WILDLIFE & CONSERVATION - Bianca Dygert

So you want to live in a dump… Easy and Efficient ways to improve your community
Bianca Dygert

You decide to take a walk down your neighborhood street today. You take your normal route around the block, but something is different. On the ground, there are McDonald’s wrappers, diapers, water bottles, and anything else you can imagine. There is no greenery anywhere; no trees, grass, or flowers to be seen. The stagnant air is stifling, like you just inhaled cigarette smoke and couldn’t escape it. You hurry back to your home in order to avoid the stale air, turn on the sink to get a glass of water and it comes out discolored and with a foul odor. Your whole community is polluted, and you have no clue why.

Would you want your children growing up in this kind of neighborhood? You wouldn’t want to live in a dump. This is the consequence of limited community involvement in conservation practice. When people do not organize and plan clean-up projects, conservation programs, and other plans, their community can turn out like this one. With that thought in mind, it is easy to understand the importance and value of environmental community planning. Environmental community programs also work best when the environment has not become as degraded as the one just described. Therefore, it is important to catch these problems before they escalate.

Environmental community planning is for everyone. There are four main elements to successful environmental planning: Leadership, enforcement, participation and incentive (Clark). Leadership is a key element to the success of nearly everything. Things can quickly turn to chaos without a leader. Many programs are successful because there are one or a few leaders who step up to take the initiative. Sometimes, people are afraid of that role.

Any program will fail if there is no enforcement. After an environmental plan has been designed, it is often difficult to ensure community members are following guidelines. It is important to incorporate regulations into the initial stages of planning in order to ensure the rules are followed throughout the process of implementation.

Participation is another major element that is vital to the success of all community planning, not just environmental. A program is nothing without the participation of community members. Involvement equals investment, which in turn equals a long term commitment. As with any club or organization, the more manpower, the more gets done. There are many ways to encourage participation. One is showing the community how they will benefit. Another is to provide incentive.

Incentive can be a deciding factor for program success. Everyone asks: “How will this benefit me?” It is essential that people realize the benefits of their involvement. A popular and successful incentive is money. For example: when there is the potential for a reward, rebate, or refund, people are very eager to participate. Think about retail marketing. “$50 mail-in rebate with any purchase.” “Buy one get one free.” “5% cash-back on all purchases.” All of these are incentives which make people want to shop. It is similar with environmental programs.

With the increasing popularity of solar and wind power, people are seeing tax write-offs or larger rebates with the purchase of renewable energy. Recently, there was a federal program called “Cash for Appliances,” which allowed customers to receive a rebate of up to $500, depending on the appliance, if they purchased energy-efficient appliances. Washers, refrigerators, and dishwashers reward people with $150 each. Freezers, hot water tanks and entrance doors equal $50 rebates and windows have a $25 rebate. Also, whole house insulation would entitle a customer to a whopping $500 refund. This program has been considered extremely successful, since the funding ran out very quickly. The idea behind the program is not only to reward people for upgrading their inefficient appliances, but also to allow them to save on their monthly energy bills (Cash for Appliances).

Remember that cash for clunkers campaign? That was an extremely successful example of incentive. CARS, or Car Allowance Rebate System, allowed people to trade in their “clunker” vehicle for a rebate toward a new, fuel-efficient vehicle. Nearly 680,000 vehicles were replaced during the few short weeks in 2009, each with a rebate of either $3,500 or $4,500. The program was set to run from July 1 through November 1, with a budget of $1 billion. Once dealers were finally allowed to make transactions on July 27, the popularity and success of the program began to show within a few days. By August 7, Congress approved another $2 billion for the program, which was exhausted by August 25. The amount of reduction in fuel consumption over the next two and a half decades from the program is estimated to be 824 million gallons (CARS report to Congress). The success of the CARS program proves that people are eager to participate in environmentally-friendly practices, especially if there is an incentive.

Incentives don’t always have to be monetary. They can be convenience. Since people are willing to pay for convenience, (think about the price of something at a gas station rather than a grocery store) it makes sense to provide a convenience incentive for people with environmentally-friendly practices. For example, providing privileged parking for hybrid or electric vehicles, similar to handicapped parking, would be a way to reward people who have energy-efficient vehicles.

Deposit refunds on beverage containers in one example of incentive with a refund where the economy is stimulated. The money is brought into the system by consumers, who pay the deposit in order to return the container for a refund. This allows money to flow through the system, stimulating the economy. This also discourages these containers from ending up in landfills. The beverage container deposit was first implemented in Oregon, which then influenced other states to adapt their own laws (Oregon Bottle Bill). Eleven states currently have some version of a bottle bill (BottleBill Resource).

Now that the main elements have been identified, the question that remains is: how do we implement programs into the community? We have to determine whether the program Is long or short term. Some communities may have such a degraded environment that they need long term programs. Short term programs may be better for communities that already have ecologically friendly practices in place. Short term programs may be better for cities, where they could become long term, while long term programs may be better for smaller communities, where the community would be consistently working on the program.

Cities are very different from towns in that cities are much larger, often have less greenery with more pavement and concrete, while towns tend to have houses spaced farther apart, with larger lots. In cities, it is much easier to collaborate and draw on many different ideas because there are more people willing to participate. In towns, it can prove to be difficult to gather community members because of the small population size. Towns, however, have the advantage of close relationships between residents.

Portland, Oregon is named America’s Clean Energy Capitol (Environment Oregon). It has also been named one of the greenest cities in the United States. Portland, along with several other cities in Oregon, is known for its water management practices, wetland restoration programs, renewable energy, and sustainable businesses. Half of Portland’s power comes from renewable energy (Popular Science). A quarter of the population commutes by bike, carpool, or public transportation. Portland also features tax credits as incentives for using renewable energy (Environment Oregon). Cities like Portland have succeeded because the communities in this area want to improve their quality of life, whether it is with a neighborhood cleanup program or the construction of windmill farms to produce jobs. Eugene is another green city with similar programs.

Boston, Massachusetts is known for its green buildings, hybrid fleet of transportation and a smoking ban. It is on the list of top green cities in the United States. Boston is a classic case of the success of leadership. Mayor Thomas Menino has been leading the environmental revolution in Boston. He has been preparing for the effects of climate change by implementing several programs throughout the city. Mayor Menino recognizes the power of cities and has taken the initiative to work with many institutions and businesses throughout Boston (cityofboston.gov). The overall goal that Menino has in mind is to reduce Boston’s dependence on non-renewable resources and to prepare for the effects of climate change in the United States. He has made a point to incorporate the potential impacts of climate change into his programs.

Although cities are larger and can be more powerful examples, small towns are the driving force. This is especially true with newly developed towns or eco-villages.

Briar Chapel, North Carolina is a unique case study. It is a new-home community that has been intentionally built in a way that does not inhibit nature. It is part of a project by Newland Communities, a private organization that develops new areas without destroying the environment. Newland Communities has developed many of these new eco-communities throughout the U.S. (Briar Chapel). Organizations like these represent the necessary leadership and participation for successful environmental communities. The town has many miles of biking/hiking trails. They have a program for storm water management. This includes the use of rain barrels and upgrading of drainage systems to recycle water. New home construction also requires a certain level of eco-friendly practices. Many buildings are constructed with LEED certification. LEED certification is an honor given to buildings that are constructed to be sustainable. LEED has different certification levels depending on the number of sustainable designs that are incorporated into the building.

Georgetown village, Texas, is another green community that has been built intentionally without impacting the environment. The village features four neighborhoods. All of the houses feature low-VOC paint, glues and stains, sustainable materials like bamboo, ENERGY STAR appliances, low-E windows, drought resistant native plants, and rain barrels for water reclamation. There are also many outdoor amenities, like a shared community pool, parks, playgrounds, and walking trails (Georgetown Village). The town is expected to get larger as more people realize the potential in the area. Georgetown is not completely brand new; the town features a historic area, which has been preserved as part of the Main Street Project. This project has allowed for the protection of buildings in the town and for main street events to take place, like block parties and celebrations. The community is very close knit.

These Green Eco-villages are ideal representations of green communities; however, there are many things we can do within existing communities without completely starting from scratch. They include educational programs as well as easy and efficient ways to improve the quality of the environment, like recycling and composting.

It is essential to realize that there is no separation between humans and nature. As Aldo Leopold states in “A Land Ethic,” we must consider ourselves part of the biotic community instead of dominating it. We must learn to live alongside nature and treat it as equal instead of making it seem to have less value. Biodiversity is the value of life and nature, and if we don’t do something to protect it, it will disappear forever.

Our future depends on each one of us committing to action and taking a responsibility for the health of the environment. Environmental citizenship begins with being well-educated on environmental topics as well as educating others. One major issue that many communities face is that people aren’t informed. Communication is key to the success of environmental programs. It is also important to recognize the importance of leadership, participation, incentive and enforcement. One way to encourage these four main characteristics into communities is to begin with education.

Environmental education programs can be difficult to organize, but they can also be fun. Many summer camps and schools have programs that are designed for an audience of children. Children can be environmental citizens by learning as much about nature as possible along with ways to help protect it. Often, children are fascinated by learning different plant types or that you can tell how old a tree is by counting the rings. The children who go to these camps will likely go back to their families and tell them what they have learned. This is a step in environmental education because the target audience actually wants to learn and passes on information to adults. It also teaches children leadership and taking the initiative to educate others. The next step in education would be to call those adults to action. Organizing child and parent programs can be an effective way to get adults involved in environmental issues. The possibilities for these types of programs are endless because environmental issues are endless. This creates opportunities for leaders to step up and take charge of organizing activities and programs for children and adults alike.

Many schools are stepping up and creating recycling programs for kids to learn about how to recycle. EEK! (Environmental Education for Kids) has developed several programs in Wisconsin that can be easily implemented into schools. One program, called “Bring the Bottle Home” calls children to action when they see a can or bottle in an area without recycling bins. When they bring it home, their parents properly dispose of the container. The program also asks both kids and parents to contact the owners of the area where they found the can, such as a baseball diamond, to encourage them to put recycling bins out (Bring the Bottle). Here is where we need participation and enforcement. Participation by parents is key because it engages them to learn with their children. Enforcement can be applied by making it an assignment for the classroom to bring in their recyclables. One initiative could be that the money from collecting recyclables throughout the year would be put toward a party with refreshments for parents and children as a celebration. Classrooms could even compete with each other, creating a set goal. Competition and incentives encourage participation. Another incentive for parents to participate would be if they saw that their children were enjoying the programs.

As the population continues to grow and the earth gets more and more crowded with people and their waste, there becomes a major question of whether there will be enough space on the planet earth for future generations and their waste too. If we just keep adding to landfills without doing anything about the issue, it will just snowball into an even larger problem that we may not be able to control. But, there are ways everyone can help. So the question for everyone is this: what can YOU do to improve your community?

Recycling programs are an easy and effective way to initiate environmental awareness in communities. Recycling is simply returning materials to their raw material components and then using these again to supplement or replace new materials in the manufacture of a new product. This process keeps unnecessary junk out of our landfills. Although many states have established similar programs, some states still have not. Only 11 states have container redemption incentives, like container deposit refunds. These states include Michigan, Maine, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. Of those 11 states, 80% of containers with deposits on them were recycled, whereas only 46% of people recycled in the 39 states without incentives (More Incentives, More Recycling). Incentive can be a major factor in environmental issues such as this one.

E-waste has become an issue recently due to the rise in electronic use. E-waste, or electronic waste, consists of old computers, cell phones, or anything involved with electronics. Nearly all of the e-waste from the U.S. goes directly to third-world countries. People who tear apart these old machines expose themselves to a variety of harmful substances. This is a growing problem, especially in our country, where it has become the norm to replace your electronic devices more often than needed. There are even websites designed to buy your old e-waste and give you money for it. Sites like myboneyard.com and bestbuytradein.com will take your old electronic devices such as computers, gps, cell phones, cameras, game systems, and mp3 players in exchange for a gift card or visa prepaid card. Sites like Best Buy give you gift cards toward purchase in their store while myboneyard.com offers money. Free money is always a great way to entice people to participate. Who doesn’t like getting money for their old, used items?

Instead of buying brand new clothes all of the time, shop at thrift stores like the Salvation Army. Not only are items cheaper, but your money also goes toward a good cause. Donating old clothing is another way of recycling. Many places accept donations for people in need or to sell back for profit toward a good cause, like the Salvation Army. Some thrift stores also sell furniture and other items.

Buying recycled products may be more expensive, but maybe if more people buy recycled and less brand new products, the prices will drop due to the rules of supply and demand. More companies today are catching onto recycling. Even housing materials are being made out of recycled material. For example: for someone who likes the look of log homes, but does not want deal with the hassle of maintaining the logs, recycled log siding is a cheaper and easier way to get the look of log homes without the problems. Some siding is made from reclaimed logs, while others could be made from rubber tires. This is similar to rubber tire mulch and paving materials. More school playgrounds have been seen with composite building materials. They are more durable than standard materials and are made from old plastic. Also, these composite materials can be recycled again when they are no longer needed (Recycleworks).

Recycling programs can provide economic benefits to communities. This is especially true of container deposit programs, as stated before. Container programs are one of the easiest ways to generate money flow in a community without spending a lot up front. Many states have programs with five cent deposits, which the customer pays when purchasing the product, then receives a refund for the deposit at redemption. These programs allow containers that would otherwise be thrown into landfills to be recycled. Programs like these are great incentives to offer a community, especially one that is suffering in a recession.

Recycling is not just about material items. We can also develop programs that recycle water. Some cities, like Portland, have systems for recycling storm water and gray water. Gray water is defined as waste water generated from domestic activities, like laundry, bathing, and dishwashing that can be recycled and purified for use in toilets or plant watering.

It is hard to believe that people would not recycle, even in areas with proper recycling bins and education. Sometimes, it is just too tedious and can become too much work. That is why companies like Casella have developed zero-sort recycling, which is the ability to recycle any items with a recyclable symbol (the triangle with three arrows) into one bin, which then gets sorted by a unique process at the transfer stations. The process involved carefully programmed sorting machines that use techniques like forced air to move the plastic containers and magnets to move the metals (Zero-Sort Recycling). This is one program that would not be possible without participation and education. The incentive here is that it becomes less of a hassle for the consumer if all recyclables were thrown into one bin. This can cause problems because some people are not properly educated about the types of items that can be recycled.

Some people view recycling as a hassle or too much trouble. Yes, sometimes recycling is not convenient, but that just means we need to demand convenience in recycling. For areas without recycling pick-up, call the municipal board and demand it. The more calls they get from upset residents, the more likely they are to want to do something about it. Areas with a recycling pick-up program benefit because they can separate their trash from containers and paper. It benefits them because some recycled items can be redeemed for money. Recycling also cuts down on the amount of trash YOU are putting to the curb, which can save money. The next step would be to create a compost pile from old food.

Composting is another way to reduce trash and create something beneficial for the environment. A compost pile includes leaves, twigs, branches, grass clippings, vegetables, fruit, coffee grounds, eggshells, clean paper, dryer lint, any cotton products, hair, sawdust, tea bags and basically anything else that is natural, aside from meat, dairy, fat, and synthetic products or anything that has come into contact with a harmful chemical, such as pesticide.

Composting is beneficial in many ways. It reduces the amount of trash and food waste that goes to landfills. It creates nutrient-rich topsoil, which can be used for planting almost anything, but is especially good for vegetable gardens. This can be seen as an incentive in itself because the soil is probably better than any soil you will dig up in the ground, even in Northern New York, where we have decent soil. Some of the soil is sandy or has clay, which can hinder growth of plants. With the addition of chemical-free compost, it’s like adding fertilizer without the potential harm.

An easy project to do at home is making your own composting pile. This can be done in your backyard or even for a small pile inside. You have to make sure it is in a dry shady area where you can control the moisture, so next to a water source is ideal. There are several ways to create a compost pile, so researching before you start is your best bet. The EPA website features two different outdoor options and one indoor option. The first outdoor option is more of just adding materials to the compost pile without measuring the amount. This option is the easiest but takes longer for all of the material to decompose, up to two years, because there is no upkeep. The second outdoor option includes measuring layers of material in the pile and then mixing periodically. This option only takes about two to four months to completely decompose. The indoor option requires the most upkeep but also decomposes in as little as two to five weeks. Many home improvement stores sell compost bins but you could also make one yourself from garbage bins, as shown on the EPA website. The site also has a list of compostable and non-compostable things (Create Your Own). If everyone composted even a little, much of the old food and paper products would decompose in a compost pile, whereas in a landfill, it just gets buried and compacted, never given a chance to break down. A very high percentage of landfills are paper products, which is alarming. Paper recycling is the oldest of recycling programs, yet paper is still a major problem with current landfills.

As always, simply just educating the people around you of the simple yet effective ways to create environmental change will lead to bigger things. Someone will step up as a leader, set out to gather support and participation from community members, possibly offer an incentive to participants, and make sure that everyone follows the rules. It is also important to remember that contacting your local government is a crucial step toward improving your community.

Government officials look to community members for comments and ideas about how to better the community. Calling or writing to local officials is just one way to get your voice out there. It won’t break your bank account or take too much time or effort to do these simple things. It will allow you to improve the quality of life for you, your family and your community. Who knows, you may even like not living in a dump for the rest of your life.

Works Cited
Bottle Bill Resource Guide. Bottlebill.org 2010.
“Briar Chapel Green Communities Celebrates Earth Day.” Briar Chapel by Newland Communities. Greenecocommunities.com. 2010
“Bring the Bottle or Can Home!”Environmental Education for Kids. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. www.dnr.wi.gov 2010.
“Cash For Appliances Has More Funding Available” The Spectrum Daily News. Nov. 12 2010.
CARS Repore to Congress.“Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009.” National Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation.December 2009.
Chaudhry, Monika, Rohrbeck, Kristin, and Laughlin, Hannah. “More Incentives, More Recycling.” University of Michigan. Dec. 2006.
Clark, Woodrow W. Sustainable Communities. New York: Springer.
Committee and Community Advisory Committee. Cityofboston.gov Highway Traffic Safety “Create Your Own Compost Pile.” U.S. Environmental Protection Agencry. www.epa.gov. April 20 2010.
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Green Builders. “Georgetown Village.” Georgetownvillage.com 2010.
Leopold, Aldo. “The Land Ethic.” A Sand County Almanac. 1948.
“Oregon Bottle Bill.” Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Portland, Oregon, 2010
RecycleWorks: A Program of San Mateo County. www.recycleworks.org. 2010.
“Sparking Boston’s Climate Revolution.” Recommendations of the Climate Action Leadership
“Zero-Sort Recycling.” Casella Waste Systems Inc. Casella.com 2010.