Writing Assignment 9 – Home is where the Heart is.

Bryn Morgan

Up to this point in my life, I’ve never realized how lucky I was to grow up in the environment that surrounded my hometown of Los Alamos, New Mexico. Shortly before the Cerro Grande fire in 2000, my dad took me on a hike through Water Canyon, in the Jemez Mountains. As a falconer, he pays special attention to birds of prey and has a keen eye for any traces of wildlife. It was through this hiking trip that I started to take interest in wildlife and nature. There were flowing rivers that seemed huge at the time, wild raspberries (which we snacked on the whole way there back), bird nests, and my first memory of fungi. I remember each of these vividly, and they have played an extremely important role in my current understanding and appreciation for the environment. A flowing river, in the state of New Mexico, is a pristine image. In a place where water is scarce, interaction with any kind of natural, free-flowing water gave me more joy than you could imagine. The same goes for rain; to this day, thunderstorms are my favorite kind of weather. Through this interaction with small streams and rivers, I have come to appreciate water in a unique way. I cringe when I see people leave the faucet on while they do dishes, brush their teeth, etc. I can’t help but think of that small stream in the middle of hundred of pine trees, and the entire forest fighting to survive the summer’s heat.  Of course, with the brutal sun of New Mexico also came wildfire. What started out as a controlled burn soon began to terrorize our mountains, and within a few weeks, our once beautifully green mountains were bald. I’ve hiked the same canyon since, and though it’s not as lush as I remember, it has reminded me of how powerful Mother Nature really is. Even in extreme adversity, our environment has figured out a way to regenerate. It starts small, with aspen trees poking up and oak brush covering the sparse patches, but hopefully by the end of my lifetime I will begin to see the hundred year old pines finding their way once again.

This particular hiking trip also made a large impact on the way I interact with different species of the environment. We spotted a few nests that day, and though my first instinct was to get as close as possible or even touch the nest, my dad taught me to respect the animal’s boundaries and keep my distance. He explained how the scent of a human’s touch could “offend” the birds, and they may not return to the nest. Not wanting to “offend” anyone, I made sure to watch from a distance and share my environment with the birds. Such a small deed seems miniscule in the grand scheme of things, but as I look back on this memory, it has a striking resemblance to our current situation with endangered species. With population exponentially growing, we are forcing more and more species out of their natural habitats. Once they have nowhere to go, extinction is the only option. If we could learn to look at things in the way my dad taught me, we would begin to understand that plants, animals, and bacteria do have value within themselves. They deserve to share a piece of our planet, and we should consider ourselves lucky to have them.  People take for granted how much joy the environment can give us. In an age where the environment is moving out to make room for technology, I can’t help but picture a grim future for the natural surroundings I grew up with. It’s time that human beings start recognizing the environment as a living, breathing, and receptive entity. Species on this planet have been stretched too thin, and it’s our duty recognize this fact, and work toward a symbiotic relationship.

Writing Assignment 6: Communicating Nature Ch. 6, 7 & 8

Bryn Morgan

Chapter 6 discusses the shallow coat of advertising that is aimed at creating a “pop culture” message. Through this, they sometimes use nonhuman, “earth friendly” qualities to make people feel better about what they’re buying. By appealing to emotions, advertisers can skip over the real facts, and prey on the buyers “sense of doing the right thing.” Ads use a variety of techniques to appeal to the buyer, but the overall intent is the same: creating a desire for products and equating consumption with status and happiness. They do this by influencing the social trends in place, and making people feel like they’re forced to keep up with the rest of society. As people see these ads and become further and further detached from the natural world, we can only see the gap between humans and nature widening.

Chapter 7 deals with the humanistic attitudes toward animals, and where they come from. In short, the way we think of animals has come from messages that the pop culture has served us (in my case, it was Disney movies). Through false depictions of animals, humans have inferred certain messages, experiences, and emotions toward animals. This chapter also discusses the human need for animals, and how we need some sort of mystery or wonder outside our culture. Additionally, our attitudes toward nature are subjective; meaning we think about ourselves first in the context about why we care about animals and which ones we care about most. We see certain human characteristics in animals, which forms attachments to some, and hatred towards others. Whatever the attitude may be, animals have a large presence in our lives (so much that we have zoos for the purpose of observing them), and in order to preserve the future of animals, we must mend our actions and feelings toward them.

Chapter 8 focuses on the role of news and media in society, and the real process behind how a story is found, created, and presented to the public. Through all this, chapter 8 remains adamant that, though the media should be partially credited for the current importance of environmental protection among Americans, we are unable to rely on them as a “watchdog” for the environment. Instead of invoking some sort of great environmental change, the media goes with the grain of the current social environment. Though we tend to think of media outlets as independent, the majority of their stories come from entities “seeking news coverage.” Therefore, environmental groups with less funding, often start out at a disadvantage. The target of media outlets is usually the dominant class in society, and therefore, there is a bias in the stories that are covered. There are also the issues of how a story is framed, whether it is event-driven, or whether or not there are economic constraints. In short, there are many layers underneath a news story. Due to several limiting factors, the media follows the dominant power structure and has to abide by their rules.

Reflection:

My frustration comes mostly from chapters 6 and 8. Though I find humanistic attitudes and emotions toward nature extremely important, I feel like they are very possible to change. Children grow up with a very shallow interpretation of the wild, and as individuals become more educated about the ecology of our planet, I think appreciation for all species will be more widely accepted. Chapters 6 and 8, however, leave me feeling very discouraged. The advertising business is extremely powerful (due to the monetary value behind them), and since they plays a pivotal role in our media, I feel like society will continue to be controlled and manipulated to think they way they want us to. Though we live in a “free” country with a capitalist market, I feel like the U.S. is more communist than I ever realized. Whoever has the thickest wallet seems to have the upper hand, and without a large majority of people to expose it, they will continue to. How does our society get the word out when every media outlet is eating from the hand of the ad industry?!

Chapter 2: A Spectrum of Environmental Ideologies

Bryn Morgan

Summary:

The second chapter deals with differing ideologies in the environmental world, and how to make sense of them. Corbett defines an environmental ideology as “a way of thinking about the natural world that a person uses to justify actions toward it.” These ideologies have endpoints that start with anthropocentric, and end with ecocentric. Corbett emphasizes the importance of distinguishing a person’s belief system, from what their actual behavior is because it the two do not necessarily go hand-in-hand.

Corbett starts with “Unrestrained Instrumentalism” to describe the gradient of environmental ideologies. Here, there is a belief that world revolves around humans, and the world’s resources are ripe for the picking. Nothing is limited, and humans are given priority above all else.  Next, is “conservationism,” which recognizes that there should be some effort to conserve resources for future generations. The idea of conservationism is still centralized around humans, and the desire to avoid damaging nature only for future human benefits. Thirdly, Corbett describes “preservationism” and its purpose to support conserving resources for future generations, as well as for reasons that “go beyond their purely instrumental value.” However, there is still some criticism found in preservationism and how it determines “value” of nature by a subjective human experience. A more progressive ideology, is the “ethics and values-driven” ideology. This moves toward giving non-human entities intrinsic value or inherent worth. So aside from how these entities benefit humans, they are intrinsic for themselves, by themselves. This ideology explains that humans need not a large role in the natural system of nature. Lastly, Corbett explains “transformative ideologies,” which question the dominant environmental ideologies and move to bring change in the social world. Corbett uses several examples to describe this ideology, including ecological sensibility, deep ecology, social ecology, ecofeminism, Native American ideologies, and Eastern traditions.

Corbett uses the ties between all these ideologies to illustrate the fact that there is indeed a place for humans within them, and the key is finding an interdependent relationship between humans and the larger biotic community.

Reflection:

Corbett did a really great job of creating ties between each ideology, and giving detailed descriptions of the progression from one to another. I like the fact that she points out how one ideology may start out sympathetic toward nature, but in the end it fails to be very progressive. It really makes me reconsider the whole “green” movement, and the motives behind it all. Is it just another marketing scam for companies to profit off of? Or do they really have intentions to save the environment? If they do have good intentions, are those intentions more about preserving resources for future generations, like Corbett talks about, or are they really for preserving the ecosystem itself? These questions started haunting me the minute I finished the second chapter. While I think the “green” movement has succeeded in bringing awareness to the situation, I don’t think it has questioned the dominant environmental ideologies and called for an extensive social change.

Writing Assignment 2

Bryn Morgan

Sam rode his new bike down the street. The bike was blue and had a shiny silver horn. Sam squeaked the horn as he passed each house. The squeaking soon began to disrupt his neighbor, Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith heard the squeaks and went outside to see what was going on. As she was walking outside, Sam rode past and crashed into her mailbox. “My mailbox! How will I ever receive the package I’m expecting?” Mrs. Smith exclaimed. Sam thought for a minute, and then pulled out a small parcel addressed to Mrs. Smith, “Here you go. I’m filling in for the mailman today.” Mrs. Smith abruptly took the package and asked Sam to refrain from using his the horn on his bike in the future. She went inside to open the package, only to find it was a birthday present for her son. Her son opened it and found a brand new, shiny horn for his bike. Mrs. Smith sighed and watched out the window as Sam rode down the street.

Writing Assignment 4: Haikus

Bryn Morgan

Blooming by adobe
calling me home
to the land of O’Keeffe

Stepping out
my spine prickles
winter, you win.

I wake with a shiver
Pull you in close
to shut out the frost