Month: February 2024

When I am told to talk about sustainability, typically, I take the cynical route. Everything’s bad, the government is irredeemable – I don’t regret this, and I think other people should follow suit. But my cynicism isn’t without hope! It is precisely because I have such a shining image of what people can be that I am so critical of the current state of things. My deep despair doesn’t leave me immobilized, but rather pushes me to do all I can to change the world – often to the detriment of my health. But that’s beside the point! I’d like to show you all what keeps me going.
Best case scenario, what does sustainable living look like? Close your eyes and let’s imagine… let’s say, we have all of the big problems solved. The world’s wealthiest, responsible for the vast majority of the world’s environmental degradation (Wiedemann et al. 2020) are taken care of – or at least their wealth is. PPM CO2 is slowly decreasing, and the global average temperature, around 1.4 degrees celsius, is falling with it. Material throughput, a good proxy for ecological pressure, (Hickel et al. 2022), has plummeted, and the remaining economic activity that exists is used to meet needs within the limits of the planet.
The first thing you notice is that you are working less – a lot less. In order to reduce material throughput and carbon emissions, we need to work less. And if we reduce working hours and implement a job-sharing program, a job guarantee with a living wage, and universal services, then we can work less while not sacrificing, or even improving our economic well being (Hickel 2021). If there’s less stuff to do, we have more people to do less stuff – we just have to all share the jobs leftover, and as long as all the work is used to meet people’s needs, then we should be better off than we were before. So, from our perspective, sustainable living isn’t about what you can do, but what you don’t do.
And we can take this lesson with us even today, if you’re willing to open your eyes to our sad world for a second. It’s not about what product you buy, it’s not about what hip green label is on the package – it matters that you don’t buy. And what or how much you do and don’t buy is determined what the thing you buy is made for. If it’s made to meet your needs reliably for a long period of time, then buy it, sure! But if it’s made to sell en masse, then maybe think twice. Before you know it, it’ll break, and the “need” it was made to meet will get you itching to buy it again. If we understand material throughput as the problem, then the issue shifts from how you buy to how much you buy. Imagine a world where our things last longer – is that so radical? Of course, entropy exists, but nowhere in the laws of thermodynamics does it say that our iPhones have to be outmoded every four years. Nowhere in the laws of thermodynamics does it say that if the monitor on your car malfunctions you have to get an entire new car. And the laws of thermodynamics definitely don’t say that single-use anything should come before reusable goods. If things are made to be better, longer lasting, and to meet our needs effectively, then we help ourselves and the planet at the same time. But – this undermines the profit motive. Best-sellers are fragile and addictive – business models that create scarcity win the market. This dynamic is best seen in the tragedy of the Instant-Pot, the product that failed because it was too good, too long lasting, and thus too unprofitable (Mull 2023).
This is why a utopian, sustainable future can be difficult to comprehend for us in our late-stage capitalist lives. A sustainable future is a decommodified future. A sustainable future isn’t a future where we all work the right jobs and buy the right things, but a future where we work less, buy less, and live more because of it.
 

Wiedmann, T., Lenzen, M., Keyßer, L. T., & Steinberger, J. K. (2020). Scientists’ warning on affluence. Nature communications, 11(1), 3107.
Hickel, J., O’Neill, D. W., Fanning, A. L., & Zoomkawala, H. (2022). National responsibility for ecological breakdown: a fair-shares assessment of resource use, 1970–2017. The Lancet Planetary Health, 6(4), e342-e349.
Hickel, J. (2021). What does degrowth mean? A few points of clarification. Globalizations, 18(7), 1105-1111.
Mull, A. (2023, June 14). The Instant Pot Failed Because It Was a Good Product. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/06/instant-pot-bankrupt-private-equity/674414/

 

Sea glass, with its smooth, frosted, and vibrant appearance never ceases to capture the attention beach goers. You would never think this mysterious beauty was once discarded trash. The “trash” in this case would be glass of any kind; bottles, jars, windows perhaps, etc. Before the environmental movements in the 1960’s, trash dumps were often left exposed to the elements. As much of this trash was left near different types of bodies of water glass (amongst other things) would be carried away. After this, glass would undergo an incredible transformation from natural causes. Waves would sweep away glass fragments as they would slide and roll against the gritty sand underwater. This action caused the sharp edges to become round and soft and eventually creates that clear or frosted look. The environmental impact of sea glass is a double edged sword as it has both positive and negative effects. One the one hand, sea glass can contribute to other litter found on or around beach areas. It can also be seen as a pollutant because the different glass particles can break down into nano or micro-sized glass/materials. The size of these particles can easily get mixed in with our water and food cycle. This can possibly start a movement through the food chain so to speak. The micro particles could contaminate the soil ecosystem, effecting plant life. Then that can contribute to having an impact on different sea creatures which could eventually make its way to be human food. That being said, there currently seems to be a decline in sea glass, as single use plastic materials are starting to take over. There has been a boom in single use plastics an alternative to using glass bottles or other glass materials. This might cause a “shortage” or make it harder to find sea glass in the future which can lead to yet another environmental impact with micro plastics. That being said, there are some positive sides to sea glass. The biggest one being glass can always be recycled! Sea glass serves as a natural, recycled material, creating a wide variety of different uses for it. You will find that sea glass tends to be most popular in the production of jewelry. When jewelers choose to use sea glass they are replacing using new, raw material, that would probably be more harmful towards the environment. This can also reduce the demand for other raw materials such as metals and gemstones. Another use for sea glass can be for decoration or even used in landscaping projects to replace pebbles, gravel, dirt, etc. This also helps reduce the need for raw materials that are not considered recyclable. Sea glass can be have a lot of different uses depending on how it is managed and or used for. Overall, although it has its negative aspects, the positives seem to outweigh them as sea glass is a beautiful recycled material that people love to pick up and keep for themselves, which in turn helps pick up litter!

Citations:

Weeden, L. (2023, September 28). Sea glass, a treasure formed from trash, is on the decline as single-use plastic takes over. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/sea-glass-a-treasure-formed-from-trash-is-on-the-decline-as-single-use-plastic-takes-over-212666

What is the Environmental Impact of Sea Glass? (n.d.). Dejavudesigns.com. Retrieved February 17, 2024, from https://dejavudesigns.com/learn-about-sea-glass/what-is-the-environmental-impact-of-sea-glass/

Kumari, S., Agarwal, S., & Khan, S. (2022). Micro/nano glass pollution as an emerging pollutant in near future. Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances, 6, 100063. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hazadv.2022.100063

 

For years I had wondered what the 5¢ or 10¢ on the back of the label on cans and bottles meant and why only certain states would be listed next to it. The dots started connecting when I would visit my family in Michigan and at least once during the trip, my cousins and I would make an errand run to the nearest bottle return with trash bags full of empty cans and bottles in the trunk of the car. For every empty can or bottle returned, my cousins would get ten cents, motivating them to collect empty beverage containers around the house after gatherings and stashing them away to make some cash later. Upon asking questions as to why they did this here and not where I’m from, I discovered that it was a program put in place to motivate Michiganders to recycle. 

This kind of monetary incentive encourages the citizens of Michigan to recycle their bottles and reduce littering. There can be many different kinds of incentives in the world of sustainability (fees, taxes, etc) to motivate people and companies to follow sustainable practices. This specific incentive is put in place through the Bottle Deposit Law and was first implemented in Oregon in 1971. Its purpose was to reduce the amount of litter in the state and is still used today to encourage more people to recycle. Right now, only ten out of the fifty US states participate in the Bottle Deposit Law (Michigan, Maine, Oregon, Vermont, California, Hawaii, New York, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Connecticut), but Washington might be soon joining the list. It has been proven that this incentive drastically improves the amount of bottles/cans that get recycled in Bottle Deposit states versus non-Bottle Deposit states. The states with the law have a 60% beverage recycle rate while the rest only have a 24% beverage recycle rate. Not to mention, the growth of deposit centers increases job opportunities for those living in that area.

After working in Michigan last summer, I quickly got into the habit of keeping my empty soda cans and kombucha bottles hoping to get some extra cash for returning them. Upon returning to South Carolina, I had an unfortunate realization that I no longer have the incentive to take those empty cans to a bottle returns and neither did people in most of the states in the US. Of course, I still recycle, but I know that the culture around recycling in my hometown is much different than it is in Michigan. It’s not only about the incentives, but also the convenience factor that encourages people to recycle. Bottle return centers are abundant in the states that have the Bottle Deposit Law, but for many states that don’t have it, recycling can be a hassle specifically on college campuses. Furman’s campus doesn’t have many options for where to go to recycle, but in the Greenbelt community, both cabins have their own recycling bins outside of it and a recycling drop off by the farm entrance. After experiencing the difference in a Bottle Deposit state versus South Carolina, it is certainly something that should be implemented in every state to increase individuals’ recycling habits.

Sources:

https://statecapitallobbyist.com/environment/state-bottle-bills-2023-update/

https://www.container-recycling.org/index.php/issues/bottle-bills#:~:text=Did%20you%20know%20that%20states,only%20reach%20about%2024%25%3F

https://www.csrwire.com/reports/724196/report-ranks-50-us-states-recycling-performance-assesses-impact-deposit-return

     Bees are essential to the environment. Bees especially are important pollinators because they visit a variety of plants, they are not picky. They pollinate frequently because of the nectar provided by plants that has nutrients for them and their hive. Other pollinators are vital as well, bees just contribute quite a lot to the pollination game (Smithsonian Gardens). 

     The impacts of bees are beneficial to humans as well. They help the environment thrive which helps us survive. The plants they pollinate act as carbon sinks that keep our atmosphere cleaner. Without pollination, it would be much harder to reproduce for plants, and the air would be considerably worse. An article in science direct writes that “around 35% of global crop production is dependent upon animal pollinators.” They keep agriculture afloat. As for beekeeping, the honey produced benefits the economy by harvesting and selling honey. 

     While beekeeping is beneficial to humans, there is often a question about benefits to the bees. In an article in Meadowia, Katie Piercy writes “most beekeepers aim to leave enough honey within the hive that the bees can still survive the winter, which is why bees store the honey in the first place. Many also give the bees sugar substitutes if the honey remaining is not enough to get the colony through this period.” I have talked with other beekeepers who tell me that the honey is more of a byproduct to the bees, so harvesting it (while ethically leaving enough for them) does not harm them. Many beekeepers use smoke to calm down the hive before inspecting, but this also does not harm them. A student at Furman, who has taught me a lot about the practice, said that the smoke sends a signal to the bees to protect the hive from fire. This calms them down so that they are not as aggressive and does not cause them harm. 

     Furman started my beekeeping journey. I have been interested in bees for many years, but I was not able to connect with any hives until I came here. I did not have much time in my senior year of high school, when I got serious about wanting to do beekeeping. I also did not want to take on the responsibility when I knew I would be leaving soon for college. Before moving in, I found out that there is a Bee and Pollinator Club on campus and got very excited about the opportunity to work with bees up close. My first hive work experience was in the spring of 2023 with the club and from there I just continued to grow my interest. The summer of 2023, I worked with a local beekeeper in my hometown of Athens, GA and learned much more about the process. When I came back to Furman this school year, I became the president of the Bee Club and things have started to run smoothly. The Bee Club is all about education and then practice in the actual hives, and I am learning along with the members. Without being here at Furman, I would not have the opportunity to work with bees so closely, something I have been looking forward to for a long time. Living in the Greenbelt is especially helpful because I am close to the storage area in the garage, and I have convenient parking so that I can drive to the hives at the solar farm when necessary. Once I live on my own, I would love to own bees, once I know more about how to do so and am able to. 

 

Works Cited 

The Why, What, When, Where, Who, How of Pollination. Smithsonian Gardens. (2021, October 25). https://gardens.si.edu/gardens/pollinator-garden/why-what-when-where-who-how-pollination/ 

Sillman, Jani, et al. “Contribution of Honeybees towards the Net Environmental Benefits of Food.” Science of the Total Environment, vol. 756, Jan. 2021. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.libproxy.furman.edu/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143880. 

Piercy, K. (2023, August 1). Is Beekeeping Cruel? Does it Harm Bees?. Meadowia.com: Celebrating Meadows & Wildlife. https://meadowia.com/is-beekeeping-cruel-does-it-harm-bees/