Chapter 6-8 Lauren Wirth

Chapter 6

Chapter six talked about the different types of advertisements that there are in the world. It also stated how the average individual  sees about three thousands ads in a given year. It is impossible for a typical human being in the developed world to avoid nature. However at the same time, it is also encouraging a detachment from the individual with nature. The chapter talked about four main advertisements. The first one being ‘nature as a backup’ which is the most common yet least studied type of ad. It’s idea is about animals as a link to cultural meaning. The second one was the Green Product, which is basically the products in the store that say “Green Clean” or something of that nature. However most of these products are only 10% recycled and 90% new product or future waste. The third advertisement was ‘Green Image’. These advertisers try to appear environmentally friendly, yet again this is not always the case. Who pays for the ad is how the ad will be portrayed but the company itself may not live up to what it is trying to sell. The fourth ad is the Environmental Advocacy, which pushes for a particular stance about the environment. These ads are usually controversial within society. The whole concept to this advertisement is that ads speak to an individuals emotions more so than the rational mind. Ads are used in a capitalists economy, and make it impossible for people to be detached from nature, but only through the prespective of who is selling the ad.

I personally did not care too much about the types of ads the chapter  talked about but I do appreciate the authors stance on how we are only seeing what is being portrayed through who is paying for the advertisement. It is true that companies are aware of the social awareness and consciousness that is happening in society involving the environment. Advertisers use this as a weapon to get people hooked in on their product. Trying to sell people on their emotions is a great way for a company to make a connection with the consumer.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 talked about the meaning of animals and how they play a pivotal role in our world. It talked about seven different types of ways people can be classified with how they perceive animals; humanistic, neutralists, moralistic, utilitarian, naturalists, ecologicalists, dominatistic, and a scruitionists.  It went into detail about how animals are the link between the human world and the ‘natural and wild’ world.

I personally really enjoyed this part of the book because every time I see an animal I feel a close connection to what is to be free. Animals live in a world very different from people but we all live on the same planet. They depend on us to preserve the environment so they can continue to survive. I think wild animals are the best resource we have to want to keep the environment safe and ensure its’ protection because we can identify with a living creature much more than an iceberg or river.

Chapter 8

Finally chapter eight hits the nail on the head with news media. It is similar to the advertisement chapter but goes into further detail on how the media plays a role into how society views social issues. The media itself is a social institution that is influenced by profit making businesses. What this means is that those in power, whether politically and or financially shape what is portrayed in the media and into our households.

I totally agree that humans get way to caught up in what is going on in the news and depend solely on the media for their information about any topic but especially the environment.  Mostly because we do not have the access or time to educate ourselves about the environment, so we take in what we hear through the media. However it is important for humans to separate what is being told on the media and what is actually happening. What may hurt a certain politician or major firm, even if it is true and vital information about the climate, weather, and thus the environment, we may never get the full story, or any story at all.

writing assignment # 7

After reading Gary Snyder’s “The place, the region, and the commons”, I began to think about a specific location I identify with as home. Growing up in New Jersey, I was not raised with a lot of immediate exposure to nature, but was lucky enough to have parents who are fairly interested in the outdoors. Besides spending most of my free time in the backyard as a young child, my family made frequent trips to visit my grandparents in the Poconos (Pennsylvania) or trips to upstate New York and Vermont to ski/hike. At a very young age, I remember by grandparents home in the forest of the Poconos sparking my first legitimate interest in nature. I vividly remember the long hikes through the woods and onto overlooking cliffs and to this day I believe I could find our favorite spots to stop for lunch.

However, as I got older trips to my grandparents house became less frequent and I began to find my outdoor/nature outlet in different locations. Going into my teen years my natural experience(s) were highlighted by summer trip to foreign countries or winter ski excursions to the northern Catskills. Although these trips took up no more than 1-3 weeks a year, each time I felt more and more ‘at home’ at these places and was able to identify with and recognize a larger area of forest/mountain/stream etc.. Although my fondness and comfortability with the east coast natural world continued to grow, it same came time for me to pick a college.

Throughout high school I had gone a few trips out west (Colorado and Utah) to ski, so when it came time to pick a school it was not long before I took interest in CU Boulder. Upon coming to visit the school/town, I was thrilled to discover the easy accessibility of so many natural wonders/activities. From Boulder I could be skiing world-class mountains, hiking Rocky Mountain National Park, climbing Eldorado Canyon etc. all within 2 hours or less. After visiting the school, I felt I had found a place where I could reconnect with nature, and do so over a prolonged period of time (not a couple of weeks a year).

In my 4th year at CU, I do feel as if I’ve developed a very lucky and special connection with nature. Each time I go hiking/skiing/climbing I feel at home in that natural setting, and look forward to the next time I can return. In my experience, home is not a place I can identify as a single location. I recognize home or a feeling of being at home whenever I encounter a serene or enjoyable natural setting, and feel just as comfortable there as any other natural location I have frequented.

As I grow older I continue to take with me past memories of natural experiences and add new natural encounters to my memory each week (if I’m lucky). However, recently I was able to return to the place which first ignited my connection with nature, my grandparents house in the Poconos. As I went through the same woods I used to hike as a kid, I was disappointed to see that my favorite natural spots had been converted into paved roads and two-story houses to accommodate a growing Pocono community. This trend continued as I have revisited past places (Skiing in Vermont) which are now vastly more inhabited and less natural than they were over a decade ago.

While I have been able to encounter many natural beauties throughout my time in college, it still disturbs me to think that these places could be subject to the same changes I have witnessed in my childhood natural locations. To hold onto connections with nature (that I identify with as home) I would like find a career that promotes environmental sustainability and helps reverse anthropocentric trends of natural exploitation.

 

-Richard Martoglio

Chapters 6-8 Summary- Peter Holzberger

Chapter 6

This chapter discusses the ways in which capitalist manufacturers use the environment as a tool to help sell their product. The chapter discusses multiple ways in which a company can incorporate the environment into its advertisements to intrigue a potential consumer. The most common way is to use nature as a backdrop to the advertisement. If a particular product seems to symbiotically exist with nature, the average consumer assumes that the product is somehow environmentally conscious. In case the connection between a product and the environment is too vague for a consumer, companies will use green images on their product to literally tell you how it is good for the environment. However, what a company puts on a label and what is actually happening behind closed doors has been proven to be very different, so Corbett asks her readers not to blindly accept what’s on the label. Corbett also discusses how advertising is the fuel to our capitalist economy, and with out it there would be no over consumption of material goods, because people would only seek out what they truly needed. Advertisements are layered in our culture, as evidenced by the fact that we are exposed to over 3000 advertisements a day. With this many advertisements it is no wonder that we subconsciously rely on them for cultural guidance of what to value. Unfortunately advertisements don’t generally guide us to not over consume, rather they ask us to indulge in our narcissism. One example of this is when companies show advertisements of humans conquering nature either by jogging it in new shoes, or driving over it in a new car. These ads are subliminally suggesting that nature is different from mankind, and that with the right tools we can dominate it.

Chapter 7

Animals are used in an array of ways by the human species. Whether it is the name of a car, or a label on your shirt, animals are used to express a particular emotion. The problem is that when pop culture teaches you and tells you how to interact and perceive animals, its neglects their inherent value and distorts their actual behavior. For instance, the wolf has been the mascot for evil for centuries, but there is nothing about a wolf that makes it more evil than any other species. It hunts and uses strategy to survive just like humans or any other animal, but for some reason mankind has deemed it unacceptable. Pop culture reinforces this malevolent idea through children’s stories and folklore resulting in adults who fear and despise wolfs. In the early 1900’s there were federal institutions whose priority was to kill wolves and coyotes to ensure the safety of humans. Later in the century people started to realize the irrational cruelness of this act and began associating wild animals, such as wolves and bears, with friendly anthropomorphic mascots of peace and preservation. The chapter discusses how the destiny of animals will depend solely on mankind’s subjective opinion of them, and if we don’t teach the inherent value of these creatures to children, the animals will have no chance at survival. Psychologists have determined that un-educated, poor, southern, urban citizens have the least regard for animals. They have also determined that much of this is due to the fact that most of these people have never interacted with animals in the wild, and do not truly understand and appreciate their inherent and aesthetic value. Another factor that influences human’s opinion of animals is their anthropomorphic features. When people attribute human qualities to animals it makes them more appealing and less threatening. At the end of the day, people cannot rely on what pop culture and rumors say about animals, rather they need to get out into the wild and truly experience the beauty for themselves.

Chapter 8

Mass media is a tool most people assume to be an objective messenger of important events. What many people do not realize is that the media is an employee of the mass social institution just as they are. Evidence to support the claim that news reports are a constructed version of social reality is that all the different news outlets generally have the same top stories. This is because those top stories, in some way or another, support a larger social institution that, indirectly or directly, funds mass media outlets. With out advertising, most media groups could not exist, so naturally these groups have incentive not to shit where they eat.  Many news outlets attempt to be fair and objective, often stating both sides of a story, or keeping the editorial section clearly separate from the top stories section. However, often times a phenomenon known as conditioned belief occurs where an institution has control of a reporter without that reporter even knowing it. For instance, when a reporter for Fox news is discussing a story about how mass corporations exploit natural resources, that reporter might be slightly biased in favor of the corporations because he or she works for one. That reporter might think they are being objective but through choice of language, use of metaphors, and selection of video clips, they might be subconsciously showing mass corporations in a good light.

As discussed in chapter 8, environmental news is ongoing and omnipresent, which bores the average American and their short attention span. Popular news is event driven, so often the only time environmental issues make it into the news is when they clearly affect a socially important institution like government policy or the economy. Most environmental activist groups do not have the funds to support news groups, so more often than not; the public is exposed to the values and stories of government officials or major institutions.

Reflection:

After reading these chapters it is apparent to me that our society views humanity and the environment as two separate entities. Nature is viewed as an exploitable tool used for monetary gain, and institutional influence. The media is probably the most influential factor that has created this narcissistic ideology that mankind currently holds over nature.  The media controls what the public hears, and therefore can control how humans interact with their environment. I do not mean to say that people in the media business are all irrational and cruel, but the public has to realize that they are drones of major social institutions just like the rest of society. Therefore, what you hear or see from your radio or television may not be the objective truth. On the flip side, if society didn’t have advertisements telling people they need to be more environmentally conscious, then how would anyone know?

Environment essay on “the place, the region, and the commons”

In The Practice of the Wild the author Gary Snyder defines Home as a deeply spiritual place of the spirit versus the ancestral use of the word “home” as being Europe or Asia. These places are ones to visit and appreciate as being foreign and unfamiliar territories. Being a non-native to Colorado, the next question from people is “where are you from?” Other than Colorado I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Thailand, Malaysia, Virginia and Maine. To go along with Snyder’s Home perspective, I would answer people by saying I’m from Maine. I have equal fond memories of being in each location of each different and uniquely descriptive landscapes having an indent on my spirit, but for that deep spiritual feeling-Maine will always win overall.

Both houses that I occupied in Maine had a vast landscape of forest just inches from my backdoor. In the first house, the endless woodlands stretched for miles and accompanied a snaking creek embedded a mile from the tree line. Being so young, I don’t have the memory of knowing if this place was either a private sector of land from one of my neighbors or a common land owned by a sector of government-either way I probably would have spent just as much time in there. By the time we moved to a new house a few miles down the road, I wasn’t too detached from the fact of going somewhere new. In the woods, there was always a new fallen tree with new forms of life growing out of it, or a family of rabbits hadn’t passed us yesterday, new fixations were always just around the corner. The new was never something that frightened me as a kid-partly from the fact of my grandmother teaching us of the local mushroom (she was a fungi biologist) and how different subgroups grew the farther you ventured into the forests-making it easier to know how far you were from the drier, open fields by our house.

According to Snyder, this knowledge of knowing about the local plants begins one’s feeling of being at home in a landscape. For me it taught me that by just finding patterns from any landscapes put you at ease in a new environment. You don’t need to be completely all knowing in the landscape to feel a peace of being in that place. Even though I do not have as much knowledge on the flora and fauna here in Colorado, I have a better sense of Home here than I ever did towards Maine. It could be the fact that, finding new obstacles in the woods brought me to where I am today to except what surrounds me and to use the creek as a simple guide through the thickness of uncertainty in life.

-Hannah Spaulding

Home

Shannon Anderes

I grew up in the Central Valley in California. Many refer to my hometown Fresno as the “armpit of California.” What those people don’t know is that I had the opportunity to ski every weekend and hour and a half away in the Sierra Nevadas. I was able to spend every summer in Shaver Lake where I could wakeboard, water-ski, and fish. I could look off the deck at night and see every light in the valley. Best of all, I could look up at the sky at night and see countless shooting stars. Call me crazy, but I would hardly call that the “armpit of California.” My favorite thing about growing up in the valley is how close everything is. I could drive to the beach for the weekend on a whim. I could leave for Tahoe after school and be there in time for dinner. Because I grew up in the Central Valley, I feel that I have had the access to travel across the state much easier than the rest of the states population.

My family has also had a huge impact on the way I see nature. My dad was on the US Ski Team so I have been skiing since I’ve been able to stand. I have had the opportunity to race all over California as well as Oregon and even on the glaciers in Canada during the summer months. Skiing has shaped the way I see nature and the appreciation I have for the environment.

Snyder describes how everyone has a different viewpoint on nature, based off of one’s background and how one was raised. Even though most people think that they can shape their relationship with nature, they fail to realize that their view of nature came from their childhood. Of course people can change to be the person that they want to be with nature, however their past has a very strong influence.

My oldest sister went to CU years ago, and as a freshman in high school I came to visit. After just one weekend in Boulder, I didn’t even want to look at any other school. This is where I saw myself and that was that. Because of my relationship with skiing and my childhood of going up to the mountains every single weekend in the winter, I needed to be near the mountains. I am someone who grew up outdoors as a child and needs variety. The other school I thought about attending was the University of California at Santa Barbara. Most people think I’m crazy for turning it down. I mean who doesn’t want to go school located on the beach? Me. I need seasons and I need space.  Colorado is the perfect fit for me and I couldn’t be any happier. The only thing missing is my family, who raised me to view nature the way that I do. After school, I have no idea where I’ll live, but I know one thing for sure; my viewpoint of nature will always remain the same.

Chapter 2 – Personal Reflection

Beau Bakley

Chapter 2 Personal Reflection

After reading Gary Snyder’s Practice of the Wind Chapter entitled The Place, The Region, and the Commons I grasped a stronger emotion and understanding of my surroundings. Throughout the chapter Snyder discusses the meaning of place, the tragedy of the commons, and perspectives of different bioregional areas. Linking all these together I felt a sense of meaning and existence in the large world that we live in.

Snyder begins the chapter with a complex definition of ‘place’. He defines home as where the hearth is, and this is exactly how I feel. When I am home, I can smell the home-cooking meals of my family, the aroma of the seasoned wood burning in the fire place, and that small distinct smell that only you know when you are home. Every time I walk in my front door I instantly get reminded of past childhood experiences, growing up, and routine customs I use to go accomplice every day. Snyder though enlightened me of the geographical aspect that I have found too much disregard for. When I think of home I do not necessarily think of the pines growing in my back yard, the lush fertile grass in my neighborhood, or the entire ecosystem that surrounds my hearth. I do feel compassion for my surroundings yet I view them in a different way, for instance the fence that goes around my yard is my territory if not more my dog Bourbon’s. I encompass all these entities that go into my property and shamefully leave neglect for the tremendous surrounding ‘place’ around me.

Snyder continues to describe the commons; their value, definition, and necessity. The commons are defined as “the undivided land belonging to the members of a local community as a whole” (Snyder 33). Yet, in today’s society this cannot truly happen, people become greedy and want to pasture one more cattle than the competition or cut down one more tree than the other. This is more-so the tragedy of the commons as defined by Hardin. The tragedy of the commons is a concept of greed, and I notice this everywhere. Darwin taught about survival of the fittest, every man for himself and only the strong survive. Naturally, humans will break code and attempt to get ahead of their fellow commons users and deplete the resources. I notice this when I see golf courses, many golf courses are on extremely valuable land (resource wise) yet, some group of investors and entrepreneurs enter the battle and pave lush grasses and neatly bedded sand traps for peoples entertainment and profit. The philosophy around this is that if I do not do it, someone else will. This is the truth; there will always be somebody else out there who wants to capitalize on a selfish opportunity. I find it very interesting to study the Native Americans and how resourceful they were. They utilized their land to the fullest, lived well, and had the most leisure time of anybody! Upon colonialism, we took all of this from them and pushed their tribes to undesirable locations (no resources, poor climate, etc).

The final segment of the chapter is entitled Bioregional Perspectives. The different regions we inhabit are “interpenetrating bodies in semi-simultaneous spaces” (Snyder 40). The different types of landforms, biotas, lakes, elevations, rivers, and streams all define the regional setting we live in. Here, I felt slightly dumbfounded with how well Snyder knew his geographical landscape and his touch with nature. Synder can relay locations from the landscape, the type of flora, the watersheds and places where “Alaska and Mexico meet” (Snyder 43). This is truly amazing yet, is this not something that everybody should know? I find this chapter as an eye-opener, a request to the readers to look around at your surrounds, embrace them, and become in harmony with them.

The feeling of Home- Alex Singer

Alex Singer

Gary Snyder’s, “The Place, the Region, and the Commons” really got me thinking about nature in my life. He talks about the significance that specific places in nature have in our lives. He discusses how nature plays a large factor in the places we call “home.” I am fortunate to be able to say that I have lived in the same area for most of my life. I have moved, but only within the same ten-mile radius of this little town called Los Gatos, CA. Although my home is in the city, I also have a cabin in North Lake Tahoe and my cabin is where I would rather spend my time.

When I was little I spent much of my time in parks and in my backyard, and I did not experience much of nature. When I was eleven years old my parents bought a house in Tahoe and since that day I would rather be spending my time up there. Tahoe is my closes connection to nature and it is also my second home. I connect Tahoe with much of my happier family memories with both family and friends. I have had the opportunity to learn about Tahoe’s history and how to “keep Tahoe blue.” I spent a lot of time learning about the lake and its beautiful crystal blue water. With help from my dad, I have participated in efforts to spread knowledge about fertilizer and muscles that enter the water and explain how this will ruin the beauty of the lake we all love. It was interesting to see how many people were not informed about the situation and the people who did not care. Even some of the local people thought that we were just making efforts to clean trash, not to inform people on irreversible damage being made to the lake.

Lake Tahoe is a “commons” of the region. Although it is regulated by the state, personal efforts need to be made in order to keep it clean. People launch their boats before getting them inspected and risk the chance of alien organisms entering and growing in the water. It is sad to me that so many people want to “keep Tahoe blue” but they are doing nothing to prevent it from turning green. Tahoe to me is a sense of home and beauty and I hope that someday my children will be able to feel the same sense as I did.

With Tahoe being a large part of my life, when I was deciding to go to college I wanted the same sense of nature so that I would feel at home. Boulder was the perfect substitute for what I was craving. With the flatirons and the feeling of being in nature, I knew that I could eventually call this place home and I do. When Synder discusses how we connect ourselves to “places” but cannot truly connect ourselves to one “home,” I feel that I connect myself to a place, and that place is my home. Although my physical home is in northern California in the middle of an urban area, my feeling of home is in a place where I can be myself and do what I love to do. The feeling of Boulder and the feeling of Tahoe turn my “places” into my “home.” I feel that if I could not find that sense of belonging outside of Tahoe, I would be back with my family making trips to Tahoe. Instead I found a beautiful town where I can live, grow. and learn about myself without feeling homesick. People connect themselves to places because that is where they feel comfortable enough to have their home.

Ch. 6-8 summaries and reflection

Shannon Anderes

Chapter 6 Summary

Chapter six explains the effect that the media and advertising puts on the natural world. The advertising world has such an impact on the way people view certain things. As mentioned in the chapter, “we are exposed to three thousands ads each day, we notice only eighty, and have some sort of reaction to only twelve.” This means that we are subconsciously receiving information even if we don’t realize it. The main types of ads that feature the environment are nature-as-backdrop, green product attributes, green image, and environmental advocacy.

Chapter 7 Summary

Chapter 7 describes how we communicate with nature in means of animals and how they shape our perspective. The pop culture industry created these messages about different animals and what they symbolize.  Corbett concludes that, “for many people, animals are the most tangible element of the larger environment and environmental issues; they many not care what happens to faraway forests, but they seem to care about the lynx living there. It makes sense that we tend to identify most closely with the living, breathing components of the natural world.”

Chapter 8 Summary

Chapter 8 explains how most of the public is unaware of the way news media works and how the public has “enormous expectations” for the media. Chapter 8 goes into detail about the process of news production, and the role of media in society. There is a big difference between reality and social reality. Most people believe what they hear or read in news media because it is credible; however, they fail to realize that, “any news report is a constructed version of social reality, a report that necessarily includes some facts and ignores others, and presents one version or frame of reality at the expense of another.”

Reflection

It amazes me how much we are influenced by the media about different viewpoints of nature. What is even more surprising is how biased the news media can be. It makes me question why I think the way I do about nature and how I came to this realization. Every human has a different interaction with nature, however the media influences the way this can be perceived. In my opinion, the mass media shouldn’t be a main component of different views on the environment because every station is different and skewed in some way. I believe that people should experience nature for themselves and base their viewpoint off of that. Advertising companies are selfish in this sense, however genius because if they advertise their product the way people want to hear or believe it, then they are going to be very successful, even though the common person gets manipulated.

Where is home?

Jordan Schleicher

WRTG 3020

Writing Assignment 7

 

The phrase “home is where the heart is,” did not derive out of the dust. It is true, as Snyder discusses, that people today no longer build their entire lives in one place. Then how is it that a home can be defined by an individual who has yet to truly experience a rooted community? Snyder adds to this phrase by expressing, “The heart of a place is the home, and the heart of a home is the firepit [sic], the hearth” (28). The hearth represents the center of a community where people gather to learn, connect, and inspire. This does provide someone with a place to be called home, but I believe that it takes sitting around multiple fire pits until adulthood to be able to find a home.

With my experience growing up in a city, then moving to the country, then changing high schools three times, then moving to college, and moving every summer to my summer job, I have yet to truly feel a connection so deeply rooted that I feel I can define a home. Nature provides for me a natural being in which I can explore, learn and grow. I feel that we spend our entire life growing and learning who we are from the places we have lived. From that we can then find our home. Snyder raises this notion by articulating, “Recollecting that we once lived in places is part of our contemporary self-rediscovery” (31).

As a child I found nature in my backyard in the city, within a ladybug I would catch, my dog I would walk, the trees I would climb. Moving to the country in Colorado I discovered mountains, forests, and snowboarding. College introduced me to the wonderful world of hiking and the social connection with other people nature could provide. At this stage in my life I began to understand the commons. Here I noticed a depletion of nature’s seclusion and a lack of appreciation that it deserves. Yes, recycling is good, but while you throw away that can of soda into its appropriate bin, did you take the time to notice the breeze and the butterfly?

It is my summer job that has caused me to grow in nature so much more. Working in Grand Teton National Park every summer amongst the grandeur of the rugged terrain, the peace of a moose and its offspring wading across a stream in the backcountry, the texture of the granite on my fingertips while I climb, and the seclusion I feel not only from people, but also in my mind. This is where I have grown up. This is my rediscovery.

From here I know the direction and the locations that I will feel a homely presence. Have I found a place to call home yet? This I cannot answer. I have many more places to live, learn, grow within myself and experience. I believe that nature provides for us a home, for some it may be a home defined by childhood memories running through fields, but for others it may be a future home that you have to mature into through nature.

The Places in my Life – Tom McNary

In the chapter “The Place, The Region, and the Commons”  Gary Snyder makes several interesting points about what home truly is to people, and how the natural environment they grew up in shapes their definition and interactions with nature.  This lead me to think about where I grew up.  Although I spent most of my time in Broomfield, CO; the best parts of my childhood took place in Winter Park, Colorado.  Snyder mentions in the chapter that people map out the neighborhood or area that they grew up in and the experiences they had when they were young, and can remember them much later on in life.  While I did play a lot outside and explored Broomfield somewhat, Winter Park is where I spent long hours tromping through the woods, not sure of what I was looking for but fascinated by the flora and fauna at that elevation.

While I enjoyed the environment I grew up in, I was oblivious to many of the dangers that threatened to change it.  Two events really helped change my opinion and coerced me to become more involved in learning about my environment.  The first event was the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic that is still plaguing the mountains today. At first, I could not understand why or how the trees could die as quickly as they were dying, or why people would let the trees die like that.  I later realized that this wasn’t a problem of the commons, it was a natural occurrence in the forest and realistically nothing could be done to make a significant impact.  The second event that shaped my relationship with nature was a small fire that started near where my parent’s cabin in Winter Park was located.  My family didn’t really know much about the fire, and I saw my childhood flashing before my eyes, as much of the territory I had memorized and grown to love could have been swept up by flames.  The fire ended up being put out a few days later without any significant damage, and it got me to thinking about how problems of the commons like the fire become a bigger issue when they threaten something humans own or their way of life.

When I was growing up I lived on the outskirts of Broomfield.  15 years ago there were nothing but plains and nature surrounding my neighborhood, now each plot of land is filled up with more and more clone-looking houses, and the only semblance of nature now is the bright green lawns of all the families that have moved into the new houses.  The most disappointing part for me is not entirely that all of this natural space is taken up by houses, but rather how quickly it took for humans to sweep in and fill the commons in my area with junk.  When I drive or walk around Broomfield and other towns in the Boulder Valley area I look at all the land and think that it all has its own price, and that people will not hesitate to use the land for all that it is worth and do very little to help maintain the land they are using.  Because I was sort of jaded by the housing developments in my hometown, CU Boulder was a very good place for me to go to school, as you can truly feel how different the culture is in Boulder.  Many factors that make Boulder great are directly relevant to the great people that live in this city and make the commons an excellent area for all to enjoy.  Much like the Native Americans mentioned in this chapter, many people in Boulder appreciate the beauty surrounding the town, and one truly great “commons area” can be found in the community garden on 19th and Grove.  The fact that there is an enormous garden that no one messes with in the middle of a Boulder neighborhood shows how much people appreciate nature in this town.

The most interesting point Snyder brings up is the lack of wildlife and nature left in England.  Because the English rose to the top at the time of the Colonial powers, many of their ideologies can be seen in their treatment of nature.  In England where land is a precious commodity, there are hardly any forests left and England has the least flora and fauna of all European countries.  Like the Native Americans who bonded with and epitomized their environment in America, the British can also identify with their environment.  However this identification centers more around the fact that the British used all that their commons have to offer, and once the land was done they moved on.  Many parts of America have adopted this wasteful relationship to nature, and it is hard not to in a consumer culture, but steps in the right direction in places like Boulder are what humans will rely on in the future.