Earth Day guest post with Elena Markovitz

My first ever guest on the stack! EEEK

Life? Or Theatre? Charlotte Salomon

Elena Markovitz is a Master’s student of Environmental Science & Policy at Northeastern University and my oldest friend. I met her at the beginning of her academic journey in pre-school!

When Elena offered to write this week’s weekly digs from the perspective of someone very in the weeds of all things environmental conservation, I knew it was a good idea.

I, myself, was the president of the environmental club at my high school, an active member of my college’s Surfrider Foundation, and a huge proponent of reducing clothing waste (read more on my post here). None of these things are credentials to truly speak on the state of environmental activism today. Enter Elena, our first-ever weekly digs guest author:

Hi, Elena! (says Claudia from California)

Hi, Claudia! (says Elena from Boston)

D- Doing

What to do when the Solution becomes the Problem

By the time I worked in a federal park as a seasonal educator, my dislike for plastic had already reached sky-high heights. Something about picking up peoples bottle caps, cigarette butts (which contain plastic, surprise!), take-out utensils, and plastic straws made me detest the product that was once heralded as The Sustainable Replacement for animal products. Yes, you read that right. In the early 1900s, elephants were being hunted for ivory, turtles for their shells, and large animals like whales for their bones. Plastic was originally created as a solution to stop harmful and destructive harvesting of animals for materials. It was supposed to be a technological innovation, an answer to a problem. Now, almost 100 years later, plastic itself has become The Problem.

So how did we get here? Much like many other times in human history, when industrialists found a cheap and easy solution that followed the path of least resistance, they ran with it. Not only was the Precautionary Principle completely cast aside in favor of the avenue of plastic production, it brought humans to the threshold of a major boundary: being able to synthetically fabricate our own materials. Over the last several decades (with the most major strides on an international cooperation scale being taken in the last 5ish years) people have started to realize that plastic is a serious problem. Not only for the trash that collects on the sides of roads or in the ocean, the microplastics showing up in human brains, or the endocrine-disrupting chemicals they release. No, the other part of the problem is that we have no way to get rid of it, and we have a lot to get rid of.

I- Interested In

What fascinates you about nature? I’ve always been obsessed with small movements in big places.

As a child, I spent a lot of time looking at the ground and underneath things. As an adult with a BS in biology, I now spend even more time staring at the ground and underneath things. The longer you stand still in one place, the more movement you’ll begin to notice around you. That’s something that has always fascinated me about nature, just how much life is going on at once in any given moment. This is what’s known as biodiversity, or the diversity of life that’s living in a certain place.

That’s one of the biggest things that's under threat right now. While I’m sure we’re all familiar with the Climate Crisis, the Biodiversity Crisis is something that follows behind like a sinister shadow. As the climate becomes more extreme and inhospitable to more and more life forms, more and more of them will go extinct. The small guys, like insects, small mammals, reptiles, and other organisms have a lower tolerance threshold for big changes in temperature, air quality, and water quality. These are the (sometimes) unseen heroes of our food chain, keeping our environments functioning with their ecosystem services. It’s also a threat to the very large animals, those that require certain amounts of food, space, and other resources to live their ginormous lives. They are the gatekeepers at the top of the food chain, making sure that everything is balanced beneath them. Much like a Jenga tower, the more blocks you start removing and the more pressure you add on top, the quicker the tower is to fall.

G- Getting

Getting back to the Earth, nature, and everything green.

Something that anyone coming out of the cold grips of winter will tell you (it’s been cold in Boston this year!) the second the sun comes out we all turn into plants. Turning my face towards the sun, feeling its warmth spread through my body, and basking in the light is the most basic thing that makes me feel connected to the natural world around me. In cities, green can be hard to come by. While urban greening has become a big push in a lot of areas, the quantity over the quality is something that falls by the wayside. Monocultures of one species of trees does not a forest make. Part of what makes nature nature is its diversity. The shades of greens, browns, and pops of color. The cacophony of sounds on a warm spring day. The very essence of movement happens because of all of the different things that are alive.

How does one define nature? This can be a tricky question to answer. As I write this, after a lecture, having this exact conversation. While I think nature is something predefined in a lot of people’s minds, it also has a very fluid existence. Finding out how you connect to and identify with nature is a key part of defining what nature means to you, and how you prioritize it. In finding out what you prioritize in nature, it can help cut through what seems like endless waves of environmental bad news. It can also help you find good news, and keeping a balance of what we need to work on v. what is going well is one of the best ways to stay sane.

S- Suggesting

What you can do at the individual (not the same tired tips you’ve had shoved down your throat) and the community level.

As a proud omnivore and chronic illness girly, I can’t sit here and say that the only way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and unsustainable meat farming practices is to stop eating meat entirely. While individuals absolutely matter, what also matters is individuals using their power to hold those responsible for their negative environmental actions. The only thing that I can recommend in truly good conscience and from any position of authority is to use your money wisely. I know it’s one more thing to think about in the never ending list of things to think about, but I urge you strongly to push it up the list. Consider the money you spend in grocery stores, farm stands, retailers, necessities. Shopping from smaller, local businesses, getting involved in your communities, and truly holding companies accountable to your values goes a long way.

One thing I started doing since moving to Boston was eliminating the use of paper towels in my home. At first it was definitely a bit difficult, not having the right amount of reusable towels, or some messes taking longer to clean up. But after a couple of weeks, it seemed completely routine. It helped me stay on top of laundry, has reduced the amount of trash I produce, and has saved me several hundred dollars in constantly buying rolls of Bounty. While taking the first steps toward a more low-carbon lifestyle, one of the biggest objections is often convenience. But in my opinion, being a little more thoughtful about what we use and consume in our day-to-day lives could do us all some good.