———————– ** Fresh Green Beans ** ———————– Grown in Kansas. Eaten Worldwide.

Well, I say, it’s started.

Coming into the Media & Environment class, for me, was like putting a fish out of water. I knew nothing, and I didn’t intend on claiming any of the knowledge or experience I now have. I knew it would give me something, a new eye, a new ground, a new idea, but I didn’t know that I would now have ambition and fervor for the green movement and environmental media. I even observe journalists and media that I utilize daily and see what they have their hands in, eco-wise.

Okay, so maybe I realized that this ‘green revolution’ was something that has actually been intact for quite some time now, but the current demand for greener lifestyles, more eco-friendly healthy societies, and a wide-angle focus on climate change and the environment can hit home with us all. It’s the little steps that eventually cause the big ones. I had such a struggle understanding my part in all of this. How does refusing to buy water in a plastic bottle actually change how many are produced and how many are still purchased? It’s hard to think of the green movement in that way. But, what I learned is that the collective movement and strength is made of every individual. It has to start somewhere.

My media and environment class was eye-opening and life-changing. I feel like I walk around with green-colored glasses on, noting that every decision I make has a lasting impact on myself, my peers, my environment.

J500 gave me . . .
A starting ground. A basis for growth. Something to be proud of. A network of passionate journalists. Connection with national media. A new perspective.

–Danae DeShazer

Photo courtesy of Dean W. Armstrong, University of Chicago

Mark Cuban, owner of maverickblog.com (one of Technorati’s top 1,000 blogs), said: “Blog about your passions. Don’t blog about what you think your audience wants. Post because you have something you are dying to write about.”

Assignments for class can get redundant, chore-like, and menial compared to our “passions,” as Mark said. Want to know my passion, or “strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept”? Musical theatre. Now, I’m not talking about when you were in middle school and no one could participate in sports yet, so you were made to try out for the school’s production of Oliver! just so you could have a social hour. I’m talking about that breath of fresh air right after you move in perfect rhythm and motion for 2.5 minutes straight while singing the alto part as loud as you can (even if you may be a soprano). I’m talking about that one chance you have to make an impression, to move the audience, to melt someone’s heart. That practice and belief that you really could be someone else, embody their mannerisms that you’ve created in your mind, and let everyone else in on the secret life of this character. That unforgettable sound of laughter, tears and above all - applause.

I just had the strangest experience. When you indulge in something you love, or something you have a passion for, all trivial things diminish away and the action flows freely (in this case) through my fingertips. That last paragraph suddenly appeared, and I had no recollection of what I had written - because, it had just happened, naturally, without thought.

Our passions may not always come easy, but they do and should grow easy through practice. Yet, this ease comes with a scale, such as how familiar you are with the topic or how long you’ve been passionate for it. The longer you’ve been participating in a love of something, the more likely you are to experience the natural outcome of practicing it. You may still have a passion for something, but if it’s new and rusty, it may take awhile to get into the swing of things.

I often compare this idea to my journey with the green movement. Most people can classify their ‘green’ involvement in an array of color shades from lime, light, forest, hunter, dark and just plain old green. This idea of classification becomes muddied because who can really say how ‘green’ someone or something is? An Oil Drum article said, “‘Light greens’ are people who live within the realm of today’s society but try to cut down where they can… Then what is a true environmentalist in this country? Do you have to live in a log cabin with no running water and no electricity?”

By my actions, I’d be considered a very ugly yellow-green, you know the color in the crayon box that you couldn’t quite figure out if it was yellow or green… and if you were coloring something that was supposed to be yellow, it always looked green, and if it was supposed to be green, it always looked to yellow.

Maybe Michael Jackson should do a remake of his song “Black or White” to “Light Green or Dark Green”? If you’re thinking about my baby, it don’t matter if you’re [insert new lyrics here].

Speaking of, apparently Michael Jackson is “going green” because he bought a Toyota Prius. But, does one effort and one decision make you an environmentalist? Does buying local or organic foods make you dark green? What is the secret recipe for my life as a greenie?

DARK GREEN ECO-PERSON (serving size, 1)
2 cups reusuable shopping bag
1 tbsp sustainable water bottle
4 1/4 cups Hybrid car (a bicycle or carpool would work better)
2 tsp local produce
1/3 cup Compost pile and Recycling bin
1 large vegetable and herb garden
1/2 cup CFL
1 handful energy-efficient appliances
2 pinches organic clothing
a dash of fair-trade chocolate

Mix furiously together in a bowl. Let the concoction set for nine months (approximately). Enjoy!

I have a “strong interest,” or a growing passion, in environmentalism, but I’m just not quite sure about the logistics. Maybe we all have our own recipes, depending on what we can do in our lives. The problem with climate change is a collective problem, but what’s the make-up of our involvement?

–Danae DeShazer

theta, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, xi, omicron, pi, rho, sigma, tau, upsilon, phi, chi, psi, omega. GO GREEK!

You may hear the Greek alphabet, among other crazy sorority chants, during the week of Panhellenic’s Fall Formal Recruitment. This week at the University of Kansas typically occurs the same week that classes start in the fall, and lasts a total of seven days. The process of formal recruitment is the main source of new member “inflow,” so to speak, for the thirteen sororities on campus. After a long week of visiting each sorority, and mutually selecting chapters you feel most comfortable with, the new members celebrate with a grand finale: bid day.

Yay, we’re all happy, happy, joy, joy and singing our lovely sorority songs, and life is wonderful! Yippee!

But, wait. What really goes on during this time period? Well, I can tell you, there’s a lot of unneeded waste going on. Sorority recruitment is an event that could use some “greenin’ up.” On the first two days of recruitment alone, each of the approximately 800 potential new members attends all 13 sororities. This means, each chapter they enter, a potential new sorority member is handed a cup of ice cold water and a personalized napkin. Therefore, on average, 10,400 cups are used and disposed of within 20 minutes of their first use, as well as 10,400 napkins.

This waste does not include the paper waste that goes into this week. Each new member applicant must submit multiple page resumes, pictures, and recommendation forms. Pretty typical for any application process. But then each individual chapter will print out multiple-page notebooks, packets, song lyric sheets, instruction sheets, schedules, etc. and distribute these to the thousands of Greek women helping out with recruitment at their separate chapters.

On top of that, the entire recruitment staff moves their office from the Union (right on campus) to a hotel that is about an 8 minute drive away. Recruitment staff members will be driving around campus all day, back and forth from the hotel “office” to sorority chapter houses, running memo’s (more paper waste), nametags, and water (in bottles, of course).

It’s a relatively short process, compared to other year-round businesses, but I believe every organization and event can use this opportunity to better the environment. It’s just as simple to cut down on these wastes by cutting the unnecessary means sorority recruitment has come to. For those of you not in a sorority and those of you who are, please tell me you can relate to this situation: You walk into a restaurant and see that the staff serves you drinks in red plastic cups instead of chic martini glasses. Their napkins are rough against your skin, as opposed to a soft pashmina lap towel. But, the food is wonderful — the best you’ve ever had. Do you say to yourself, “I’m never coming back to this place again! Those red cups are absolutely abhorrable; I would never put my lips to such abominable glasses!” I’d hope you would reply that this situation is a little exaggerated and a little ridiculous… because, it is. As a member of a Greek chapter, I didn’t choose my sorority based on the pink streamers or plastic goblets I drank my lemon water out of — I chose it because of the quality of the end product, just as anyone does when making decisions on a restaurant, a hotel, or an apartment. You give and take a little when making decisions, and in this case, those “gives” should be aspects of the process that harm the environment.

Cups, napkins, and papers should be these little things that don’t help the process of sorority recruitment whatsoever. The volume at which these little things that are carelessly thrown away within the hour of their use is just repulsive. Another way to reduce waste is an update in technology. I’ve got to hand it to the Panhellenic Association at KU, though. This year was the first year that all the bidding and application process was conducted electronically. However, many other processes are still behind. If each sorority on campus and Panhellenic banded together to create an easier process using the technology we now have, many of the paper waste could be thwarted. It’s all about making things simple. If I’m not going to choose your sorority based on the pretty pink embroidered napkin that I barely noticed during my 20 minutes in your chapter house, then it’s not something a sorority should waste money on and waste the environment on, too.

-Danae

What my food says about me? One word: convenience.

For a typical 24-hour period, here’s a rather intensive chronicle of my eating habits.

I woke up and my stomach was growling before I went to work, so I grabbed the only thing I had time for: a low-fat Granola bar (Chocolate Chunk flavored, if you wanted to know). I was feeling groggy and tired (which is usually the case, but rarely I have a solution for it) so I made two cups of French Vanilla cappucino mixed with coffee and creamer. I always used to say that caffeine had little to no effect on me– that was until I sometimes added coffee in the morning.

Anyway, as the morning wore on at the Ogden Publications office, more specifically the Natural Home magazine office, my stomach grumbled for a little snackity-snack. I had a small, yet always promising, stash of snacks in my drawer, so I ravaged the end of my Reduced Fat Wheat Thins box. Travis Brown, a fellow classmate of ours, came in and stole a couple, but I won’t hold it against him.

Lunch time was a-nearing, and I hadn’t had time to bring my lunch (note: remember that granola bar on the way out of the house?), so I was listening to my cravings. Lucky for me, my cravings are usually the same things: sandwiches and thai. I chose thai, and went on a rather rewarding experience to Tup Tim Thai in Topeka, Kan. I was feeling brave, so instead of sticking to what I get every single time at any Thai restaurant (Chicken Phad Thai), I ordered this peanutty, tangy curry– Panang curry. It changed my life. I am craving it just talking about it, or rather, writing about it, or rather, typing about it. I might just order Thai tonight only because I can’t stop thinking about how sensational this curry was.

Needless to say, I was pretty full after stuffing my face. I did find room in my tummy for two peanut M&M’s I found in my desk drawer (they were still in the bag) before the work day was over. For dinner, I was in a rush, running from Rock Chalk Revue rehearsal and the Stauffer-Flint building to work on a lab project. I grabbed a turkey sandwich from my favorite sub place, Jersey Mike’s, and went on my way.

Now, that might not be the most typical day, but it is rather indicative of my eating habits. I’m always on the go and rarely have time to plan out my meals. No, I don’t eat all-organic or even really try to eat local. I’m not too concerned with additives either. I’m just trying to be honest. We’ve all heard about this bad stuff– I just can’t help myself when I have already consciously chosen not to make the time to visit farmer’s markets, or research on the foods that’ll work better with my body, or cook meals on the weekend for easy access during the week. I’m just worrying about getting my homework done, succeeding in classes, graduating, having fun. Sure, maybe I won’t be having fun later if I contract some evil disease, and somehow I feel like I’m going to get knocked down for saying that I don’t eat organic, but is it really a crime? I wish I could say I was better about this, but I’m just putting it out there that I’m not.

–Danae DeShazer

I guess you could learn a lot about someone by observing their trashcan. Maybe that’s why people make a profession out of dumpster diving — trash is just that intriguing.

When I really thought about it though, most of my waste (and that of my roommates) is food-related. Take a look at the comparison of our kitchen trash with my own personal waste:

Yes, this difference may also be due to selective trash can using (i.e. we hold no discretion about which trash cans our trash is thrown into… it’s whatever is convenient or proximate), but it goes without saying that eating two to three meals a day contributes highly to what we all throw away.

But if you looked at my trashcan, all you can see is a lousy paper towel and a box of Theraflu medicine. Man, I don’t waste ANYTHING! You can’t judge my trash by my trashcan. That doesn’t account for the one to two cans of Diet Coke I drink a day, the can from my soup I had for lunch, or maybe even my styrofoam dinner container from chinese take-out leftovers. And what about the Kansan I read today, but left in one of my classrooms. What happens to that?

I had a conversation with one of my four roommates about all my new “discoveries” of green living, and she responds, “Yeah, let’s start recycling!” with a jubilant yelp — yet, we both have still yet to share this enlightened idea with the rest of our roommates or make a bin for our joint recyclables or even start to take action… I digress.

So, how can we reduce this food-related waste that happens every time we eat, which for most of us is many, many times a week? I really don’t know a solution, but I’ll be looking.

–Danae DeShazer

We’ve all heard of the organic craze. People are switching their diets to “organic” foods. This is all supposed to be healthier and better for the environment, right? Organic food sales are on the up-and-up, increasing 22 percent in 2006 to a $17 billion industry (for the full article, read here). A lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon—with reasons of personal and planetary health—but how do we know exactly what we’re getting?

What does organic even mean? According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations.” Also, products that come from animals aren’t given any antibiotics or growth hormones (see The Meatrix if you’re unsure about the standard practices of processed meat companies). Ding, ding, ding! We have a solution. Go out and buy all the organic food you can.

Wrong. There’s a lot more to “buying organic” to save the planet than just looking for that USDA Organic label. Yeah, maybe if your food is organic, it’s probably going to have a better taste and more nutrients (read more reasons to eat organic food in this Prevention magazine article), but you’ve got to read a little closer into those organic labels. Say you want to buy some organic honey. Sure, they probably carry it at your favorite mainstream grocery store—and you’re probably patting yourself on the back for a totally organic purchase. But, take a look at the label. Many honey packages, even organic ones, are produced across oceans from us. Try, Hawaii (Volcano Island Honey) and Africa (Zambezi Organic Forest Honey). Even if it doesn’t come from far away lands, it may even be in Illinois (Y.S. Organic Bee Farm) or Pennsylvania (Dutch Gold Honey). Some may even contain labels including multiple countries, such as Full Circle Farm Organic Honey, which can be bought at Hy-Vee, but is made in Mexico and Brazil.

So is it really that good to buy organic, especially if it travels hundreds of miles in a gas-guzzling truck expending harmful gases into the ozone? It’s still good. But, there’s something better and even cooler you can do for the environment.

Go Local. Did you know there’s locally-made organic food? Alisa Smith and James Mackinnon began something called the 100-Mile Diet, a movement to get others eating local, organic food. They were dissatisfied with the idea that when an average North American sits down to eat, each ingredient has typically traveled at least 1,500 miles—which Alisa and James call “the SUV diet.” The 100-Mile Diet, which is an eating lifestyle that requires you only to eat foods produced within 100 miles of your home, isn’t supposed to be easy—but it’s a way to connect you with your food, your local farmers, the seasons, and the landscape you live in.

Some reasons to go local, instead of just organic:

Eating local means more for the local economy. According to a study by the New Economics Foundation in London, a dollar spent locally generates twice as much income for the local economy. When businesses are not owned locally, money leaves the community at every transaction.

Locally grown produce is fresher. While produce that is purchased in the supermarket or a big-box store has been in transit or cold-stored for days or weeks, produce that you purchase at your local farmer’s market has often been picked within 24 hours of your purchase. This freshness not only affects the taste of your food, but the nutritional value which declines with time.

Eating local is better for air quality and pollution than eating organic. In a March 2005 study by the journal Food Policy, it was found that the miles organic food often travels to our plate creates environmental damage that outweighs the benefit of buying organic.

Local food translates to more variety. When a farmer is producing food that will not travel a long distance, will have a shorter shelf life, and does not have a high-yield demand, the farmer is free to try small crops of various fruits and vegetables that would probably never make it to a large supermarket. Supermarkets are interested in selling “Name brand” fruit: Romaine Lettuce, Red Delicious Apples, Russet Potatoes. Local producers often play with their crops from year to year, trying out Little Gem Lettuce, Senshu Apples, and Chieftain Potatoes.

Supporting local providers supports responsible land development. When you buy local, you give those with local open space - farms and pastures - an economic reason to stay open and undeveloped.–excerpted from “10 Reasons to Go Local” from Life Begins at 30 weblog.

Lucky for us Lawrencians, we have a vast arena for local food choices. Here are some ideas of where to go:

–The popular Local Burger restaurant, owned by Hilary Brown, endorses the idea of local food made fast.
–Homespun Hill Farms provides quality grass-fed meat.
–For local meats, vegetables and fruits, try the weekly Farmer’s Market in downtown Lawrence.
–For organic soy beans and tofu, check out Central Soy Foods.
–The only certified organic produce section in Lawrence is available at The Merc, a store dedicated to providing organic and local foods.

Organic is great, but local is better. Eating organic may be better for you, and of course the planet, but eating local can help inch the environmental movement forward a little more.

Blog inspired by Lawrence Sustainability Network’s article, “Local eating for global change,” covering information on the 100-Mile Diet. This post now also appears on Eat.Drink.Better.

–Danae DeShazer

So, remember back in the day when tobacco ads were controversial? You know, selling smokes to kids wasn’t cool. When I got down to thinking about it, advertisers did something phenomenal to cigarettes. They made the nasty little sticks look somewhat attractive, enticing, and… sexy.

I mean, come on! If a man who has been havin’ some lady troubles saw this ad, I know he’d be jumping to buy this cigarette. Really though? Blow in her face and she’ll follow you anywhere - sounds like a stalker to me. And who wants to blow smoke in someone’s face anyway - rude. But, it got the point across. Smoking = you’re neat.

Next, we can never forget the “Kool” Joe Camel, obviously the epitome of cool.

I want to be smooth! Pick me, pick me! Pretty soon, these ads got banned because of the negative health side effects (who knew?) of cigarettes. But, what made this popular for so long? People wanted to do it because “the cool kids were.” Now, I don’t care if your parents said to you when you were little, “If Timmy-Bob jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?” Because, when you look to the people you admire, I think deep down a lot of you would follow in their footsteps.

So what’s going to make the environment sexy? I know, I know, who can compare tobacco to the environment. But look at it this way. Tobacco made something totally not cool (no offense to the smokers out there) into something people desired. Although environmentalism is actually a cool thing, there are obviously people who don’t think this way or something would have been done about climate change, recycling, etc. a long-ass time ago.

Look at it this way: Unless you’re completely turned on by the sweet smell of grass and clean, natural water rushing against your skin (hey, that does sound kind of nice), then we’re going to have to come up with something entirely new. What’s something we’re all kind of obsessed with, whether you admit it or not? HELLO? Celebrities. We envy their lifestyles, looks, relationships, etc. So, why aren’t there environmental campaigns by “sexy” individuals?

Sorry Arnold. I know some people think you’re sexy, but we need something a little more…. fresh. How about this? [I tried to upload a photo I edited, but I can't really figure it out. So I'll just have to improvise] The face of Recycling: BRAD PITT. With his shirt off. Or, Jessica Alba for the guys, I guess. Anyway, if we make going green look sexy and cool and fun, who wouldn’t want to join in? If a speedo-clad Brad Pitt was lying on a hybrid car covered in soap suds… you know I’d go out and buy a hybrid. I think environmentalists are too stuck into the facts— “People will simply want to ‘go green’ because it’s better for Mother Nature.” Blah, blah, blah.

Give me a half-naked hottie carrying a reusable grocery bag, and I’m sold.

–Danae DeShazer

It seems the world is at a stand-still. Yes, the Earth may still be runnin’ circles around the sun, but nothing seems to be happening or changing. For me, being thrust into this environmental war, it seems like, happened a little unwillingly, and quite unexpectedly. But, isn’t that how we all end up in messes we feel we can’t erase? It’s never intentional, or at least we’d like to think it’s not.

As the time for the Democratic caucus is racing toward me tonight, I’m still unsure where I stand politically. I’ve always been indecisive — maybe that’s the Libra in me. But, I’m always lingering on certain subjects and weighing each option over the other as if the end of the world is in my hands.

So, what do politics have to do with the environment, anyway? A whole heckuva lot. After attending the Focus the Nation panel last Thursday, and now reading the Death of Environmentalism essay by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, the correlations between politics and the “environmental dilemma” is ever more apparent to me. At Focus the Nation, a panel of 13 individuals at all levels of government discussed the issue of climate change, hoping to offer regional impacts and possible solutions. As the discussion opened, one of the introducers said this discussion was meant as a starting point, only to set the grounds for further development in our area, Kansas, and the United States. It only left me with more and more unanswered questions. The panel of politicians and officials stated what they were doing as individuals to help the global warming phenomenon, talking of being hybrid-, CFL-, and reusable grocery bag-owners. But, what does that have to do with we, the people, or what we can actually do to effect change? It’s tough because these people– leaders of rank and office– aren’t guaranteed a life-long job as governor of this or senator of that. How can we make goals that will be achieved in ten, twenty, thirty years, when our leaders are only in office for a few?

Shellenberger and Nordhaus hit the nail on the head. There isn’t much environmentalists and politicians have been doing. Simply put, the movement didn’t just fail. It’s dead. Here’s where our government leaders come on. They said , “Everyone is looking for short-term policy pay-off. We could find nobody who is crafting political proposals that, through the alternative vision and values they introduce, create the context for electoral and legislative victories down the road. Almost every environmental leader we interviewed is focused. Almost every environmental leader we interviewed is focused on short-term policy work, not long-term strategies.”

Isn’t global warming something that has happened as time goes by? Aren’t things just going to get worse? All we have is time, and we’re doing nothing about it. Just like the panel, we’re all taking individual steps toward our own goals, but when do those steps lead to a revolution? If environmentalism isn’t dead, then our understanding is. And our passion. And, quite possibly, our unity as a nation. Nothing big will happen until we can work on this together– until every person can understand the issue and create a solution. I think this will only happen if we elect a leader who is dedicated to this movement and dedicated to saving our future.

So, as the caucuses and primaries approach even faster, I’d like us all to keep this issue in mind: the environment and politics. Or else, I’m not sure if we can enliven this issue off the hospital bed.

–Danae DeShazer

I, like Kim, just waltzed back into my college life in Lawrence after a 17-day journey in the Big Apple. Needless to say, I miss every aspect of the life I had there. Until I read Kim’s post, I had only calculated my “normal life in Lawrence/Kansas City” footprint, but decided to calculate my NYC footprint as well.

Lawrence: 20-acre footprint — 4.4 planets
New York City: 10-acre footprint — 2.2 planets

I wasn’t surprised in the least bit that living in a major city cut my footprint in half, but this knowledge makes me admire New York living so much more. Most people there aren’t making enough money to waste much themselves anyway, and to be honest, I walked or took the subway absolutely everywhere. Public transportation makes me giggle– I love it that much.

Life in Lawrence, for me at least, is not “eco-conscious.” Although I walk to campus and my classes, and I admit, to the bars, I drive everywhere else. It seems that’s what life has dwindled down to. Especially being from the Kansas City-area, I’m used to getting around by car. And now that I intern in Topeka part-time (at Natural Home magazine, a sustainable, “green living” magazine), I am going to be driving that much more. Kim and I are carpooling with each other, but I only thought to do this in order to “save money,” not the environment. That’s what our world has come to– everything that drives our decisions is mostly by the price tag attached to it. I would like to eat better, natural, whole foods, but it’s more expensive. I’d like to buy energy-efficient lightbulbs, etc., but again, they’re expensive.

I’m not saying I’m not conscious of it, but in a college student’s life, it’s much easier to go the cheaper way than the healthier, environment-friendly route. I hope that I can learn to take those “baby steps” toward better living, even if it’s by the sacrifice of some short change.

–Danae DeShazer