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Culture Artist
October 2007
Monday October 29, 2007
Posted by: Culture Artist at 10:53AM EST on October 29, 2007
by Chuck Hall
Thursday October 18, 2007
Posted by: Culture Artist at 9:53AM EST on October 18, 2007
Ecopsychology is a fairly recent concept in mental
health. It is a philosophy combining elements of psychology and ecology. The
theory behind Ecopsychology is that mental health is contingent upon the health
of the environment. In other words, humankind and the environment are part of an
interrelated system.
Sustainable communities are planned communities that make a conscious effort to live in a greener manner. Such communities often incorporate nature into their design. In theory, the more nature that a living space incorporates, the better off the people who live there should be in terms of mental health. My current research project examines various living environments and the adaptability and resiliency of individuals who live in these environments to see if there is a correlation between the amount of nature in their living environments and their mental resiliency. The title of the project is: Sustainable Communities and Second Order Change, and it is being conducted through Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. This is an online research project. If you would like to participate, please visit: http://www.cultureartist.org/research/sustainablecommunitiesresearch.htm. Chuck Hall is a Sustainability Consultant, graduate student and author. His latest book, Green Circles: A Sustainable Journey from the Cradle to the Grave, is now available at the Culture Artist Web site at www.cultureartist.org. You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org. Friday October 12, 2007
Posted by: Culture Artist at 12:21PM EST on October 12, 2007
Earlier this week, former US vice-president Al Gore was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He shared the prize with the U.N.’s
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The prize was awarded by the Nobel
committee in Norway for Gore’s work in promoting awareness of the dangers of
global climate change.
The Nobel Peace Prize is in addition to Gore’s Oscar earlier this year for best documentary film. Gore’s documentary on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth, won that award earlier this year, becoming what some jokingly refer to as the ‘highest-grossing Power Point presentation in history.’ Gore will share the Nobel Prize with the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This group consists of over 2000 of the world’s top climate and meteorology scientists (http://www.ipcc.ch/about/about.htm), who study data on climate change gleaned from peer-reviewed scientific journals from all over the world. Much of the data presented in An Inconvenient Truth was provided by studies conducted by the IPCC. The Nobel Prize committee said about Mr. Gore’s work: "His strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films and books, has strengthened the struggle against climate change. He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted." Mr. Gore is to be congratulated for the impressive work he has done in raising awareness of the dangers of climate change, but I sometimes worry that his personal lifestyle tends to damage the message he is sending. Like Mr. Gore, I agree that if we don’t make some drastic changes in the near future, we could be headed for a global disaster; however, I don’t think that attempting to excuse a lavish, energy-hungry lifestyle by simply buying carbon offsets as Gore does, sends the right sort of message to the public. Gore is enjoying the public eye right now as one of the foremost environmental spokespersons in the world, and this would be a great opportunity for him to demonstrate how individual citizens can make a real difference for the environment. Unfortunately, his lifestyle doesn’t match his message. For example, public records reveal that Gore and his wife Tipper live in two properties: a 10,000-square-foot, 20-room, eight-bathroom home in Nashville, and a 4,000-square-foot home in Arlington, Virginia. He also has a third home in Carthage, Tennessee. This is hardly congruent with a ‘less is more’ environmental message. Could you imagine the impact that Mr. Gore would make in the political arena if he sold all his mansions and moved into a 1500-square-foot straw bale home somewhere in the hills of Tennessee, where he could then grow his own food organically while converting wind and sunlight to energy for his power needs? I agree with Mr. Gore that drastic change needs to be made if we want to avert an ecological disaster in the future. I just think that it damages Gore’s credibility if he is unwilling to make those changes himself, yet asks others to do so. Chuck Hall is a Sustainability Consultant and author. His latest book, Green Circles: A Sustainable Journey from the Cradle to the Grave, is now available at the Culture Artist Web site at www.cultureartist.org. You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org. Monday October 8, 2007
Posted by: Culture Artist at 10:54AM EST on October 8, 2007
Those of you who read this column
regularly know that I am a vegetarian. Over the last year or so, I have been
experimenting with growing my own food in order to determine how much time and
effort are required to feed someone who doesn’t eat meat. Traditionally, the
only people who have grown their own food have been people who live in a rural
setting, because they are the ones who have the most ready access to land, but
what about people who live in urban environments? Should they just give up on
growing their own fruits and vegetables, or is it possible that even apartment
dwellers could supplement their grocery budget by growing some of their own
fruits and vegetables?
This spring I began an experiment in container gardening. I bought a dozen flowerpots, 12 inches in diameter, and planted vegetables in them. The goal was to see if I could grow at least one-quarter of my food in containers. If such a thing is possible, then people who live in urban environments can also enjoy the benefits of organic gardening. As a result of this experiment, I have learned that a dozen flowerpots are more than enough to produce a quarter of my vegetable needs. In fact, next year I plan to attempt to grow at least half of my food using a dozen containers. There were a few drawbacks along the way; for example, I have learned that next year I may make my own containers. The benefit of making my own is that I could make them square, and they would fit together much easier than the round ones I have right now. I also discovered that if I put chicken wire around the base of the plants, the cats won’t try to use the pots as a litter box! The result of this experiment has been that I spent about thirty minutes, two to three times a week, caring for my container garden, and in return I got nearly half of my food from a dozen flowerpots. I plan to try this experiment again next year, and this time I will keep detailed records of the cost of my container garden vs. the cost of the same amount of vegetables if purchased at the local grocery store. While vacationing in Cherokee, North Carolina over the summer, I heard of a planting technique that the Cherokee called the Three Sisters. They would plant corn, beans and squash in the same hole. The corn stalk acted as a ‘pole’ for the beans, and the broad squash plant’s leaves shaded the roots of the other plants, minimizing the growth of weeds. I’m not sure how well corn will grow in a container, but next year I plan to experiment to see if it is possible. If any of you home gardeners have any experience with this, I’d love to hear from you! Ultimately, sustainable living is all about minimizing our ecological ‘footprint;’ that is, reducing as much as possible the amount of land and resources required to exist on this planet. The goal of my container gardening experiment is to eventually determine just how much (or how little) soil is required to feed a vegetarian. So far, it’s not as much as you might think! Chuck Hall is a Sustainability Consultant and author. His latest book, Green Circles: A Sustainable Journey from the Cradle to the Grave, is now available at the Culture Artist Web site at www.cultureartist.org. You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org. |