Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Sustainability in the City - Mercedes Chambers

             Recently I’ve noticed the efforts of sustainability in the metro area and I feel bad because the most I do to help sustain our earth is to use the same bag when I go to the grocery store.  I have recently read the article “The Company We Keep” which is in the Conspire “Green Revolution” magazine edition.  The author of the article, Lenore Yarger, expressed how she never thought much about sustainability until she met someone that used composting toilets.  She never thought much about them until she became adapted to being around them more and learned how helpful they are to the environment. 
                This story of Lenore and the composting toilets reminds me of an experience that I have had while living in the city.  I am from a rural town in Southeast Iowa where we have to drive everywhere to get to one point or another.  When I came out here I did not bring my car and I was having a hard time dealing with this.  I soon noticed that a ton of people in the Capitol Hill area walk to work or take the bus.   When I first started riding the bus I was very nervous, I did not know public transportation very well and was a little uncomfortable just not driving myself.  Soon I saw two young women who were about my age get on the bus.  I soon realized that just because I never really thought about taking the bus or walking, I just never was given the opportunity and it should not be scary.

                So similar to Lenore Yarger’s article “The Company We Keep” and the composting toilets (which she now owns) that just because an idea is new, should not be shut down completely, new experiences give us different outlooks and the company that we keep very much influence those outlooks.

No comments:

Post a Comment