Mount Trashmore Park

On our roadtrip, after Chicago and St. Louis, we stopped in my home state:  Virginia.  I lived in Virginia for eight years growing up, so it was really fun to revisit.  When driving towards Norfolk, what did we see but Mount Trashmore!

Mount Trashmore Park, Virginia Beach, VA

Mount Trashmore Park is a city park that has been around since the mid '70s.  The park includes about 165 acres, and has several playgrounds, a basketball court, volleyball areas, a skate park, and walking trails.  The best part?  The whole thing was once an abandoned landfill!

Mount Trashmore itself is 60 feet high and 800 feet long, according to the City of Virginia Beach website.  It was created by repeatedly compacting the solid waste in the landfill, then covering the trash with soil and seed.  And voilà!  Mount Trashmore was created!  I remember rolling down Mount Trashmore and playing in the "Kids' Cove" when I was younger, so it was really great to see one of my favorite places from childhood again.

But another thing that was great about Mount Trashmore, besides being the best hill to roll down, was that it taught me about one of the ways we can reclaim old landscapes.  Similarly, this same thing is being done at Seneca Meadows Landfill, the largest landfill in New York State.

Seneca Meadows Landfill

Just yesterday, my roommate traveled to this landfill for a field trip for her Landscape Architecture class.  She explained to me how they, too, are compacting the solid waste and then layering on soil and seed.  Seneca Meadows Landfill doesn't take any toxic waste, so as long as it is properly taken care of, like by venting out the gas that builds up and preventing waste from seeping out, it, too, could eventually be made into a park like Mount Trashmore. 

Additionally, Seneca Meadows Landfill uses the gases (like methane) it extracts from the trash, which is a natural byproduct of decomposition, for energy to run both its own business and thousands of local homes and companies.  And instead of shipping away the water that is extracted from the trash to be filtered elsewhere, they filter most of their own water and reuse it on the trash to help aid decomposition.  So, both energy and water are closed loops at Seneca Meadows Landfill--a great use of resources and an excellent example of reclamation of waste lands!

A picture from the Seneca Meadows Landfill website showing the grid where the electricity they create at the Seneca Energy Gas Plant is transferred to, so thousands of local homes and business may use it

It is evident that in our increasingly materialistic culture, steps need to be taken to clean up after our seemingly never-ending waste.  By cleaning up landfills and using them for things like parks and energy, we can begin to fight the hard fight that is reclaiming our Earth!

NYC Green Infrastructure

Another stop on our road trip, after Chicago, St. Louis, Foamhenge, and Philadelphia, was good 'ole New York City!  My roommate and travel companion Sabrina has family in NYC that we stopped in with for a few hours.  I have only been to the most touristy parts of the city before, so getting to see other sides of it was really nice.  It hadn't occurred to me before that NYC actually has some green infrastructure in place.

Recently, New York City has started implementing hundreds of Bioswales across the city.  Bioswales are storm runoff transfer systems that can absorb and slow down storm runoff from the sewers.  Where normally sewers would overflow after heavy rain or snow melt, causing sewage to overflow and [disgustingly] pollute the streets and the Hudson River, Bioswales allow the affects from runoff to be diminished.  

A Bioswale in Queens

So far, there are 130 Bioswales in NYC, and counting.  The more Bioswales that are put in place, the better off NYC will be after wet storms.  Along with cleaner streets, the Hudson River will be cleaned up, too.  If the Bioswales can absorb and slow enough of the runoff down, the sewers won't overflow and allow leakage into NYC and the river.  Thus, with this example of green infrastructure, NYC is making strides towards eco-friendly living!

Along with putting in Bioswales, I learned that New York City has a "Million Tree Project."  According to the website, "MillionTreesNYC, one of the 132 PlaNYC initiatives, is a citywide, public-private program with an ambitious goal:  to plant and care for one million new trees across the City's five boroughs over the next decade."  

The MillionTreesNYC website has instructions on how one can plant a tree, adopt a tree, care for a tree, attend an event, attend a workshop, and even apply for a mini-grant.  The program is being put into action mainly by the community--a topic we have been discussing a lot in class, recently.  It will be interesting to see how it all works out when the community is responsible for all aspects of the Million Trees, including their planting and care. I have faith that those involved will follow through with the plan, creating a greener, cleaner, and happier NYC for all.

Though I haven't been to New York City many times, I do enjoy it more each time I go.  In the near future, I plan on traveling to it even more.  So NYC is one of my traveled places, and even better, it is becoming one of my green places. 

Foamhenge

On our roadtrip, my friends and I began in Chicago, then made our way down to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, and then headed for Virginia.  Upon entering Virginia, we stopped at a destination I was waiting for--Foamhenge.  Yep, part foam, part henge.  Stonehenge, that is.

Foamhenge, in all its beauty

Foamhenge is located in Western Virginia.  It was once a complete replica of Stongehenge, made entirely out of Styrofoam.  It started as an April Fools prank, but was liked by the public so much that it has been left for all to enjoy.

However, over the years, it has slowly deteriorated.  Styrofoam is the common name for polystyrene, a petroleum-based plastic which is made from styrene.  And though I love Foamhenge, styrene is a big threat to the environment in all the shapes it takes--whether they be Stonehenge replicas or Styrofoam cups.

Styrene comes from petroleum, or crude oil, and therefore contributes to our heavy use of fossil fuels and thus increases carbon dioxide emissions and climate change when we extract oil and create Styrofoam. 

According to the EPA, "25,000,000,000 Styrofoam cups are thrown away each year.  Even 500 years from now, a foam coffee cup [someone] used this morning will be sitting in a landfill."  Just as so many other petroleum-based plastics, it doesn't break down.  By using it, we are plaguing ourselves and our environment with hundreds of years of litter that there's no easy way to get rid of.  And unfortunately, many animals will eat Styrofoam bits that they find, and in high doses, styrene can be very toxic. 



Even when people try to do the right thing by recycling Styrofoam instead of trashing or littering it, many curbside pick-ups won't accept Styrofoam products for recycling!  And even in cases where they are picked up, Styrofoam products aren't "closed-loop"--instead of being recycled into new Styrofoam products, they are made into other things.  Thus, more Styrofoam has to be produced to replace the cups and other Styrofoam products that were lost in the process.

So while I found Foamhenge to be both hilarious and beautiful, the little beads of Styrofoam that littered the place were far from beautiful.  

There are greener alternatives to Styrofoam that are slowly being put into place, like post-consumer recycled paper cups, corn plastic, and bamboo.  Hopefully, we can phase Styrofoam out of the picture altogether.  Perhaps next time such a fantastic creation is put into place, alternatives like biodegradable corn-plastic or bamboo can be used, so that we may enjoy it without taking away from the environment!

Lake Michigan Oil Spill

For the first few days of my Spring Break, my friends and I went to the beautiful city of Chicago and stayed with my brother and sister-and-law.  Although I've been to Chicago before, I still find it both a fascinating place and very welcoming each time I'm there.

However, just a week prior to our arrival in Chicago, there was an oil spill in Lake Michigan caused by BP.  As much as 1,638 gallons, or 39 barrels, of crude oil spilled into the lake from a refinery on the coast (Huff Post Green, 3/31/14).  By locating themselves on the coast, BP is able to process the Canadian Tar Sands (which are a big issue for climate change in and of themselves, as I've mentioned) to attain more oil.  However, they are in a precarious location, because the lake is a source of drinking water for "7 million people in Chicago and its suburbs" (Gustin, FOX17 West Michigan, 4/3/14). 

Luckily for BP, the spill occurred when the weather was still cold enough to freeze the oil and allow them to scrape it off before it could disperse throughout the entire lake.  Cleanup took about two weeks, and no drinking water was ever contaminated, according to Lake Officials.

Aside from the recent Oil Spill, though, Chicago is a very clean and green city.  While walking around the city with my friends and family, we saw many recycling bins and very little trash along the streets.  Most people seemed to be aware of current environmental issues, and sought to take care of them.

These are some of the signs I saw while walking around Chicago:

Recycling 30 tons of plastic saves 222 cubic yards of landfill space--that's the size of a backyard pool.  In addition to energy and material savings, the plastic recycling industry employs 52,000 American workers.  

The average American generates 4.6 pounds of waste every single day, a whopping 80% of which is recyclable or compostable. 

Chicago is one of my favorite places, but it too is affected by how society behaves.  Though it is making strides on becoming a one of the greenest cities, there are still many improvements that can be made.  And hopefully BP will keep its dirty oil out of Lake Michigan for good!

Trillium

I love to eat.  I especially love to eat grilled cheese, and I get them pretty regularly from Trillium, my favorite eatery on campus.

In fact, I have been getting them so often for the last two years that the chef recognizes me and makes my grilled cheese before I even ask ;)

But besides its delicious grilled cheeses, Trillium offers a wide arrange of recycling and composting options that make it a very green place on campus.  Additionally, most of the products it sells are packaged in recyclable containers rather than plastic, and all of the silverware and plates are algae-based and thus compostable.  

When a customer is finished eating, they bring their trash to a line of bins that say either "Landfill Waste," "Recycling," or "Composting" above them.  Each of these signs has pictures of items that can be purchased at Trillium above the appropriate disposal bin.

The concessions choice to use language like "landfill" instead of "trash" was a great decision on the part of the people who installed this disposal sorting arrangement.  Knowing that one's trash goes to a landfill helps instill a sense of responsibility on the part of the consumer.

"Materials trucked forty miles to a waste facility where they could remain for thousands of years."

So Trillium, along with being my favorite spot for lunch, is also great in that it supports local efforts to compost and recycle all that we can!

Plastic Water Bottles at Cornell

Plastic water bottles have been something I've hated for a loooong time, for a variety of reasons.

Plastic water bottles, for one, are senseless in the United States.  In the US, we have clean, highly monitored, and very safe drinking water throughout our country.  In fact, the EPA requires that tap water is tested multiple times a day, whereas bottled water, which is regulated by the FDA, only needs to be tested weekly.  And often times, the PET plastic bottles that water is packaged in, leech chemicals into the water, making it even less safe.

Furthermore, after packaging, plastic water bottles are distributed throughout the country, which requires the use of fossil fuels, thus adding to our issues with greenhouse emissions.  And then the majority of the time, they are purchased, consumed, and thrown away rather than recycled.  This cycle is an issue in and of itself for several reasons.

From Cornell's Take Back The Tap club website

Plastic water bottles cost a lot of money. According to Ban The Bottle, "the recommended eight glasses of water a day, at U.S. tap rates, equals about $0.49 per year.  That same amount of bottled water is about $1,400."  So this means that people are paying literally thousands of dollars more for water that is less-regulated and contains more chemicals.

Then, after paying all that money for a little plastic bottle, people throw the bottles in the trash, rather than in the recycling.  And as Nature put it in an article about plastic debris, "As the plastic does not break down, the pollution will be with us for centuries to come."  Instead, these plastic bottles erode into tiny little particles that infiltrate the oceans and natural ecological systems.  Even when they are recycled, a lot of fossil fuels are used again in transportation and the actual process.  It is truly a lose-lose situation.

So what are we doing about this on our campus?

Ads like these by Take Back the Tap are all over campus to promote sustainability

Well, the club Take Back the Tap has pushed sustainable efforts over the past several years, and has made it so that each freshman student gets a sturdy, reusable, red stainless steel water bottle.  And, there are water-bottle refill stations throughout campus to encourage their use.  Additionally, Cornell offers access to safe tap water in all dining halls and in all buildings.

However, it's not all taken care of.  According to Take Back the Tap, "Cornell's annual consumption of bottled water causes nearly 150,000 kg of CO2 emissions - that's the equivalent of 355 barrels of oil!"  Slope Day is one of the big culprits, but it's not uncommon for me to see students walking around with plastic water bottles.  And hopefully soon students will realize why this is so bad.

If the University of Vermont, in my home states and one of my favorite places, can get rid of plastic bottles, then surely Cornell University, my current home and another one of my favorite places, can follow their lead. 

Nature on the Slope

Ah, Libe Slope.  The bane of the existence of everyone who lives on or below West Campus.

Walking up this slope every day (sometimes twice) is pretty awful.  No matter how cold it is, you still sweat, and no matter what shape you're in, you still huff and puff by the time you get to the top.  

Yet, the slope is one of the places Cornell students brag about when talking about our campus.  Sure, it sucks to walk up, but have you ever sled down it (without getting caught)?  Have you ever sat at the top and watched the sun setting over Ithaca?  Have you seen all of the squirrels that frequent the Shagbark Hickory trees?

I followed this little guy last semester :)

Whether people are conscious of it or not, the slope is a place where we have nature in our own backyards.  Sledding, watching sunsets, and chasing squirrels, all get us involved with the outdoors.  By recognizing the slope as the natural area that it is, rather than just an obstacle to get to class, students can connect with nature every day on their commutes.  The slope shows that "nature" isn't something we have to travel off-campus to see--it is all around us!  William Cronon would have to agree.

It is my opinion that people at Cornell, as much as they hate walking up it, love the slope very much.  We even dedicate an entire day--appropriately named "Slope Day"--to skipping class and running around on it, we love it so much!  

It's a pretty wild sight, actually

Although it sucks a lot of the time, the slope is definitely a very special place to me, and to most people at Cornell.  I start each day with the slope at the crack of 8:45, and my daily descent usually signals the end of a long day.  The slope is a great way for all of us to spend some time outside, enjoying the beauty that is Ithaca, and nature in general.  Nature is all around us, and the slope definitely demonstrates that!

Also: I once posted a picture of the slope on the internet, and one of my friends who is going to school in D.C. said, "What's all of that grass doing on your campus?"  Point and case. :)