Monday, March 31, 2008

An opportunity to learn may be under your feet

A recent phenomenon, called "chalking" by some, though that term can have other, less-innocent connotations, has taken hold on university campuses and may even be found in parks and on sidewalks along a street you use. Someone comes along and writes a message in chalk on a walkway or bike path where people are sure to be in the multitudes.

Some of these messages are random.







Others have positive or negative messages.













Some of them are oriented toward environmentalism.










Photos above are from Flickr.com and while they are free to use from that site, they are not for commercial use. Photos below are by Jennifer Tramm, excepting the YouTube.com video.



I occasionally find chalk messages around the University of Arizona campus. Many of them are announcements for events, like today's, which advertises a free showing Friday of "An Inconvenient Truth," in the Alumni Plaza on campus.

This method of getting the message out is cheap and easy to do and will yield results. People look at them. Some stop to read them. Others, like me, stop to take pictures and then blog about them. Flickr.com has dozens of pages of chalk messages.

One word of caution, however: If you get caught, police will likely tell you it's graffiti and if it doesn't come off, you'll be responsible for fixing it. In a recent Police Beat in the Arizona Daily Wildcat, the UA's campus newspaper, a group of chalkers were made to wash the messages off by the officers who caught them. Fortunately for them, it came off without damaging anything. Unfortunately for their message, nobody got to see it.

So, it's an interesting medium for your message, but beware the consequences.

In my opinion, chalk messages are very environmental: Chalk is a substance found in nature, kills no trees (as would paper fliers) and washes off in the next rain. The only drawback might be the dyes used to give the chalk its color. Other than that, it's got some pluses.

P.S. For anyone who may be on the UA campus Friday night at 7 p.m. here's some information about the movie "An Inconvenient Truth," and/or check out the movie's trailer below.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Another Tucson school goes green!

Last month, public school Davidson Elementary achieved a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, rating and received the Congressional Award for Solar Excellence, presented by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Both are firsts for the Tucson Unified School District.

The LEED rating means the school conforms to nationally accepted standards maintained by the U.S. Green Building Council. According to a TUSD press release, the school uses shredded blue jeans for insulation, a hot new trend in green building.


Davidson Elementary School, 3950 E. Paradise Falls Dr., Tucson, Ariz. Photo by Jennifer Tramm.

Using old blue jeans and remnants from the clothing manufacturing process is very environmentally responsible. It reuses a biodegradable material (cotton), so it won't be around longer than we will be.


This video talks about a few insulation options. For the nitty gritty on blue jean insulation, move the slider bar to the 1:00 mark and let it play. Video courtesy Building Green TV.

The school buildings are pretty new. The old buildings, constructed in 1914, were torn down after a mold infestation proved to be their undoing. TUSD decided to build the new, environmentally-friendly school just north of its old location on the corner of North Alvernon Way and East Fort Lowell Road.

Along with using blue jeans to keep it warm or cool, Davidson Elementary also uses solar power and has a recycling club. Additionally, the school has a botanical garden, made possible by a $300,000 donation from then-Vice Mayor Carol West, according to Principal Arthur DeFilippo's page.

Way to go Davidson Elementary!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Look around: You might see planet love everywhere you turn

ELOY, Ariz. – It’s Spring Break and, like many of my fellow students, I am on vacation. In looking for things environmental, I found them in a most unlikely place: the budget motel in which I am staying. This Americas Best Value Inn belongs to a chain of hotels owned individually as franchises. So, each hotel has its own quirks. This one has a pleasant quirk: a tendency toward environmental responsibility.

Don’t get me wrong: This place is far from the greenest of the green, but with compact fluorescent light bulbs in every fixture and recycled toilet paper in the bathroom, it is more environmentally friendly than many hotels.

Rain Breeze Eco toilet paper contains at least 30 percent recycled fiber.



Compact fluorescent light bulbs use about 25 percent of the energy of a comparable incandescent bulb and last many times longer.












This unexpected planet love got me thinking as I toured the some Native American ruins in Coolidge, Ariz. Where else can I find environmental responsibility around me as I travel?

I found it at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. Right outside the entrance was a little bin nailed to a post with a sign that reads, “Recycle Brochures Here.”

"Casa Grande" means "Big House" in Spanish and was first called that by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, an early Spanish explorer, in 1694.

I’m sure it is a cost saving effort, but it also saves paper, which saves trees, which helps save the planet.

There was plenty that was not environmentally responsible: dozens of cars and RVs in the parking lot, all waiting to spew engine exhaust into the air; and electricity in use without benefit of solar collectors.

The site helped me, however, reflect on how much society has changed in the 600-odd years since the Hohokam people left it.

Back then, people were practicing methods that shaped the land for their uses, but they didn’t have engines to fill the air with pollution. They lived in smaller communities than we do today. For the most part, light came from the sun, rather than coal-burned electricity generation and a light bulb. Food was grown to feed the community, rather than to make extreme profits. Even their dwellings were from the earth and so, many hundreds of years later, do they return to it.

In some ways, people of this area are starting to wake up to the dangers global climate change has in store for us. In the Casa Grande Dispatch, there was a story Sunday morning about how the city of Casa Grande, Ariz., is planning new biking and walking paths to offer the 34,000 + citizens an alternative to driving their cars. This is a great step in the right direction, especially since the city does not have in-town public transportation.

Erosion in the form of wind and rain has carved the face of the Big House since its abandonment in the late 14th century.

I hope that we can return to some of the methods the Hohokam used – not out of necessity, but because it’s better than what we’ve got going now.

All photos by Jennifer Tramm

Monday, March 3, 2008

Fun eco-Learning for the whole family...from Starbucks

Starbucks, often seen as a big corporation that squishes its smaller, local café competition, has something for those who wish to see better education on environmental issues.
Planet Green Game, a collaboration by Starbucks and Global Green USA, is for all ages and allows people to see a visual representation of what they can do to make the world a better place.
Sure, it's in a virtual world, but it contains real-world examples of what is being done now, in the real world. I played the game, so I'll tell you what I found.
At first, it asks you to enter your name, then asks you to choose an avatar and mode of transportation. I chose a hybrid car, which gave me 2 points every time I traveled around the virtual town of Evergreen for using a low-emissions vehicle. You can do better by choosing to walk, use a skateboard or ride a bike.
Then I got to choose either a direction, using the arrows on my keyboard, or by clicking on one of a set of destinations. I chose the Service Station, where I gassed up and got the opportunity to take a test drive for extra points. I don't do well when driving virtual cars, so it was a relief to get the points for even trying!
Next, I just drove around, trying to discover new things. A note of caution: Just driving around without a destination costs gas in any of the motorized vehicles. I eventually found Evergreen High school. Once there, I was given a quiz. With every correct answer, I was given points and the school got a new green feature added to it. The screen shot example to the right informs players about green improvements that the Los Angeles Unified School District is making to its schools. I got 100 extra points just for reading about how others are making a difference.
As I puttered around town, I came across these people with little bubbles with an "i" inside. Clicking on one of these gives you more information. I clicked on a little family as I was moving around and they "stopped" to tell me all about how changing just one lightbulb in my house out for one that saves energy could reduce pollution dramatically.
There are six destinations and 10 bonus opportunities for points. Along with the wealth of information you could learn from places like the building supply store and building a more environmentally responsible city park, you can go to the movie theater (by bus if you walk, skateboard or bike around town and click on a bus stop) where the Gen Art Online Film Festival shows real short movies about subjects like saving polar bears and the Vineyard Energy Project, based on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.
More than just a Web site, this game is full of knowledge for anyone, of any age, who wants to know more about the environment and what can be done to help it, or to just have fun.

All images above are screenshots from Planet Green Game as I played it yesterday and today.