Green is the New Black

For the first time the other day I heard this phrase “Green is the New Black”. At first I thought this statement was in reference to the actual color green, but no, this statement refers to the fashion industry becoming more environmentally “green”. So as a proclaimed fashionista, I had to check this out! How could I miss such a trend?
At first chance, I googled the statement “Green is the New Black” and the amount of websites choices I had was phenomenal! There were t-shirts with this phrase printed on them, information detailing that the quote dates back to Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter (via 2006), a book literally called “Green is the New Black: How to Change the World with Style”, and much more. As I was reading the list, I thought, could my clothing and my pension for fashion be ruining the world?
My answer to both questions was yes.
Ugh.
The truth hurts. But I surely can’t be that much of an earth destroyer! Come to find out, I am and I am not. So, where could I make changes?
I found this article on Ivillage.com, called: “How to Use Your Purchasing Power to Help the Earth”. The article is excerpted from the 2008 book “Big Green Purse” written by Diane MacEachern. In the article, MacEachern provides seven ways individuals through their shopping and spending habits can contribute to making the world better, they are:

1. Spend less. When we use less it reduces the impact of manufacturing needs to produce products, prevents pollution, and curtails global warming. More importantly, there is more money in your pocket to either save or pursue activities to enrich your life!

2. Read the labels. Because the US government does not regulate a company’s use of words like “green”, “natural”, or “biodegradable”. Read the label of the product, and it will be a give away to the truth. You can also check out the website www.climatecounts.org to check if the company’s “green” statements are true.

3. Support sustainability. Look for brands that use the words “SMART Certified” because these companies have “Adopted comprehensive standards guaranteeing that their products protected the public’s health and the environment throughout their entire commercial ‘life cycle’”.

4. Look for third party verification. When a company says they are producing “green” products ensure that are and look for these third party labels to support their claims: Green Seal, The LEED Green Building Rating System, Energy Star, VeriFlora, Fair Trade Certified, and USDA Organic.

5. Choose fewer ingredients. The fewer the ingredients in a product usually translates to the less chemical are within the product.

6. Pick less packaging. Get this, 1 out of every 11 dollars we spend at a store pays for packaging! Whoa! In order to get more bang for your buck, you should consider: buying in bulk, purchasing “refills”, recycle packing as much as possible, bring your own bag, choose concentrated items (i.e. laundry detergents- I promise, they work the same!), and avoid Styrofoam.

7. Buy local. I didn’t need to author to tell me this! I swear by buying local. Not only does it ensure your community’s economic viability, but it has environmental and health benefits. Also, local food growers are usually more stringent about following US environmental and health laws and regulations.

I was glad to find out I was doing “pretty well” on MacEachern’s list, but there are some areas I can definitely improve on, especially numbers 2, 3, 4, and 6.
I guess for me, this leads me to ask the question, when are people around the world going to have the “green” epiphany? And though MacEachern’s article offers people a feel good approach to creating a more sustainable environment (through their pocket); what does it take to make people catch on? I know for me, if it wasn’t through my Public Health program or my environmentally conscious friends I would not have successfully accomplished numbers 1, 5, and 7. And now spending the summer working on anti-hunger and anti-poverty initiatives, I know it is my responsibility to help sustain the world and work on making numbers 2, 3, 4, and 6 a part of life. Even if it means that I might not be able to be the fashionista I want to be (I am okay with that!).
But perhaps this is the best part of going “green”: the fashion and beauty industries can stimulate people not just to be aware of what being “green” is, but they can provide ways for people to use their buying power to apply green living to their lifestyles. Although I think the industries are far from adopting all of the “green” principles, recognition is the first step. And for an industry where one thing is “in” one day and “out” the next, I just hope “green”, like black, will always be in style. Well, because, it has to be.

Too much water - and other disasters

I was looking at pictures of flooded Iowa today and was awestruck by the destructive power of too much water. I've blogged about how important water is to life. But it's amazing how you can have too much of a good thing. So much land completely under water, killing the crops and destroying livelihoods. Between floods, tornadoes, and wildfires, it's been a rough month or two in the United States.

How many people's lives have been altered by nature in the past couple of months? And how many of them have the means to recover? Some are insured, have savings, and other support structures. Reconstructing their fractured lives will be difficult and emotional, to be sure, but largely a matter of time. But those living at or near poverty before disaster struck are facing a whole different reality. Disasters destroy homes, leaving some with nowhere to live. Disasters close businesses, sometimes permanently, causing loss of employment and income. Disasters interrupt health care treatment, making it difficult (or impossible) to tackle the work of recovering. Disaster interrupt education. For those who were struggling to stay in school in the first place, it can be difficult to go back. In the short term, disaster can destroy local food supplies and roadways, making short term hunger very real for everyone. But longer term, especially in rural areas, those who relied on gardens for even some of their food face new and unwelcome challenges.

The list of ways that natural disasters exacerbate the conditions for hunger and poverty go on; I've mentioned just a few. Knowing how many disasters the United States has had already this year, I wonder what the longer-term effect will be. How many who were living on the edge of poverty will now be solidly in it? The U.S. Census Bureau provides annual data about poverty in this country. It will be interesting to see how 2008 compares to 2007.

Resources, Resources!

As promised, I am going to write a brief bit about two exciting new resources coming your way!

Two weekends ago, members of the ELCA World Hunger staff and a few knowledgeable and spirited hunger leaders from around the country met at Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center in picturesque, upstate New York for a creative retreat. The retreat was held to brainstorm content for two new ELCA World Hunger resources—the name, which I’m sure will be catchy, is yet to be determined. I had the opportunity to attend as a participant and as the (ever-faithful and diligent) note taker!

Here's a picture of the group!









The two resources are meant to provide an adaptable, practical, easy-to-use, intergenerational, answer to the question:

“I’ve been asked to present for [insert your amount of time here] about world hunger to [insert your audience here]. What can or should I do?”

As concerned advocates for poverty ministries and world hunger, many of us are asked to present for an allotted amount of time to many differing audiences, be it the church youth group or at an adult forum during coffee hour. These two resources will be designed to help you organize that time! The resources will be unveiled at the upcoming ELCA World Hunger Leadership Gathering in Lakewood, Colorado, July 31-August 3, 2008.

Now that I’ve sold you on the purpose, you might be asking, “What topics are these resources going to address?” These first two, which will most likely be part of a series, will address two important topics:

What is ELCA World Hunger?
What is the connection between climate change and world hunger?

The first is fairly self-explanatory. It will help you to articulate key facts about world hunger and the work that ELCA World Hunger is doing with a “take away” to truly inspire your audience. The second resource will begin to address some of the important connections between climate change and world hunger.

To begin familiarizing yourself on connections between climate change, hunger, and poverty, please see the links below.

“Summary for Policy Makers,” by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Work Group II.
http://www.ipcc-wg2.org/

“Adaptation 101: How climate change hurts poor communities-- and how we can help,” by Oxfam America.
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/publications/briefing_papers/adaptation-101/Adaptation-101.pdf

Happy learning!

A New Way to Play Connect the Dots

Every morning I wake up, eat breakfast, and treasure my time reading the New York Times, especially the health section. My time spent with the Health section is important to me; not only does it keep me current and advance my Public Health studies, it also serves as a time to play my favorite game “Connect the Dots”.

My version of “Connect the Dots” begins with finding a news story, proceeds with me connecting how this story relates to other sectors of society, and ends with me figuring out how the story can impact the future.

One of the stories that caught my eye this week and thus ensued a wonderful game of Connect the Dots, was a story capturing the introduction of a new social index: the Access to Medicine Index.

What is the Access to Medicine Index?

The Access to Medicine Index is a social index that intends to “engage (the pharmaceutical) industry through transparency” and assesses how the top pharmaceutical companies are providing their life saving medications to individuals in the developing world. According to the Access to Medicine Index website, “one out of three people lacks access to essential, affordable drugs or vaccines. Improving access to medicines could save 10 million lives each year. The Access to Medicine Index highlights efforts by drug companies to help close the gap and encourage them- and all other stakeholders- to do more”(Access to Medicine Index).

Though the New York Times calls this ranking “unusual”, I think this Index is rather exciting because it holds much potential.

How the Index is calculated is based on how a pharmaceutical company spends its’ money in these eight areas: Management, Influence, Research and Development, Patenting, Capacity, Pricing, Drug Donations, and Philanthropy. Though there are no benchmarks or industry standards, other than the established rankings set by the individual pharma companies, this is the first step in assessing how this industry provides access to their medications to the world.

An Index like this has the capability to encourage the public to hold these companies accountable in providing access to their drugs to the poor and wealthy alike. Furthermore, this Index provides another method for stakeholders to enforce corporate accountability standards through these companies being socially responsible.



In terms of the future, if the Index would go one dot further and report on how drug accessibility has reduced diseases of poverty, improved health, and has seen a decline in hunger and poverty, then this Index could serve as social indicator of human advancement. Drawing this link is all too important, because though drug accessibility is important, we must know how these drug treatments are contributing to the overall health of the world. Capitalizing on this juncture could redefine what it means to be socially responsible through corporate endeavors.

In this game of Connect the Dots I can see endless links and a great future for this Index. What this Index has accomplished thus far is a feat on its own, but in the way industries must change and grow in order to compete, this Index will need to do so as well. As long as the Access to Medicine Index becomes respected amongst the industry, public, and stakeholders and develops benchmarks, this Index will be regarded as a premier social tool ensuring social responsibility, corporate accountability and the future of nations unborn.


REFERENCES


McNeil, Donald. “Index Ranks Pharmaceutical Groups According to Third World Outreach”. The New York Times. June 17, 2008. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/health/17glob.html?ex=1214452800&en=28e3bc9ff22d4a21&ei=5070&emc=eta1.

The Access to Medicine Index. http://atmindex.org/

Climate Change and World Hunger

Two nights ago, CNN aired coverage of former Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore’s endorsement speech of Sen. Barack Obama in Detroit, Michigan. Given Gore’s involvement in climate change work, he spent some time building the case that, indeed, “we need to change our policies on climate change.” He focused on what future generations might say when they look back and review our actions. Mr. Gore is quoted,

“I want [future generations] to look back on this historic year and ask: how did Americans in 2008 find the moral courage to rise and successfully solve a crisis that so many said was impossible to solve? How did they find the strength to change?”

I think it is interesting to consider a simple change from “Americans” to “Lutherans” or “Christians” or maybe even “Peoples of Faith.” In ELCA World Hunger and the ELCA Washington Office, we accept the scientific data that the Earth’s temperature is rising. We realize that people living in poverty, who may also be located in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries, are already seeing substantial impacts from global warming. We recognize that there are concrete connections between hunger, poverty, and climate change.

In a time such as this, I think we, as citizens, are fortunate because we have two, mainstream party presidential candidates, Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama, who both recognize and care about climate change. The candidates have different approaches to working against the problem, but both are thinking about it!

Similarly, I think we, as ELCA Lutherans, are blessed to have a church that is actively engaged in the discussion about climate change. We are blessed to have a prophetically concerned voice in Bishop Mark S. Hanson, who, in his April 2007 Earth Day statement said, “The poor and hungry of the earth are most vulnerable to rising sea levels, the spread of infectious disease, extending areas of drought, and other impacts of rising temperatures, many of which are already occurring.”

Perhaps, when the 7th or the 1000th generation looks back to our time, they will see intentional care for God’s creation and all of God’s children. Change will not be easy or quick, but it certainly seems to be dawning on the horizon. It is an exciting time to be alive and engaged in God’s good work and in God’s world!

Stay tuned for next week when I “reveal” exciting information about a new ELCA World Hunger resource, relating to climate change and hunger, for all of you hunger leaders and peace and justice workers out there!

For more information:

The ELCA Washington Office Advocacy Page on Environment
http://archive.elca.org/advocacy/issues/environment/default.asp

Sen. John McCain’s Climate Change Site
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/da151a1c-733a-4dc1-9cd3-f9ca5caba1de.htm

Sen. Barack Obama’s Energy and Environment Site
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/energy/

Welcome to Chicago!

Today marks my first week as a resident of Chicago and as an intern at the ELCA offices with the ELCA World Hunger Program, and I am beginning to settle in. A year ago, I never would have thought that I would be ready to embark out on my own to live in the “big city,” and, yet, here I am. Thus far, Chicago has the “city” feel (complete with roughly 3 million of my closest neighbors), but maintains a little of the “Midwest nice.” Since I grew up in northern Minnesota close to the head of the Mississippi River, in a town of approximately 12,000 people, a little familiarity goes a long way. I have my very own “cube” here at the ELCA offices on “Intern Alley,” had my first (eventful) trip to the mailroom, and am wading through the plethora of materials and services that ELCA World Hunger has to offer.

I was attracted to this internship, because ELCA World Hunger names itself as “a comprehensive and sustainable program that uses multiple strategies—relief, development, education, and advocacy—to address the root causes of hunger and poverty.” As a political science major with a peace studies minor, and as a person of color who is interested in the ways in which oppressive “systems” like patriarchy, hierarchy, and racism hold some people down, confronting root causes is an approach that I can get behind. Also, and perhaps more importantly, I truly believe that we, as people of faith, have something unique to offer to the work being done to create, provoke, and dream of radical change in our world.

As a note before I begin my reflection, I want to express that I am not attempting to make my experience seem “excruciatingly difficult,” because it is far from that. In fact, I am blessed with the resources, support network, and privilege to allow opportunities. However, I am becoming more aware of how blessed I am to have those resources, and how someone without the same access would lead a very different life.

I am, currently, a full-time college student and all that that implies. Tuition at my ELCA affiliated private, liberal arts college is a lot. Let’s say $30,000+ USD. I work three on-campus jobs, two that pay $6.15 USD an hour with a total of 10 hours per week, and one that pays for my on-campus room. Given those factors in combination with other expenses, I embarked on my summer internship and moved to Chicago with approximately $100-$200 USD in my pocket. Normally during the school year, $100-200 a month is adequate. However, start up, moving, transportation, and food costs have shocked me and are higher than costs in Minnesota. Just to give you an idea, here is a cost breakdown of start up costs for my move and the internship.

Gas to get to Chicago: $200+
UHaul trailer to move: $347
Rent for an apartment in Logan Square: $950 a month, plus utilities
Phone/Cable/Internet: $120 a month
Electric/ Gas: $100 a month
Chicago “L” train pass to commute: $75 a month
First “stock the shelves” groceries: $300
First “hey, we need toilet paper, cleaning supplies, shower curtain” Target run: $200
TOTAL: $2,292

The ELCA is paying me $10 an hour for 40 hours a week. I am making a very good wage—that is certainly not my complaint. However, I am realizing that there are major costs associated with starting a new job and the “in between time” between the move and the first pay check! Now, when I come across the facts in my ELCA World Hunger introductory materials that,

1 out of every 8 households in the United States has reduced the quality of its diet to utilize money elsewhere., and
37 million people (about one in eight) live in poverty even though most of them are working.

I have a new lens through which to view it.

Fortunately, I am blessed with a boyfriend, friends, and family who have provided for me during my interim, “in between time.” However, without that support system, my education, and my “privilege,” I would not have been able to spend this summer serving at the ELCA and gaining valuable life experience. It seems to me that the “American Dream” is quickly, if it has not already, becoming a myth.

What can I do to help, to advocate, to create and provoke change in society? Hopefully, I will uncover answers and inklings during this sure-to-be fruitful summer with ELCA World Hunger!
Peace, Mikka McCracken

Can Something so Beautiful Smell so Bad?

Have you ever smelled the flower Dracunculus vulgaris, also known as the Voodoo or Snake Lily? Well if you haven’t I suggest you stay far, far away from this elegant, yet very putrid smelling plant.

This morning I had the “great” fortune of smelling a mature Dracunculus vulgaris. The closest smell I can think of to explain the horrific wiff is in the words of an avid gardener who states it’s smell is like “dungy rotten meat”. What a perfect description.

So my question is, how can this elegantly simple and exotic flower smell so terrible?

It leads me back to our first creation story when God created the world in seven days and confirmed it’s creation with three words: it is good. These very same words were also used by God in his final confirmation of humanity’s creation: it is good.

The idea of God creating a Dracunculus vulgaris is not hard to grasp, especially when he created humanity. Just like the dungy, rotten, and meaty smelling flower, we, as humans, often reek of this smell as well. In all of our elegance, talent, and dominion over the creatures of the earth, we destroy, disable, humiliate, and possess. And yet this smell is not a part of our patronage, it is not a part of our lineage, it has been created by us and does not proliferate and prosper.

A Dracunculus vulgaris must smell “bad” in order to prosper the world. It must attract flies in order to be pollinated and produce seedlings to be carried off by the wind or other insects to be planted in the earth. This is their way of being good and owning up to their end of the creation story.

Unlike this flower, we as humans who are created in the image of God, have a choice in deciding how we own up to the creation story. But rather than listen and follow, we tend to lead and negate God’s call. So in our stink, we lose sight of the world and are unable to see, fix, amend, or eradicate the hunger, diseases, inequalities, suffering, and poverty many in the world experience.

As a World Hunger Intern for the ELCA this year, I am excited to be a part of a community who in their faith work strive to alleviate hunger and poverty. This experience will afford me the opportunity to explore my vocation and to learn from the global religious and secular communities’ response in targeting some of the world’s greatest needs.

And though our human mission is more in depth than the Dracunculus vulgaris, our missions are not that different. Just as this flower must do, we must retain our elegance despite the stink we release and work to ensure our seedlings take root, are carried off, and create anew.

(To view a Dracunculus vulgaris please visit the website provided in the Reference section).

References
The Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl. http://www.paghat.com/voodoolily.html

What do you know about your water?

Last week I wrote about water, and how I had been unusually conscious of it recently. Hence it was ironic that I opened a publication from the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee a few days ago that asked a series of questions about my water awareness. I could answer some of them, but not all. How about you?

• Where does you water come from?
• Is your water safe?
• Who makes decisions about the water in your community?
• Does everyone pay the same for water and sewage in your community?
• What happens in your community if a family cannot pay its water bill?
• Does your water or sewage provider have a plan for emergencies or rationing due to climate change?

If you know the answers, are you comfortable with them?

-Nancy Michaelis

Scorpion scaloppine, anyone?

What are you planning to make for dinner tonight? As a source of inspiration, I wanted to start this blog with the picture of the breaded, pan-fried scorpion that appears in the June 9 issue of Time Magazine. But I don't want to violate any copyright laws, so all I can do is refer you to it. You can find it on this page, along with an video clip that shows you how to make it.

The same Time Magazine page contains an article titled, "Eating Bugs." Being an American, just thinking about it makes me squirm. And yet the concept intrigues me, too. The author argues that bugs are eaten regularly in many parts of the word. They are high in protein, readily available, reproduce quickly, and take few resources to raise compared to the animals we Americans typically eat. Apparently, they also add a variety of delicious texture and flavor. When you consider the current food crisis and the fact that, according to the article, livestock accounts for 18% of greenhouse-gas emissions globally, why aren't we eating bugs?

As far as I can tell, the only real reason is we can't stand the thought. Which makes me wonder, is that a good enough reason? That our minds don't like it? At what point would I be willing to defy the prevailing culture and eat bugs? Is it enough to think bug consumption is good for the planet and other people? A healthy way to expand the food supply? Or would I have to be desperately hungry before I would choke them down? Which is stronger: my cultural mind or my logical mind?

Personally, I'm not that attached to meat. I think it would be easier to be a vegetarian than to eat bugs. But then again, as long as they were chopped up and didn't look so much like a worm or spider or whatever, I might be willing to taste a bug dish. Maybe.

Whether or not there is or should be U.S. market for entomophagy (the fancy term for eating bugs), it's an interesting idea to consider! What do you think?

Water is Life (with a capital L)

How many times have you thought about water in the past week?

Where do you live?

I am fortunate to live in a place (Chicago suburbs) with, relatively speaking, plenty of water. In a typical week, I don't think about water much at all. Some days I don't consciously notice it; it's just always there. But in the past week water has inserted itself in ways I couldn't help but notice.

I think my raised awareness started when I saw the hot water running out of the bottom of our water heater. It had to be replaced, a process that took about 24 hours. Not long at all in the scheme of things, but nothing brings awareness of convenience so well as its absence. Especially when you're trapped in the house waiting for the repair man.

With my mind thus attuned to water and its absence, I noticed several water-related news stories. Yemen is experiencing drought and, consequently, food shortages. State politicians in the "Great Lake States" are meeting to discuss how to protect the Great Lakes as our water supply. An e-newsletter I received offered assistance in planting native landscaping, in part because it requires less water than grass and some other popular plants. The latest Mars rover is looking for signs of water on that distant planet. It seems that if I pay attention, I could relate a story I've heard about water issues pretty much every day.

But I don't usually pay that much attention.

Still, water got my attention again. I was at Millennium Park in downtown Chicago over the weekend. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and I was sitting on the low wall/bench along the sides of Crown Fountain. Crown Fountain is a rectangular plaza, about 200 feet long, with a rectangular tower at each end. Water showers straight down the sides of the towers and floods the plaza with an inch or two of water. (Water also occasionally shoots several feet into the plaza from the towers.) Dozens of people were playing in the water on the plaza as I watched.

And as I watched, it struck me how strange all those people playing there really was. Essentially, the fountain is an inch of water on the ground. Sure, you can stand under the showering towers, and plenty of kids were. But many more were playing in the larger space of the plaza and its inch of water. A giant puddle, really. What's so interesting about an inch of water on the ground? It wasn't a hot day, with uncomfortable people trying to cool off. It wasn't just kids playing. It was babies slapping at the water, parents chasing children, teenagers posing in groups and taking pictures with their phones, couples strolling through holding hands. It was all races and, I'm guessing, all economic levels. And it was happening in a place where water is abundant. It's not like most of these people didn't have access to water anywhere else. But yet they were all playing - some for quite a long time - in this giant puddle.

And it struck me, as it does from time to time, how elemental water is. How people - all people - are drawn to it, moved to cover themselves in it, share life and community in it, and celebrate a beautiful day in it. The fact that water is essential not just to living but Life is often removed from my day-to-day consciousness. But that day, our connection to this most basic substance of the planet was on display, and I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to sit down and notice it.

As we enter the summer months of heat and drying landscapes, I hope to carry with me the remembrance of my water-filled week. I will try to be mindful of not only my own dependence on water, but also the fact that everyone else in the world depends on it, too. May this understanding and awareness shape my actions and make me a better steward of this most elemental aspect of Life. And may you have your own similar moments.

-Nancy Michaelis