s simply not sustainable to ignore or minimize problems faced by half of the population (more than half, if one counts the children many mothers are often responsible for). Environmental problems, especially those related to climate change, disproportionately affect poor women and children (according to the UN’s WomenWatch). Women in rural and/or poor areas, who are more likely to depend on natural resources for their livelihoods, face social and political barriers that make it more difficult for them to adapt to adverse changes in the environment. However, since these women are often at the front lines of these issues, they often develop their own localized techniques to help mitigate problems caused by climate change as it affects their daily lives. We could learn a lot from the way women adapt to life as a changing environment demands them to discover new ways of interacting with the planet with regard to such diverse issues as water scarcity, food security, and loss of biodiversity that lie at this intersection of sustainability and social/environmental justice.

The problems that sustainability seeks to answer require all hands on deck. Women are capable leaders, innovators and problem-solvers, and their help will be essential if we want to ensure the existence of a healthy planet for later generations. Investing in women’s health, safety and education is a surefire way to invest in and help secure our future on earth.Michaela-1

—Michaela Herrmann, Sustainability Intern

Sustainable Nail Polish: What’s the Hype?

Nail polish can be a fashion statement or some consider it a necessary part of their outfit. Doing my nails is my hobby and I am obsessed with nail polish. Let’s be honest: I probably do them 2-3 times a week when I’m not overwhelmed by schoolwork. There are quite a few blogs and tutorials about how to accomplish different techniques and designs. There are so many people who love nail polish as well and there are many groups to join to find the best sales and best brands. But how does this apply to you? Are you a vegetarian or a vegan? Just don’t like cruelty to animals? Or maybe you want to learn why there has been all of hype around 3- and 5-free polishes. I’ll address some of those questions here.

I will begin by talking about the vegan nail polishes that spurred that question. In order for a brand or specific nail polish to be considered vegan, they must not test on animals and they cannot contain any sort animal by-product. Well, aren’t all polishes vegan? No. The metallic colors or the sparkles you love are usually made from fish scales. Having a lot of friends who are vegetarian or vegan, I know this makes a huge difference to them.

Another thing that people don’t know about nail polish what some are made from. You may see brands that say 3- or 5-Free. What does that mean? It means that they are free of that many toxic chemicals that one normally finds in nail polishes. First is the dibutyl phthalate (DBP) which can cause reproductive impairments, mostly in males. Toluene can lead to liver and kidney damage and can cause damage to fetuses. Formaldehyde, which they use to embalm bodies and prolonged exposure has been linked with leukemia. The 5-Free polishes are without the previous toxins as well as camphor and formaldehyde resin, which also cause negative effects on the body. Read more here!

But one day I was asked, “How is that sustainable?” That is a very good question, so I began to research it. I was able to find a list of polish brands that are 5-free, vegan, and they are sustainable!

You can see the list here: Sustainable Nail Polish?  One of the brands that made the list is Zoya, which is my favorite brand of polish and products. They have a huge array of colors and their polish remover does not smell horrid like others. Zoya tries to promote sustainable efforts and every year (around Earth Day) they will let you exchange your unwanted polishes for a half-price discount on just as many new Zoya polishes in order to be able to dispose of the nail polish responsibly.

So next time you think about polishing your nails, think about how that polish was made and what the ingredients are. Being conscientious and knowledgeable about what you use and how you live your life can lead to a better life for everyone on the planet.

-Danielle Woodberry, Sustainability Intern

Read more about Danielle’s nail polish endeavors on her blog!

IMG_5893

 

Rage Against the Drying Machines

According to General Electric’s website, clothes dryers are the third most energy intensive appliance found in most homes. While there is large variability in the wattage of dryers, on average they operate using 3400 watts. This is more than your oven! For residents of SC this means nearly $100 every year just to dry your clothes. But believe it or not, SC has one of the cheaper rates in the US. If you lived in Hawaii you would pay over $300 every year. Fortunately, a better alternative exists. This alternative requires no energy input, will make your clothes last longer, and is much cheaper. What is this solution?

A solar clothes dryer.Untitled

I myself have not used a clothes dryer in more than a year. Rather, I purchased a clothesline (550 cord works really well and is around $8 for 100 ft.) and, for indoors, a clothes rack and voilà you have a solar clothes dryer. While it does take a few more minutes to hang dry your clothes than throw them in a dryer, I have come to much prefer their feel and even their smell. Even heavy items like jeans or your bedding can dry within 12 hours 99% of the time. If you’re pressed for space, take advantage of your shower curtain rod or other miscellaneous surfaces around the house.

Save your money, add longevity to your clothes, eliminate a fire hazard, and stop wasting energy doing something that can be naturally done for free. Stop using/don’t buy a clothes dryer. It just makes sense.

-Craig Bennett, Data Manager at the Office of Sustainability

One Step, Two Step, SustainabiliStep…

Believing in an ideal or way of life is a cornerstone of all thinkers, praised or unappreciated. There are the scientific, the economic, the religious, the political, and the environmental pulls of passion, but what makes every belief unique is the way in which they are folded into the fabric of every individual’s life and how those threads act in part to warm or cool the spirit of others.

To warm the fabric of other’s lives means to take their beliefs in your hands, fold it into your own, and create a message that is not only diverse, but rich with melodic harmony between two seemingly opposing forces.

This whimsical connection of individuals can be seen in all areas of livelihood. Take your mechanics, politicians, librarians, any profession, hobby, activity of any odd person on the street and what do they have in common? Every single one, no matter how outlandish or ghoulish they may be, every single ounce of stardust in them enjoys the release from reality – that portion of the day, week, year, (or if you’re very intense) every decade that you have to take a breath in of a fantastical world that you read in books, imagine in dreams, or create in spaces of thought. One’s connection to something they see as an accessory to their happiness is a powerful thing. One can live without many things, but one thing they will not easily give up is their goal of euphoria. Yes, it is the apex of happiness and hard to achieve most days, but so are the best of our goals in life. It is the individual baby steps to this grand goal which allow a person to persist; the small things that open your eyes to the possibilities all around you. That is where progression towards true enjoyment is found.

Sustainability is a mission that is true to many hearts. The goal of promoting and fostering a worldview that not only promotes, but inspires others to continue, to progress, to create a path that is widely traveled, though experienced individually, uniquely, and spiritually. The path less travelled is poetic, but the path that is travelled hand-in-hand with others, despite differences, is transcendent. Yes, it is sometimes difficult to open your imagination to include the presence of another, but what you find is that once opened, you double the chance and capacity for happiness.

Imagine a world in which everything is possible; a world in which all of your favorite little, tedious details of life are simply displayed in front of you in a medley of connections that you never previously conceived. Now picture your walking buddy on that path seeing the same compilation of stimuli, but with a different narrative. Now picture every single individual that has ever walked on that path and all the different details they perceived on the course to their destination. Now picture this path is your journey through a play, full of talented College of Charleston actors, and the path that every individual in the audience has treaded upon is sustainability. The destination? Silly, haven’t you heard? It’s the journey, that enjoyment of the whole adventure you experienced in that theatre.

On October 30th-November 7th, Center Stage presented the Crucible as a baby step in the grand goal of incorporating sustainability into theatre production.  The talented cast and crew of the Crucible started on the path with the sustainable utilization of used book covers to create their whimsical set of large cubes as their stage set, minimal lighting, creative costume design from used resources to create a well known story through a sustainable narrative. The Office of Sustainability paired with the eclectic crew to provide those at the Talk Back with food that was locally sourced and waste that was composted or recycled. Yes, these steps could be perceived as small in the grand mission of accomplishing full-circle sustainability. But you forget my friend, every small step you take is bringing you that much closer to the destination and when in stride with others, the journey can become that euphoric memory never to be forgotten. As George E. Clark once remarked “theater reaches audiences in a very personal and compelling way, touching both the heart and the mind. Because theater can also impart technical information and encourage action, it addresses one of the most notorious challenges of the sustainability project: moving people from the status quo to sustainability action.” Yes, sustainable theatre production is a path less travelled, but this road is accompanied by a link of interests all coming together inthe magic of imagination and creation. And who doesn’t love a little magic? Grab your friend, enjoy your life, and saunter ever more gallantly in the direction of sustainability. And never forget that the journey never truly ends, just as this adventure of sustainable theatre production is yet not truly over.

To be continued..

-Callie Rhodin, Sustainability Intern

theater2 theater

Photos by Stephanie Green

Connecting Public Health to Sustainability

When I tell people that I am an intern at The Office of Sustainability, the first statement I usually hear is, “I thought you were a Public Health Major?” It is really hard to get people to understand the connection between the two. Most people think of of Public Health as workers at the Center for Disease Control or someone who is going to go to Medical school after undergrad. While some do become doctors and medical professionals, most Public Health majors work in administrative positions at hospitals, some go to Law School to become environmental lawyers, and a lot become policy makers for the government

The connection between sustainability and public health is very strong. Some of the courses one can take while getting a public health degree are, introduction to toxicology, introduction to public health,  and epidemiology. A big part of all these courses is policy making and grant writing. Students learn what the process is for writing a Public Health grants and make policy changes. College of Charleston passed an on campus smoking ban last year that went into effect this summer and Public Health students had a helping hand in creating the policy and getting it passed.

Epidemiology looks at diseases and how and where they begin. Some diseases that students study are diseases that would not be prevalent if people had access to clean water, i.e Cholera, or had access to healthier food . Sustainability looks at sustaining and prolonging existing entities, including human live. To sustain the live and improve the lives we have now, we must improve water quality, air quality and access to fresh food, all things that public health student learn about, and topics that the Office of Sustainability address.

            Public Health is about improving the health and well being of the public and (my own definition) sustainability is improving the public and environment so that the well being of the public can also improve.

-Avie Taylor, Public Health ’15

avie

Putting the Green in Halloween

To continue the theme of “greening holidays” from my last post on St. Patrick’s Day, I thought I would discuss a few ways you can make your Halloween more sustainable. Halloween is up there on my list of favorite holidays – who can resist some delicious candy and a good scare? – but all of those wrappers don’t just disappear. According to the EPA, over 30 percent of municipal solid waste in the U.S. comes in the form of packaging, which includes all of those candy wrappers for Halloween treats. Individual wrapping is used for health and safety reasons and is not something that is going to change anytime soon. However, there are plenty of other ways you can reduce your impact on this holiday.

Pumpkins

According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), U. S. farmers produced more than one billion pounds of pumpkins last year to meet the demands of fall. Most of these pumpkins are used for carving and seasonal decoration, but are then tossed in the trash, destined for the landfill at the end of the holidays.

There are several ways you can reduce your impact. Instead of purchasing your pumpkin from a grocery store, visit the local farmer’s market to buy locally grown or organic pumpkins. This not only supports the local economy, but also reduces the shipping impact of pumpkins grown halfway across the country. In fact, 92% of pumpkins are grown in 5 states, none of which are South Carolina (IL, CA, OH, PA, and NY, in case you were wondering). While you are picking up your local pumpkin, you can also pick some apples to make a delicious treat, whether that treat is candied or caramelized.

Be sure to use the whole pumpkin rather than simply decorate it. Instead of throwing out those pumpkin innards, you can reuse them to make delicious snacks like pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, or even pumpkin soup. And you can always roast the seeds for a real treat. Check out this website for some great recipe ideas!

Lastly, rather than tossing the remains into the trash, use them to compost. If you are looking for a place to compost here at CofC, the Grounds Department, located at 45 Coming Street, accepts drop-offs every Friday from 9am-3pm!

Costumes

 While you could literally go green as the Jolly Green Giant, you could have another take on “green” and make a costume out things you already own. What better way to show off your creativity and your social consciousness at the same time? My personal favorite homemade look is Brooke Shield’s Citi Bike Costume, which also promotes a sustainable method of transportation. Maybe you can adapt this idea to the CofC Bike Share and blend in among our fleet at Stern Student Center!Brooke-Shields-CitiBike-Halloween1-537x439

If that isn’t your thing, you can also hold a costume swap. Rather than buying a new costume, hold a swap with your friends and trade them around. Not only is this practice “green” by reducing waste, but it can also save you some green. According to NRF, the average person will spend $77.52 this Halloween for a total of $7.4 billion spent nationwide. Instead of having to spend big bucks on something that is only worn once then tossed aside, join us at the upcoming Clothing Swap on November 17th. This will be held in the Stern Ballroom from 4-6pm and will be a great opportunity to grab some new gear and plan ahead for next year!

With these tips in mind, you can continue your festivities without sacrificing any of the fun. In fact, by cutting down your costs and waste, you may have even more to celebrate! Happy Halloween!

-Morgan Larimer, Bike Share Intern

Mindfulness + Sustainability

About a year ago I was on the medical school track until I realized I wanted to see more of the world versus more time studying in a classroom. Medicine is still fascinating to me but it’s not my passion. Then sustainability waltzed on into my life.

At the beginning of Spring 2014, you could have called me sustainability virgin. During that semester I took a course on sustainability with Dr. Brian Fisher and interned at the Office of Sustainability.  When I entered the realm of sustainability, I had an open mind; one could say I was eager to learn. After one semester of an internship and the sustainability course, I had a pretty good grasp on the major goal of sustainability. My personal definition wasn’t as clear to me. What I was clear on is what sustainability did not include reduce, reuse and recycle. Sustainability is a balance between systems. These systems include human and environmental systems. The systems thinking aspect of sustainability can be complex but the general categorization has been helpful for me because although I was not interested in conventional medicine and becoming a doctor, the topic of health never left. When I started visualizing society, as a human system the future was not as limiting and daunting.

I began to realize the human system has multiple facets. A few of them being economic, social, physical, and mental and all of them need to be healthy to be successful. Personally, the word health to me has started to coincide with sustainability. Anyway, I have noticed I have been consistent with yearning to do things that aid in optimizing the physical and mental health of people.

garden-2-embed

There are several ways to build the mental and physical health of our society and they all coincide with creating a more sustainable environment. Mental health is a topic that has similar “new age” aura around it as sustainability. People are too scared to approach the truths. Mental health has been a apart of my life ever since my father passed away when I was a toddler. After he passed my mom put my sister and I in therapy to “talk about our feelings and help us cope with our fathers’ death properly. Again, I was very young and I don’t remember talking about anything grandeur. Anyway, from that point on I have always been open and honest with myself. It wasn’t until the past few years that I realized how important and healthy it is to be aware of your emotions, how they’re expressed and why. My mom has a case of severe depression and PTSD along with General Anxiety Disorder (according to the DSM V). Growing up and through her adult life, she never talked about her issues. I remember clearly that we were always in therapy but she never went for herself. A lot of events built up and inhibited her to be strong which led to her eventual surrender. As I was walking through Forever 21 sophomore year, I get a call from my sister informing me that my mom was going into an institution. At that time, Conner was a senior in high school and my youngest sister was in 7th grade. Obviously not an ideal time but the timing proved the severity of her depressive state. She arrived at Emory hospital and they had her go through Electric Shock Therapy. The ECT treatment ended up not working because a year later she traveled back to Emory and began ketamine therapy. Which brings us to today. Yes, it is sad but she should be an example to everyone out there: talk about your emotions and be ok with them because not doing so is not sustainable (my mom as exhibit A).

Along with the ketamine treatment, she visits a psychiatrist every week and partakes in mindfulness therapy. At first, and for a WHILE, I was doubtful that breathing a few times a day would improve your mood. And really who has time for it? About a year or so later positive psychology popped up as one of the psychology class options. I decided to enroll because I could tell it was helping my mom a lot but I needed evidence! As the course has gone on I have become less and less skeptical about mindfulness. Honestly, I have started to make a lot od connections between positive psychology and mindfulness. The two work hand in hand. Ok, I know breathing for 10 minutes a day seems useless and why would we do that when we have so many other tasks on our list to do? Well, I thought the same way about 6 weeks ago. Hear me out.

Mindfulness has several forms: yoga, meditation, breathing, and tai chi, just to name a few. Through those practices one can improve physical and mental well being. Mental well being is what will help with sustainability because mindfulness cultivates characteristics such as gratitude, optimism, adaptability, forgiveness, and living with an open mind and living in the moment. If you are in my brain, you are making lists upon lists of examples about how this would help sustainability. I am going to go through a situation in which mindfulness helped me close friend out with sustainability.

My family is a bit confused as to why I have gained interest in sustainability. In their mind I went from Neurosurgeon path to paid hippie. Originally, I got defensive for several reasons. One, my family must not know me because when have I ever exhibited hippie like qualities and two, I knew there was more to the concept than hugging trees (although I find myself unintentionally doing this at times). Anyway, my family has an intense and successful background: bank chief finical executive, board member, highly regarded in their local political system, lawyer, mathematician, professional ballerina and Olympic swimmer. When you have a group like that it’s hard for them to understand. Mindfulness helped me rework through my head and adapt to their perspective. The adaptability mindset that is cultivated allows you to step out of your own head and observe how others are handling the situation without taking judgment, just with an open mind. I realized I needed to explain to them what I am doing in a way that will speak to them. First, I sent them a youtube video about the Office of Sustainability mission along with an article I was interviewed for and by doing so they are now clear on what my idea of sustainability is and that I am working hard at my job (and a campus celebrity J ). Secondly, I am going to send them a note about how I can apply sustainability to any job that I am doing by living according to my values. I want to point out to them that I am not working towards being an environmentalist. My family has worked hard to get to where they are and all they want is the best for me, which mainly means they want me to have a stable financial situation. Third, I would talk with them about the potential jobs I am thinking about (NO CLUE, but they don’t have to know) and their potential income. Lastly, I will ask if they have any questions.

Throughout the process I am exhibiting adaptability and openness along with non-judgment (especially when I am acknowledging that they probably have questions). This is a concrete example but mindfulness itself provides sustainability to the individual through cultivating mental strength. As Garden Coordinator for the Office of Sustainability, I have found being in the garden, around green plants oxygenated air and natural aromas is a mindfulness experience in itself. Simply noticing the details around you is a form of mindfulness.

Keep in mind I am NOT a positive psychologist and these are just my observation after 6 weeks in a positive psychology course. There are plenty of studies and accounts that have found empirical evidence supporting mindfulness. Please look into the studies if you are doubtful because the studies are what sway me as well.

Sustainability is complex and can be frustrating…I know. But if you keep an open mind, your head and heart in the moment and take a deep breath, you have no idea what you will be able to achieve!

-Kelsea Sears

 

 

 

“If you don’t like what is being said, then change the conversation”

One of my favorite T.V shows over the past couple of years has been Mad Men, a show whose intricate plot unfolds while following a set of characters working for an advertising agency in Manhattan. In one of the earlier seasons, the main protagonist Don Draper offers a bit of advice to a client saying, “If you don’t like what is being said, then change the conversation.” I like to think that one of the goals of sustainability is to change the questions that people are asking, to change the conversation. Instead of where do I shop, where is my food coming from? Instead of where I can I throw this away, can this be composted or recycled? Instead of where can I park, how can I get there?

Photo via Post & Courier
Photo via Post & Courier

That last conversation is something that I am quite passionate about. As a cyclist, I am in favor of promoting not only cycling, but also other forms of public transportation. With the population in the Charleston area set to grow significantly over the next 25 years, dealing with how we are going to transport ourselves from one place to the other is going to be, if it isn’t already, a serious issue. And for a region that’s already cramped for space, adding more parking spaces and highway lanes isn’t the answer. Last night Gabe Klein, the former Director of Transportation Systems in Chicago and Washington D.C., gave his follow up presentation on his findings and suggestions for ways that Charleston can begin to address its growing transportation needs for the near, immediate, and distant future. His suggestions ranged in scope from bringing back sections of the old Charleston streetcar network (which used to be fairly extensive) to upgrading the city’s parking meters and raising the price of parking to increase revenues for other transportation initiatives.

In regards to my personal favorite mode of transit, biking, Klein mentioned that Charleston is in the “awkward adolescent stage” when it comes to commuting by bike, and I would definitely have to agree.  There are enough cycling commuters to be noticed, but not enough of a mainstream cycling culture for cyclist to begin policing themselves to start following the rules of the road. Klein spoke of tensions that exist between different commuters and those who commute by different modes, and in Charleston, there is definitely a tension between drivers and cyclists. But these tensions are often artificial and are indicators of successful changes in transportation mode shares. A recent local example is the new bike parking available on King Street.

Hopefully many of Klein’s recommendations will come to pass. I realize there are barriers to accomplishing these goals, not the least of which is funding. Regardless, the fact that he was doing work in Charleston means that we’re beginning to realize that we don’t like what’s being said, and that we’re changing the conversation.

-Aaron Holly, Graduate Assistant