LSP Environmental Studies Community Event Reports

Classmates, I pasted my review of Michael Reynolds insightful documentary "Garbage Warriors" here. Please let me know your thoughts.

Daniel

Daniel Bloch Jeydel
September 27, 2008
Environmental Studies
Professor Leah Schwartz

Review of Community Event: Garbage Warriors

On September 26, 2008 the documentary “Garbage Warrior” (2007) was shown at NYU Wagner’s Urban Planning Institute. The International Public Service Association and the Urban Planning Student Association sponsored this screening. The screening was casual with about twenty graduate students in a conference room snacking on grapes and popcorn. The tone of the event was intellectual with students critiquing the proposals of the piece and jovial as the film delivered, at times, many very funny comments on the coming together of American architecture with the present and future conditions of the environment.
“Garbage Warriors” focuses on the convictions of an environmentally progressive architect, Michael Reynolds, and his thirty-year journey to try to promote sustainable housing in New Mexico and around the world. The documentary chronicles the challenges that Reynolds has encountered for the design of his EarthShips, which are self-sufficient houses that do not need to be on electrical, sewage or water grids, and his efforts to popularize such a daring approach in the context of building and house construction. The film focuses on Reynolds’ steadfast belief that contemporary architecture is antediluvian and is not “directing us in a way that is sustainable.” Reynolds maintains the belief that the planet is running out of water, oil and energies and designs his structures in preparation of a near-apocalypse whereby everyone will need to be self-reliant in order to survive.
While his assessments for the future may be bleak, his designs certainly are inspiring. An EarthShip relies upon the warmth that can be stored by thermal mass and circulated throughout the space. As opposed to modern insulation techniques, Reynolds and his team use garbage (ranging from tires to mayonnaise jars) to firmly pack land that is able to retain heat year round. To add aesthetics to his projects, his ingenuity extends to his recycling of plastic bottles to make faux stained glass that often line the domes of his projects. While his structures are very unusual in terms of their designs, picture hippies living with the Jetsons, the Ships are able to function off the grid with very little costs. These Ships come included with irrigation so that one can cultivate gardens and raise animals all while using energies from the sun and wind to power the house into the 21st century.
The film takes a turn from happy adventures to serious problems as it chronicles a period that was very challenging for Reynolds. New Mexico sought to regulate the construction of EarthShips, and in doing so, to effectively shut Reynolds’ operation down. The state argued that some of the projects were unsafe, despite waivers being signed by residents that they accepted the dangers of “experimental housing”; while Reynolds believed that the utility companies that were against his endeavors, as it would put them out of business, propelled the blocks. While the truth probably lies in the middle, an important message from the movie is that it shows that environmentalists really have to be warriors to gain authority and to change a world that is so convinced in its established ways. Reynolds, raised as a Baptist, admires Noah who had the foresight to build an ark in the dessert, despite the fact that everyone in his community thought he was crazy. Needless to say, Noah war right to build that ark, and Reynolds is very sure that he is correct to fight for environmentally neutral houses around the world, regardless of their legality.
This was a new experience for me as I was placed in a room with architects, engineers and urban planners that were my senior by almost ten years. At the conclusion of the film, we all came back together and spoke about the legal problems that Reynolds encountered in New Mexico. I felt comfortable expressing my anger that Reynolds, whose projects are full of challenges in themselves, also had to fight against the government which should encourage ingenuity and not seek to suppress it. We also spoke about the practicality of having the EarthShips in New York City. While it makes sense now, I was surprised that these Ships would have a great deal of trouble in the island of Manhattan. For instance, I learned that the rainwater that the houses collect would not be drinkable in New York as the rain pulls down the smog and particulate matter that hovers over cities. In addition, the solar panels that the EarthShips rely on are in an exact ratio per Ship. Thus, the biggest issue for designing an EarthShip in NYC would be the issue of stacking the houses on top of one another and to have enough power from perhaps just 40 sq ft to energize several stories. Indeed, there are many challenges for bringing these designs to the city that never occurred to me.
Another focal point of the movie was that when Reynolds was prohibited to work in the United States, he left American and sought to aide the victims of the tsunami in the Bay of Bengal in 2004. In India, his designs were encouraged and adored by the hundreds of locals that built their own EarthShips by using local garbage and infusing them with Indian design. These houses allowed for drinking water, irrigation and shelter for large families without the disturbances of government regulation that, according to Reynolds, stymies progress. It is striking that a developing country would be able to embrace such progressive techniques, whereas in America, many cannot grasp the potentially dire circumstances that the world may be under in the near future. As a group, we reiterated our belief that all options must be put on the table for the sake of having comfortable and reasonably sustainable living situations for the sake of posterity and longevity. In a certain sense, this approach was very inspiring for all of us as we recognized the fact that those in the room do have the potential to improve architectural standards around the world.
The event certainly added value to the community as it enabled us, in a very casual setting, to study ingenuity and to appreciate the struggle that it takes in the 21st century to bring about needed change. The Wagner School film screenings are part of a series that focuses on environmentalism and urban planning and is certainly something that I highly recommend for those that want to think differently about the panoply of directions that we can pursue in what will be a decisive era for the environment.

Images:

     Well, this past Wednesday, (October 15th) I decided to go to the Bronx Zoo. Not only do I love the zoo, it is suggested donation on Wednesdays and who can say no to a $1 zoo trip? Not me, that’s for sure. So anyway, I got there at about 2 PM after a riveting trip aboard the 5 train. The tone of this event I guess would be nature appreciation but really, it was just a trip to the zoo.
     I set out camera in hand, actually, in bag, but whatever the case the zoo was my oyster for the day. After giving my generous donation to the ticket office I strolled into the zoo to plot a route, a journey, through the expanse that is the Bronx Zoo. And what did I see immediately after examining the zoo’s map? Wildlife!

Here we have a common pigeon walking around a heavily pine-coned area just outside the “Wild Asia/Camel Riding” section. A true marvel of the natural world, this specimen seemed to have escaped its designated location and repopulated all over the park – odd.
     I went from section to section with assorted groups of middle-schoolers trying my best to not take pictures of them and escape the wrath of the omnipresent chaperones. My first stop after the giant Indiana Jones gate thing

was an oddly quarantined bird exhibit of the Waldrapp. The Waldrapp almost went extinct and now has a population of a little more than 400 within the world’s zoos and even less than that in the wild. These creatures, apparently ½ turkey, ½ vulture, and all ugly, were in a prohibitively small space, which seemed to be a recurring theme throughout my trip to the zoo. I am all for interanimal interaction, more death at the zoo would undoubtedly bring in the crowds, or at least shift the average age from around four to maybe, I don’t know… seven?
     “JungleWorld” and some monorail followed the exhibit of the ugliest bird that humans haven’t seemed to kill yet. “JungleWorld” although enticing with its ever-present Malarial odor, was an indoor exhibit so that station was skipped and the monorail you had to pay for so you can probably guess what happened there.
     Onwards and upwards.
     My journey through the oasis that is the Bronx Zoo next took me to the “Africa Trail” – a panoply of fantastically fatal, but still charmingly cute animals:

Here we have the Indian Peafowl, and according to the sign, Peacocks do not mind the New York winter, which is good to know because this very bird above was thrown into my bag immediately after this picture was taken and made into a winter coat for yours truly. JUST KIDDING, I look terrible in blue.
     There were multiple animals in with the Indian Peafowl, namely the Nyala (a deer-like animal) so seeing them interact made this exhibit much more interesting. After almost getting pecked to death by another Peafowl while taking pictures of this lovely dame I decided to make my way to a tamer and more civilized animal, the lion. It turns out that lions are pretty boring in the zoo – lots of yawning and rolling around little roaring and mauling. But, here are some facts I learned: Male lions leave the pride at age three while females tend to stay with their “natal pride” their entire lives, females have anywhere between one and nine cubs, and the average lifespan is fifteen to twenty years. Yay lions!
     After the lions failed to do much of anything for ten minutes despite my jeers and continued offerings of preschoolers I decided to move on to the baboons. The baboons were also up to literally, no good, so I was forced to read a sign about them. I read a really enlightening sign about the rare animals in Ethiopia; it turns out that the topography creates “isolated pockets of habitat” so the animals have evolved and changed within these microcosms – pretty cool. The zoo had also posted the requisite facts and bits of information below the viewing window but to my surprise, and disgust, they had also created a fairly large sign about tracking the signs of baboon pregnancy, urine samples and all; that was about enough baboon information for me so I trekked onwards.
     After almost vomiting while reading about baboon pregnancy I decided it was time for a change of scenery and what better than … THE WORLD OF DARKNESS!!! AHHHH!!

     This place was really cool. I learned that most of the action on earth occurs at night. That came out wrong. I mean most of the creatures on earth are nocturnal. This exhibit was jam-packed with deadly animals and facts like this: all scorpions glow in ultraviolet light. Yup, true. You just learned, deadly. So yeah, there were a fair share of unmoving and therefore unexciting things like frogs but there was also a bat cave that was verging on scary, bats cannot seem to make up their mind as to their purpose so they just fly all over the place, kind of like my writing. After my eyes had adjusted and I stopped walking into and knocking over little kids I decided the fun was over and went outside. The next stop: bears!
     Bears, like most big animals at this zoo, are boring.
     Next.
     Next, was the turtle pond. This was actually the most moving part of the trip for me. The pond was full of trash.

I could not help but be disappointed in this, at a zoo of all places. Pitiful.
     I walked around a bit more at the zoo and I’d love to describe the remainder in person to you but I’ve already gone way too long with my description of the event so I must move on.
     This event was both familiar and new to me because, although I had been to many zoos in my life I had never been to the Bronx Zoo. I learned lots of interesting facts about animals that I had no real knowledge of before. The community might benefit from my visit to the zoo because I am now even more conscious of how fragile the environment is. As for further interest, I don’t really see myself feeding monkeys although it did look fun, so I’m not sure that my visit had any direct effects on me aside bolstering my opinions and ideologies about the environment with more information. This event might have been more beneficial had I had a tour guide who could have walked me through the zoo and given me a deeper understanding of each species in the ecosystem as opposed to the basic information stated on the placards. The image of the trash floating in the turtle pond will remain the poignant memory of the trip for me because that trash is something tangible that I can change right now and those changes with definite solutions are nice to have every now and then.
     Overall I thought the experience was fantastic. I loved walking around the zoo with all the younguns and just going where the breeze took me. I learned a bit and thought about the environment for a solid three hours so I’d say that it was a worthwhile and successful trip.

     On the sixth day of the twelfth month of the two-thousandth and eight year of the Common Era (19 days until Christmas ’08!) I went to Brooklyn for an event titled “Winter Survival Lessons.” It was hosted at Prospect Park and the listing advertised: “Bring your love of nature as the Rangers reveal the astonishing winter adaptations that resident animals use to survive the frigid temperatures. You'll also learn how to identify animal tracks in snow and mud.” Naturally, on an adventure of this magnitude I had to bring my trusty colleague, Amanda Sakuma. We met at the “space ship” in Union Square to begin our journey:

     Amanda and I had some second thoughts about attending this event after we succesfully tracked two furry creatures within five minutes of meeting:

     Nevertheless we continued into the wilderness and within a few minutes of trekking had arrived in Brooklyn. Using advanced navigational techniques, Amanda was able to triangulate Wollman Skating Rink and guide us there. After we questioned the attendants of the rink, we began to think that this event may not be happening but alas, a helpful park ranger came to our service and informed us that the event was indeed happening and that the ranger in charge was outside.      Adrenaline pumping, Sakuma and I were introduced to our guide for the day, Marissa. Then Marissa introduced us to what we had been hoping for the whole train ride, a bunch of little kids! Horay!

(Covert Picture Taken Without Any Chaperones Knowing)
     So yeah, one could say this event’s “tone” may have been: education for the general public; and by general public I mean children.
     After all the kinder found pencils so they could pretend to write in their notebooks, we were off. Marissa explained our route for the day, which was: a walk up Breeze hill, down around the lake and then back. She prefaced the event with a few questions about how animals survived in the winter. The three methods were:
     1. Movement and Migration
     2. Hibernation
     3. “Toughing it out”
     With the heavenly tunes of James Blunt at our back, we walked past the outdoor skating rink and proceeded up Breeze Hill. Marissa spoke about what different animals did in the winter then we looked around to see what flora and fauna surrounded us. She asked us to draw a picture of something we saw around us; Amanda and I did this while the kids fought over a bag of Doritos. While looking for inspiration we saw:
     Some type of four-legged creature I believe the natives call a Squirrel:

     And I think this a Phoenix:

     After that we had a young MacArthur Fellowship candidate ask this question, “Why do bears hibernate even thought they have all that fur?” Pleasantly surprised by this question, Marissa explained how there are different degrees of hibernation and that some scientists question how bears really do hibernate. I followed up with a few questions, the first about what appeared to be trash on the lake:

     As it turns out, this is not trash but actually items placed there by park officials to keep plants from growing too far into the pond and essentially turning it into a field. Then I asked if there were any invasive species in the park and there was actually one right next to us. It was called Mugwort and was brought by the Dutch to bitter their beer. Marissa drinks wine:

     Then we went to the bird feeders and saw a few more birds but the entertaining part about this was the discussion. While looking at the birds Marissa thought one of the kids was asking if there were any city birds there and she started answering only to be corrected and told that he wanted to know if there were any silly birds at the feeders… she dropped the subject. After this, some of the little girls decided that they would race to an undisclosed location; one tripped and fell – not a survival skill.      Back to the topic of winter survival, Marissa spoke about how Killer Whales survived in the winter. She said that because of their fatness and roundness they could stay warm. I still don’t understand the round part… Then she explained that the body loses heat 25% faster in water.      After this we stood around and looked at the geese for a while. Amanda likes geese for reasons beyond me:

     We walked around for a bit more, stared at ice with the little kids, then made our way back to base camp.
     This type of event was definitely new to me. I learned some facts about New York State’s wildlife and more specifically, those that can live in a semi-urban environment. As far as interests, I think I became more appreciative of where I grew up because my field trips were substantially cooler in Massachusetts. This event was definitely valuable to the community. The kids had fun and learned a lot while Amanda and I had a good time watching them. This event absolutely had a positive impact on the environment; teaching kids the value of nature at an early age is, I think, one of the most important things someone can do, in light of modern environmentalism or not.
     Now, for the gripes. I did not really learn any methods of survival aside from getting really fat. And, tracks were not mentioned once. Therefore Amanda and I had to do our own reconnaissance to advance our edification.
     Here is Amanda foraging. Facebook!

     Then we went on our own mission trying to track some more creatures. We found some duck prints and some signs of humans (yep, that’s double entendre son.)

     After finding these signs we successfully tracked a few Homo Sapiens quite successfully.

     When we returned from our journey into the wilderness that is Brooklyn I ruminated on my experience and came to the conclusion that I did enjoy it. Amanda and I learned a bit about nature, laughed at little kids, and learned to track humans. Most importantly, we had fun, and that is the prime function of all parks. So yes, it was worthwhile but sadly, I would die in the wild.

-Craig Cannon