IMPACT Issue 5: Sustainability, Spring 2015

ISSUE 5: SUSTAINABILITY | APRIL 2015

IMPACT MAGAZINE Our mission is to cultivate a culture of student involvement in social change and to bring awareness to the social impact activities of students, alumni, faculty, and organizations in our immediate and global community.

FOUNDERS & EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Valentina Raman Frances Starn MANAGING EDITOR Mayookha Mitra-Majumdar

CHIEF COPY EDITOR Emily Chen

PHOTOGRAHY EDITOR Connor Boyle

WRITERS

Svanika Balasubramanian, Kathryn DeWitt, Christine Hu, Anissa Lee, Melissa Lee, Naomi Pohl, Lisa Shmulyan, Aaron Wolff

COPY EDITORS

Sami Bronner, Jessica Hundly, Nicole Laczewski, Sola Park, Rebecca Pritzker, Dany Rifkin, Michael Stanton

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Dani Castillo, Konhee Chang, Angela Schwartz, Yuqi Zhang, Jason Lau. (Contributing)

DESIGN EDITOR Armaan Chandra

DESIGNERS

ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR Ciara Stein

BLOGGERS

FINANCE CHAIR Kathleen Zhou COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CHAIR Yousra Kandri MARKETING CHAIR Sandrine Nkuranga

Hannah Dardashti, Connie Fan, Taylor Nauden, Sarah Tang, Maia Yoshida

Grace Jemison, Grace Kirkpatrick, Nora Laberee, Morgan Sierra Snyder, Tess Speranza, Frances Starn

FINANCE TEAM

Elizabeth Peng, Chelsea Alexander-Taylor

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TEAM

Samantha Matthews, Elizabeth Peng, Gabriela Rodriguez

MARKETING TEAM

Jessica Abrams, Chelsea Alexander-Taylor, Karina Miranda, Shelly Shim, Evan Shor, Lindsey Stearns, Kelsey Williams

WEB & TECHNOLOGY TEAM Shaurya Dogra, Emma Hong, Karen Her SPECIAL PROJECTS COORDINATORS Jordan Huynh & Tyler Sullivan SPONSORS & AFFILIATIONS The Povich Fund for Journalism Programs at the Kelly Writers House Student Sustainability at Penn

LETTER FROM THE TEAM In the early days of civilization, we reaped as much as we sowed, creating only natural waste that fertilized the ground, seeking food and resources only as necessary. But with time, we evolved. We learned how to take from the Earth more efficiently, and soon, effortlessly and mindlessly. We’ve warmed our globe, dirtied our waters, destroyed other species—and our own.

Now, some humans are trying to teach us how to give to our planet, or at least save it from further exploitation. From the global water crisis to innovative transportation initiatives in Philadelphia, it is time for us to recognize both the impact that we have on our environment and the measures being taken to counterbalance it.

The recent referendum at Penn, launched by the student group Fossil Free Penn, revealed that nearly 83 percent of Penn’s student body that voted in the referendum believes that Penn should divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in cleaner energy sources. While it is still unclear if the referendum will make its way into university policy––it must yet pass six different levels of administrative approval––the results were a strong push from students to follow in the steps of other notable universities and develop policies that support sustainable investments and practices.

The sustainability landscape has certainly come a long way from the days of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. The pursuit of sustainability has expanded from simply understanding global warming to developing a responsible and aware approach to the world in every aspect of our lives. IMPACT is proud to introduce Issue 5: Sustainability, and add our voices on this crucial topic to the mix.

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SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE 05 08 10 12 14 16 20 22 26 28

Shades of Gray Sustainability in the Seafood World

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Christine Hu

Greening the Future Sustainability in West Philadelphia Schools

Railway Reborn The Philadelphia Rail Park

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Naomi Pohl

Anissa Lee

Principle & Practice The Spiritual Roots of Environmental Action

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Kathryn DeWitt

Student Sustainability Association at Penn A Parched Earth The Global Water Crisis

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Svanika Balasubramanian

A Sustainable Day In the Life of a Penn Student

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Armaan Chandra

City of Brotherly (Bike) Love |

Lisa Shmulyan

Spotlight Penn Faculty and Alumni in Sustainability

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Aaron Wolff

The Geopolitics of Climate Change |

Melissa Lee

SHADES OF GRAY: SUSTAINABILITY IN THE SEAFOOD WORLD Written by Christine Hu

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WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD?

80% of Americans who regularly consume seafood thought it was “important” that the seafood they bought was sustainably caught.

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t is seafood that has been sustainably caught, of course.

Sustainable seafood has been on environmentalists’ agendas for some time now, and it seems that ordinary Americans have caught on as well. According to a 2013 poll by the National Public Radio (NPR), 80 percent of Americans who regularly consume seafood thought it was “important” that the seafood they bought was sustainably caught. To meet this demand, industry players such as fisheries and retailers must be able to differentiate between sustainable and unsustainable seafood. But what exactly does “sustainable” mean?

For starters, the desire for seafood that is “sustainable” shows a need for change in the existing conditions of the industry. When we think about sustainability, “embedded in the word itself is an acknowledgement of the problem,” says Eliza Barclay, journalist and founder of the NPR food blog The Salt. And so, before we can define what “sustainable” is, we have to establish what it is not. This is something on which most people agree. Unsustainable fishing occurs when there is rapid depletion of a fish’s stocks, as we have seen with species such as the Bluefin tuna. Last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimated that the Pacific Bluefin tuna population had dipped to 40,000, or just 4 percent of its historical average. According to a 2006 Science journal article, if fishing rates continue at the current pace, the world’s fisheries will collapse by 2048.

Last year, NOAA estimated that the Pacific Bluefin tuna population had dipped to 40,000, or just 4% of its historical average.

“Unsustainable” can also refer to fishing methods.

Many common fishing methods can destroy the marine environment. Dredging, for example, involves dragging giant rakes along the seafloor to harvest bottomdwelling species such as scallops. This causes a loss of habitat and the disruption of ecological balance.

So what exactly is sustainable seafood? The Monterey Bay Aquarium defines sustainable seafood as “seafood from sources, whether fished or farmed, that can maintain or increase production without jeopardizing the structure and function of affected ecosystems.” This definition, while comprehensive, leaves considerable room for interpretation.

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WHO DEFINES “SUSTAINABLE”?

Spend some time at the seafood counter in a highend grocery store like Whole Foods and you’ll see a whole range of labels. One of these labels is “MSCcertified sustainable seafood.” Whole Foods is one of many food retailers that collaborates with the MSC, or Marine Stewardship Council, in deciding which products it should sell.

MSC’s website states, “By choosing MSC-labeled seafood, you reward fisheries that are committed to sustainable fishing practices.” Fisheries wishing to be MSC-certified must commit to three principles: ensuring sustainable fish stocks, minimizing environmental impact, and executing effective management. In practice, fisheries hire audit companies to evaluate their operations against the MSC Fisheries Assessment Methodology (FAM), which then submit their recommendations for promoting further compliance.

According to a 2013 report by NPR, the 170 MSCcertified fisheries represent 8 percent, or about $3 billion worth, of global catch––a significant proportion.

And yet, the MSC standard is far from universal. Many MSC-certified fisheries are certified with “conditions” which they are only required to meet after already having been certified. A 2013 paper titled “A Review of Formal Objections to Marine Stewardship Council Fisheries Certifications,” jointly authored by a number of environmentalists and academics, claims that the MSC’s principles are “too lenient and discretionary” and may be “misleading” to both consumers and conservationists.

Take the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, which assigns ratings to different seafood products––green for “best choice,” yellow for “good alternative,” and red for “avoid.” The Seafood Watch program’s sustainability criteria are fourfold, and take into account the fishery’s impact on the species in question, on other species, and on habitats and ecosystems, as well as effectiveness of management.

There are obvious similarities between the MSC and Seafood Watch criteria. However, the criteria are broad enough that in practice, a fishery certified by the MSC may not be “green-lit” by Seafood Watch. According to a 2013 Seafood Watch report, certification using the MSC’s methodology is equivalent to at least a “yellow” rating from Seafood Watch, but not necessarily higher.

The bottom line is that although there are guidelines, there is no single industry standard for what is sustainable.

Senior scientist at the NOAA-affiliated Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council Paul Dalzell says that these certification programs “can be misleading.”

“Some of the folks doing these evaluations are not very familiar with the fisheries they’re evaluating,” he says. “Fisheries are very complex operations.” Barclay agrees that the issue of certification can be contentious.

“There’s too many factors that might be at play, and it’s rare that the standards are all going to be met,” she says.

“Sometimes people are willing to settle.”

SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE

This discussion of sustainable fisheries leaves out an important part of the seafood industry––aquaculture.

Aquaculture is defined simply as the farming of fish or shellfish and may take place in ponds, rivers, lakes, or oceans. According to National Geographic, farmed seafood currently makes up half of the seafood we eat. Barclay believes that in a few decades, the figure could rise to 70 or 80 percent. “Aquaculture is going to become a much bigger industry,” she says. “We’ve got to figure out what sustainability means, but a lot of it is still very new.”

According to a World Resources Institute report, production of farmed fish will have to more than double by 2050 if it is to keep pace with demand. This rapid expansion in production comes with attendant environmental issues. Retired Penn biology professor Peter Petraitis points out that fish are sometimes kept at very high densities or fed antibiotics. This leads to water pollution with waste and chemicals, with resultant damage to marine ecosystems. “These problems are similar to the problems seen in raising chickens, pigs and cattle,” he says. Dave Jones, researcher and operations manager at the Aquaculture Innovation Center in Cape May, New Jersey, agrees. “The main concerns that seem to be associated with cultured seafood are safety and

quality,” he says, “[but] farming with environmentally responsible methods should also be a concern.” In recognition of this, Seafood Watch’s sustainability criteria for farmed seafood include a range of factors such as effluent, habitat, feed, and disease or pathogen interaction.

There is no single industry standard for what is sustainable.

In the future, aquaculture could change the seafood industry dramatically. “Right now, there seems to be room for both wild and cultured seafood,” says Jones.

“However, in the future these two technologies could become competitors for resources and markets.” As fisheries and farms begin to compete for space and other resources, sustainability may become harder to achieve.

WHAT’S A CONSUMER TO DO? As individuals, tackling an issue as big as “sustainable seafood” might seem daunting, but there are ways we can make more informed decisions about our consumption. When in doubt, we can avoid at-risk species such as the Pacific Bluefin tuna, Atlantic cod, and East Coast halibut. In the long term, businesses respond to economic incentives. If we as consumers signal that we want sustainable seafood, the industry will gradually shift towards more sustainable methods. That being said, defining “sustainable” is far from a black and white issue. Fisheries, retailers, watchdogs, and environmental groups are all motivated by different agendas and often arrive at different conclusions as a result. The next time you come across a “sustainable” logo on a seafood package, think about how that logo got there.

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GREENING THE FUTURE

SUSTAINABILITY IN WEST PHILADELPHIA SCHOOLS Written by Naomi Pohl

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hiladelphia’s Henry C. Lea School is full of character. A mural across the street from the school, located at 47th and Locust, reads “Beauty Community Unity” in orange letters. Ten-year-olds rush through the halls in their navy blue uniforms with mismatched socks and bright hair baubles. Two energetic boys play a quick game of tag as their teacher ushers them from room to room. In the classroom, the students are overflowing with questions: “How do they get the air bubbles in bubble wrap?” “How do starfish reproduce?” “Who discovered electricity?” While a few in-school programs are channeling this curiosity to engage students in sustainability education, these initiatives have largely taken a back seat in the face of systemic burdens.

THE STATE OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS Recent budget cuts have hit Philadelphia public schools hard, resulting in school closures, teacher displacement, and reduced extracurricular opportunities for students.

The School Reform Commission, which manages funding to the district, has shut down 31 of roughly 300 schools and laid off nearly a fifth of the 20,000 district employees as of November 2014.

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These cuts have disproportionately harmed schools that already struggle with existing challenges, such as Lea. Out of student body of 500, Lea has averaged 40 suspensions and 11 assaults and thefts (referred to as “serious incidents”) annually over the last three years. These challenges are similarly severe in other schools. Samuel B. Huey School, located at 52nd and Pine, has averaged 200 suspensions and 22 serious incidents annually out of a student body of 600.

SUSTAINABILITY TAKES A BACK SEAT

by the school’s management.” He is careful to clarify that this is due to lack of staff capacity and budget cuts, not policy.

Jones cites a generational gap as the root of the discrepancies between the school and the program. Administrators view environmental initiatives like recycling as financial responsibilities—things that they must do to avoid fines—while the students view them as moral necessities. Jones has seen firsthand how much the students care about sustainability, noting that his son will not even let him toss a plastic bottle in the trash. “All you have to do is put the program in place and support it, and the students will take leadership with it.”

Lea is one of the most progressive Philadelphia schools in terms of addressing sustainability issues. The school has had a garden for the past 14 years and a storm water collection system for the past five, which has minimized surface runoff from the building. Moreover, Lea has recently received about $380,000 in grants from the Philadelphia Water Department, Phildelphia Electric Company (PECO), West Philadelphia Coalition for Neighborhood Schools, and the surrounding community to fund its plans to build water gardens and hydroponic gardens within the next year. There is also talk of adding solar panels and creating a green roof. Baretta Massey, a general science teacher at Lea and the mastermind behind the school’s hydroponic garden, notes that the project may encourage students to think, “If I can grow these plants in my own home, what else can I do?”

This laundry list of problems leaves sustainability a nonpriority in local schools. “With the school district having so many tentacles that it’s working on, are they going to come ask schools why they’re not recycling?” asks Maurice Jones, president of the Lea Home and School Association and vice president of the Garden Court Community Association that serves the school’s neighborhood. While classrooms in the district do have recycling bins and each school is supposed to recycle, Jones says that the recycling is often placed with the trash.

Compounding the problem is the amount of waste in school lunches. “Everything is wrapped in plastic,” observes College senior Peter Waggonner, who becomes visibly frustrated when talking about the lack of effective sustainability education in West Philadelphia schools. While students take environmental science classes as part of a general science curriculum, they do not have opportunities to apply what they have learned to real-life situations.

“I hate giving excuses for why it isn’t happening,” says Waggoner. So two years ago, he founded Sustainability Fellows, an initiative through the Netter Center’s Moelis Access Science (MAS) program. Sustainability Fellows specifically works to bridge the gap between Penn students interested in promoting sustainability and West Philadelphia students who are the future of a sustainable earth. Each year, one or two Penn WHAT WE CAN DO students are paired with a school “Administrators view issues like recycling to teach an environmentalJones calls on Penn students as financial responsibilities—things that science-meets-sustainability to use their global experiences they must do or they will receive fines— class. Yet, the challenges to fuel positive change in while the students view them as moral in expanding sustainability West Philadelphia. Just having necessities.” education initiatives persist. As conversations and bouncing Waggonner explains, “It’s an ideas off of each other can overshadowed issue because it’s inspire the students to take on not something we’re going to impactful projects in their neighborhoods. Crespo has seen this see the effects of immediately.” inspiration in action: “[The students] know about sustainability, Sustainability Fellow and College sophomore Ashley Crespo but they just don’t realize it. As soon as you say ‘recycling’ they has also faced resistance to her sustainability education efforts go, ‘Oh yeah, when I go to this store they have a recycling bin,’ in her two years at Huey. Although she has obtained recycling and then they start to make the connections.” bins through the Netter Center to implement a recycling This is one of the goals of Sustainability Fellows, to program in Huey, she has not received full support from the facilitate the connection of student ideas and experiences to school to carry it through. environmental impact. Jones is also working to give students a “It’s difficult to tell the students, ‘This is what needs to greater voice at Lea, both for sustainability projects and other happen,’ and then not have the school cooperate,” she says, student interests. Referencing how a student-run pretzel sale lamenting how the school will not even allow the students currently raises about $100 a week for such activities, Jones to walk out to the curb to the recycling bins. Jones echoes affirms, “I always find that if you trust the students, they’ll Crespo’s concerns. “You get those catch-22s where a school handle it.” In short, give them the opportunity, and they’ll be program that’s run by the Netter Center isn’t totally supported greening the future.

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RAILWAY REBORN: THE PHILADELPHIA RAIL PARK

Written by Anissa Lee

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alk past the Reading Viaduct, the steel railway running through the heart of Philadelphia, and you will see remnants of the past: old advertisements promoting novelty items, faded indecipherable graffiti, dirty shoes, and used cigarettes. Catenaries––vertical steel structures that once transported electrical current from high wires to trains––surround the tracks, reminders of Philadelphia’s more industrial era. The mile-long stretch, which snakes through Philadelphia’s Callowhill and Chinatown neighborhoods, was created in 1893 to carry commuters and materials into Center City. The system operated for almost 100 years before it was shut down and abandoned in 1984 when the Center City Commuter Tunnel was opened.

However, there is hope for the abandoned railway: several groups are interested in converting this relic into a modern, sustainable park. The idea started in 2003 when a group of concerned neighbors met to discuss a lack of community space.

They soon became the Reading Viaduct Project, a non-profit community group devoted to the preservation and revitalization of the Viaduct. In 2010, another advocacy group called Friends of the Rail Park emerged on the Philadelphia recreation scene. Eager to connect cultural groups and neighborhoods around the city, the Friends of the Rail Park and the Reading Viaduct Project officially merged in October 2013, adopting the name of the former.

The Philadelphia Rail Park was inspired by New York City’s High Line, a roughly mile-and-a-half long park built on an elevated

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freight line in Manhattan’s West Side. Completed in 2014, the High Line passes by landmarks such as Chelsea Market and Tenth Avenue Square and attracts nearly 5 million visitors each year. Its concrete walkways, some of which rise hundreds of feet above ground, provide spectacular views of the city and the Hudson River.

Head architect Bryan Hanes and his team hope to incorporate aspects of the New York High Line into the Philadelphia Rail Park–– paved walkways, various stairway entrances, and eco-friendly spaces––that have served to make it a success in Manhattan.

Hanes points out that the Rail Park will have traditional urban characteristics––for example, park swings––that will make it distinct from the High Line in design and building materials. He says, “The finished surface of the material is intended to replicate what’s out there right now—groundwall from the old rail bed, big chunky pieces of wood that reflect the heritage of this place. It’s supposed to be more industrial and gritty, as opposed to the High Line, which is a little more manicured.” Visitors will be able to socialize in open areas and walk through the park, which will have

“It’s supposed to be more industrial and gritty, as opposed to the High Line, which is a little more manicured.”

a stunning 360-degree view of the Philadelphia skyline.

The completed Rail Park will serve as a public space for Philadelphia residents. During the planning process, Hanes and his team held several meetings to try and incorporate resident feedback into the park’s design. They found that there was an overwhelming desire for an open, sustainable area for community connections: “What we got from our conversations with neighborhoods was the fact that there’s not really any green space. Everyone lives in converted factories, warehouses… There’s no backyard, front lawn, no personal green-space.” Organizers hope that the park will serve as a sort of unifying green space for the population.

The Center City District was initially attracted to the project after it observed the opportunities for commercial and residential development that arose in areas surrounding New York’s High Line.

Over 30 percent of the land surrounding the current Reading Viaduct is undeveloped, and investors are excited by the area’s potential to become a racially diverse and mixed-income neighborhood.

Hanes sees the park as an opportunity to connect people: “... [the park] is a way to bring distinct communities together [and] to create a kind of social space to just hang out or talk with friends and watch the sunset. We’re trying to get people to come together and pay attention to the environment around them.”

Construction is expected to start this summer on phase one, with the transformation of a small section of the railway known as the SEPTA Spur, owned by the public transit agency. The segment, an earthen ramp less than a quarter-mile long, runs from North Broad to Noble Street, forming an elevated viaduct that

Over 30% of the land surrounding the Reading Viaduct is undeveloped, and investors are excited by the area’s potential to become a racially diverse and mixed-income neighborhood. extends south towards Callowhill. The entire project is expected to cost approximately $8.6 million. Although the city has already contributed $1.8 million from its capital budget and the state $3.5 million from its Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, both Hanes and park organizers know that the project will require additional funding in order to succeed. In an interview with news organization PlanPhilly, Friends of the Rail Park President Leah Murphy stated “Phase one is the beginning of a much larger scale project with transformative potential that will bring benefits to the city and its residents on a number of levels. This will only happen through both public and private support.” As anticipation regarding the Rail Park builds, organizers and volunteers are continuing to reach out to stakeholders to raise money for both the construction and the maintenance of the railway. While the cost still remains an obstacle for the park’s success, Hanes and his team are determined to see the park to completion. “We’re trying to create a park that will last for years, a place that people will call their own. It’s always a struggle to raise the money… but this is a project that we all believe in, so we’ll keep going.”

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PRINCIPLE & PRACTICE THE SPIRITUAL ROOTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION Written by Kathryn DeWitt

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housands of protestors march down the streets of New York City, holding up banners reading “Clean Air” and “Climate Justice.” Many boast custom-designed apparel that advocate for specific environmental policies. Some participants have traveled hundreds of miles, a testament to their dedication to environmentalism.

Why is there so much fervor about saving the earth?

Many environmentalists will point to the negative consequences of inaction, the idea of an equitable share of natural resources, and the fact that the earth is the place where we lead our lives. Although environmentalism is a secular movement, it also encompasses a key component of morality. For many, the source of that morality is religion.

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Although environmentalism is a secular movement, it also encompasses a key component of morality.

According to a Gallup Poll survey, about 82 percent of adult Americans identified with a religion in 2012. With such a large proportion of the population influenced by some form of spirituality as the presumed basis of morality, different religious beliefs result in different types of sustainability efforts.

THE ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS Christianity, Judaism, and Islam share the belief that the divine creation of the earth forms the basis for respecting and protecting it. For example, one of the core values of the Pearlstone Center, a conference and retreat center that aims to strengthen the Jewish community in the Chesapeake Bay area, is Shmirat Ha-Adamah. Pearlstone Center director Jakir Manela translates this from the Hebrew as “guarding the earth.” In the beginning of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), Adam’s role was to serve and protect the earth, which founded the basis of Shmirat Ha-Adamah.

The Pearlstone Center promotes this principle

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through a two-acre educational farm that provides food for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).

CSA shareholders pledge to take partial ownership of a farm and in return get the bounty of the harvest. The Pearlstone Center’s particular CSA program donates food to local food banks and shelters.

The Pearlstone Center also works to empower the Jewish community to take action against climate change by advocating for greener and more educated synagogues, Jewish groups, and schools. This twopronged approach, encompassing sustainable farming as well as advocacy for more energy-efficient Jewish buildings, exemplifies how the Pearlstone Center is forging a sustainable path through Shmirat HaAdamah.

The principle that the earth does not belong to humanity is common to Christianity as well. According to Psalms 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (New International Version). To honor and preserve the beauty of God’s creation, Christians are called upon to protect, nurture, and care for the environment.

Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) is a national Christian interdenominational group that calls on faith-based communities to tackle climate change as a moral issue.

The IPL of Pennsylvania—one of 40 state affiliates— works with Pennsylvania State University to provide energy assessments as well as education about climate change. IPL affiliates across the United States hold annual National Preach-Ins on Global Warming, during which congregations work for climate change by hosting various events, such as energy efficiency workshops and sermons on sustainability.

According to Islamic Foundation for Ecological and Environmental Sciences founder Fazlun Khalid, the combination of the Tawhid (unity), Fitra (creation), Mizan (balance), and Khalifa (responsibility) form the basis of Islamic environmentalism. These four principles establish that the earth is a gift from Allah and that the relationship between the Creator, creation, and humans is one of trusteeship. Since Muslims believe that the relationship between humans and creation has fallen out of balance, they strive to live in a way that encourages both inner and outer harmony with the creation bestowed upon them.

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Since Muslims believe that the relationship between humans and creation has fallen out of balance, they strive to live in a way that encourages both inner and outer harmony with the creation bestowed upon them.

THE EASTERN RELIGIONS According to Pankaj Jain, assistant professor of anthropology at University of North Texas and author of Sustenance and Sustainability: Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities, the framework of ahisma (nonviolence) is at the forefront of moral truth for Jains, Hindus, and Buddhists. One of the ways people apply this principle is by being vegetarians, thus reducing the harm inflicted on animals. Ahisma also relates to maintaining harmony with nature, and is crucial to accruing good karma.

In keeping with the Hindu emphasis on the interconnectedness of all lives and caring for the natural world, the Hindu American Foundation partnered with the Bhumi Project (an environmental initiative facilitated by the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies) to host the inaugural Hindu Environmental Week (HEW) in February of 2014. Focusing on the environmental degradation of Hindu holy sites in India in the course of yatras, or pilgrimages, the event highlighted the environmental challenges faced by these sites, and how visitors could reduce their own impact. In essence, it was a call to Hindus to find solutions within ancient teachings to address pressing environmental issues of our time.

AT PENN Native Americans come to mind when pondering the intersection between spirituality and environmentalism.

However, one cannot generalize Native American spirituality since there is no homogenous belief system, practice, or level of spirituality among the hundreds of North American tribes. Natives at Penn board member and College senior Austin Lara explains that this diversity of spiritual practices can range from “living off the land” to smaller and more personal forms of spirituality such as “carrying a little totem to class each day.” One commonality shared by many Natives at Penn students, though, is the practice of smudging, the burning of sage and other herbs to cleanse the energy in a person or place.

In comparison to other religions that promote the active preservation of the earth because it is a gift from

God, Native American traditions emphasize being one with the earth. College senior Caroline Kee, also a leader in Natives at Penn, explains, “I think there is a greater respect, appreciation, and integration of [the earth] into your religion when it is what you live off and what you rely on.” In the past, tribes lived out these principles by, for example, utilizing all parts of an animal or a plant to respect the life that was taken.

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In the past, tribes lived out these principles by, for example, utilizing all parts of an animal or a plant to respect the life that was taken.

In March 2014, Natives at Penn incorporated the environment into their club’s agenda by turning the overgrown lot behind the Greenfield Intercultural Center into a Lenape Garden, complete with trees, plants, and herbs that the Lenape tribe have used for centuries. The Lenape creation story involves arriving on a turtle’s back; to pay homage to this creation, the garden is in the shape of a turtle. Turning the unused land into a garden with cultural, spiritual, and environmental significance demonstrates the principle of using all resources to their full potential.

While some Penn student religious groups have held sustainability-themed events, few relate sustainability to spirituality in the manner that Natives at Penn does. University Chaplain Charles Howard attributes the lack of attention on the environment to three main factors. First, Penn student religious groups face high turnover in leadership; each year, different leaders have particular causes or intersections that they promote within their student groups. Second, some campus groups are struggling to maintain sufficient membership to hold weekly events, let alone environmental discussion panels or clean-ups.

Third, Howard points out that groups of currently and historically persecuted religions, such as Islam, are inclined to focus on surviving and advocating for their rights.

Regardless of the belief system, all religions are connected by their common concern for the earth, a concern that stems from their value for both human and animal life and commitment to creating a healthy future. The various practices of different spiritual and religious groups help protect nature in the form of lobbying, participating in green initiatives, and repurposing land for continued use. They are working in tandem to create small changes, one prayer, Om, and smudge at a time.

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STUDENT SUSTAINABILITY ASSOCIATION AT PENN

“The Student Sustainability Association at Penn (SSAP), an umbrella organization for 18 constituent environmental groups, organizes Green Week once a semester in coordination with its executive board. During this week, sustainability-minded students collaborate to host at least one event each weekday. GreenFest, the culminating event, showcases Penn’s environmental sustainability accomplishments and available opportunities at Penn.”

- Michael Shostek, CAS ‘15, President, SSAP Executive Board

AGATSTON URBAN NUTRITION INITIATIVE

“The Urban Nutrition Initiative is a program of the Netter Center that engages, educates and empowers youth, university students, and other community members to promote healthy lifestyles and build a just and sustainable food system in Philadelphia. Our primary programs include fruit stands, cooking crews, Rebel Ventures, and gardening crews.”

- Devon Greenwood, College ‘17

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERS & SCIENTISTS

“The American Academy of Environmental Engineers & Scientists at Penn strives to increase accessibility to preprofessional opportunities and events for students interested in environmental engineering, science, policy, and related fields. We hope to provide more information and opportunities for students interested in fields that may not traditionally be focused on here at Penn. We work through events including career information sessions, panels, and career fairs focused around environmental sustainability.”

-Aaron Guo, Wharton & Engineering, ‘17

EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE UNDERGRADUATE ADVISORY BOARD

“In the EES UAB, our goal is to enrich the experience of any undergraduates studying within our department and to reach out to those with a passion for the environment. Our monthly coffee hours and other events bring students and faculty together.”

- Jackson Pilutti, College ‘16

ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS

“We are a non-profit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide. Our goal is to improving quality of life through sustainable projects.”

- Nancy Fanh, Wharton & Engineering ‘17

FOSSIL FREE PENN

“Fossil Free Penn is a campaign that is asking Penn to take a more ethical and sustainable approach to investing its endowment. Specifically we are demanding that Penn divest from the fossil fuel industry and reinvest a portion of the divested funds into clean energy companies/projects.”

- Peter Thacher, College ‘17

JEWISH PENN ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP

“‘How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world’ (Anne Frank). The Jewish Penn Environmental Group (JPEG) is the only religious environmental group on campus. We believe that Jewish values endorse protecting our environment and instituting green practices. Our members seek to make changes toward a more sustainable environment both within our own community, Hillel (Steinhart Hall is the lowest-waste facility on campus!), and the greater Penn campus.”

- Alexandra Guttman, College ‘16

KELLY WRITERS HOUSE

“The Kelly Writers House provides an interesting challenge

in terms of thinking about sustainability on campus; we’re a nineteenth-century-era house taking modern efforts to reduce our carbon footprint and waste generally. We try to provide a space for people to learn about the practical considerations of “greening” a house, while engaging students and members of the community in more active sustainability programming.

Some past green programs include a literary bike tour of Philly and a compost give-away (pioneered by Jenny Chen), and a panel on the concept of “local” which featured locally sourced reception food (which I organized through funding from the KWH Kerry Prize).”

-Kenna O’Rourke, College ‘15

OIKOS PENN

“Oikos Penn is the first North American-based chapter of Oikos International, a student non-profit organization that seeks to promote sustainability in economics, management and business. Our vision is for all students to embrace sustainability as a guiding principle in their education and in their lives— starting now.”

- Jessica May Vickers, Liberal and Professional Studies ‘16

PENNCYCLE

“I’m really excited about this spring semester and the future of PennCycle. Our service is now more personalized and educationfocused to offer more support for students’ individual cycling needs. A really cool new feature to the service is that each user is introduced to their bike through a one-on-one session with one of our bike experts. This level of interaction with our users is important to building a strong presence on Penn’s campus and fostering a great campus wide cycling community.”

- Lauren Brunsdale, College ’17

PENN ECO-REPS

“Penn Eco-Reps seeks to integrate members of the Greek, athletic, and College House communities in the common goal of promoting sustainability throughout Penn’s campus.

By participating in events such as our annual ‘power down challenges’ as well as other events, we seek to engage the greater Penn population in altering its behavior to help combat the detrimental effects of climate change.”

- Grant Kleiser, College ‘17

PENN SUSTAINABILITY REVIEW

“Penn Sustainability Review (PSR) is Penn’s only sustainabilityfocused undergraduate publication. We publish once a semester on a whole range of environmental topics, and really want PSR to be a platform for students to exchange knowledge and perspectives on both local and global sustainability issues.

Remember to check out our newest issue on energy!”

- Emily Wei, Wharton ‘16

PENN VEGAN SOCIETY

“PVS is an academic organization that pursues the rigorous study and discussion of veganism as it relates to bioethics, environmental sustainability, and personal health. We work closely with Penn Dining and Penn administration in pursuit of this mission.”

- Brianna Krejci, College ‘17

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A PARCHED EARTH: THE GLOBAL WATER CRISIS Written by Svanika Balasubramanian THE SUSTANABILITY ISSUE / 17

I

t is quite possible that a tired Tyrannosaurus Rex bathed in the same water that you used to make your morning tea. In the 4.5 billion years that have passed since the birth of our planet, no species has ever had to worry about not having enough water to drink, excluding times of temporary drought.

So when statements like “Yemen could be the first country to run out of water,” are made loosely and repeatedly, what do they really mean?

Water covers three-fourths of the Earth’s surface. But 97 percent of this water contains salt compounds that render it undrinkable, and of the remaining 3 percent, two-thirds is locked away in ice caps and glaciers. The relatively little fresh water that is still left, trapped in soil or in underground aquifers, is all our 7.3 billion strong population has to work with. Add severe mismanagement of sewers and water treatment plants and barely regulated industrial pollution to the mix, and we have what the United Nations rather tamely calls a “Water Crisis.” For those planning to leave worries of water shortages to the future generations: the future is here.

Nearly 2 million people will die from a lack of safe drinking water this year alone. Cities across the world are struggling to cope with this growing threat.

Nearly 2 million people will die from a lack of safe drinking water this year alone.

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São Paulo, Brazil’s most populous city, is facing the worst drought in nearly a century with no end in sight. The main fresh water reservoir serving the state is at zero operating capacity. Water levels are so low that a town near the Jaguari River that was submerged in 1969 after being flooded during the construction of a dam has now reappeared. In a recent interview, Professor Decio Semensatto from the Federal University of São Paulo held Sabesp, a state owned water and waste management company, responsible for delaying response. The company took no discernible action to reduce the severity of the situation despite widespread drought forecasts since 2012. However, while Sabesp might not be doing the best it can to cope with the crisis, it is hardly the only guilty party. This ‘hydric collapse’ of a megacity is an example of how we humans are bringing about our own mishaps. Longterm deforestation of around 224,000 square miles of the Amazon Rainforest, unchecked greenhouse gas emissions, leaks and breakages in the water distribution system and complacency on the part of the government have all played a role in causing this predicament. Through predominantly human causes, 20 million people in a country with more than 12 percent of the Earth’s renewable fresh water are scrambling to find water to drink.

Roughly 6,957 miles away, Sana’a, the largest city in Yemen, runs the risk of becoming the first capital to run out of clean freshwater. The weak administrative power of the government makes the country especially vulnerable to overutilization of scarce water resources. Although the agricultural sector contributes to only 6 percent of the nation’s gross domestic

The Bishnumati River Photo by Francisco Anzola

product (GDP), it takes up 90 percent of the available fresh water. Half of this is used for the cultivation of “qat,” a mild narcotic plant chewed recreationally. Residents of Sana’a receive running water once every nine days, and in more rural areas, the number is as low as once every 45 days. Some residents receive no water at all and have to buy water from private vendors. With the groundwater a staggering 1,200 meters below the surface in some areas, the construction of wells offers little respite. In such cases where groundwater is hard to come by, desalination plants––large industrial units that make sea water suitable for drinking––are the primary recourse. However, even though Yemen is a coastal country with easy access to seawater, it does not have the financial capacity to build enough plants to sustain its burgeoning population. Therefore, in a very real sense, Yemenis could soon run out of drinking water.

Through predominantly human causes, 20 million people in a country with more than 12% of the Earth’s renewable fresh water are scrambling to find water to drink.

Another 4,192 miles northeast and we arrive at the heart of the Chinese “Cancer Villages.” The term surfaced a few years ago when journalists and activists discovered evidence of extremely high rates of cancer incidence concentrated in specific regions across China. Unearthed evidence shows that multiple water sources in these regions contain highly hazardous chemicals as a result of uncontrolled discharge of industrial waste products into the countryside. The unwitting consumption of the polluted water results in a very high likelihood of developing cancer. Deng Fei, a young Chinese activist, published a map highlighting 100 Cancer Villages in 2010. Today, academics suspect that a more realistic estimate would be upwards of 400 affected communities. A related report on a group of villages near Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi province, found that half the deaths over a 14-year period in the region was due to cancer. In the most affected areas, 81 percent of families have at least one cancer victim, and in the most unfortunate cases, entire families have been killed off by cancer.

Within China, 320 million people do not have access to clean drinking water, and 190 million of those are drinking water severely contaminated with possibly carcinogenic chemicals. In these Cancer Villages, the water table has not gone down, the rains have not failed, and the wells have not run dry. And yet, villagers face a catastrophic loss of clean, unpolluted drinking water.

Two major reasons––rapid population growth and the lack of effective state regulation to check industrial pollution–– make developing countries very susceptible to water stress.

However, the First World cannot escape the crisis either. In 2007, Orme, located in Marion County, Tennessee, became the first town in the United States to go dry. It now survives by

borrowing water from neighboring areas in Alabama. And by August of last year, 80 percent of California was declared to be in a state of “extreme or exceptional drought.” The threat of not having enough water to drink no longer looms in the distant future or in far-off countries––it is now, and it is here.

Letting things go unchanged runs the risk of widespread and unparalleled famine, rampant increase in water-borne diseases, and even armed conflicts between nations over water resources. The last major war over water was fought in Mesopotamia 4,500 years ago. But in 1995, World Bank Vice President Ismail Serageldin predicted that the “wars of the next century will be fought over water.” He was not exaggerating. The violent conflict in Darfur, Sudan, that began in 2003 and killed as many as 400,000 people, started, in part, over access to a diminishing water source. Closer to home, in 2007, an old dispute over water rights––which some call the Water War––flared once again between the states of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.

The next 15 years will see nearly half of the world’s population living in areas of high water stress. We, as a global community, need to take immediate preventive measures before the crisis becomes unmanageable. There are four main areas of growth that need to be addressed:

1

We need to forge better partnerships across all borders to make more effective use of existing water sources.

These partnerships must be extended to include dialogue with women and farmers at local levels. Water conservation and sanitation must be integrated into trade policies.

2

Numerous cities have water management infrastructures that are more than a century old. New investments must be made to upgrade these existing structures to suit current needs.

3

Feeding our growing population is responsible for around 70 percent of global water consumption. It takes 1,000 tons of water to grow one ton of grain. These intake levels can be reduced by adopting more efficient farming techniques like drip irrigation and encouraging the usage of genetically modified crops that require less water to grow. Additionally, food wastage must be drastically reduced. In 2010, roughly 133 billion pounds of food were wasted in the United States alone.

Decreasing this number reduces the demand for water.

4

Legislation on industrial pollution must be strengthened globally, especially in developing countries with derestricted environments. Furthermore, there needs to be a considerable amount of resources allocated to ensuring the implementation of such regulations.

No one water management plan will suit the diverse requirements of every country or city. The future of Earth’s water is inexplicably tied to geopolitical variability and global economic health. But with focused improvements, we can preserve what we have.

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A SUSTAINABLE DAY

IN THE LIFE OF A PENN STUDENT Written by Armaan Chandra

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CEILING LIGHTS 15 watts (CFL)

1

Turn them off before leaving your room.

Use natural light when possible. Working in daylight has been linked to higher productivity and less fatigue during study and work.

2

FLOOR LAMP 60 watts (Incadescent) Lighting makes up 11% of total energy use in a typical dorm room, with incandescent floor lamps accounting for the majorioty of this energy consumption. Replace incadescent bulbs with CFLs, which use about 75% less energy. The US could eliminate greenhouse gas emission equal to 800,000 cars if each household in the country replaced one incandescent bulb with a CFL bulb, according to Energy Star Turn it off when it’s not in use.

3

2

CEILING LIGHTS

FLOOR LAMP

3

FAN

FAN 15 watts A great way to save elecricity as compared to an A.C. Ideal for localized cooling in a small space, but their effectiveness really depends on the set point of the temperature control system.

4

CLOTHES 500 watts (Washing Machines) 400 watts (Dryer) Washing machines account for the greatest percentage of total energy consumed by a typical student. The average washing machine uses 41 gallons per load. Try decreasing the heat settings by selecting the ‘Bright Colors’ option on your machine: cold water will get your clothes just as clean and uses less energy because the water doesn’t need to be heated--a process that accounts for 90% of it’s energy usage. Make sure you have a full load of laundry before washing. Keep in mind that your purchases matter too: it takes 2636 gallons to make single pair of jeans.

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5

HEATER

4

CLOTHES

W

hen was the last time you binge watched an entire season of a show on Netflix? Or fell asleep with the lights on? Everyday occurences such as these can greatly impact the amount of energy we consume. In fact, according to data collected by Green Campus Partnerships, on average, a Penn student living on campus uses 7 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy a day. Find out more about the Green Living Program at www.upenn.edu/sustainability.

5

HEATER 7 watts Air conditioning and space heating used a total of 39% of residential electricity consumption in 2011. For every degree that the temperarure is raised, energy costs climb by 6%. In the winter, Set your thermostat to 68 degrees to help conserve energy. In the summer, consider using blinds or curtains to keep out the heat.

6

9

TV

6

Invest in a LED TV, which has significantly lower energy costs per year. Above all, switch off your TV when you’re not watching. It is often tempting to leave the TV on while doing other things, but remember that this comes at a cost.

Many appliances and chargers still consume energy when plugged in even when turned off or not charging. This “vampire electricity” accounts for 5-10% of residential electricity use in developed nations. Use a power strip to stop this wastage and unplug over breaks.

LAPTOP

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7

8

FRIDGE

TV 339 watts (Average Plasma)

PRINTER 8.9-15.2 watts Be aware of the power your appliance uses not only when it’s on but also when it’s off! Your printer, when idle, can use almost 60% of the energy it uses when active.

PRINTER 8

FRIDGE 33 Watts (Standard 4.5 cu) Refrigerators take up the greatest proportion of electricity in a typical form room at 80%. Buy appliances ‘Energy Star’ one to reduce energy use.

9

LAPTOP 25 watts These contribute 10% to the energy consumption of students at Penn.

Reduce electricity use by making use of the Power-Safe mode.

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CITY OF BROTHERLY (BIKE) LOVE Written by Lisa Shmulyan

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I

n 2012, about a third of the United States’ carbon dioxide emissions came from vehicles combusting gasoline and diesel. Given that over 25 percent of trips taken in the United States are shorter than a mile, and 50 percent are less than three miles, many people could easily turn to biking to reduce their own carbon footprint. Yet, according to estimates by the Alliance for Biking and Walking, biking accounts for only 1 percent of all trips taken in the United States. Mindful of these realities, biking initiatives in the City of Brotherly Love are working to promote this more sustainable form of transportation.

INDEGO: PHILADELPHIA’S BIKE SHARE Since emerging in Washington, D.C. in 2008, bike sharing has exploded in urban areas across the country. Dozens of cities have adopted programs that allow people to rent bikes for short trips. Bikes can be accessed at self-serve kiosks strategically positioned around the city. After arriving at a destination, users can drop off bikes at any nearby kiosk location. The density of stations is the key to success: there should be an accessible station at every point in the community.

After years of planning, Philadelphia’s own bike-sharing program, Indego, was unveiled in April of 2015. The program will launch bikes in two waves. First, 600 bikes and 60 stations will be introduced, concentrated mainly in Center City. Then, 650 more bikes and additional stations will be added to other areas of Philadelphia. Indego has payment options beyond credit cards, a decision aimed at removing a potential barrier for low-income participants. In most cases, the program will also be more affordable than owning a bike. According to Indego founder Russel Meddin: “When people realize that they can get around much faster on a bike than on a bus or a car, it will dawn on them that it is just a better way to get around.”

Meddin added that, “Everywhere that it’s been [implemented], bike sharing has increased biking. It’s not really intended for cyclists; it’s to bring people to cycling. This compels cities to make more bike lanes and encourages cars to be more conscious of bikers.” Bike-sharing programs can be found in cities in North America, Europe, South America, Asia, the Middle East, and Australia. Meddin commented, “Some may think that [biking share is] an East Coast liberal thing or a hipster thing, but [the bikes are] just a good way to get around. The ideal user is really anyone who needs to get from point A to point B.” Annual ridership for Indego is expected to start at 500,000 trips and grow to 2.5 million trips over the course of six years.

The density of stations is the key to success: there should be an accessible station at every point in the community.

PENNCYCLE Launched in the spring of 2012, PennCycle is Penn’s own form of a bike-sharing program. In the beginning, a text-in service allowed users to pick up and return a bike at any of seven hubs around campus. However, due to financial and structural problems, PennCycle switched to a long-term bike

rental service. Director of PennCycle and College junior Zoe Blickenderfer points out that, “With the Philadelphia Bike Share in mind, we…wanted [PennCycle] to serve as a complement and not as competition.” She says the program is now more personalized to individual users. Users can rent bikes that are tailored to their specifications. PennCycle also offers services beyond bike sharing, including instruction on hand signals and basic safety skills for city biking; group rides for groups of two to ten people; and tour groups, such as one that bikes along the Schuylkill River. Blickenderfer commented, “I think [biking] encourages people to go beyond the Penn bubble.

Biking is a good way to get people to go somewhere new on their own terms.”

“What’s really wonderful about bicycling over other forms of transportation is that you get to hear more, you get to smell more, you get to see more, and you’re part of what’s going on around you.”

THE BICYCLE COALITION OF PHILADELPHIA AND NEIGHBORHOOD BIKE WORKS In recognition of the environmental and health advantages of biking, the Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia, an organization dedicating to promoting “cycling advocacy, healthy living, and healthy transportation,” created Neighborhood Bike Works, a non-profit that offers youth programs on how to build and ride a bike. Executive Director of Neighborhood Bike Works Erin Decou explained, “The majority of youth that we serve come from low-income, minority neighborhoods.

We’re nurturing a community of non-traditional cyclists.”

Once students complete the basic courses, they can choose to become more involved by expanding their mechanic skills or becoming teachers in the programs. The programs aim to empower youth by building self-confidence and self-reliance.

DeCou said, “We do a lot of training around the bikes but our work goes much further than that. We’re talking about leadership, public speaking, and teaching skills.”

One way to support community biking is to donate an old bike to Neighborhood Bike Works. Decou says, “We’re always taking bikes, so if anyone has bikes in their dorm rooms or their garages, especially when they’re going back home for the summer, we’ll put them back into use. [This has] an impact on keeping bikes out of the waste stream, which is huge when you’re talking about sustainability in Philadelphia.”

This efficient reuse of bikes and bike parts is also reflected in Neighborhood Bike Works’ Earn-a-Bike program, where youth build refurbished bikes using parts that would have otherwise been discarded.

Biking builds sustainable communities: studies show that

areas that invest in biking infrastructure create new jobs, enjoy higher property values, attract more tourists, and decrease traffic congestion and commute times. A report released by the Alliance for Biking and Walking explained that biking benefits our health by improving strength and muscle tone, potentially increasing our life expectancy. It also allows us to experience more of our surroundings. Meddin commented, “What’s really wonderful about bicycling over other forms of transportation is that you get to hear more, you get to smell more, you get to see more, and you’re part of what’s going on around you.” Blickenderfer added, “You feel free when you’re biking, which I think is really empowering to a lot of people.”

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SPOTLIGHT:

PENN FACULTY AND ALUMNI IN SUSTAINABILITY Written by Aaron Wolff

T

he multitude of issues and practices that fall under the umbrella of sustainability engenders equally diverse approaches to the topic. Whether it is through research, academic programs, or personal projects, Penn student, faculty, and alumni are actively seeking to expand what it is to be sustainable.

FACULTY: BETHANY WIGGIN

P

enn associate professor of German and Director of the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities Bethany Wiggin, gives the impression of being intensely busy. At the end of an extensive email chain in which we scrambled to arrange a meeting time, we finally settled on five o’clock on a Friday afternoon. We met on the sixth floor of Van Pelt in the seminar room behind the Shakespeare Library overlooking Center City, just as the sun was beginning to set. Professor Wiggin radiated energy as she bombarded me with an avalanche of ideas, projects, and plans.

Wiggin received her Bachelor of Arts from Swarthmore College and her doctorate from the University of Minnesota.

Most of her work focuses on the early modern period and contemporary theoretical topics like transnational literature, multilingualism, and sex and gender studies. Wiggin is also Director of the Penn Program in the Environmental Humanities (PPEH). PPEH’s manifesto describes it as “a collective of scholars, students, artists, scientists, and educators whose mission is to generate local and global awareness and engagement in the emergent area of the environmental humanities.” PPEH was inspired by a class entitled “Sustainability and Utopia,” taught by Wiggin in the spring of 2013. The class brought together students from a variety of majors. Wiggin appreciated the interdisciplinary perspective that the class fostered and so, with current Wharton junior Leah Davidson, decided to found a program, “to create a fresh and unique forum for work on environmental issues.”

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The idea of a program dedicated to “environmental humanities” might sound strange to some, but during our conversation, Wiggin stressed the importance of the humanities in understanding and solving environmental issues. “What scientists have understood,” she said, “is we cannot think of the world as distinct from humanities because we humans are changing the world so drastically.” Because we live during the Anthropocene, defined as an “era of geological time during which human activity is considered to be the dominant influence on the environment, climate, and ecology of the earth,” Wiggin insisted on the need to understand humanity to further understand the world. She bemoaned the separation of the academic curriculum into sciences and humanities and suggested that we need to develop new modes of thinking that bring the two together.

Humanists, for example, need to talk to scientists and understand basic earth science. “I think it’s almost an ethical obligation to understand the basic way the world works,” she said. However, it is not enough to understand the science to advance sustainable practices. In order to change the way people relate to the world, there must be a change in culture, so the humanities have “an incredibly important role to play.”

Wiggin is just one of many academics thinking about the role of the humanities in the quest for sustainability. Her ideas hint at a new trajectory for the way we think about the world we inhabit and give new meaning to the role of the humanities in the age of science.

ALUMNUS: DOUGLAS MILLER

D

“It’s almost an ethical obligation to understand the basic way the world works.”

Miller currently works to “transform global energy use” at the Rocky Mountain Institute

ouglas Miller, a 2012 College graduate, arrived at Penn with a plan. His dedication to sustainability began freshman year of high school in Baltimore. That year, Miller took an Environmental Studies class that included a project on sustainability. His project was on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, a green building standard, and he was impressed with both the economic and environmental aspects of the certification.

Miller’s high school interest became a passion and a career. At Penn, he majored in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) and minored in Environmental Studies. He focused on globalization and tried to apply insights from behavioral economics and game theory to environmental issues. As a sophomore, Miller founded Green Acorn Business Certification and Eco Consulting, a Penn student group “committed to helping local businesses become sustainable, and rewarding those that meet a higher standard in environmental responsibility.” Green Acorn provides free advertising and certifies businesses that meet certain green standards.

“Get to know one professor a semester,” he told me, claiming that this was one of the best pieces of advice for college he received. Following this advice, he got to know Cristina Bicchieri, the Sascha Jane Patterson Harvie Professor of Social Thought and Comparative Ethics. He discussed his interests with her, and she helped him secure a research position at the University of Oxford for the summer after his junior year, where he researched different ways to present information to consumers to motivate greener purchasing habits.

Miller graduated from Penn in 2012 summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and with multiple departmental honors.

He went on to get his Master of Science (MSc) at Imperial College London in Environmental Technology, Environmental Economics & Policy Option. His Master’s thesis was entitled “Behavioral Opportunities for Energy Savings in Office Buildings: A London Field Experiment.” His thesis concluded that “making public commitments and comparing one person’s behavior with those of others significantly increases people’s adoption of energy-saving behaviors.”

Miller is currently an associate at the Rocky Mountain Institute, “an independent, non-partisan nonprofit that drives the efficient and restorative use of resources,” according to their website. As Miller put it, he works to “transform global energy use through energy efficiency and renewables using market solutions.” He now focuses on accelerating investment in energy-efficient real estate and encouraging bolder urban sustainability plans. Miller is a paradigmatic example of a Penn alumnus devoted to his passion and committed to making an impact in the realm of sustainability.

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THE GEOPOLITICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE Written by Melissa Lee

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O

n April 22, 1970, Penn students and faculty participated alongside the rest of the country in its very first Earth Day. The creation of this day is considered a turning point in environmental consciousness in the United States, and was followed by the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. Forty-five years later, environmental care and conservation has become a priority for international leaders that have accepted global warming as an alarming issue for this generation and those to come. With atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases increasing steadily each year and higher temperatures melting the ice caps, the question arises: What implications does this have for global geopolitics, and how can the world work together to combat potential turmoil?

THE WORLD SCENE According to the The Atlantic’s Gregg Easterbrook, melting ice sheets may prompt countries to explore new open waters for oil, which could give northern countries greater economic advantages. Nations, such as the United States, Canada, and Greenland, could also capitalize on rising water levels to develop new trade and shipping routes. Differing access to coveted resources due to climate change could widen the economic gap between developing and developed nations. Developing nations have accounted for about half of global greenhouse gas emissions in recent years, but may also face greater economic and political difficulties with climate change. The 2015 Climate Change Vulnerability Index by Verisk Maplecroft (a global risk and strategic consulting firm) named Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, India, and 29 additional countries as nations at “extreme risk” of severe negative consequences of climate change. All these nations possess, to some degree, agriculture-based economies, impoverished living conditions, and political instability.

Since most Middle Eastern economies rely heavily on oil and the region is naturally dry, Easterbrook specifically suggests that the Middle East may have to reevaluate its global relationships with northern countries as a result of climate change. In a region fraught with the uncertainty that has accompanied the volatile shifts in its recent history, global warming could threaten an already limited supply of resources and exacerbate dangerous living conditions.

To begin to answer questions on how to avoid global warming’s harmful impact on the international landscape, the United Nations Climate Summit met on December 14, 2014. Representatives from 194 countries gathered in Peru to discuss a new global climate plan, which called for a reduction in

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greenhouse gas emissions and support for countries that fall victim to the most drastic effects of climate change. While the existence of a global Climate Summit speaks to the legitimization of global warming as a threat with serious implications, it is imperative that the international community comes to an agreement going forward to present a truly unified front against climate change.

THE LOCAL ARENA Change is not limited to high-powered leaders and government officials. Local initiatives have the advantage of being able to reach individual people and foster interaction between them. In 2007, President Amy Gutmann signed the President’s Climate Commitment, which created the Green Campus Partnership—the umbrella organization dedicated to sustainability planning and policy development at Penn, as well as programs and initiatives for a more sustainable campus. This initial commitment to combatting climate change eventually led to the launch of Penn’s first Climate Action Plan in 2009.

Much progress, however, can also be attributed to student proactivity. According to Julian Goresko, sustainability associate at the Green Campus Partnership, students continue to “push the institution to make a formal commitment to where we are now in terms of a climate action plan.” Green initiatives have seen rapid growth and success through engagement of students, faculty, and the community.

University Architect David Hollenberg emphasized that “the bottom-up energy that students bring” is just as crucial to the success of these initiatives as the upper-level leadership support. Eco-Reps, grants for environmental research and projects, and student campaigns and competitions (such as the Power Down Challenge) are among the plethora of ways that students, faculty, and staff are uniting to generate awareness and participation in sustainable efforts at Penn.

A century and a half’s worth of industrialization has culminated in the increased burning of fossil fuels, a general rise in greenhouse gas emissions, and the realization that global warming is a major concern.

Evidence of climate change is everywhere—in the air we breathe, the energy we use, and the erratic weather we observe. It has become well established that the greenhouse effect is the main force behind climate change. Combatting the effects of climate change requires patience and cooperation; it is up to us to craft the solutions of the future and restore the earth to a vibrant, healthy, and sustainable condition for the next generation.

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