The Cushman Clan’s Romp Across the Earth (Spring 2011)

This semester in the introductory, interdisciplinary environmental studies course I co-teach with Chris Brown and Johan Feddema (EVRN/HIST/GEOG 142), we examined the ecological foundations of human civilization over the long term—including our own industrial civilization. Whenever I could, I tried to place myself and my ancestors into this history. We encouraged the rest of the class to do so, as well, by writing a weekly journal focused on current events and participatory activities in the world surrounding us. This blog and the comments that follow is intended to provide a “public forum” for reflecting on our ecological history and our prospects as a species—and for sharing some modest suggestions about how we will “act” on this knowledge.

On my father’s side of my family, my forefathers and foremothers left a path of environmental destruction from sea to shining sea. After depleting the soils, pastures, and forests of Massachusetts, where they attended the mythic first Thanksgiving, the Cushman clan migrated west with swarms of Anglo colonists, causing drastic ecological changes wherever they tarried. Barnabas, his son Silas, and his son Elmer proceeded from the clear-cut forests of Vermont, to the once fertile shores of Lake Erie, to the lead mining district of Wisconsin, to a sod house in the heavily indigenous Dakota Territory, to a health-reform mission in central Chicago, to a chicken ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border, to a suburban house in smoggy Los Angeles—all in the course of three lives lasting from 1787-1927.  It is humbling to realize that they usually did so in the belief that they would improve the new lands where they settled.

The founder of the Cushman family in America, Robert Cushman, gave what is now considered a notorious sermon on the environmental ethics of colonialism before he set sail from England in 1621: “What right have I to go live in the heathen’s country?” he asked. “Their land is spacious and void, and there are few, and do but run over the grass, as do also the foxes and wild beasts. They are not industrious, neither have art, science, skill or faculty to use either the land or the commodities of it; but all spoils, rots, and is marred for want of manuring, gathering, ordering, &c.” He believed it was his God-given duty to take the land from Native Americans like Tisquantum in order to make the continent a better, more righteous place.

As nuclear radiation, tsunamis, and tornadoes troubles the citizens of Japan, Alabama, and elsewhere, I am again humbled by our capacity to disrupt the natural world, as well as by nature’s capacity to “bite back” and stand in the way of our aspirations. I am still living off the debts my ancestors borrowed from the land, sea, atmosphere, peoples, and creatures they pushed aside in accomplishing their dreams. It is tempting to simply throw up my hands and selfishly go about my business—until I stop to think that Camilo, Andrés, and Olivia Cushman Cabrera will inherit this world, as will the children of billions of human families just like mine and quadrillions of other creatures with families of their own.

My children will have to repay this national debt—first and foremost by watching one of our favorite places in the world, Everglades National Park, disappear beneath the rising sea, urban sprawl, and fertilizer run-off. Their children will probably see their great-grandmothers’ suburban home, right next door, follow the Everglades to watery oblivion. My parents and grandparents have already destroyed the glorious flocks of birds that once inhabited this fragile wilderness.

In my life, my family has chosen an area of emphasis to reduce our ecological impact. We bought a house close enough to walk to work, school, the supermarket, the liquor store, and other necessities of life, and we try (although not hard enough) to use the most natural form of transportation—our legs and feet. The President complains about the obesity epidemic in our country. But from living without an automobile in Hungary and Peru and eating much the same (even at McDonalds in those locales), we learned that walking largely determined whether we put pounds on, or took pounds off, whether our children bounced off the walls, or were ready to live within them once we returned home, whether we went to bed tired (and slept well), or tossed, turned, and ached from unused muscle energy. When we travel we use public transportation available to us—even when it slows down the journey to the conference hotel in Houston by an hour (leaving an extra $50 in my pocket). My divorce this semester forced me to sell our car—which on the bright side, leaves even more $ in my wallet and muscle on our legs, and less fat around my waste and carbon dioxide and other junk in the air.

It will take a lot more than this to change the world. These actions only make up infinitesimally for our kind’s contribution to the oiling of the ocean, to the soiling of the stratosphere, and to the changes of the land. But in the meantime, our lives are changed for the better, and there’s one less exhaust pipe firing at our lungs. We’d love to hear your comments.

Gregory T. Cushman
Lawrence, Kansas, 12 May 2011

How’s that New Year’s Resolution Coming Along?

Popular New Year’s resolutions: “Lose weight”, “Be nicer”, “Win the lottery.”  Every year, most of us spend December 31^st coming up with clichéd ways to improve ourselves over the next year, and on January 1^st, when we finally wake up at 3pm, we swear to ourselves that we’ll see those improvements made.  I mean, we’ve got 365 whole days to make them (and sometimes, 366!), so how hard can it be?

What did you pledge to do differently in 2010?  A lot of people I know have added “Live a little greener” to their repertoire of annual promises.  There is nothing wrong with that, of course.  Half the work of the environmental movement is getting people to remember that they can contribute in their day-to-day lives.  The downside is that when it becomes one of the standard New Year’s Eve clichés, it basically means that most people don’t take it seriously.  Or, like the person who started going to the gym once every couple of weeks and called their resolution to get healthier accomplished, the idea of living in a more environmentally conscious manner gets paid lip-service, and little else.

The idea of going green has been a bit of cliché for a few years.  So many companies have claimed that some trivial change to their products qualify them as “green” that there is even a term for it now (“greenwashing”).  A community theatre I occasionally volunteer at has recently, in a bid to “go green”, encouraged people to drop of show programs in a bin near the entrance after shows if they don’t intend to keep them, so that they can be recycled, while, as I heard someone observe, still serving food with disposable flatware and single-use paper cups.

Examples of people making shallow attempts at going green are well-intentioned.  But then, so are all New Year’s resolutions.  Maybe companies that greenwash are trying to make a quick buck and generate some good PR, but the small steps they take are better than nothing.  Still, baby steps are not the kind of thing one should make their goal for their next trip around the sun.

I’m not going to tell you to include or exclude living greener from your resolutions during the transition from 2010 to 2011.  Rather, I’m asking that if you do tell yourself (and anyone else at the party who asks you what you’re going to do differently while you’re watching the ball in Times Square drop) that you are going to be a little more sustainable in the new year, please try and live up to it.  This is one kind of resolution that can’t be met by going on a crash CFL lightbulb binge at the end of the year.

– Ben

Dreaming of a Green Holiday

The infamous day of retail-shopping mayhem known as Black Friday, and its younger, digital sibling, Cyber Monday, have come and gone.  For many, a good chunk of their gift-purchases have been made, but in the weeks leading up to Christmas (and for some, the last-minute dash during a particularly early Chanukah), there’s bound to be some work left to be done.

It’s true that participating in the consumerist feeding frenzies of this season is a cultural experience in and of itself for many people, but ultimately, it has some far-reaching consequences.  The economic and environmental downsides to constant buying and spending do not vanish during the holidays, just because we consider them a special time.  The plastic that wraps a CD you got still ends up clogging a landfill, all the dishes you clean after large gatherings centered around meals still need the same amounts of water to clean, and those elaborate lights adoring your house still drive up your utility bills, even if they do look cooler than the neighbor’s.

Countless pages have been written, and thousands of bad TV movies produced, about how we need to focus more on spending time with our loved ones during the holidays, and less with the people standing on either side of us in a line at the mall (though they could always make for some fantastic conversation).  How many of us actually heed all of that advice, though?  The winter holiday season, it is true, is blown into the major event that it is because of corporate encouragement.  The image of Santa Claus as we know him today is the result of a marketing campaign by Coca-Cola in the 1930s, though they are quick to insist that his famous red-and-white wardrobe was actually devised by famous cartoonist Thomas Nast decades earlier.

Cynicism aside, the holiday season doesn’t have to be all about expensive presents and cheesy decorations.  In fact, de-emphasizing those things and simplifying the holidays wouldn’t be the worst way to add some more sustainable practices to your life.

There are obvious, well-known ways to cut down on consumption and waste-production over the holidays.  For some people, it’s actually standard practice to forgo wrapping paper when giving presents, instead opting for old newspaper.   You could also consider not wrapping a gift at all, because let’s face it, the mystery of what’s under that thin layer of paper with your name written on it kind of decreases in fun as you get older.

If you still feel the need to compete with your neighbors over who has the most ostentatious display on their front lawn, maybe consider ways to do it that don’t take enough electricity to power Mecha-Godzilla’s morning jog.  At the very least, take some advice from Eartheasy (scroll down to “Lower the impact of holiday lighting”) and string up some LED lights.  That way you can save some energy while still showing off your inflated holiday spirit and making old-timey air-raid wardens spin in their graves.  That same page also has some ideas for how to have a sustainable Christmas tree, if that’s how you celebrate.

Regarding food, don’t forget whatever sustainable eating habits you may have already developed.  Whether you’re making latkes or cookies of varying shapes, don’t skip out on whatever local and/or organic ingredients may be available.  Also maybe consider not baking that extra batch for the chubby home-invader.  Presents or not, people need to stop encouraging him.

Not that you were looking for permission, but go ahead and have fun this holiday season.  That’s what it’s here for (that, and to justify the existence of Hallmark).  But don’t get so caught up in the material and commercial aspects of it that you forget about all those more sustainable habits you’ve been working on.  They’re helpful any time of the year.

– Ben

Save Some Green this Season

Mother Nature has finally remembered that it is getting late in the year.  It’s showing outside, as the leaves are changing to that magnificent reddish-brown shade they take before falling to the ground.  That also means that it’s starting to get chilly outside, an issue with plenty of its own trappings.

The natural instincts for most students as Autumn progresses and Winter starts to rear its frosty head are to turn up the heat and grab some warm new gear.  Still, with many students interested in saving money (and hopefully conserving energy while they are at it), these old habits may need to hibernate this year.

Kansas winters can get absurdly cold, it is true.  Unfortunately, keeping the central heat blasting at all times gets rather costly, especially in the older homes that many students live in around campus.  I once lived in a decades-old house which, during the winter, was unbearably drafty.  This was largely due to the state of disrepair my apathetic landlord had allowed it to fall into.  Heating bills could be horrendous as my roommates and I struggled to keep the place comfortable in the mid-November through mid-February period.  Still, as tempting as it was to crank up the heat and let our wallets take the hit, we found ways to fight off the cold inside.

For my part, I had a hardwood floor in my bedroom, and putting my bare feet on that every morning after getting out of bed was difficult enough, until I found a large rug my parents had stopped using in their house after redoing their floors.  It took up a goodly amount of the open space, gave me something a little less jarring to stand on, and definitely seemed to add a little more insulation to the room.

If you’ve got some extra blankets lying around, or know a place where you can get a couple on the cheap, try hanging them up by particularly thin walls, or windows that nobody actually cares to look out of.  We’ve all got one or two windows in the house that don’t provide a pleasant view, or let in enough natural light, especially during the winter, to be all that practical, so don’t be afraid to cover them up.  Think of it like you’re putting up unusually thick curtains.

If you’re not up to something so DIY, keep in mind that weatherized windows (storm windows, new weather stripping, etc.) can be helpful in retaining heat, and consider asking your landlord/lady about installing them.  It might also be helpful to recommend they look at programs like Efficiency Kansas, which can help homeowners make their properties more energy efficient over the long term.

Another thing to consider is simply how you dress.  Don’t be afraid to keep your house just warm enough that you can be comfortable keeping a sweater or coat on inside.  Similarly, you can always have an extra blanket on hand when you’re sitting on the couch (that is, if you’ve got any left over after the windows are taken care of).  And when you start worrying about winter clothing, it isn’t, as hard as some of your favorite stores will insist to you, that big a deal that you wear the same sweaters, hats, and other warm items that you’ve had for the last few years.  As long as something still works, running out to buy new gloves just costs you more money, and encourages overproduction.

If you do feel like trying a new look, keep your attention focused on second-hand stores where you can potentially swap out clothing (as opposed to throwing things out to make room in your closet), or find a shelter looking for donations.

In summation, don’t just look to stay warm this winter.  There are easy ways to save money and stay green.

– Ben

Announcing the Green Halloween Contest!

Just because the leaves aren’t going to be green much longer doesn’t mean you can’t be.   With Halloween right around the corner, we’d like to see how you dress up sustainably.  Normally, Halloween costumes are bought in stores, worn once or twice, and then stashed in a closet, lucky to be pulled out again a few years later (can’t go doing the same thing two years in a row, can we?).  Given all the plastics and synthetic dyes used to make commercially-sold Halloween costumes, it seems that this sort of practice is really just creating waste and increasing the demand for unsustainable products.

All of which brings us to the challenge.  We want to see how you can scare up a good Halloween costume with nothing but found components.  Whether it be a variation on the classic Bedsheet Ghost or something new, whip something up, and send us a picture by November 2.  Our favorites will go up on this blog, and the best will receive a free t-shirt from Local Burger.

Please include with your submissions details about the materials you used, and where they came from.

For a look into what ideas people have come up with for this theme before, look here: http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/recycled-halloween-costume-470708.

Happy Haunting!

Our Plastic Coast

Last month I traveled to the Oregon Coast for a vacation with my family.  We stayed in a rental house right on the beach, at the mouth of the Netarts Bay.  Each day, we soaked in views of the the Pacific Ocean, glimpses of Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge, and the steady Oregon rainfall.  Whether looking out from the giant windows of the house, or strolling along the beach, it felt relaxing and comforting to be in such a spectacular setting.

One afternoon, I headed north along the coast with my camera to capture Mother Nature at her finest.  The tide was going out, so gulls were pecking through the bright green seaweed along the sandy shore.  The seals had hauled out onto the sand bar that was slowly becoming exposed across the bay.  And, the waves were crashing out in the distance and along the coast to the north.  It was a peaceful  scene and a seemingly beautiful afternoon.

On my trip back to the house, I decided to move off the sand and up onto the rocks above the high tide line.  As I did, I was greeted by colorful shards of plastic and scattered garbage left behind by other vacationers or washed ashore.  Mother Nature was suddenly delivering me a dose of reality and reminding me of the many environmental disasters that are a result of our petroleum-based society.  I found a plastic grocery bag snagged on one rock and quickly filled it with with water bottles, bottle caps, Styrofoam, and unidentifiable pieces of plastic.  But there was enough trash to fill that bag countless times.

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I was quietly reminded that, even though I was enjoying time away from work, there was still much work to be done.  There was oil spewing into the Gulf and an island of garbage larger than the state of Texas floating somewhere over the horizon – most of which was composed of these tiny shards of plastic I was finding.  Combing through the rocks, I feared that the seagulls might just drop a little revenge on me as they flew by to feast on whatever else we humans had left behind.

It is easy to distance ourselves from the environmental degradation that is occurring all around us – I did it walking along a beach just a stones throw from where it was taking place – and it can be overwhelming to consider what we could possibly to do to end it.  But as daunting as it may seem, individual actions do make a difference.  Next time you pick up a bottle of water, get your groceries in a plastic bag, or even buy a bottle of shampoo, take some time to think about where that plastic came from and where it might end up when you are finished using it.  Consider that decision not about a product but about what you want for the future of our planet.   After all, personal decisions are what created this plastic coast, and it will take personal decisions to make it go away.

– Jeff

Make a Change and Make a Difference

Thomas Friedman has been a champion for the environmental cause over the last several years. And likewise with his last New York Times opinion piece he cites a friend’s short essay on how we as citizens in a fragile world should use the BP oil spill to change the way we live — the way we consume our energy.  He says it with such an understandable and  straightforward zeal that we cannot ignore the problem and must consider that we are bound by our own actions:

“We need to make our whole country more sustainable. So let’s pass an energy-climate bill that really reduces our dependence on Middle East oil. Let’s pass a financial regulatory reform bill that really reduces the odds of another banking crisis. Let’s get our fiscal house in order, as the economy recovers. And let’s pass an immigration bill that will enable us to attract the world’s top talent and remain the world’s leader in innovation.”

We CANNOT waste the precious time we have. We need to learn to work together for the good of the entire world, and if that is not possible then at least for the good of the citizens of the United States. Currently, we seem to lack the ability to take bold actions that could save the lives of our children (or future children) and reduce the burden that may now rest on all future generations. We discount the future because we live in the present, but we must understand when looking at our kids, our brothers and sisters, or our friends that the future holds for all of us an uncertainty capable of dessimating our lives. That is why, as Friedman reminds us again and again, that “we have to solve the big problems in our control, not postpone them or pretend that more lobby-driven, lowest-common-denominator solutions are still satisfactory.”

In a recent personal experiment I traveled around Lawrence, KS without using my car. Getting around was easy, although a bit more time consuming, but altogether enlightening and beneficial. Now a week later, I have thrown away my parking pass, sold my jeep, and have pledged to travel using my feet, or with the help of a bus, anywhere and everywhere I go.

Of course, working for the KU Center for Sustainability influenced my decision to become more sustainable. Although I am a research assistant for the CFS, I certainly am not required to leave my personal vehicle behind. But because of the time I have spent at the center, I more clearly understand that the energy I consume every day, although seemingly personal, affects everyone else around me. I did not directly cause the Gulf oil spill, but I certainly contributed to (or fell victim to) the culture that enabled such a catastrophe to happen.

Beyond just this blog, the KU Center for Sustainability has done some wonderful things for the KU community. Jeff Severin has spearheaded initiatives to create a sustainable raingarden, encourage student engineered sustainable projects, and educate students, staff, and faculty about how they can be more sustainable among other things. In addition, we should all stand behind future green initiatives as each and every project will benefit the environment — the air, water, and wildlife — and will enrich our lives by conserving what natural resources we have left for our future and the following generation.

I am not telling you to sell your car and walk everywhere, although it is entirely conceivable, I just want you to do something — anything — that would make you more sustainable each day. Because clearly, with the mess that is spreading before our eyes, we need to take action to prevent future disasters. So, “[h]ere’s the bottom line: If we want to end our oil addiction, we, as citizens, need to pony up: bike to work, plant a garden, do something. So again, the oil spill is my fault. I’m sorry.”

A Week Without a Car

I began this personal experiment on Monday May 24, 2010. I kept track of where I drove, how long I was in the car, and how much gas I used last week. This week I am going to abstain from driving my Jeep in order to travel around Lawrence, KS on foot, by bicycle, and Public Transit and compare my travel costs to driving. At the end of this period, taking into account the costs of time, damage to the environment, and the cost and maintenance of a vehicle, I will report on the most cost-effective form of transportation for someone in my particular situation.  

 My interest in this personal case study is four-fold:   

 1.  Changing our transportation habits, if even for a week, can be a very beneficial experience. Sometimes, the hardest part of changing a habit is making that first step. This is my first step.  

 2.  I will show our readers that there are easy ways to get around Lawrence that can contribute to a student’s decision to leave his or her car at home. While I may end up traveling around Lawrence less, my activities will not change drastically.  

 3.  I currently lead a healthy lifestyle, but riding a bicycle or walking to work multiple times a week will contribute to my overall health.  

 4.  If the University of Kansas hopes to become a more innovative and vibrant campus, then it is time for us to prioritize commuter behavior.  My hope is that this project will demonstrate that need and how we can address it as a campus.  

Monday, May 31, 2010, Day one without a car:  Memorial Day

I rode a bicycle 3.7 miles to campus from my home. I know it was Memorial Day but I decided that I should not take a day off from commuting especially if I wanted to reach the same distances as the week I drove to work and back. While Google Maps says it should only have taken me 20 minutes from point A to point B, it took me 30 minutes. Most of the distance covered was on flat terrain but riding up the hill on the way to campus took a little extra effort and determination, which many of the comments in the survey responses cited as a large deterrent. However, that same hill that works against you on the way to campus helps you tremendously on the way back home — it took me less than 20 minutes to get back. In addition to the comments about the hill, other survey responses added time, distance, inability to carry materials, and sweatiness to the list of negatives for biking to work or school. However, I rode 3.7 miles which, according to the May 26 post about distance, is at the outer limits of distance contributing to the likeliness that someone will bike. I was able to carry my wallet, keys, cellphone and a change of clothes in a basket on the back of my bike with relative ease and I didn’t even have to change when I got the work because the wind kept me dry. Overall, it was a great experience. But what about the rest of the campus population?

Bicycle ownership for the KU campus is approximately 60% for faculty and staff members and 45% for students. The survey results reflect a national trend in that while a large percentage of the campus population owns a bicycle, very few regularly ride it. 62% of commuters reported that the weather was a factor in their decision to ride a bicycle to campus. However the University can introduce changes that affect a riders ease of use and time spent commuting. Nearly 40% of all survey respondents indicated that they would be more likely to ride a bicycle to campus if there were clearly marked bike lanes on and off campus. Considering that nearly all bicycle riders live within 2.5 miles of campus, the University should consider working with the city to change the transportation environment within a close radius of campus that would separate bike riders and pedestrians from automobile traffic. Currently, the transportation system does not promote adequate safety for non-motorized travelers.

Daily Totals:   

Bike time – 50 minutes (50 total)   

Distance covered – 7.4 miles (7.4 total)   

Estimated gallons used — 0 (0 total)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010, Day two without a car:  94 degrees of heat and walking

In Kansas, we have this thing called weather. One day it is 65 degrees and overcast, then the next day it is 20 and snowing, and 3 days later it is 89 with a heat index of 94 degrees. Ok, so it is not quite that bad but the weather in Kansas changes quickly and often. On tuesday, it was 94 degrees counting humidity and I decided to leave the bike at home and walk the 3.7 miles to work. I thought, “hey, to better understand my commuting choices, I should try them all!” Well, walking, while always enjoyable and good for the heart and legs, left me a little tired and sore at the end of the day. But, I believe the more I walk  the easier it will get each time. When comparing the walk to the bike ride the day before, I realize how much more convenient and easy it is to pedal around — covering more ground quickly while the wind keeps you cool — and how walking long distances can be daunting to most people.

A Harvard Medical School about Leisure Time Exercise spells out some findings about walking for exercise:

Walking. Because it’s the dominant form of exercise, it has attracted the most attention from researchers. Studies from around the world agree that a little walking can go a long way toward keeping you healthy. Here are some typical results:

• A 12-year study of 707 retired men in Hawaii found that the death rate of men who walked at least 2 miles a day was more than 50% lower than that of men who walked less than a mile a day.
• A study of Harvard alumni found that men who walked more than 7 miles a week had a 33% lower death rate than sedentary men. Walking up stairs was nearly as good; men who averaged about 8 flights a day reduced their death rate by 25%.
• A 4-year study of 1,645 men and women over 65 found that people who walked at least 4 hours a week enjoyed a 31% lower risk of death than those who walked less than an hour a week.
• A Harvard study of 72,488 female nurses found that walking for 3 hours a week reduced the risk of heart attacks by a third, or exactly as much as 1½ hours of intense exercise. And a companion study of 61,200 nurses linked regular walking to a 55% reduction in the risk of hip fractures.
• A Harvard study of 39,372 professional women found that walking for just an hour a week cut the risk of heart attack by half. Women who increased their weekly mileage enjoyed additional benefits, but women who accelerated their pace did not.

The percentage of the KU campus population that walks is largely correlated with the percentage who ride bicycles. Many of the institution changes to encourage biking would also work to increase the population that walks. The survey results show that approximately 13% of faculty, staff, and students walk to campus, nearly all of whom live within 1 mile. A strong clustering of students living on and close to campus both encourages and significantly increases the likeliness that they walk. If the University wants to promote pedestrian and bike travel, the campus master plan should prioritize convenient and safe non-vehicle access to campus.

Daily Totals:   

Bike time – 50 minutes (50 total)   

Bike distance covered – 7.4 miles (7.4 total)

Walk time — 118 minutes (118 total)

Walk distance covered — 7.4 miles (7.4 total)

Estimated gallons used — 0 (0 total)

Wednesday, June 2, 2010, Day three without a car:  Bike lanes needed, please

I decided to ride my again on Wednesday but this time I wanted to take a different route than I did on Monday. I remember seeing bike lane markers while driving North on Naismith drive towards 19th street. Since they were the only bike lanes I have seen in Lawrence, I decided to use them (pictures to be posted soon). According to Bicycle.com’s America’s Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities, Minneapolis Minnesota ranks #1. Of the top 10, Boulder Colorado most closely resembles Lawrence Kansas in size, demographic, and college town feel. According to information I found on Wikipedia, Boulder, well-known for its bicycle culture, boasts hundreds of miles of bike paths, lanes, and routes that interconnect to create a renowned network of bikeways usable year-round. Boulder has 74 bike and pedestrian underpasses that facilitate safer and uninterrupted travel throughout much of the city. The city offers a route-finding website that allows users to map personalized bike routes around the city. In 2008 the city was recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as a Platinum-level bicycle friendly community. Lawrence should strive to be as vibrant of a community as Boulder — one way to get there is improving the transportation infrastructure. And unlike Lawrence bus routes, Boulder bus routes run throughout the city and connect to nearby communities on a frequent basis, with departures every ten minutes during peak hours, Monday-Friday (I will write about Lawrence Public Transit tomorrow).

Only after riding North on Naismith over the bike lane markers did I look up some bicycling information and frequently asked questions on the City of Lawrence Website. These “bike lanes” on Naismith are only proposed for future construction and are therefore not actually bike lanes at all.  This explains the select few motor vehicles that honked at me while passing by as if I was doing something wrong. In addition, there is no sidewalk on the North-bound side of the street, only a well-beaten path where a sidewalk should be. The Lawrence website provides a color-coded Bicycle Facilities Map that provides information on all existing and projected future bike lanes and paths. In addition to my normal trip to and from work, I also went to the grocery store near my house and was able to balance a bag on each side of my handle bars for the trip home. It turned out to be really easy to get all the groceries I would need for the week in one 20 minute bike ride.

Yesterday I posted some of the benefits of walking to human health. Today, using the eloquent words of Bicyclinginfo.org, I would like to leave you with some benefits of biking: “The positive consequences of biking as a healthy mode of transportation, or as a purely recreational activity, span across many aspects of our lives. They can be expressed in terms of the health of the environment (and resulting health of all living things), as well as the health of individuals who are more physically active. A transportation system that is conducive to bicycling can reap many benefits in terms of reduced traffic congestion and improved quality of life. Economic rewards both to the individual and to society are also realized through reduced health care costs and reduced dependency on auto ownership (and the resulting insurance and maintenance costs). There are also other economic benefits of bicycling that are more difficult to measure, such as the increased economic vitality of communities that have emphasized bicycle mobility. Finally, bikeable communities create a more equitable society that provides transportation choice for all citizens.”

Daily Totals:   

Bike time – 65 minutes (115 total)   

Bike distance covered – 9.6 miles (17 total)

Walk time — 118 minutes (118 total)

Walk distance covered — 7.4 miles (7.4 total)

Estimated gallons used — 0 (0 total)

Thursday, June 3, 2010, Day four without a car: Scheduling your time well makes all the difference

The hardest part about riding the bus is getting on it for the first time. Coordinating your schedule around bus arrivals and departures constrains your freedom — a freedom acquired through the use of a car. But parking, traffic congestion, and the cost of gasoline work against your commute as well. Out of the days I have spent carless, the day I spent riding the bus for the first time was the most eye-opening for me. Let’s describe the scene:

With 24 people riding the bus at its peak time, people were sleeping, reading, talking to one another; two professors exchanged contact information and discussed their research. Staff members interacted with students while other riders just sat quietly. The girl next to mean was reading “princicples of mathematical analysis” — a class that I took last year which still makes me cringe. People, faculty students and staff alike, got off the bus two or three at a time as the bus moved farther and farther from campus but no one got on. A silence enveloped the bus as our numbers dwindled, each of us waiting patiently for our stops. As I stepped off the bus, said goodbye to the driver, I began walking the 15 minute half-mile home, taking in the sun as it slowly fell.

Initially, I was frustrated with the busing system. However, the annoyance was the result of my own poor scheduling. I left my house too early, walked to a bus stop that was farther away than I thought, and waited 30 minutes for the bus. Removing that error, focusing only on the remaining time traveling, the bus ride was actually quite enjoyable. With air conditioning, time to read and write, I realized that riding mass transit has many advantage over walking and riding a bike. I didn’t arrive sweaty or winded, and I stepped off the bus only a 100 yard walk from my office — closer than if I had to park my car! IF you want to plan your own trip around Lawrence just go to the Lawrence Transit website.

Students, faculty, and staff are already given free access to the bus system; however additional improvements to the KU transit service can significantly increase ridership by the campus population. The busing system is designed to provide the option of riding the bus to the maximum number of possible users. But, as shown in the survey data results, even though much of the population is willing and able, most people who have any other transportation option choose to use that option over riding the bus system. Students, faculty, and staff alike want the bus system to have certain characteristics:

• Routes that go where people want to go
• High frequencies
• Long service hours
• Fast and direct routes

Based on the preferences indicated in the Sustainable Transportation survey results, the bus system has the most potential to provide a quality source of alternative transportation for all commuters to campus. Only 20% of students responded that they would not ride the bus more often. The remaining 80% indicated that at least one improvement suggested would get them to ride the bus more often. Only 40% of faculty and 36% of staff members stated that they were not likely to ride the bus more often. An increase in bus ridership would significantly reduce the University’s greenhouse gas emissions if riders left their personal vehicles at home and climbed on a bus more often. Based on the survey results discussed in some of the previous posts, the University should encourage pedestrian travel within one mile, bike riding within 2.5 miles, and university campus planners should develop specific strategies to strengthen the bus system to encourage ridership within 5 miles of campus.

Daily Totals:   

Bike time – 45 minutes (160 total)   

Bike distance covered – 6.4 miles (23.4 total)

Walk time — 15 minutes (133 total)

Walk distance covered — 1.0 miles (8.4 total)

Bus time —  120 minutes (120 total)

Bus distance covered — 8 miles (8 total)

Estimated personal vehicle gallons used — 0 (0 total)

Friday, June 4, 2010, Day five without a car: Kansas City, Easy

On the final day of this personal experiment I decided travel to Kansas City, MO to visit a friend who had just arrived for a summer internship. Of course, sticking to my pledge of going absolutely carless for the week, I elected to take the K-10 Connector from the KU campus after work. This bus is mainly used by commuters who may live and work in Kansas City but need an easy way to travel to Lawrence and back for classes or other activities. The bus makes trips back and forth from KU to the Johnson County Community College stop where it meets up with the rest of the transit system. It only runs on weekdays but makes evening/late night runs Monday through Thursday. I walked from my office down the hill to the bus stop, stood in the shade for about 15 minutes until the bus arrived — early — and then rode on a series of three buses until I stepped off the bus into the Plaza District in KC. Normally I would have driven about 55 minutes from my home in Lawrence, but instead the bus ride took me a little over 2 hours in total. However, not having to concentrate on driving allowed me to read 3 chapters of Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash. Here are the totals for my week:

Totals for the Week: 100.8 miles, 623 minutes, 0 gallons

Bike time –160 minutes 

Bike distance covered – 23.4 miles

Walk time — 163 minutes

Walk distance covered –10.4 miles

Bus time —  300 minutes

Bus distance covered — 67 miles

Estimated personal vehicle gallons used — 0

Compared to last week when I kept track of my driving totals — 231 minutes, 62.8 miles, and 4.1 gallons of gas — I covered 100.8 miles using alternative transportation, 38 more than driving, but I spent 623 minutes traveling, nearly 400 minutes more than last week. In addition, I spent 10 dollars on gas last week but I spent 7 dollars on the bus ride to Kansas City — up until that ride I hadn’t spent any money on traveling, it had been completely free. Although it took more time than driving, getting around using alternative modes of transportation was both easy and liberating simply because I now know that I am not chained to my car. Actually, I am disappointed in myself for the fact that throughout my 2 years here as a graduate student I did not use the bus or ride a bike nearly enough. It is not right for me to preach to people about being more sustainable when I am not practicing sustainable habits. So, I am going to continue leaving my car at home and walking, biking, or riding the bus will be an everyday day activity for me.

Traveling around Lawrence by foot, bike and bus is both easy and beneficial to one’s health and the environment.

A Personal Transportation Experiment

Here’s the deal:  

 I will drive to work every day this week, keeping track of my mileage, time, and gasoline consumption along the way. Next week, I will use as many forms of alternative transportation as are available to me — biking, walking, and riding the bus — and compare my travel costs to driving. At the end of this period, taking into account the costs of time, damage to the environment, and the cost and maintenance of a vehicle, I should be able to report on the most cost-effective form of transportation for someone in my particular situation.  

 My interest in this personal case study is four-fold:   

 1.  Changing our transportation habits, if even for a week, can be a very beneficial experience. Sometimes, the hardest part of changing a habit is making that first step. This is my first step.  

 2.  I will show our readers that there are easy ways to get around Lawrence that can contribute to a student’s decision to leave his or her car at home. While I may end up traveling around Lawrence less, my activities will not change drastically.  

 3.  I currently lead a healthy lifestyle, but riding a bicycle or walking to work multiple times a week will contribute to my overall health.  

 4.  If the University of Kansas hopes to become a more innovative and vibrant campus, then it is time for us to prioritize commuter behavior.  My hope is that this project will demonstrate that need and how we can address it as a campus.  

   

Monday, May 24, 2010, Day one: Driving the old Jeep   

The Center for Sustainability surveyed 522 KU commuters about the make, model, and year of vehicle they drive to campus. Out of the model years received in response, I drive the oldest vehicle recorded, with a manufacturing date of 1985 — older than a majority of students currently attending KU. I suppose I am hypocritical for preaching sustainability and owning an inefficient vehicle. So, I will be selling the Jeep at the end of July. But for now, it remains a useful tool in this experiment.   

To begin the day, driving my inefficient Jeep, I took the usual route from my Lawrence home to the Center for Sustainability in Carruth-O’Leary Hall on the KU Campus. After work, with an interest in exploring the bike shop on Massachusetts Street and a hunger for a burrito, I drove downtown and spent an hour in the heat and humidity of the sporadic spring weather. After asking questions about the new “fixie” bicycling fad and enjoying a chicken burrito, I drove straight home.   

Daily Totals:

Drive time — 37 minutes   

Distance covered — 10.4 miles   

Estimated gallons used — 0.6   

Tuesday, May 25, 2010, Day Two: Another day in the life   

Using the Sustainable Transportation Survey, the same survey mentioned above, we gathered information about KU affiliates who commute to and from campus. One of the questions we asked read as the following: “Do you own a personal vehicle and use it to get to the University of Kansas campus?” According to the responses, between 85 and 90% of faculty and staff members own a personal vehicle that they use to get to campus, while less than 60% of students 

Table 1: Average Commuter Vehicle
Commuter Type	Model Year	MPG
Faculty	2004.0	26.7
Staff	2001.8	24.3
Student	2001.8	23.0

own a personal vehicle that they use to get to campus. We asked each respondent who reported a personal vehicle to provide the year, make, and model of their vehicle; we then looked up the EPA estimated miles per gallon rating based on that information. We found that faculty members, staff members, and students drive vehicles with an average combined MPG rating of 26.7, 24.3, and 23.0, respectively. Although we did not gather data on annual income, we suspect that the differences are related to the stratification of socioeconomic status where faculty members can afford to purchase newer and more fuel-efficient vehicles whereas students drive less expensive, older modeled, more inefficient vehicles.   

As you can see from the description and picture of my Jeep above, I do not drive an efficient vehicle. While the average MPG for students is 23, my Jeep gets a measly 18 MPG. The only redeeming quality of the vehicle is that with four wheel drive capability I will never get stuck — as if that is a problem in Kansas. On Tuesday, I drove to work in the morning on paved roads, gently avoiding potholes along the way, having no need to put the Jeep in off-road mode. After work, I drove home to change (having forgotten to bring gym clothes to work) and drove back to campus to work out at the Ambler Student Recreation Facility. After several games of basketball, I promptly returned home.   

Daily Totals:   

Drive time — 48 minutes (85 total)   

Distance covered — 13.6 miles (24 total)   

Estimated gallons used — 0.8 (1.4 total)   

Wednesday, May 26, 2010, Day Three:  Distance Matters   

If I lived closer to campus, I would walk to work every day. But, as it turns out, I live just outside what I would consider a comfortable walking distance. So, I drive. Using the survey data, we were able to calculate the probability that a commuter travels by a specific mode of transportation depending on his or her distance from campus. I live 3.6 miles from campus. At that distance, given how the Lawrence transportation system is currently structured, a commuter has a 60% likeliness of choosing to drive to campus over all other forms of travel.  In Figure 1, looking at only student responses and truncating the data to include only commuters who live inside or very close to Lawrence, we observe that within a 2 mile radius a student commuter is 1.5 to 2 times more likely to travel to campus by an alternative mode of transportation over driving a personal vehicle. In addition, within a ½-mile, student commuters rely on the busing system and their own two feet to get to campus each at a higher rate than driving. However, driving becomes the most used form of transportation for students at approximately 2 miles from campus. The University needs to focus on transportation initiatives that extend the radius of effective alternative transportation. Knowing all of this information and understanding that I can move closer to campus once my lease runs out, I will choose to live within a comfortable walking distance, possibly saving time and money by commuting with my own two feet.   

However, as laid out by the rules of this experiment I drove the 3.6 miles to work again, wrote a blog post, and continued other research all the while contemplating how I will survive commuting without a car next week. I am sure I will be fine.   

Daily Totals:   

Drive time — 30 minutes (115 total)   

Distance covered — 7.2 miles (31.2 total)   

Estimated gallons used — 0.5 (2.0 total)  

Thursday, May 27, 2010, Day four:  A more sustainable campus  

The heavy reliance on personal vehicles as a main mode of transportation has serious impacts for the environment and contributes greatly to the University’s GHGs. Universities are in a unique position to both study and address the challenge of mitigating the impact of GHGs. We can be a model for other educational institutions and influence the surrounding community to be more environmentally conscious. The CFS seeks to reduce the University’s dependence on the personal vehicle by first understanding the underlying factors that contribute to its use then encouraging the use of alternative transportation such as biking, riding the bus, and walking.  

The automobile revolutionized transportation. But now many people are questioning the excessive romanticism of the open road and the wisdom of a strongly car dependent society. The University of Kansas has been shaped by the use of personal vehicles. The Lawrence Campus, consisting of the Main and West sections of campus, covers 870.1 acres, or approximately 37,901,556 square feet. If we take into account the surface areas of campus that relate directly to motor vehicles, mainly parking lots and streets, we find that approximately 7,126,587 square feet or 18.8% of the Lawrence Campus is paved over so that commuters can drive and park there.  

Now, imagine a campus without cars. We would rely on other modes of transportation to get from classroom to classroom. We would interact more with other people having to sit across from them on the bus rather than pass each of them by in the isolation of our personal vehicle. The population would be healthier, more vibrant, and more energetic having had to walk to work or class, leaving the sedentary life-style behind in their wake. Not only would our campus breathe more freely, it would be a model for a more sustainable community.  

Now, I understand the need for a car sometimes. I have to commute to the Kansas City area often without a more efficient option than using my car, but for traveling locally a personal vehicle is not necessary. Today, I ran a few errands after work including a stop at the local Target store in addition to going to the gym again to play basketball.  

Daily Totals:   

 Drive time — 68 minutes (183 total)     

Distance covered – 18.0 miles (49.2 total)   

 Estimated gallons used – 1.1 (3.1 total)  

Friday, May 28, 2010, Day five:  Hidden costs  

For one question in the Sustainable Transportation Survey we asked commuters to estimate the average total cost of gas, maintenance, insurance, and parking per semester. Students and faculty each averaged approximately $760 per year whereas staff reported an average cost of $860. I have spent nearly $700 dollars on repairs to my car in the last 2 years. Add that to insurance (340 per year), a parking pass (200 per year), and gasoline (1800 per year) – I have spent over $5000 (not including the original cost of the car or depreciation thereafter) over the last 2 years on things that relate to my vehicle. So, given all of the commuter responses to the question above, do you think people have a good grasp on the actual cost of owning and operating a car?  

                According to the Edmunds.com’s “True Cost To Own Calculator”, a 2005 Chevrolet Impala cost over $27,000 to own and operate over the last 5 years – coming to over $5000 dollars per year. The costs of ownership are not quite hidden – they are just overlooked by consumers.  

Daily Totals:   

 Drive time — 48 minutes (231 total)     

Distance covered – 13.6 miles (62.8 total)   

 Estimated gallons used – 1.0 (4.1 total) 

The end of the week and I have traveled only 63 miles on the road in 230 minutes. Monday (Memorial Day) will begin my week of traveling without a car. Hopefully I will travel as many miles using a bike, walking, and riding the bus.

Sustaining Education

Note: This is the 2nd post in a series on the role of sustainability in higher education.

In March, I wrote about integrating sustainability into our operations, the first step many think of when we talk about sustainability in higher education.  But that only opens the door for the next step – and probably the most impactful.  It is the very reason our institutions exist: education.  Highlighting the efforts made in operations presents an opportunity to educate the campus community – students, staff, and faculty alike – about sustainability.  For example the Multicultural Resource Center at the University of Kansas has a brochure in their waiting area detailing their efforts to recycle and reduce resource use, and offering suggestions for how visitors can help reduce their impact.  It also includes a reminder to return or recycle the brochure when finished.

On a more sophisticated level, campuses are using touch screens and online tools to share information about green building features and energy conservation.  Oberlin College in Ohio provides one example of how this can be used to raise awareness and build support for initiatives.  Often cited as one of the greenest schools in the US, Oberlin has a number of buildings connected to their online monitoring system, providing real-time data on energy consumption.

Efforts like this help raise awareness about issues of sustainability – a quick what, where and sometimes why – which I think is really the first step for a lot of us.  But that needs to be extended into the classroom.  The main focus of the Center for Sustainability is to help integrate sustainability into all aspects of campus, including the curriculum. Last year we partnered with our Center for Teaching Excellence to create a working group that involved faculty from architecture, engineering, ecology, geology, physics, planning, psychology, and public administration, all brought together to determine how best to accomplish this.  Although the logistics of creating even an introductory course in sustainability are challenging – it turns out interdisciplinary education isn’t that easy to accomplish in our current system – there were a few things that everyone agreed on: a basic course needs to introduce students to concepts of sustainability from a multidisciplinary approach and be based around a real-world problem to engage students in the process and help show them how their area of study contributes to advancing sustainability.

A similar concept has been used for a course at Oakland Community College in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan for the past few years.  Students involved in the project are put into teams with 3 or 4 students from each of 3 disciplines, then asked to create a positive scenario for the future of society that is more humane and environmentally sustainable. Throughout the project, they must integrate key concepts from their own discipline.

Are graduates prepared to carry the burden of creating a more sustainable future? Source: National Association of Scholars

There are many great examples of integrating sustainability into the curriculum on a much broader scale than just one course.  A number of institutions now offer degrees or certification programs in sustainability or have introductory courses aimed at creating a sustainability literate student population.  There are also programs that are working to infuse sustainability throughout the curriculum – not just in one program, but across all disciplines.

Projects like this really get at what I see is a key element in sustainability education.  It isn’t just WHAT we teach students, but HOW.  I currently serve as a board member for the Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education, and have long admired their approach to environmental education.  Their mission is to promote and provide “effective, non-biased and science-based environmental education to all Kansans”.  KACEE works mainly with K-12 educators, providing training and support for teachers who want to engage their students in inquiry based learning and outdoor experiences.  Their goal is to teach students how to think about environmental challenges, not what to think.

Prior to working at KU, I spent a few years in informal environmental education, and I come from a family of educators – my father is a superintendent of schools, one sister is an elementary teacher, the other  is a physical therapist for a school district, and my mother is a recently retired special education para-professional.  So, clearly I remain very connected and involved with K-12 education and have a deep respect for educators at all levels.  Unfortunately I am too often reminded of a comment made by a colleague a few years ago: he noted that our education system spends too much time training students to fill a niche and not enough time preparing them to create their own.   That truly concerns me as education for sustainability is not about cranking out students who can fit into a specific place in society, but about preparing students to figure out how all those places fit together to create a better future.

As KU graduates march down the hill and into the “real world” this spring, I can’t help wondering if they are truly prepared for what they are about to face.  Are they aware of the complexities of the natural systems they are part of?  Do they understand how their disciplines relate to and complement each other?  Are they ready to take on the challenge of global climate change and start building a more sustainable future?  This generation may be burdened with the job of taking on these environmental problems, but it is our job as institutions of higher education to ready them for that important task.

– Jeff