Objective: How does policy and community activity interact to promote environmental mindsets?

Slogan: Go Green!

Members: Mario Argon, Monica Charletta, Andrew Ligeralde, Neethi Nayak

 

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Third Post:

The activity for this blog post was interviewing two people. One of them had to be an environmentally minded person and the other one that was not so. The goal of this exercise was to gain insight into what motivates people to care about the environment and policies in favor of it. A challenge that was pretty common was finding someone that could be identified as non-environmentally minded.

Neethi

                Neethi found that it was a challenge to identify people in the two ends of the spectrum. People in her social circle usually consider themselves informed about environmental issues. She solved this by observing behaviors and actions that would express environmental consciousness. Her teenage sister, considers herself aware of climate change and global warming, but also recognizes that it is not something present in her mind as she goes through the day. She still, however, remain mindful by recycling.

The second person interviewed was a Rice Alum friend in Houston. He does consider himself environmentally conscious and bikes to work and uses public transport. This is, however, more of a financial decision rather than an environmental one, but he still actively tries to take action to limit consumption. He does concede that if a choice is practically more convenient, but not as environmentally friendly, he will take the practical route. While purchasing appliances, efficiency is not really one of his search points. Overall, he suggests that even people who truly care about the environment are likely to make decisions that are more compatible with day to day functions in a world prone to consumption.

Monica

                Like Neethi, Monica found it hard to find people to interview. She does not consider anyone in her immediate group of contacts would be likely to admit that they do not care about the environment. With increasing awareness and fear in the world, it is becoming more and more shameful to be a passive bystander. However, these people still exist, and one can argue that they are the majority. Monica talked to a high school friend over the phone who she distinctly recalls would never recycle their water bottles (which they insisted on using instead of reusable containers) and would drive everywhere, even though that’s fairly impractical in Chicago. When asked whether or not he considered himself to be environmentally-minded, he said that he hadn’t ever really considered it. He had bigger things to worry about, and his family never went out of their way to reduce their impacts. He made a good point about how it’s harder for lower-income families to do additional work to be “eco-friendly,” as more of their energy has to go into making money and providing for their children, which often means buying the most convenient and cheap options, which often forgo the environment. This argument seems to be common and it is a shame that being environmentally conscious is such a burden on many people, especially when it will affect these families the most in the long run. At the end of the phone call, he said that he has been recycling more since high school, and they had a positive conversation about little actions that don’t require a lot of extra energy or money that could make a difference.

For someone who is environmentally minded, Monica talked to one of her housemates. She’s also a Rice student, and they shared many of the same ideas and attitudes toward being eco-friendly. We both bike to work and recycle, and we both feel a heavy responsibility to protect otherwise neglected natural resources. While this interview did not provide much insight, it was comforting to know that others share this concern for the environment. She said that she got into environmentalism as a kid, as her parents took her to farmers markets, nature museums, and camping quite often, so she felt a connection and responsibility from an early age.

Andrew

Andrew interviewed his father, who did not recycle due to cultural differences between the country where he grew up (Philippines) and the United States. In the Philippines, recycling was not practiced in his household or personal social circle.  Due to this, he could not see how his own recycling could better society. Encouragement from family resulted in him recycling, which he perceives in a similar way to voting, where we must all do our small share.
The second interview was with a co-worker at NSF. Even though he grew up in an urban area, his parents encouraged empathy for the environment. Michigan State University, which he attends and his parents attended before him, had a large agricultural program. He also recognizes the importance of agriculture for industry and for preserving natural resources.

Mario

                I interviewed a friend from high school that used to run a street cleaning campaign with his church. Every Saturday morning they would go out to the unpaved parts of town and pick trash up. The reason they did it was because respect for the natural world was respect for Creation. My friend was mostly motivated by religious beliefs and did not otherwise engage in environmental activity, but through the lens of faith he acted in an environmentally friendly fashion.

The second person I interviewed is the roommate I am living with during the summer. He does not recycle and thinks it is a waste of time since according to him “all trash ends up in the same place”. He does not think that recycling is a difficult thing to do, but he does not see it as fruitful or else he would do it. He seems to be skeptical about it but says that if he was certain it is helpful he would start recycling.

We learned that many things influence whether people act in an environmentally conscious manner. These include upbringing, education, and even socioeconomic level. Fortunately, people do not seem to be resistant to stepping away from their inactivity in order to engage in environmentally friendly behaviors.

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Second Post:

For this blog post, we were tasked with attending a community-based environmental event and talking to an organizer. With our overall project of comparing policy to community based environmental awareness and change, our goal was to think about how to empower people to make a difference and create a culture of environmental responsibility.

 

Monica

I visited a farmers’ market and met a man named Josh who works the compost table. Josh said that he personally began composting when he was a child, because his mother was an avid gardener and his role to help her out would be to compost food and garden waste for the soil. When he went to the market for the first time, he saw the compost table and immediately asked how he could get involved.

When I asked him if he’s seen an increase in participation since he began working there, he said he hadn’t. However, he did mention that he can typically convince seven out of every ten people that stop to talk to him to start composting, so it seems like he is making a huge impact.

Lastly, I asked him about effective ways to get the community involved, and he said that people react to different things. Some people want to compost to garden, some do it for environmental purposes, and some do it because it makes sense in a lot of ways, and he makes it easy to return compost. So, overall, there isn’t really one foolproof method of getting people involved, although he say that it’s easier to convince groups of two to start, as one of them will usually talk the other into composting.

 

Andrew

Andrew visited a community college innovation challenge, which in many ways was similar to Rice’s ENGI 120 class in using engineering skills to solve real environmental problems. Ten teams came together in this final judging period, for which there was a people’s choice winner and a winner chosen by the judges.

The competitors were motivated by the amount of autonomy and direction that they had to implement original solutions to tangible problem and also how the work was directly relevant to their areas of study. They had the opportunity to apply what they learned in the classroom and this will help them succeed in their future careers or education.

 

Neethi

Neethi has actually been working with Air Alliance Houston on a community based environmental project for her internship. Along with computer scientists and environmental scientists, she is working on a twitter bot that will allow Houston residents to see violations of dangerous air pollutant levels in real time. By collaborating with community members, non profit stakeholders, she has helped to create a technology solution to an environmental problem. She’s hoping that this will have an impact on spreading awareness through ease of use and availability of the data.

 

Mario

I visited the Mercer Botanical Gardens. Mercer dedicates itself to the conservation and research of plant species. This is done through herbariums, a rare seed bank, and laboratories. Mercer is currently only partially open to the public as several sections were affected by the recent flood. This further underlines their mission to preserve and study the plants (endangered and otherwise) present at the garden. To this end, a plant propagation greenhouse is currently under construction.
Overall, we learned that there are many ways for people to get involved with environmental activism (and this means a lot of different things to different people!). This makes things harder for us, as that it also means that there is no sure fire 100% successful method of gaining enthusiasm and interest in the environment. However, it was encouraging to see how different our topics were, and how environmental consciousness affects a broad spectrum of fields and people.

 

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First Post:

Our cohort spoke with leaders in their respective communities of Houston and Washington, D.C.

who are dedicated to awareness, activism, and progress with respect to environmental issues.

The interviewees represent varied backgrounds including industry, policy, and education.

Mario interviewed Brad Evans, representing Health and Safety in the industry sector. Prior to

Brad Evans’ intervention, waste materials were mismanaged at LoneStar Group and ended up

being dumped into ditches. Brad Evans educated plant workers on the risks of improper waste

disposal by holding a session to explain the environmental risks and consequences of poor

waste management practices. To Mario’s surprise, the session, catered to employees, was

extremely effective, and improper disposal practices were quickly eschewed. Sustainable

methods of waste management were put in place and became standard for LoneStar Group.

Mario commented on the importance of informing employees about the “why” of sustainable

waste management, prior to making large scale changes in the company that might be

perceived as unnecessary.

 

Neethi’s interview with Aaron Wiekzorek, a Houston-based attorney and former lawyer with the

Environmental Protection Agency, centered on the power of legislation to change how the public

engages with the surrounding environment. Aaron Wiekzorek Has overseen benchmarking for

sustainable buildings, pursued cases on air quality for the Texas Commission on Environmental

Quality, and pushed for government-provided open data. Neethi noted that environmental

issues should not merely be a concern of the general public, but also our lawmakers, to ensure

that the proper regulations are put in place to defend public appeals. There is also overlap

between the need to educate the public on environmental issues and the government’s

responsibility to make data and information (water/air quality, for example) publicly available for

the citizens to make informed decisions and participate in the political process.

 

Monica interviewed Jim Blackburn, environmental lawyer and Rice civil engineering professor.

Blackburn has observed that a perpetual difficulty in his work, which includes successful

projects and lawsuits to improve environmental awareness, is that economic and social

concerns usually precede environmental and ecologic concerns. The solution, he believes, lies

in private sector initiatives: if Houstonians can generate a profit from environmentally

sustainable practices, this will induce a change in their actions. Blackburn also observed the

surprisingly large influence of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the religious community’s perception

of the environment. In the future, he hopes to see Houston change by appreciating their natural

resource base and by supporting an emerging market for ecological services. For example,

citizens could sequester carbon footprints by buying CO2 rights in the area, or improving eco-

tourism. He hopes to help educate more students through field trips and field work, as seeing

nature first hand has been the most effective tool in generating interest in his experience.

Andrew spoke with Zeb Hogan, ecology researcher and host of the National Geographic TV

series, Monster Fish, when he delivered a lecture at the National Science Foundation. Hogan

has communicated his mission of conservation of freshwater ecosystems via the medium of

television to reach millions of viewers. His show revolves around the fundamental question:

what is the world’s biggest freshwater fish? The question is compelling for audiences and

generates excitement, but also introduces a number of larger themes, including scientific

literacy, environmental empathy, and the importance of learning about vastly understudied

monster fish. Hogan has met with poachers and fishermen across the world to encourage them

to release these large species, which are crucial for freshwater ecosystems. In fact, it is even

economically beneficial for the fishermen who depend on these ecosystems to release these

catches, as a predator presence is conducive for the flourishing of freshwater systems. Hogan

also seeks to communicate to the public that the ironically dubbed “monster fish” are mostly

harmless to humans, demonstrating to his TV viewers that these creatures are deserving of

empathy. He hopes that one day, stuffed animals of endangered sturgeons and freshwater

stingrays will occupy toy store shelves along with their more popular endangered brethren, the

panda bear and blue whale.

 

A common theme we observed across our interviews is the importance of education and access

to information. It is simply unrealistic to assume that the public will change deep rooted

practices and behaviors under the abstract mantra of environmental sustainability. The public

must be taught to see these practices as beneficial for them in the long run, with tangible,

realistic outcomes like protection of crucial resources, public health, and even economic output.

We also observed that in effective scenarios, environmental leaders should take an active role

in reaching out to the public, rather than the other way around. They should do what they can to

inform and appeal to the empathy of various groups, making it clear why they should be

invested in environmentally sustainable practices.