A Question

Do you get discouraged by conservation tips that are extreme (e.g. using ice cubes that have fallen on the floor to water household or outdoor plants)? Or do you just weed out the ones that aren't practical for your life and focus on those that are feasible?

Good Stuff - Highlighting People and Organizations in the Environmental Field

I strongly believe that a robust and sustainable food system is vital to food security and economic security in the U.S.  Organizations like the Farmer Veteran Coalition are working toward this goal.  

"The mission of the Farmer Veteran Coalition is to mobilize veterans to feed America. We cultivate a new generation of farmers and food leaders, and develop viable employment and meaningful careers through the collaboration of the farming and military communities.  We aspire to lead the national effort connecting veterans to agriculture.  We believe that veterans possess the unique skills and character needed to strengthen rural communities and create sustainable food systems for all.  We believe that food production offers purpose, opportunity, and physical and psychological benefits."

I first learned about this organization through a profile of one of their Farmer Veterans, Kelly Carlisle - "After serving as an Operations Specialist in the US Navy and Navy Reserve, Kelly returned home to East Oakland, CA where she found gardening to have a therapeutic effect.  In August of 2010, Kelly founded Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project, a non-profit urban farm that focuses on serving at-risk youth from kindergarten to 8th grade, and their families. Childhood obesity and school dropout rates are abnormally high in East Oakland; Acta Non Verba’s mission is to utilize urban farming as a catalyst to increase the standard of living for inner city youth."

The soldier to farmer movement has been highlighted in the media, including this great article from the NY Times (February 5, 2011) - Helping Soldiers Trade Their Swords for Plows

“The military is not for the faint of heart, and farming isn’t either,” said Michael O’Gorman, an organic farmer who founded the nonprofit Farmer-Veteran Coalition, which supports sustainable-agriculture training. “There are eight times as many farmers over age 65 as under. There is a tremendous need for young farmers, and a big wave of young people inspired to go into the service who are coming home.”

"Matthew McCue, 29, formerly Sergeant McCue, runs Shooting Star CSA outside San Francisco with his partner, Lily Schneider, delivering boxes of organic produce directly to consumers.  He recalled how orchard farmers in Iraq pridefully shared their pomegranates, tomatoes and melons.  “You learn how to face death,” he said of his service in Iraq. But in farming, he learned, 'There was life all around.'"

25 Years Later and Again

Good reporting on the environmental and economic implications of the recent oil spill in Galveston Bay.

Oil Spill Fouls Coast on Valdez Anniversary

Texas oil spill leaves damaging mark on wildlife, shores

The Ethic

Ethic |ˈeTHik| - a set of moral principles, especially ones relating to or affirming a specified group, field, or form of conduct

I recently attended the “Water in the Age of Uncertainty: A Southern California Response to Climate Change” conference hosted by the Council for Watershed Health and Climate Resolve.  The presenters were a distinguished group of researchers and administrators well-versed in the topics of water, climate change, and the connections between the two.  One presentation in particular struck a chord with me because of how it touched on public education and personal responsibility.  

Celeste Cantú, General Manager of the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority, 

included in her remarks the need for a water ethic.  This ethic includes considering the following questions:

1.     Where does your water come from? 
2.     How much water do you use?
3.     What do you put in your water before it goes down the drain? 
4.     Where does the water go after you have used it?

She is a strong advocate for public outreach - making information easily accessible and understandable for all stakeholders, but especially for the average citizen. 

At all times, but especially in this time of drought in California and other parts of the United States, a water ethic based on education and thoughtfulness is important.  Is it not also a responsibility of citizenship in our community?

Not only do we need a water ethic, but ethics for other resources such as electricity, natural gas, oil, and food.  I will delve into these topics in later posts.

This may seem overwhelming, but many utilities, municipalities, stores, companies, websites, and electronic devices are making this an easier endeavor. 

Utility bills from Southern California Edison, the Gas Company, and my local municipality all compare my current usage for electricity, natural gas, and water to previous months and years - #2 on the ethic list.  Keeping a log of this information is a great way to track usage and to begin the process of finding ways to reduce consumption or to even discover that you have a water leak somewhere.

The official website for my hometown informed me that the water supply for the city comes from three sources (#1 on the ethic list) - groundwater from wells in the Main San Gabriel Basin, groundwater from wells in the Raymond Basin, and imported treated surface water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD).  The MWD sources water from the Colorado River via the Colorado River Aqueduct and the California State Water Project (the nation's largest state-built water and power development and conveyance system)  

What does this information tell me?  That the safety, quality, and quantity of local water resources are very important and that our need for H2O has created very complex systems that rely on water resources that are often very far from us and require large amounts of energy to convey.

Water is a valuable, but limited natural resource.  Conservation is key - #2 on the ethic list again. 

There is seemingly an unlimited number of resources available regarding water and water conservation. Please make use of these resources.  While you’re at it, see if you can answer the four water ethic questions!

“All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts.  His instincts prompt him to compete for his place in the community, but his ethics prompt him also to cooperate (perhaps in order that there may be a place to compete for).  The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.”

- Aldo Leopold, A SandCounty Almanac (1949)