sustainability – art, design and social practice

trash___recyclable_plastic_bags

paper_and_cardboard___lint_ball

food_waste___clay_kitty_litter_and_cat_shit

recyclable_plastic_bottles___recyclable_glass_and_aluminum

composite:_a_week_of_waste

I began my project like most of us did, by looking at what areas of my life have the highest carbon output, and how I can go about reducing it.  One of the places that I do the most damage is the food I consume, so I decided to cut down my carbon output by planting a garden.  The plan I came up with is to start growing most of my own vegetables, and reduce the amount meat, dairy and packaged products I consume.  By doing this I would not only reduce the amount of high carbon products I was buying, but also reduce my driving, as I would need to visit the grocery store much less if most of my fresh food was grown at home.  I also took into account that I would be using more water to hydrate the plants, and more electricity for lighting and heating the seedlings.  According to this plan I would be able to reduce my carbon output by 4.4 tones per year!

…Only one problem, I live in the middle of the city!  I do have a small backyard, however, as a student I do not know how much longer I will be living here, and I will not be here in Baltimore over the summer to tent and harvest my garden.  Therefor, my garden would have to be movable and city friendly, so I decided to plant a windowsill farm!  

So I picked out my sunniest window, and……at first nothing happened.  I had jumped the gun on spring, and the little seeds I so carefully planted weren’t doing a thing.  About a week and a half ago I added a heat lamp and the weather started getting warmer…and a few days later I started getting sprouts!

….and how I imagine my garden developing in my home and perhaps beyond in the next months, maybe years..

Here are some really inspirational urban farm articles:

http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/initiatives/edibleestates/baltimore.html

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1816764,00.html?iid=fb_share

http://www.urbanfarming.org/

http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=11849

http://www.revivevictorygarden.org/

Sources:

Kill A Watt
CO2 emissions facts for electricity
Energy Information Administration – CO2 report for electricity
Some crazy website about saving electricity
Environmental Protection Agency – Measuring greenhouse gases for waste
EPA – Tools for Waste Assessment
Carbonify carbon calculator
Random water facts
Carbon Footprint calculator
Water and Global Warming
One Waste Water Treatment Plant’s Evaluation of Carbon Footprint
Shiva Casein (milk) Paints
Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company
Milk Paint Recipe

Helpful things:
Nearly any conversion you could ever need
Distances between cities
Waverly Farmers Market – fruits & veggies in season at the market

and Dave’s Garden!
http://davesgarden.com/guides/

CarbonFootprint (download)

This is my 1995 Nissan Maxima:

As a student from Mica, I generally have to go to school every day of the week. Because I live in Charles Village, this becomes an issue. I have to get to school somehow and it takes too long to walk back and forth from campus to my house everyday before and after class. Luckily, I do have a car, and everyday since I’ve lived in Charles Village I have driven myself to school. This is convenient, but not all entirely practical for my way of life, being a person concerned with having as little a carbon footprint as possible. If I were really going to be a cosientious person I wouldn’t drive to school. I would walk or ride a bike or do something to lessen my Carbon Footprint. Though it sounds trivial, over time the amount of gas I use and the amount of emissions I use to get to school everyday probably amount up to be fairly high. My contribution to America’s carbon emissions are probably not the highest compared to other commuters, but I probably manage to rack up emissions somehow. Transportation accounts for 67% of U.S. oil use—mainly in the form of gasoline. I have heard that avoiding 10 miles of driving every week can eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year. Sharing a ride with someone else even two days a week can reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 1,590 pounds per year.

When I do drive I try to keep some things in mind. I try to never drive more than 60 miles per hour, because at that point gas mileage drops rapidly. Hard breaking, rapid acceleration and speeding can lower your highway mileage 33% and city mileage 5%.

My goal is to have a change of lifestyle. I use my car to drive myself to school and back everyday. It’s just a quick jaunt on the highway, but instead of always feeling guilty for using my car so much, I will cut it off. I’m not saying that I won’t use my car when I need to, but for normal day-to-day trips to school, I will find other ways of getting there. Only unless there is no reason why I can’t manage to get to the place I need to go, I will not use my car.

By walking to 27^th and St. Paul, I can easily get to the John’s Hopkins’s shuttle. It’s a student bus, free to all students who use it. Some times of the day tend to be more frequented than others, but it tends to be just as constant as the public bus. It lets me off by Pen Station. From there I can walk up the hill to school in about 10 minutes tops, making my whole travel time about 30 minutes, including walking and waiting for the bus. And it’s free!

When I need to, I can also get on the Public Bus at the same location on St. Paul leading to downtown. The public bus is also reliable. By getting on either the 3 or the 11 buses, I can get from to Charles Village to Pen Station in less than 15 minutes. The only down side to the Public bus is that it costs $1.60, but compared to how much gas costs, it’s not that much of a loss.

On the way back up to Charles Village, I can take any of those buses from Pen Station back up on Charles Street.

By using rides and the bus, I am drastically lessening my overall carbon footprint. With just a little bit of extra time used to plan out the transit of my day, I can be at school in 30 or even 15 minutes. By lessening my footprint by hundreds of pounds a year, I will feel like I am doing my part towards a better Baltimore.

Here are some online resources for carpooling:

http://www.erideshare.com/

http://www.carpoolconnect.com/

http://www.carpoolworld.com/

http://www.carpoolmatchnw.org/

http://www.dividetheride.com/

http://www.icarpool.com/en/MainPage.aspx

http://www.carpoolcrew.com/

http://www.mtamaryland.com/

-Becca