Portland Couple Exemplary Success at Sustainable Living

It is certainly a Portland mindset to think of a successful mode of living to live Green and often modestly. Right here in our own city we are starting to encourage green living by offering more modes of green and sustainable living. One such example is this couple of the Portland area who took this idea and made a home based on the idea of simple and sustainable living. Right here in our own backyard. 

They wanted to live in the most simple mode possible, also as in sync with nature and sustainably as possible.  Some of the ways that they did this was to construct  a space which was just big enough for living, specifically a 704 sq ft home. Without the superfluous need for extra closets or bathrooms they decided to have something that served its purpose at its simplest form would be a way to encourage green living and energy saving. Some of the things that the house has is a green roof,  a storm water barrel with permeable pavers, and a rain garden. They received a grant for 9,000 that the city awarded them for the green roof which helped offset the cost of construction. The other amenities which come to be apart of the luxury of having a smaller space which uses less resources and save them money with tax breaks but also with the reduced use of resources that are costly as well as a depletion on the environment.

They are most excited about the money they will save by this mode of sustainable living. While the two of them have higher education ambitions, they are looking forward to using the money for their future development. 

They are proud of their energy saving performance and the idea of simplistic green living which is right here in our backyard. The couple also notes that they love when people in the neighborhood stop by to admire and understand the place, if you find yourself in the neighborhood stop and say hello!

Read more here

 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/garden/freedom-in-704-square-feet.html?_r=0

Food, Inc.

Food, Inc. is a great documentary about the food industry in this country. It highlights the wrongs, injustices, and shocking facts about the way it's run and what it does to our bodies and our environment. The major food industry is full of opportunities for health risks. Watching this film was extremely eye opening for me and as hard as it was to watch I'm very glad that I made myself sit through the whole thing. Watching the way that the animals are treated was devastating while at the same time seeing the way they handle the food through assembly lines and through the whole production process did nothing but make me sick. It really made me realize all of the benefits of buying from farmers markets and from local farms that i know don't deal with major corporations and farm the good old fashioned way. I recommend that anyone who hasn't seen this documentary check it out! Food, Inc. directed by Robert Kenners.

Advocating Against The Source

            Food Inc. (2008) is a documentary film on the farm and food producing methods of the 21^st century. I had first seen this film my freshman year of college in 2010, but had not taken the time to consider the thoughts presented in the film until taking this course. The documentary displays many stories of real people who have had encounters, bad and good experiences, as well as interviews with actual farmers. The stories in the documentary include force feeding animals to mass produce product, poor care and malnutrition of farm animals, and a tragic food poisoning incident with a young toddler boy and what his family has done to fight the system. This film as directed my attention towards these topics and has motivated me to investigate them further in hopes of coming to a self-realization of caring more about what I put into my own body and what I am helping promote by purchasing certain foods and products. A synopsis of the documentary film can be found at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1286537/

            The care and poor nutrition farm animals endeavor is a matter that I decided to look into further as the other stories from the documentary typically occurred from the way that the animals were fed and treated. An advocacy group has created a webpage titled stopforcefeeding.com to educate and inform the public on the serious topic of malnutrition for farm animals. Corporately ran farms force feed animals to mass produce the products they supply for fast food restaurants that in turn is fed to our families and friends and leaves a horrible imprint on our own health.

            Another major concern with force feeding animals and the stopforcefeeding.com website is the treatment of mallard ducks and the production of foie gras. The attention is on a particular Foie Gras production farm known as Hudson Valley that the previously noted advocacy website is directing their time towards. Not only do they exploit and abuse the ducks on the farm but they also have been caught with over 300 undocumented workers who actual live in labor camps there.

            After researching briefly on the topics above I have seen correlations to our course textbook when Gardner (2006) describes “changing one’s own mind” (173). By not paying attention or caring more about the purchases I make and feed my body not only put me at a higher health risk but it also promotes a farm or company that abuses animal cruelty and labor rights. Gardner speaks of interpersonal intelligence and describes this as “the part of our intellectual equipment that is engaged in understanding and motivating other people” (178). When others see us eating something they begin to think that they understand our actions and we might even influence their own decisions by witnessing what we are doing. If we take the time to research where our food is coming from and what we are putting into our bodies we have the ability to change our own mind about what we like and care about and in turn influence those around us to do the same.

Resources

Gardner, H. (2006). Changing Minds. Boston: MA., Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data.