Community

PENNY SIMPSON

1. Turn off water while brushing your teeth*

2. Turn off those lights and replace with LED light

bulbs* (available at Home Depot - learn more at

http://lightbulbs.org/led-light-bulb-primer)

3. Say “NO” to plastic bags; bring your own reus-

able bags or old plastic bags

4. Use cold water when washing your clothes*

5. Unplug that cell phone charger and other rarely

used appliances* (these draw power even when a

cell phone’s not attached, and when appliances

aren’t “on”)

6. Recycle old electronics instead of throwing

them out (they contain heavy metals, and danger-

ous chemicals that need to be dealt with respon-

sibly)

7. Recycle paper, plastic, metal, glass, cardboard,

etc.

8. Buy food that is local or grown close by (BC/

Washington apple vs. New Zealand apple)

9. Whenever possible choose organic products

10. Stop idling the car; after 10 seconds you will

have wasted more gas than it takes to restart the

vehicle*

11. Carpool, or better yet, walk, bike or take the

bus*

12, Cook at home to reduce waste*

13. If you must get fast food, go inside instead of

idling in the Drive Thru*

ESSENCEThe Environmental Studies Student’s Association Periodical

HEIKE LET TRARI

“Well, I suppose we’ll be a small but enthusiastic

crowd,” Carleton McNoughton began, smiling out

at us from behind the podium. Ten people made the

audience in the lecture hall, but a few gave cheer

and clapped, and I couldn’t help but smile either.

With a booming voice that checked whether

we could hear him speak without a mic, Mc-

Noughton told us about one of the oldest and

largest land conservation organizations: The

Nature Trust of BC (NTBC).

The creation of NTBC came about through a

$4.5 million Trust Fund from the Trudeau gov-

ernment back in the 70’s. Bert Hoffmeister, the

founder, was a chairperson for the non-profi t, non-advocacy organization for twenty years,

and only recently retired.

Their mission statement declares that “The Na-

ture Trust is dedicated to conserving British Co-

lumbia’s biological diversity through selective

securement and effective management of areas

of ecological signifi cance and natural beauty for

future generations.” With this in heart and mind,

the organization has over the years partnered

with federal, provincial, and local governments,

foundations and corporations, conservation or-

ganizations and First Nations, and stewardship

groups and community volunteers to pursue

this commitment.

McNoughton rattled off some impressive

information: in total, $64 million has been in-

vested, and 452 individual pieces of property

are owned – these lands amount to 60,000 hect-

ares (150,000 acres) of critical habitat all across

British Columbia. Key acquisitions include the

Hoodoos Property, some of the Okanagan grass-

lands, the Englishman River Estuary, and some

much coveted Garry Oak habitat.

Obtaining land that contains habitats with

high biodiversity values at the greatest risk of

being lost is a priority of the NTBC. The basis of

their decision making for the acquisition of such

properties is a scientifi c evaluation according to

their 3R system:

1. Richness: how many species are found on

the property?

2. Rarity: how rare are those species?

3. Risk: what would be lost if the property

wasn’t bought?

Because it is diffi cult to tailor a conservation ef-

fort to a single key species while not compromis-

ing the habitat or chance of survival for another,

especially when you have only small pieces of

property to work with, an effective alternate per-

spective is the landscape approach.

After explaining the concept, which recognizes

that ecological systems are living, breathing, un-

predictable, dynamic and complex systems that

are always much more than the sum of their in-

dividual parts, McNoughton introduced an ex-

ample of the approach, which is also a case study

of biodiversity ranching here in B.C. – the South

Okanagan-Similkameen Conservation lands. In

the past, conservation efforts were undertaken

one property at a time, and with individual spe-

cies in mind, but today a landscape approach to

conservation is employed.

The South Okanagan-Similkameen area already

had a strong history of conservation efforts, begin-

ning with a migratory bird sanctuary in the 1920’s,

and today it looks like a wonderful patchwork quilt

with many properties owned by various conserva-

tion groups, all working together to provide a large

swath of prime habitat for many species.

The landscape-scale conservation approach is re-

ally a precautionary stance for the hopeful. Citing

evidence found by climate change expert and ad-

junct professor at the University of Victoria, Richard

J. Hebda, McNoughton says that the South-Central

Okanagan Corridor must be kept in the best condi-

tion possible to offer an escape route for animals.

The Corridor is the tip of

a desert ecosystem that

lies largely in the United

States, but if, as predicted,

the animals migrate up-

wards because changing

habitat, they would move

up and through that cor-

ridor into Canada.

Biodiversity ranching,

a merging of conserva-

tion efforts and tradi-

tional ranching opera-

COVER IMAGE BY MILA CZEMERYS

... (continued on page 2)

“The Nature Trust is dedicated to conserving British Columbia’s biological diversity through selective securement and eff ective management of areas of ecological signifi cance and natural beauty for future generations.

”

PHUONG TRAN

MARCH 5, 2009

Cooperation: the New Roots of Conservation

A Green Living Checklist

JARED SMITH

The term “sustainable development” is being thrown around like a quick-fi x, all-purpose cleaner, guaranteed to clear even the worst environmental stains and blemishes. It is being used to lure environmentally conscious citizens to shell out big dollars to perpetuate fl awed economic systems. It is an attempt to disguise a gaping and gangrenous wound with a “one size fi ts all” band-aid.

Such arguments may be both cynical and skep-tical, but the market’s response to climate change and environmental degradation has little connec-tion with common ecological sense. This doesn’t give me much hope in corporate capitalism’s ability to exchange the fundamental principle of perpetual, exponential growth and maximization of profi t for the altruistic aspiration of true envi-ronmental sustainability and social justice.

Some of the “solutions” heralded seem to do more harm than good in the way that they a) convince the masses that both corporations and governments are aware of the problem and deal-ing with them; we can go back to consuming, b) we can deal with environmental problems within our current global economic system, and c) create confusion as to what the ultimate cause of such widespread devastation is.

True global sustainability would entail living within ecosystems instead of above them. It would require us to live off of nature’s abun-dant interests rather than exploiting the capital. Sustainable living would compel us to realize that all species have a defi nitive carrying capac-ity within their environment.

Expanding beyond that carrying capacity, as proved by numerous ecological studies, results in the depletion of resources, confl ict, and an eventual decline of natural populations until the point of extinction, or with any luck, a stabiliza-tion of numbers at a sustainable level.

Our approach thus far reminds me of attempt-ing to put a round peg in a square hole. I was two or three when fi rst confronted with such a problem. My block set and I disagreed for a while after which I realized that I could only solve the problem using a different method. A completely different set of tools and organiza-tion are needed to solve our environmental problems as well. We cannot attempt to repair our ecosystems with the exact same mentality that destroyed it.

Where’s the scapegoat? Although pointing fi n-gers will certainly lead to confl ict, it is absolutely essential to understand the root cause of the problem if we are to fi x it. Here I turn to “The Story of Stuff,” a fi lm I recommend watching (it

can be found on www.youtube.com). It is an excellent portrayal of how our current system of extraction, production, distribution, consump-tion, and disposal is fundamentally fl awed.

The entire system was designed to produce maximum profi t in the shortest amount of time. Here is where we must brainstorm and experi-ment to produce a system that values environ-mental sustainability and social equality over money. I’m not suggesting a disintegration of the capitalist system. What I do suggest, how

ever, is that we ponder long and hard about whether we can overcome our environmental problems while continuing with our present rates of growth and consumption.

The changes we need are compatible with some type of regulated smaller scale free market.

We need to realize that our present path of “progress” benefi ts few while the majority suf-fers. The fact that we have solved the human genome, landed on the moon, cloned a sheep, and can fl y around the world in hours, makes me wonder why we cannot provide clean water to the more than one billion people without.

It makes me question why after the green revo-lution, land is depleted, water is contaminated, native species are going extinct, and there are still 3 billion people worldwide who are still considered malnourished.

Despite this I have hope. I believe that humans have the ingenuity to adapt our social structures to enable the continuation of our species and the species we share this planet with. The time for change is now.

JESSICA MILES

We have been infected with the “Smokey-the-Bear” syndrome, casting a shadow over the posi-tive effects that fi re has on land. Today many people have a negative association with fi re due to years of fi re suppression – people are afraid of what fi re could do to their homes, communities and surroundings. However, fi re is an impor-tant tool that promotes biological diversity and builds resiliency against pests, pathogens, and other negative disturbances.

In and around Victoria, fi re reduces the en-croachment of large conifer trees and promotes the growth of native plants like salal and sword fern, and for centuries, fi re has similarly shaped ecosystems all over the world.

From the Australian Aborigines’ use of cul-tural burning, to the slash and burn techniques used in Brazil, fi re has historically been used as a strategy for land management.

The Gulf Islands National Park Reserve is an excellent local example of a fi re maintained land-scape. Fire is an essential natural disturbance in the Gulf Islands, as illustrated by Traditional Eco-logical Knowledge (TEK), historical documents, and fi re ecology research. Specifi cally, fi re was traditionally used to enhance the production of camas and to promote new plant growth as food for herbivores. Camas, an important dietary car-bohydrate, contains the same active ingredient as onions and becomes sweet when cooked.

First Nations practiced selective harvesting by

re-planting the small bulbs and burning the Gar-ry Oak meadows regularly. Cultural burning by First Nations took place in mid-summer to fall, which was historically documented. Prescribed burning in the Gulf Islands became especially important to First Nations after Europeans set-tled in camas harvesting fi elds in Fort Victoria.

Today, years of fi re suppression inhibit the res-toration of places like the Southern Gulf Islands.

For far too long we have neglected our symbi-otic relationship with fi re. Just as our ecosys-tems require fi re to restore our west coast envi-ronment, our people require the re-introduction of both wild and human induced burns.

So next time you hear about using fire to manage the land remember that it is “eco-cul-tural” restoration and benefi ts both people and our ecosystems. Embrace the fl ame, as only one spark is needed for great things to happen.

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(continued from page 1, Cooperation: The New Roots of Conservation)

Biodiversity ranching, a merging of conserva-tion efforts and traditional ranching operations that utilizes the landscape-scale approach, is a concept new to British Columbia, though both the United States and Africa successfully use this process today. It requires partnerships between conservationists and the family-based livestock operators known as ranchers.

Why biodiversity ranching? There are many reasons, though the one that brings the two to-gether most is a common interest for the land, and developing the activities that happen on it in a sustainable manner. Ranchlands are ideal for maintaining the goals of both conservationist and rancher.

Highlighting several achievable goals of biodi-versity ranching, McNoughton shared the suc-cess of a project in the White Lake Basin in the Okanogan. The partnership has demonstrated that grazing livestock can co-exist with spe-cies at risk; that the rangelands can be used for

adaptive management processes; that local com-munities, conservation organizations, and other agencies can integrate interests associated with grassland ecosystems; and that it is possible to keep productive biologically diverse ecosystems while ensuring human economic, social, and en-vironmental needs are met.

Rotational grazing, as well fencing off riparian areas and creating alternate sources of watering livestock, photopoint monitoring, bird counts, invasive species management, tree thinning, pre-scribed fi re, property maintenance, research, and balancing public access are all components of the biodiversity conservation plan in the basin.

According to McNoughton, there has histori-cally been a deep cleft between conservation-ists and ranchers, but a project like this is bridg-ing that divide. Instead of the black and white that used to be ranchers and conservationists, “there’s a lot of good gray area in there now,” McNoughton fi nished.

People are working together successfully to achieve goals in which they believe, and man - that’s encouraging.

Setting the world on fi re Of global sustainability

ERIKA VAN WINDEN

In the squally weather madeby the thrusts of seagull wings,crabs puddle in the tide pools— clawsoutstretched like grandmother hugs.

we’re visitors to this place, I observecolours in the rocks,remember our tripto Nice. Last yearwe were sunburned, charredlike vegetables on a barbecue.

hereand now, salty cliffs

surround us.you count waves, onlysmall ones that lickthe sand.

a marine biologist; you aretoo busy collecting datato notice the approaching mist—(I’ll wrap you in my jacket)to noticethe sky is swollen with colours of a rainbow—spectrums of light refracting—

your eyeswill echo sadness laterwhen I ask you if you saw it.

You count waves

2 THE ESSENCE March 5, 2009

ABE LLOYD

Did you know that rabbits on campus are cute and tasty? This recipe is called Rabbit Restora-tion Stew because these bunnies are destroying the native landscape on campus. By eating the bunnies, not only are you helping restoration ef-forts on campus but you are also decreasing your dependence on industrial meats, which demand energy-intensive production. Note: Please be discreet in your rabbit-hunting as some people don’t enjoy the sight of a dead rabbit.

INGREDIENTS1 UVic RabbitNodding onion (Allium cernuum)Queen Ann’s lace (Daucus carota) stalk or rootBurdock (Arctium minus) stalk or rootSalsify (Tragopogon dubius) stalk or rootFennelBare-stem desert-parsley (Lomatium nudicaule)Salt Pepper

DIRECTIONSKilling: Kill a nice, fat, UVic rabbit. The rec-

ommended method is to bait it in, pin it to the ground, grab it by its hind legs, and whack the back of its head hard against the ground, killing it instantly. CLEANING:

Hang the rabbit from a rope by its hind legs. This will keep fur from getting on the meat.

Cut the tail off. Cut around the hind ankles, up the inseam of

the legs, and across the crotch.Pull the skin down (towards the head); it will

come off inside out. When you get to the head and front wrists, it won’t pull off any further, so cut the wrists and head off.

Rub off (don’t wash) any fur that stayed on the meat.

Now you are ready for the anatomy lesson: Cut the belly of the rabbit from the area near the groin to the rib cage. Be sure to not puncture the bladder or intestine.

Remove the stomach, intestines, kidneys, etc. and discard as soon as possible.

Cut the chest cavity open, remove the heart and lungs, and wash thoroughly.

COOKING:Boil your rabbit in salted water for a couple of

hours until the meat is loose.Remove from the water and allow to cool. Pull the meat from the bones, then return the

meat to your cooking pot.Add veggies. For the (urban) forager, I rec-

ommend nodding onion or wild garlic bulbs, Queen Ann’s lace stalk or root, burdock stalk or root, salsify stalk or root, fennel, and bare-stem desert-parsley. Note: In the fall and winter, use the roots. In the late spring and early summer, peel and use the stalks before they mature and produce fl owers. Modifi cation: For those more com-fortable in grocery stores, I recommend onion, carrot, parsnip, leak, yam, and parsley.

NICOLE FONG

Enter, guerrilla gardeners. Fling seed bombs over fences! Root trees in unused fi elds! Sow wildfl ower seeds like rice at a wedding!

You may have noticed the soil-fi lled median along Highway 17, or a strip of desolate turf lounging between two buildings. It was high time you faced that hollowness and admitted you had become the cause of a landscape... without cause. You were in need of some radi-cal gardening.

New Yorker Liz Christy first used the term “guerrilla” in the context of gardening in 1973, thus founding “Green Guerrillas.” Reacting to the abundance of vacant and misused land within urban environments, she began activley planting vegetation in areas she din’t offi cially own.

Christy also created the fi rst seed bomb. These consisted of local wildfl ower seeds, fertilizer and water coaxed into a balloon before being thrown into empty lots. Guerilla gardening has since come to embody the process of gardening as a political gesture apart from / in addition to its usual horticultural purposes.

It’s possible to tend midnight vegetable patch-es under the anonymity of darkness, openly engage and inform local communities through planting in a public space, or simply beautify a neighborhood by spreading seeds at random.

The political element of guerrilla gardening has much to do with a reconsideration of land ownership and rights. In the modern context, land is largely seen as a fi nancial asset, and few think to go against the norm of fl awless lawns and assemblies of exotic vegetation which si-multaneously introduce non-native species into local ecosystems.

Similarly (or not, depending on your perspec-tive), what can be concluded about a society that values asphalt and fences over usable green space? Through a non-violent, coalition-based organization, the issue of neglected public space is addressed through the juxtaposition of, say, the appearance of a vegetable garden where there was once a mottled strip of dead grass at the end of an alley.

Another large inspiration for guerilla garden-ing is the artifi ciality of land ownership. How can one “own” what existed before the idea of ownership did, whose fate and usage affects ev-eryone in the social community?

Guerilla gardening is not entirely separate from the values in community gardening, where environmental connection rises along with an increased sense of productivity, access to social support and personal consciousness. Especially in light of recent scandals involving food source contamination, self-regulation of food production not only ensures security, ethics and access, but an understanding of production requirements. Public ownership and manage-ment makes for a social community answerable to both themselves and others.

Forms of guerilla gardening also exist on the international scale, motioning towards the control of food production and land usage. Brazil’s Landless Worker’s Movement (MST) occupies hectares of land to put under cultiva-tion. London’s Parliament Square: “May Day” of 2000, witnessed the progression of Western guerilla gardening, when vegetables and fl owers were planted in the area.

On Guerrilla Gardening: A Handbook for Gar-dening Without Boundaries by Richard Reyn-olds, maps worldwide guerrilla hotspots as the

movement extends across Europe and some parts of the U.S.

So go. Now. Fill those empty spaces with green gardens. Reclaim that space and become involved with a sustainable community. Be it through the physical planting of agriculture, the fostering of a productive crop-driven landscape, stomping a bulb into loam or the sideways toss of a seed bomb into a yard, you will harvest re-sults. Even if it’s just a dandelion in the middle of your neighbor’s yard.

Sumptuous Seed Bombs

From The Guerrilla Art Kit by Keri Smith Materials:

Mixed Seeds (use native seeds)CompostPowdered Red or Brown Clay (You can use a

clay-based sticky soil instead. You can fi nd clay at art supply stories or gardening stores, but soil is more readily available).

Water

Combine 2 parts mixed seeds with 3 parts compost. Stir in 5 parts powdered red or brown clay. Moisten with water until mixture is damp enough to mould into balls.

Pinch off a penny-sized piece of the clay mix-ture and roll it between the palms of your hands until it forms a tight ball (1 inch in diameter).

Set the balls on newspaper and allow to dry for 24-48 hours. Store in a cool dry place until ready to sow.

Watering or burial not required; all they need is access to sun and rain to germinate.

Throw in city planters, empty lots, cracks in sidewalks... And enjoy.

Gonzo CookiesHEIKE LET TRARI

I’ve had such a positive response to the recipe I’ve doodled with this year. A number of people have asked me for a copy of it, so here it is!

Mix: ¾ cup butter/margarine 1 cup brown sugar 1 dollop honey (or ½ cup brown sugar)Add: 2 eggsAdd: 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 2 cups flour (WW, white, or kamut,

or a mix) 1 tsp vanilla 1 ½ cups oats 1 ½ cup choc. chips (semi-sweet)* Approx. 2 cups of:*any mix of nuts/seeds/ dried berries you like!

For example, pumpkin seeds, sunfl ower seeds, hemp seed hearts, fl ax seeds, cashews, walnuts, al-monds, a sesame seed and cranberry mix is great. Any kind of combination or these is wonderful. For some, the chocolate chips might not fi t.

Bake at 350ºF until brown (approx 20-30 min-utes, depending on their size)

PENNY SIMPSON

This documentary examines the role of water as a critical resource and explores how priva-tization and corporate interests are marginal-izing people worldwide. The film discusses water contamination from personal products like soaps and cleaners, and industrial effl u-ents, fertilizers, and chemicals, the unregulated bottled water industry in the United States, and World Bank pressures on developing nations to privatize water.

Among other things, the fi lm illustrates how lack of regulations for the bottled water industry in North America is a big problem. A study by the Natural Resources Defense Council tested 1000 bottles of water from 103 different brands. It concluded that 30 per cent contained harmful bacteria, synthetic (man-made) organic chemi-cals and arsenic.

On the topic of American water quality, Wil-liam Marks, author of Water Voices from Around the World, states that there are 116,000 synthetic chemicals that end up in the public’s water sup-ply. Right here in Victoria these same chemicals are fl ushed into the ocean.

FLOW won the 2008 award for Best Documen-tary at the UN Association Film Festival, the 2008 Best Documentary at the Vail International Film Festival, and has now been selected for the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

I would defi nitely say it’s a must see for every-one, considering the relationship between private interests and public supply continues to be a hot topic. The fi lm ends with examples of inexpen-sive solutions. One of these was a playpump: a pump that works from children playing on it (like a merry-go-round). The documentary shows great imagery from Bolivia, India and South Africa and delivers some powerful interviews from corporate

executives and citizens. The fi lm was well directed and straight to the point, enlightening and educa-tional for a wide-ranging audience.

Guerrilla gardening: A gardener’s revolution

Cook up a pot of Rabbit Restoration Stew

AMY HARTZENBERG

With a guest lecturer just about every class ES 200 is an intriguing course. All lectures seem to have some similar ideas while looking at the cause of today’s environmental problems, our impact on the world, and what people are doing about it. Food is used as an umbrella to guide a look at ideas such as societies’ need to consume, the need for a change in priorities, and the need to preserve not just land but traditions of dif-ferent cultures.

For example, James Rowe, one of the guest lecturers, gave a interesting lecture discussing root causes of why we are experiencing an en-vironmental crisis. Societies’ need to consume was a major cause of this, but, what is the root of this need? He attributes it to a fear of nature and death which we cannot escape or separate ourselves from. This causes a feeling of less than being in control with our lives and situations, and this insecurity is expressed in a constant drive and need to consume.

When looking at the impacts we have on the world, the focus is social problems as well as en-vironmental, as these issues are often connected. In one class we saw a video about Ladakh: a region of the Indian states Jammu and Kashmir, which is experiencing rapid industrialization. The impacts the Western world is having on this country are clearly visible with the connections between people and society deteriorating along with the creation of pollution.

Many people are working on fascinating proj-ects to address some of the issues raised in class. The Land Conservancy project works to pre-serve land with historical, traditional, cultural, and ecological value. The Mosqoy foundation works to help people in Peru who are losing a part of their culture as they lose their traditional weaving practices and struggle with changes brought on from modernization.

ES 200 is an interesting course covering a range of topics which opens the mind and sets the stage for further courses. It has certainly caused my perspective on the world to change.

A Peek Into ES 200 Review for FLOW: For Love of Water

March 5, 2009 THE ESSENCE 3

You may or may not be familiar with UVic’s literary journal,

the Malahat Review, whose most recent issue collected nature-

themed and environmentally-tinged poetry, short prose, es-

says and interviews.

All of this writing was collected under the title “The Green

Imagination”, and in the middle of January its editors held a

release party of sorts that allowed the writers themselves to

read their work and participate in an impromptu discussion on

the theme. I was lucky enough to attend – curious to see how

literature would represent ecology under this issue’s somewhat

vague title. ‘Green’ as a term that has been appropriated and

simplifi ed to such an extent lately that I’m automatically wary

of whatever it may be attached to: art or not.

Now, it’s not at all my intention here to criticize the Malahat or

the reading. It was a great time overall and drew over a hundred

people. “The Green Imagination” as an issue is to be admired:

its collected pieces are quality reads, not at all didactic and very

broad in style and approach. Read it at the library if you get

a chance. However, I was left with some errant thoughts and

concerns by the time I caught my bus home, which sprang from

both the pieces themselves and the discussion.

What role can and does writing play in ecological activism? Is

the written language the mechanism that separates us from or

unites us with nature? Does art come from nature, and therefore

our creativity and personhood? Can an institutional entity like

a publication change anything?

Much of ecology, indeed science as a whole, competes for tex-

tual clarity where complex environmental, and therefore social,

concepts arise. This inevitably leads to linguistic contradictions

within the realms of academic thought where thinkers may

nonetheless be in full agreement on a given question.

What should be considered ‘wild’ or ‘degraded’ in restora-

tion? Is this or that viewpoint representative of ‘deep ecology’

or ‘eco-feminism’? Such disputes are helpful in the construc-

tion of theory or schema, which presumably will be a sort of

consensus of knowing for our textual tradition. You can see

this drive everywhere in Western thought. But one wonders if

the inability of words to express our most complex, therefore

important, beliefs – and let’s admit that knowledge is just our

best-defended belief – has been partly to blame for how society

interacts with nature.

The dualities of night and day, male and female; these words

don’t express the systems that give meaning to what they rep-

resent or those experiences. We seem to separate ourselves

from nature and then seek an understanding of it through

language, as if jargon can describe what even thought can

only rarely grasp.

Philip Kevin Paul was the Malahat event’s fi rst reader – a stun-

ningly talented poet, a member of the WSÁ,NEC (Saanich) na-

tion and a graduate of UVic’s own Creative Writing program.

It was his paraphrasing of the American poet T.S. Eliot that

inspired the thrust of this essay: those who name a tradition

can no longer be a part of it.

His fully oral language has only recently begun to meet the

page as its last fl uent speakers die, and I sensed that he’s wor-

ried that such a drastic translation of oral to textual tradition

poses a threat to knowledge and doing. Something about this

sentiment is also deeply important to environmentalism, as well

as writing and reading creatively within academia.

Both disciplines, if you can call them that, are subversive.

Both invite dissidence. Both are pursuits that anyone could

approach outside of an institution: why do we pay tuition

to express our creativity in poetry and activism in midterms,

when there are urban sprawls to be guerrilla gardened and

corporate book franchises to be infi ltrated with hand-pub-

lished zines?

The most important thing for environmentalists and writers

to think critically about is the lingo and labels that we wade

through every day, every class. “Allusion” and “species” and

“free verse” and “food security”.

This naming of our traditions, the generalizations and misin-

terpretations – the tunnels, as Kevin Paul said – are too easy to

get stuck inside.

Yet the written page is what human society communicates

across: that giant white plain over which our words are often

lost. This is the medium through which we as students hope-

fully can gain inspiration and knowledge. The most impactful

poetry and prose, the most enlightened articles and essays, di-

dactic or subtle; we rely on text.

I noticed two things about the pieces compiled by the “Green

Imagination”. First, its “imaginings” mostly deal with nature:

new ways to see it or be in awe of it, rather than ‘solutions’. This

isn’t surprising and is by no means a criticism. No one wants the

overt righteousness of preachy poetry or prose. Second, there

was no one thread that unifi ed the journal’s contributors under

Un-Naming Our Traditions: Writing

“ Into the hush of palm frondsthat defi ne the wind enters

the chirp of a yellow birdwhose name we have not found.

- from “Horizon Notes” by Derk Wynand

”

COLIN FULTON

the label ‘green’ – not that everyone wants that label. I noticed many pieces concerned with the natural of course, but also with feminism, romanticism, apocalypticism, as well as First Nations rights and human mortality.

You see, I’m trapped in the very wordplay that this essay is trying to discuss. So if we can never accurately name ourselves, can never name these traditions or how we express them in art and study, then it’s diffi cult to see our society changing for the better. Isn’t that what we want?

Even at its best, writing and all art can perpetuate what seems to be the treadmill that our legitimizing ideologies run. Canadian

poets like Roo Borson and Don McKay, featured in the issue, are emblematic of how our national literature currently approaches nature. In an interview, McKay defi nes wilderness as “the capac-ity of all things to elude the mind’s appropriations”.

I have a feeling that under his apt defi nition we cannot con-

sider most academic language to be “wild”, even in ecological restoration’s many discourses on wilderness. Yet I like what he suggests in claiming that all things, even us environmentally sinful humans, have the capacity to escape appropriation and remain untouched. It allows us to remain part of nature by acknowledging how the mind, through language, separates us. If textual traditions such as ours try and prevent the escape of a word, if we name and explain things, then oral traditions could be better described as observing a thing’s interconnect-edness and expressing this through language.

Environmentalism or whatever you want to call it will not suc-ceed by naming and explaining itself. It will succeed if it “eludes

the mind’s appropriations”; if it fends off terms like ‘green’. May-be we can do this by mixing the oral tradition into the textual instead of the other way around. Perhaps poetry as an expression both oral and textual can help, as can art in general.

Can you imagine a university that operates on oral tradition? Is it a coincidence that most oral cultures were and are more equitable in their relationships with the land? Socrates praised conversation over the forgetfulness that he thought writing would beget. We can deny this forgetfulness of our traditions by denying the codifi cation of thought that’s all too common in Western academia.

I believe that Environmental Studies as a faculty has the best chance of doing this at UVic, and it may change the way we learn as well as act. Tim Lilburn, a UVic writing professor and Malahat contributor, suggested in the event’s discussion period that great poetry can gleam a certain rhythm or syntax from na-ture by being attentive to its interrelatedness. This is an insight as pertinent to poetic metaphor as to ecology.

This essay kind of began on a bus and now ends like a bus fi nishes its route. The natural world surrounds the route and ac-cepts it into with a systematic clarity that we will probably never express perfectly in the written word. It’s just the world. It’s just everything. I do want to emphasize how much I enjoyed both the Malahat’s event and their publication: provoking thought as they did in me and others is the best possible outcome.

Now is time to take those thoughts off of the page and into our lives.

Colin Fulton is in his 3rd year at Uvic, majoring in Creative Writ-ing and Environmental Studies

and Environmentalism“language,pure refusal, blindnessto my dimension—

gorgeous immortals, Icrawl on them, their coldbeauty— their only mercy isthat they are real ~ from “Bear Brains” by John Steffl er.

”“The Sound lays claim to me,a child of Saanich.From under the tongue, someone teaches me.

~ from “Descent into Saanich” by Philip Kevin Paul.

”

KATE MOSLEY

I will not pretend to be a teacher. I am still in

school to become one. I also will not pretend to

be a faithful environmentalist. Organic food can

be pretty pricey, and lets face it – sometimes that

plastic container of moldy leftovers is just too

stomach churning to clean out and recycle. But,

I will say this: both of these issues are always

on my mind.

I am an aspiring teacher, composter, and friend

to the world. In order to effectively fight my

battle, I have decided to combine forces – tak-

ing my love for the environment and bringing it

into the classrooms that I am a part of.

Environmental education, in particular experi-

ential environmental education, is such an im-

portant part of our future on this planet.

It is clear to most living in today’s world that

our planet is in dire need of repair. The damage

caused by humans over the past few centuries

has created a host of unprecedented problems

– some of which we have no idea how to fi x. If

we are to get anywhere in the future with the

current problems that plague our planet, the best

bet is to start in the classroom, so that future

generations will be equipped with the knowl-

edge and power they need. In the words of Mo-

handas Ghandi, “Be the change that you want

to see in the world.”

To teach students about the importance of

keeping our planet healthy, we must fi rst pro-

vide them with meaningful encounters with

nature. Experiential environmental education

involves students having valuable, individual

connections with their world. After all, how can

we ask students to respect Mother Nature if they

haven’t seen or felt her beauty?

The mantra “Reduce, reuse, recycle,” is

commonly heard across schoolyards and offi ces

alike. Posters of devastated wetlands and

rainforests are tacked onto walls and billboards.

Cautionary tales of melting icecaps and global

warming are frequent topics of conversation.

As an educator, how can I expect my students

to care for their planet if they have no personal

or sentimental connections to it? I had heard

countless times that the oceans and rivers

of our world were in trouble, but until I saw

the highly polluted River Lee in Cork, Ireland

a few summers ago, I had no real connection

with this pollution.

What I saw there was astounding: plastic bags,

boots, empty fast food containers, you name it,

all fl oating in the river. It wasn’t until I saw

evidence of the devastation I had heard about

that I really began to care. I now had a personal

and meaningful connection to the facts and

warnings I was hearing everywhere. Some

people may think that throwing their old boot

into the river gets rid of it. But in reality, this

boot is now a part of the waterway and may

cause one or more fi sh to become ill or die,

affecting the food chain of the river, and thus

affecting future availability of fi sh.

So, when Mr. Litterbug wonders why his dinner

plate is void of tuna, he need only think back to

that old boot. Now, this may be a bit extreme,

and to tell the truth, I am doubtful there is

much in the way of healthy aquatic life in the

River Lee, but the point is that without solid

and meaningful connections to our planet, it

will be hard for students to truly show care and

interest in saving it.

This is why experiential environmental

education is so important when it comes to

environmental issues.

With experiential environmental education, we

can show students the beauty in the natural

world, or better yet, let them fi nd it themselves.

If they learn to appreciate and love their earth,

maybe they will learn to love it as they do their

own home. For in fact, the earth is as much their

home as their house is. We need not fear that

these youngsters will fail us in preference of the

latest Nintendo sensation.

If we use every tool on the belt, it is my hope

that we can provide the planet of the future

with a legion of faithful protectors.

As The Be Good Tanya’s remind us, sometimes

it is “the littlest birds [that] sing the prettiest

songs.”

“The Earth is a house for us all”: The importance of environmental education

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6 THE ESSENCE March 5, 2009

UnsettlingOld Farmer Tractorwheel came from overseas, and all he knew was digging holes.

MAT T LOEWEN

Old Farmer Tractorwheel was a man with cal-culator eyes that spun wool into malleable thread. His fl ashlight hands could grip an idea in the light for his refrigerator brain. His mouth was a mug of coffee, bitter and steaming, but it kept you alert. He was the kind of man who cried to prove his modesty and shouted to prove his confi dence, but more often than not just sat silently in thought.

His wife, Old Goody Tractorwheel, had rub-ber glove knees and a warm microwave heart. Her frying pan feet were tarnished but devoid of grime, and she was the kind of woman who whistled while she worked- softly, and to herself. She smiled because she felt it was all she could do. Her needling smile wove her husband’s thread into her own thick yarn. They shared the kind of love that was silent.

The two settled on a plot of dusty turf some de-cades past. They tore the soil while it slept, and soon it awoke, batting a concerned green eyelash come spring. They sold the multicolored tears on those lashes to the grocer, Herbias J. Corningstone, a man proud enough to demand his middle ini-tial be included in all references. His twine was constantly raveling and unraveling so that he sputtered when he spoke and fettered with his fingers, but he was always ready with a swift warm smile.

Their cornucopia spilt into baskets on market day, where the townsfolk advanced with knives and forks under their hats and bonnets.

The Tractorwheel’s cracked lips rose in a thin grin.

The Tractorwheel family grew, swollen with

children. Chores reddened their hands and lev-eled their heads. Sons and daughters both civil and roguish grew to be men and women. Some moved, some got married, and some died. But the oxen still gritted their bits and squinted their keen eyes ever forward, lugging leather, metal and wood through the fragrant dirt.

One day the tabloids featured some hungry Mexicans. A fancy scientist with a special coat and hat fl ew in and cast his chemistry magic on the plants to save them. He reckoned that fertilizer, pesticides and water were required to grow his lab-grown Frankenplants. And hell - it worked. No strings attached. The Mexicans didn’t starve, and the whole world wanted a piece of this ‘industrial agriculture.’

Old Farmer Tractorwheel sold his mighty oxen, and applied newfangled methods. He had to; other farmers had green dripping from their hands and eyes, and he wasn’t about to be left behind. He bought a tractor and spreader, dif-ferent laboratory seeds and chemicals and the whole works. He set about a change.

The plants pierced the skies and leaned with weight of ear and pod. But prices dropped in this time of surplus, and people came a-rush-ing to market with their checkbooks twixt their eyes.

So Old Farmer Tractorwheel met with a com-pany man with a big rig, and had his corn and peas and spuds shipped to the same place the money came from; Lord knows where. He signed a document agreeing to send his crops off when the truck came, no buts about it. He agreed to buy seed from the company man, and chemicals too. All under contract; he liked that. It made it feel like he was being catered to.

The town was changing with the times. Her-bias J. Corningstone was out of business, over-run by a stark food warehouse with well-lighted aisles and special deals and fancy labels. He sat outside the pool hall in the bottom of a mug of coins, his last threads roving down his cheek. They gleamed eerily in its descent, illuminated

by the new petrol fi ll-up across the way. It was there he died a few weeks later, ribs nearly burst-ing from his skin for hunger.

One morning after slopping his hogs, Old Farmer Tractorwheel went into town for his monthly meeting with the man who managed his fi nances. The bank was dry and heavy, as was the banker. He told Old Farmer Tractor-wheel that the global surplus had caused a drop in price again. Matter of fact with a trim toothbrush moustache, the banker’s crowbar tongue rattled like the hard, clinging leaves in winter. Despite an increased yield, the price had dropped so much that payments on the machines- not to mention seed, chemical pesti-cides and fertilizers- had outstripped the profi ts. Old Farmer Tractorwheel was digging a differ-ent hole now, but a seed planted in this hole just eats down; it doesn’t sprout.

The Tractorwheel’s thin lips were straightened and grim.

Then the company man lettered the farm. Pay-ments were due, scribbled in pencil, and Old Farmer Tractorwheel had lost his eraser. He showed his confidence and scribbled on the mortgage papers, trapped, for the lines were too deeply engraved on his vinyl for the needle to play a new song. It just skipped back to sound the same optimistic, misguided tune. And the ballad fathered a dirge.

The Old Couple grew a plentiful harvest. But they grew short of targets. Then they grew short of coin, and they grew short of food. They grew short of health. And short of time.

Old Goody Tractorwheel still smiled, though. She smiled and swelled with hope and cancer. A chemical razor sawed at her thread; at their thread. But she still smiled, whistling softly to herself. Her rain-cloud hands were stained pink from bug juice; and the same silent smudge throbbed in her abdomen.

While his wife ebbed quietly in a quilted room, Old Farmer Tractorwheel toiled. He toiled for her medicine, toiled for her food, and he toiled for her

doctors. He drudged his bones into the soil, and the sprinklers wept. The sobbing hogs lamented. The pining weather vane wailed in the wind. And his poisons pumped succulent tears from green, leafy lashes. But prices still dropped.

Then Old Goody Tractorwheel softly eloped. And Old Farmer Tractorwheel dug another hole.

The company man lettered again to remind him of his other green holes. The homestead, farm, and vehicles were owed. Old Farmer Tractorwheel proved his modesty, and accepted his fate.

The company man came by to collect at sunrise. The suit wore his man cleanly, and no threads frayed to or fro. They were well-combed and organized like a typewriter. His briefcase hands were tipped with simpering steel. Old Farmer Tractorwheel invited him in for breakfast, set on a black and white polka dot tablecloth.

A meager meal of toast and tea was all he had to offer. The tiny teacups clinked; Old Farmer Trac-torwheel drank his cup down, and the company man did the same. A pink tinge stained the white china, and Old Farmer Tractorwheel’s thin lips shook. A dual thread stretched down his cheeks as their airways simultaneously constricted.

And so Old Farmer Tractorwheel dug his fi nal hole.

The University of Victoria has drafted a newSustainability Policy and five-year Action Plan for Campus Operations that will further advance our committment to sustainability in the classroom, on the ground, and in the region. We want UVic to act as a living laboratory for students and demonstrate innovation inintegrating sustainability into teaching, learning, research, community partnerships and the way we operate our campus.

Caring for our campus and our planet.

Together we can all be a part of the solution. www.uvic.ca/sustainability

March 5, 2009 THE ESSENCE 7

8 THE ESSENCE March 5, 2009

““ Oppotunity to nourish ESSA will continue to fl ourish

Many People to thankNo order or rank

Common respectFul of Ideas and intellect

Essence of this eff ortContribute and share

Show that you careTurned out great

Time to celebrate--Adam Podolec

””

AMANDA PATT

The following list is what I fi nd to be eight truths

about various environmental issues. Sometimes

the solutions given to various problems end up

creating entirely new sets of problems; therefore,

some of the things I present as problems below,

are considered to be solutions in the mainstream

environmental movement (recycling and biofu-

els for example). Because our defi nitions of a

problem will be what shape our future solutions

to that problem, I hope that this list causes you to

think a little bit more about what you think are

the causes of major environmental problems.

1. The main reason for the environmental degra-

dation of the planet is the transfer of too much

matter, too quickly, from one storage reservoir

into another, and the concomitant removal of too

much energy from the system too fast.

2. The issue of global warming is tied to the

Earth’s carbon cycling system: taking too much

carbon from the lithosphere in the form of fos-

sil fuels, and transfering it to the atmosphere in

the form of greenhouse gases. As a result, this

normally buffered and damage-resistant system

has become overloaded.

3. There are many more cycling systems, each

with their associated issues, though many aren’t

being paid attention to now: nitrogen, phospho-

rus, oxygen, and sulphur. For example, with the

overuse of fertilizer, nitrogen and phosphorus

are moved from the lithosphere to the hydro-

sphere; this results in a process known as eu-

trophication (the loss of biological productivity

and diversity due to reduced levels of dissolved

oxygen in the water).

4. Who thinks of the life-sustaining soil organ-

isms that we have cut out of our new water-cycles

designed of concrete and metal? By digging into,

building on, or paving over this precious layer of

fertile soil, we disturb thousands if not millions of

year’ worth of work that went into creating it.

5. Only about 10% of the energy is transferred up

through each of the stages of life: from its base

of sunlight taken up by photosynthetic plants,

to the herbivores, omnivores, and fi nally, to the

carnivores. The more we force these energy

networks into serving human purposes—for

energy-intensive meat, for mechanical replace-

ments for plants in the form of solar panels, for

“biofuels”—the more we steal a very limited

and precious energy resource.

6. All highly compact forms of energy will be-

come dispersed with use, often as heat. The

name “renewable energy source” is mislead-

ing; the term must be taken as referring not to

the energy, but to the source as being renewable.

The energy was already part of Earth’s system;

and it must already have been doing some kind

of work within the system, and that work will

now be undone.

7. Recycling, the fi nding of new ways to use or

transform novel substances, is a helpful technol-

ogy in the short-term manufacture of familiar

goods but it does not address the continued pro-

duction and circulation of further garbage. I am

defi ning garbage as a substance with “no further

use” after humans are fi nished with it (plastic,

glass, purifi ed metal, etc.). We have created a

new reservoir for matter—a junk-sphere.

8. Life-forms are self-sustaining; we need to fi nd

ways to stop fi ghting with them for control and

start working with their strengths. We are un-

dermining the ability of future generations of

organisms to adapt on their own; this is why

the loss of real diversity in favour of product

diversity is so dangerous.

I am presenting these thoughts because for

me, they clarifi ed what I believe are the real

environmental problems of our time. I am not

asking you to agree with any of my statements,

but simply to think critically about them, and

thereby, to further clarify your own ideas

about environmental problems for yourself.

8 thoughts concerning environmental issues

Layout Julia Bennett Nicole Fong Amy Harzenberg Heike Lettrari Jodie Thomson

Editors Julia Bennett Georgia Brander Nicole Fong Jasmine Green Heike Lettrari Alex Stirling

Artwork/Photography Brenda Beckwith Mila Czemerys Nicole Fong Phuong Tran

Articles Ashley Akins Nicole Fong Colin Fulton Amy Hartzenberg Emily Jenkins Heike Lettrari Abe Lloyd Matt Loewen Jessica Miles Kate Mosley Amanda Patt Adam Podolec Penny Simpson Jared Smith Erica Van Winden

Business Advisor Tim Lindsay

*** Extra thanks to Heike Lettrari for organizing article submissions and editing, Nicole Fong for ESSENCE’s visuals, and Julia Bennett and Amy Hartzenberg for layout. ***

EssenceContributors

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