4th Post: preservation of Mother Nature

Back in 1910, President Theodore Roosevelt stressed the importance of treating our natural resources well. He said that we must pass them on to the next generation improved -- not impaired.


On my walk this past Sunday afternoon, I realized how much this environmental ethics has affected me. Although most of the environmental problems cannot be solved, I have faith in humanity that eventually we can all get it right and work together to solve the problems of the world. As I realize now the current state of affairs, the world is disastrous and beginning its slow death. If we don't try to stop it, things will get very complicated for future generations.


Therefore, I've decided to take a career path in either environmental design or environmental engineering. I find myself extremely passionate about the environment, but the problem is what to do about all the problems we have caused.

Environmental engineers work toward that goal. They help cities and construction companies find ways to build that don’t damage the environment. They help to clean up environmental problems from the past. They work with factories so they pollute less. Environmental engineers do their part to make sure that the earth will be in good condition for those who live here tomorrow.


Not only that, but the fact that green jobs are careers of the future is also a bonus. While I was originally interested in environmental policy, I'm beginning to believe that environmental engineers are the actors of the policies made. As many problems continue to arise, the career paths we take must be relevant to our future that was once promising, and is now a threat. Eventually, people in office will understand the urgency of nature's cries and will be forced to change our destructive ways.


Because actions speak louder than words, I find myself extremely inspired by my lived ethics project and all it took was walking outside, admiring the scenery. It also provided me with an unexpected passion to save Mother Nature.


 I think i'll take Teddy up on that..

3rd post: Walking along the Rocky Mountains

Oceans, rivers, lakes and streams
Have all been touched by man
The poison floating out to sea
Now threatens life on land

Don’t go near the water
Ain’t it sad
What’s happened to the water
It’s going bad

“Don’t Go Near the Water” – The Beach Boys

Along with my lived ethics project in which I am learning the ethic of the land, I am also committing myself to individual exploration of the land. On my two-hour walk along the Rocky Mountains, I've noticed the destructive behavior of man.
Strolling through Monument Valley Park, you see various things. People, trees, pavement, gravel, grass. However, on my walk I noticed even more as I examined everything in sight. I noticed that most of the trees had been affected by man in one way or another, the grass drier in certain patches, and trash stuck below twigs and branches of sorts throughout the forest. After taking a second look at the pristine parks and recreational public areas we've created for ourselves, it reminded a lot about  While on my walk, I noticed all the trees and unfortunate state of the parks.

Here's a picture of a polluted park.

It's really sad that there is so much trash and pollution in the United states. Other countries seem to have a more peace and ease with the treatment of their environment, but for some reason Americans don't know how to appreciate the land from which they are from. Perhaps it's because time and development are moving so fast that there is no opportunity to even consider the history and ethic of the land.

Additionally, once one person litters, everybody thinks it's okay to do the same. Throwing trash is never okay, and there's never a good excuse. It's interesting how people may throw trash out of anger or 

Everyone has their fair share in littering, we've all done it at some point or another. But the actual effects it has on the planet are heartbreaking.

However, not only are our parks polluted, but also our oceans. In the northern Pacific Plastic Ocean, there is a subtropical gyre that is created by a high-pressure system of air currents. Along with the tiny phytoplankton that live there, the gyre is filled with millions of pounds of trash, most of it plastic. Being twice the size of Texas, it's the largest landfill in the world and floats in the middle of the ocean. 

Jellyfish tangled in trash.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located somewhere between San Francisco and Hawaii

Trash is an international dilemma. As I realize that there is trash locally, as well as in the middle of the Pacific, there is a huge task at hand and an even bigger question: who's responsible?

As countries leave the trash floating in the ocean, is it up to environmental organizations and people that care, to clean it up? All people that are human should care. 

Geology of the Pikes Peak Region

Some new facts I learned through research today about the Pikes Peak Region of Colorado:

• The Cave of the Winds in Manitou Springs is just one of the many Colorado natural wonders that started taking form more than 1.8 billion years ago
• Colorado geologic history shows the Pikes Peak area was covered by a vast, shallow sea. The sediments accumulated until they reached 40,000 feet. With time, chemical concretion, and pressure, they became sedimentary rock.
• During a period of orogeny (mountain-building), metamorphic rocks were formed. These rocks are called the Idaho Springs Formation and are located nearby in Idaho Springs, Colorado
• Orogeny refers to forces and events leading to a severe structural deformation of the Earth's crust due to the engagement of tectonic plates.

Works cited: "Colorado Springs Geology | Cave of the Winds Colorado Geologic History." Cave of the Winds | Colorado Springs, Colorado Attractions. 2007. Web. 09 Apr. 2011. <http://www.caveofthewinds.com/PikesPeakRegion.aspx>.

By learning of the fascinating geological history of Colorado Springs, I am captivated by the beauty of the collision of earth with ocean and how rewarding it is to be able to learn of such creations. To hear about the Cave of Winds and it's origins that date back to 500 million years ago leaves me dumbstruck. The land we inhabit is so old and has so much history behind it, which is reason enough to consider your relationship with it. People have roamed throughout the Earth, seeking out its treasures and marvels, but if not questioned where this earth originated and the value it once had to people long ago, then we learn of it's mysterious past and reliability people once had for the land.

Newfound Beauty

“The human heart is the first home of democracy.” –Terry Tempest Williams

In the midst of the State of the Rockies conferences, the motivational speaker and writer I enjoyed most was Terry Tempest Williams. Not only did she find importance in conservational efforts, but also discovered pure beauty in Mother Nature. Through exploration of the human relationship to culture and nature, Williams had a remarkable wit and marvel that struck me at first as monotonous. However, as I reflected on her written work as well as her speech, she instilled in me a newfound beauty and love for nature.

Throughout her articles “Groundtruthing” and “Engagement”, Williams possesses an attitude toward nature that is both problematic and uniquely significant. While she stresses that humans’ relationship to nature is definitive, she also begs the question of what we find important in our lives. As she describes certain regions of the Mid-western plains of the United States, she recognizes the fact that everybody, authors and citizens alike, establish not only a relationship with the land, but a sort of intimate connection in which we can better appreciate the environment in which we live.

For this reason, what we make of our relationship is completely up to us. Since nobody has the right to define what is "good" and what is "bad", Williams' method for finding beauty in the physical world and nothing else is essential to everyday people. 

Furthermore, political law should be relative to this relationship. How we legislate the land is highly problematic, and therefore will always be argumentative. However, with globalization on the rise, the largest concern with environmental practice is the enforcement of conventional limitations and general morality that will extract from  "Antiglobalization is not a slogan, it is a rigorous reconfiguration of democracy that places power and creativity back into the hands of villagers and townspeople, providing them with as many choice as possible.

Because of her wonderful achievements, Williams is the quintessential environmentalist as she questions where democracy comes from. Similarly, it's the one source that ought to control our own individual action among plants, animals, and other individuals. Through Williams, one can see honesty through our hearts; the truest source of purity. 

“Experiment in the Living”

“Nature’s darkness goes partly unreported, of course, and human brilliance is often perversely ignored. What is true is that man has power, literally beyond his comprehension, to destroy.” –Barry Lopez, “The American Geographies”

In order to bring my actions in closer alignment with my environmental values, an alteration of my lifestyle will take place and will be progressed here. Adjusting my present-day habits and patterns of behavior will also be reflected upon and learned from. Because I already possess fair personal habits of conserving energy and rarely consuming meat, for my project I plan to take a step in a different direction and rather observe and engage with the environment. In this personal practice I hope to gain more knowledge about my surroundings, analyze what is morally acceptable, and grow to develop solid habits in hopes that others will do the same.

In “The American Geographies”, an article by Barry Lopez, I learned of the importance in actually taking the time out to reflect on one’s own relationship with the environment, especially the geography of the land. By fiercely defending nature and all it’s beauty, Lopez embarks on a journey through America that leads him to have more respect and admiration for the land.

This article sparked inspiration in me to do the same. However, since I cannot travel the country, I will start locally in the Colorado Springs region by exploring certain fields of environmental science, beginning with the Springs’ unique geography, horticulture, ecology, and botany. After studying the Rockies, through written works as well as through personal engagement, I will set my own value system by evaluating the “ignorance of what makes them unique, by utilitarian attitudes, by failure to include them in the moral universe, and by brutal disregard.”

“Geography is knowledge that calls up something in the land we recognize and respond to. It gives us a sense of place and a sense of community.” This comfort is one that is ironically ignored by most of the population because since the discovery of the new world, “the country was defined according to dictates of Progress like Manisfest Destiny…which reflected a poor understanding of the physical lay of the land.” For this reason, my own lay of the land evaluation will reconstruct traditional morality through a process of reflection and explication.

Finally, after constructing a sort of moral righteousness, my success will be measured by whether or not my value system is one that can be easily adhered to. If others can do the same, through education and some sacrifice for the good of the Earth, then my new values will triumph over old ones. I have confidence that I will lead in the direction of a “greener” planet.