Final Paper: Environmental Ethic? What’s That?

As I’ve mentioned in my earlier writings, walking into this class, I was expecting to learn about writing and rhetoric.  I envisioned seminars where we would use red pens to dissect and correct improper sentences.  I thought we would have to set the Purdue Owl website as the internet homepage on each of our computer screens.  Walking into class the first day, I knew something was strange when, unlike in most of my classes, our syllabus wasn’t printed out – it was available to view online.  Our essay wouldn’t be turned in with hard copies, they were to be submitted digitally.  After class, I jumped on my MacBook and began perusing the syllabus online.  It explained that our writing “approach will be ‘ecological’ in the sense of attempting to understand our complex interrelationships with the natural and artificial systems we rely on and which we are part” (Rouzie).  I asked myself, why are we studying this?  Did I walk into the wrong class?

For the majority of the quarter, I struggled to keep my eyes peeled as I carelessly let my pupils explore the lines of Saving Place; our textbook for the course.  As only one individual, I felt helpless in our planet’s attempt to become more sustainable, so I let the subject matter bore me to death.  Just as I was prepared to give up hope, we received instructions for writing our fifth paper – an essay that detailed environmental sustainability in our field of interest.  Finally… a topic that caught my attention and made this class seem somewhat worthwhile.  As a sport management major, I researched the current unsustainable practices in the sport industry, and how changing our ways to become sustainable can improve a company’s bottom line and preserve resources for the earth.  The ability to help the industry I hope to succeed in one day made me want to become more sustainable.  It also transformed my viewpoint on sport, making me realize how vital going green will be for my generation.  Looking back, I comprehend that this aha! moment could provide me with a route to the top in this competitive industry.

Although the course title, Writing and Rhetoric II initially made me wonder why we had to learn about environmental sustainability, I’ve now grown to realize the usefulness of the topic.  I think the initial turning point of my helpless mindset towards environmental sustainability came when we watched the film A Forest Returns.  The video outlined the history of the Wayne National Forest.  As far as I understood, the Forest was a mundane land preserve. 

Little did I know, however, that just 75 years ago, the land we now call Wayne National Forest was far from woodland.  In the early 1900s, during the height of the iron, coal, and logging industries in Southeast Ohio, the area was clear cut of trees and left completely bare (A Forest Returns).  In 1934, to create jobs during the Great Depression “the United States government established the Wayne National Forest in southern and southeastern Ohio” (Wayne National Forest).  The land was set aside for the replanting of trees to regrow the woods that had once thrived.  Today, the land now looks completely natural despite its terrible treatment in the past.  This showed me that no matter how much we’ve hurt the earth in the past, it’s never too late for change.  As seen in the Wayne National Forest, any sustainable alteration can have a positive impact on this earth.  The film taught me that no matter how big industry has become, changing to become more sustainable is a feasible, long term mission.

Pictures Compared: The Wayne National Forest from the early 1900s versus from today

This class has helped me comprehend the daily toll we take on this planet and how the continuance of unsustainability will jeopardize our mere existence.  If we want to continue to survive, we must change the way we live.  Sooner rather than later, some of the resources we rely on will be completely depleted.  The earth will have held us on its back as long as it could have, and we’ll be left to fend for ourselves in a resourceless world.  Despite the damage we’ve done to our resource supply throughout our history, a transformation to be more sustainable can still have a positive impact.  Now more than ever, a makeover seems necessary.  This startling reality has erased my initial doubts about this class. I understand the importance of this topic and the reason we are learning about this at a young age.  After we pass on, our generation will be “remembered for the awakening of a new reverence of life [and] the firm resolve to achieve sustainability” (The Earth Charter).  As future leaders of this world, we must take initiative to lead that change.  That transformation starts with me.

For the culmination of this course, we’ve been challenged to examine our own environmental ethic.  An environmental ethic, also known as a land ethic, “changes the role of Homo Sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it” (Leopold).  As outlined in this paper, my environmental ethic has dramatically changed throughout this course.  At the beginning of this course, I held an anthropocentric view towards planet, much like the original understandings of humans.  In Genesis, it was written that we should “fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over… every living thing” (Genesis 1:28).

Similarly, before walking into Ellis Hall this quarter, I treated “the natural world as a resource to be exploited for human resources [and saw] the fate of the environment as separate from the fate of humans” (EcoJustice Dictionary).  I valued convenience over treating the earth with respect.  If there was no recycle bin a room, I wouldn’t recycle.  When I cleared my tray at Baker Center food court, I searched for the waste bin with the smallest line.  If nobody was around the compost basket, I would throw all of my trash inside it, including non-compostables.  We all need to see the impact a simple ignorance in our daily life can have.  It’s destructive of our habitat and selfish towards other beings.

I’m not preaching a complete reversal in our daily methods of living; I still don’t hold a completely holistic approach to human survival.  The thoughts of deep ecology, where each species should be allowed to flourish on its own is an ideal way of living in a perfect world – something that is no longer possible.  Our daily existence relies on our domination of this planet and its resources.  This intense domination needs to be limited and restructured if we want to continue to survive.  We cannot attempt to control this planet because nature clearly rules us.  We must learn to work in conjunction with it for the benefit of our generation and for our future.  Changing to use our planet’s resources in a way that will not endanger our existence is necessary.    

Now, while I still cannot do much by myself, it’s the little things that count.  Until we completely remodel our practices as an entire human race, it will be tough to accomplish anything.  This has to be a long term goal that starts with you and me.  I realize our current ways of living are necessary – I will still fly home on an airplane filled with large amounts of jet fuel each break from school because it’s more convenient.  I will still purchase electronics that are completely unsustainable because they make my life easier.  And I will still drive around a car fueled by gas because it beats walking.  However, when I food shop, I will start to choose local alternatives over my normal go-to’s.  Local food requires less transportation, which is more environmentally friendly.  I will consider using renewable energy – my parents have already installed solar panels on the roof of our house.  As they save more and more money on energy bills, they will continue adding more panels.  These are the small steps that need to be embraced on the individual level if we want our children to live on a clean, resourceful planet. I’ve come to realize that the rejection of this viewpoint on the individual level will jeopardize our very existence.  We’ve come to a point in human history where a change is not just encouraged… it’s necessary.

           

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Works Cited

"The Earth Charter." Earth Charter Initiative. Earth Charter Associates, Ltd. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/content/pages/Read-the-Charter.html>.

"EcoJustice Dictionary." EcoJustice Education. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://www.ecojusticeeducation.org/index.php?option=com_rd_glossary&Itemid=35>.

A Forest Returns. Perf. Ora Anderson. Ohio Landscape Productions, 2005. DVD.

Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There. New York: Oxford UP, 1949. Print.

The Old Testament. Genesis 1:28 ed. Print.

Rouzie, Albert. ENG 308J Winter 2011 Syllabus. Web.

"Wayne National Forest." Ohio History Central. Ohio Historical Society. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2191>.



Extra Credit: Dr. Jim Dyer Lecture

Dr. Jim Dyer, did a presentation entitled Looking to the Past to Understand the Present.  Dr. Dyer is a biographer - he's interestd in patterns that emerge from human interactions with our physical environment.  Int his lecture, he compared the amount of forests that existed in the past with how much there is today.    Using historical maps and plots, Dr. Dyer showed how much land was open versus how much land was occupied by forests.  The most diverse forests are in the Northeast while Florida's forests have disappeared with the existence of swampland.

Dr. Dyer said that in 1620, a squirrel could jump 1000 miles westward from Atlantic coast without touching the ground.  Today, 60% of the amount of woods that existed in 1620 is gone.  The US used to be filled with diversity of tree life.  Today, the land is dominated by maple trees.  However, it's better than just a baron landscape.  During the early 1900s, there was a rise in logging and coal mining which left many places deforested.  Today though, second growth forests have regrown to reconsume much of that land.  While we will likely never return to the vast woods of 1620, a rise in tree life is definitely a plus. 

Dr. Dyer's presentation showed that even though we've destructed our land in the past, it's possible for it to grow back.  The only implication is that there's less variety.  Instead of a wide range of oaks, birches, and others, our forests are largely dominated by maples.  The effect of this homogeneity is yet to be seen. 

Sustainability in Sport: A Road Less Traveled?

As a huge sports fan growing up, my favorite team was undoubtedly the New York Mets.  From the first time I realized I was a Mets fan in elementary school, I fell in love with their home field; Shea Stadium.  Each season, I would attend two to three games with my family, cheering on players from Mike Piazza to David Wright.  By the time I was 14, I knew that stadium like the back of my hand.  In 2006, when I heard the Mets would be tearing Shea Stadium down, it broke my heart.  Just 44 years after the opening of the stadium, it would be torn down and replaced by a newer, sponsored stadium called Citi Field.  Across town in the Bronx, the Yankees announced plans to demolish the 85-year-old house that Ruth built in favor of a new Yankee Stadium.  The old Yankee Stadium was almost twice as old as Shea.  In the same year, the New York Giants and New York Jets announced plans to destroy 34 year-old Giants Stadium.  The New Jersey Devils of the NHL moved to a new arena in Newark, NJ in 2007. But wait, that’s not it!  The New York Red Bull, who once called Giants Stadium home, just created their own soccer pitch across the Hudson River called Red Bull Arena.  And now, most recently, the New Jersey Nets broke ground last spring in Brooklyn starting the construction of their new home – the Barclays Arena.

If New York area sport doesn’t explain the epitome of unsustainability in sport today, I don’t know what does.  “The last 20 years has witnessed an explosion of professional sport and leisure activities, driven by consumers [with] more disposable income” (Hanna, and Moritz, 47).  This revenue has allowed teams to improve their franchises with new technology and stadium renovations.  Every sports team has torn down, or will eventually tear down their old homes in favor of newer, state-of-the-art stadia.  Some teams take the road less traveled and delay the inevitable as long as possible.  In Boston, the Red Sox are still playing in their 99-year-old stadium called Fenway Park.  In Chicago, the Cubs still play in their 95-year-old stadium, Wrigley Field.  And in Los Angeles, the LA Coliseum has hosted 12 different sports teams and two different summer Olympics since 1923.  So I must ask, was it really necessary to tear down all of the comparatively younger New York – New Jersey stadia?  

The old home of the Detriot Tigers of the MLB

“Sport and recreation organizations have traditionally attempted to construct functional and innovative facilities to meet the needs of patrons” (Gibson et al, 26).  By narrowly focusing on the customer, and on short-term objectives, we’ve created a mostly unsustainable industry.  The main goal of most teams is revenue generation.  Concessions are outsourced in order to provide the cheapest product to be sold at the highest price.  An obsession with revenue maximization has led to a search for the cheapest raw materials instead of the more sustainable raw materials.  Teams need to realize that a focus on sustainability in the long term will actually increase the bottom line of these sport businesses.  However, due to the comparatively high startup costs of going green, it’s taking too long for teams to become more sustainable. 

In international sport, countries battle it out to create the most favorable opportunity to host important competitions such as the Olympics.  Often, new, state-of-the-art stadia are drawn up from scratch in order to wow committee members from committees such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC).  Most recently, Qatar earned the right to host the World Cup in soccer by designing four new stadia to be built over the next few years.  The stadia include outdoor air conditioning, futuristic designs, and lots of raw materials needed to complete construction.  However, will these massive stadia ever be used again in a small country like Qatar after the World Cup is over?  This is one of the main sustainability issues in sport.  The high cost and large consumption rates of these stadia are clearly unsustainable.  After realizing this, some people asked, what can we do to change this? 

The abandoned Tiger Stadium in Detriot Michigan

A group of sport industry professionals audited the current sustainability practices in sport and came up with a suggestion.  We need to go green.  Some teams, such as my New York Mets, encourage use of mass transportation over driving to the game, but we need to do more, and it starts with the facilities.  The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification was created by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) in order to determine if a building was constructed with sustainability in mind (USGBC).  According to the USGBC website, LEED uses specific framework to analyze a structure based on energy efficiency, level of water usage, amount of carbon dioxide emitted, and the indoor air quality, among other categories.  LEED helps both residential and commercial building operators identify ways to improve their sustainability throughout the building’s lifecycle, from their original design to operations and maintenance (USGBC).  Applying these standards to sport structures will help initiate green building design in athletic stadia.  By doing this, sport organizations can create three possible benefits – conservation of natural resources, increased energy efficiency and water conservation, and an improved indoor environment.

Construction habits of the past often “consume large quantities of steel, wood, plastic, cardboard, paper, water, and other natural resources that unnecessarily lead to resource depletion” (Gibson et al, 26).  So when stadia are built for the World Cup in Qatar, they will consume large amounts of natural resources in order to host a three-week event.  Hopefully, Qatar has planned an intended use for the stadia after the World Cup is over.  Green construction habits encourage “the efficient use of natural resources” and the recycling of materials (Gibson, et al 26).  Old materials used in past construction should be utilized in order to conserve our natural resources.

Once the construction has ceased and the stadium is built, it’s important to implement energy efficient practices.  We need to realize that this can be done without renovating or rebuilding.  For example, my parents recently threw out all of the incandescent light bulbs in our house in favor of fluorescent, energy efficient light bulbs.  They last longer, use less energy, and serve the same purpose – it’s a no brainer.  “Improving energy efficiency and using renewable energy sources are effective ways to reduce the potential of energy supply interruptions, improve air quality, and reduce the impacts of global warming” (Gibson et al, 27).  For the sports teams that are worried about increasing their bottom line, “lowering utility expenses allows organizations to reap the financial benefits of sustainability on a continual basis” (Gibson et al, 27).  For example, when you go to a stadium, a lot of water is used.  Each concessionaire has access to a sink or hose of some sort.  Bathrooms are stocked with toilets – as many as the room can handle.  Inside bathrooms, sinks are sometimes left running.  Baseball fields are watered nightly and before practices and games.  Jerseys and equipment are washed after each practice and game.  The inclusion of entertainment in the sport industry has created pools, fountains, and waterfalls to accompany stadia.  With too much water being used, we should think long term to preserve the earth’s supply of this necessary resource.  Using “high-efficiency appliances and landscape water management systems” while recycling non-potable water for use in low flush toilets is one way to conserve water (Gibson et al, 27).  Any additional supporting signage telling customers to consider their ecological footprint could only be beneficial.

Lastly, “the purpose of a building is not only to provide shelter for its occupants, but also to provide an environment conductive to high performance of all intended occupant activities” (Gibson et al, 27).  Clean air will reduce diseases caused by dangerous materials used in construction. Formaldehyde, for example, is used in furniture and shelving despite the fact that it emits toxic gases.  “Choosing construction materials and interior finish products with zero or low emissions” reduces the impact of global warming and improves air quality (Gibson et al, 28).   By taking simple steps like using zero emission supplies in construction, you can create a safer environment for humans and our planet.   Overall, going green in the construction of sport stadia will be largely beneficial because it conserves natural resources while enhancing indoor air quality and saving money in the long term.

If we don’t consider the long term implications of current operations in sport, we will continue to deplete the resources of the very planet we live on.  Stadia in sport are often built for short term use – a very unsustainable practice.  Transportation methods including air and bus travel are extremely harmful towards the environment. “Given our present consumption rates, all known petroleum resources should be depleted by 2030” (Kirby).  How can we change our current living practices to avoid this situation?  Changing to become sustainable is a complete change in our lifestyle that cannot be accomplished by a lone individual.  Sport is a very powerful medium that has the ability to encourage change.  “In the US alone, the Sports Industry is seven times bigger than the Movie Industry and twice as big as the US Automotive Industry” (Hanna, and Eckehard, 47).  By building greener stadia, fans will be able to observe sustainable practices in daily life, which could inhibit change in their own life.  It’s necessary that we become more sustainable before we kill of all of the resources we depend on to survive.  Luckily, teams have now begun to make sustainability a goal of their organizations.  “Eighty percent of North American professional sports teams plan to increase their environmental sustainability programs… [and] are considering developing a sustainability plan with short-and long-term goals” (Sports Teams Embrace Sustainability).   

Works Cited

Gibson, Fred, Jeffrey Lloyd, Sonya Bain, and Derek Hottell. The Smart Journal. Spring 2008. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www.thesmartjournal.com/greenissues.pdf>.

Hanna, Keith and Eckehard, Moritz. “Sports Engineering and Sustainability.” Springer Link 47. Web. 24 February 2011.  <http://www.springerlink.com/content/t6188j814m6l2547/fulltext.pdf?

Kirby, A., BBC Website Article, April 2004 http ://news.bbc.co.uklllhi/sci/tech/3623549.stm

Old Tiger Stadium. Photograph. Detriot, MI. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1432/1468594225_924ca9e1b6.jpg>.

"Sports Teams Embrace Sustainability." Environmental Management & Energy News. 4 Feb. 2010. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www.environmentalleader.com/2010/02/04/sports-teams-embrace-sustainability/>.

Tiger Stadium. Photograph. Detroit, MI. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://americajr.us/pictures/IMG_3329.JPG>.

"USGBC: Intro - What LEED Is." USGBC: U.S. Green Building Council. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=1988>.