Nature: The Best Playground

By Emily Shovlin

Reminiscing on childhood, many people reflect on the time they spent outdoors: from bike rides with friends and soccer in the backyard to secret conversations in the tree house and sleepovers in a tent pitched out back. For decades, days spent outside shaped young children, providing an outlet for energy and stress relief, and allowing them to improve their imagination and social skills. Today, children predominantly play indoors, using technology that did not exist twenty years ago. Since the technology boom in the mid-1990s, time spent outdoors has decreased significantly while the number of cases of anxiety, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and obesity amongst children has increased. Although not recognized by medical journals, many people have referred to this phenomenon as “nature-deficit disorder.”

This term first showed up in Richard Louv’s bestselling book, ​Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder​. Louv describes nature-deficit disorder as “[T]he human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses. The disorder can be detected in individuals, families, and communities. Nature deficit can even change human behavior in cities, which could ultimately affect their design, since long-standing studies show a relationship between the absence, or inaccessibility, of parks and open space with high crime rates, depression, and other urban maladies.” Parents, researchers, and psychologists have shown a lot of respect for Louv and his term, and have done extensive research on technology’s negative impacts on children since the book’s publication in 2005.

The decline is quite clear: when taking a walk outside, it’s now rare to bump into many people. When you do, it’s commonly adults, whether they’re walking their dogs or taking a stroll with their spouse. You no longer see children playing rounds of Capture the Flag at the local field, biking around with friends, or jumping through sprinklers in their front yard. The few times you do see children outside, their heads are bowed over their phones, texting to meet up with other friends, playing Pokémon Go, or snapping pictures to post on Instagram. Louv and other researchers of nature-deficit disorder put a lot of emphasis on the benefits of spending time in nature, and children of this generation are missing out on these advantages.

In writing his book, Louv spoke with multiple parents who told stories of their ADHD children having significant positive changes in their ability to focus. Some of the children play seasonal sports, but it was the connection to nature that made the difference – one family is even considering moving to the mountains! Studies have found that spending time in nature can bring children and adults peace and concentration, and even enhance a child’s cognitive, social, and physical characteristics. A study conducted by Aric Sigman found that children who spend time in nature score higher on tests, that outdoor time improves their cognition by improving their awareness and reasoning skills, and that gardening increases a child’s self-esteem.

If the visible benefits of nature for children isn’t enough to convince parents, nostalgia for yesteryear should do it. The memories and experiences of a childhood spent outdoors are irreplaceable. Sure, a kid may remember reaching the highest level of a game or completing a difficult quest; but the fond recollections that our planet can provide – scraped knees from climbing trees, splashing through a chilled river on a muggy day, and scrambling up the tallest rock – will be embedded in their minds as the bliss of childhood. Nature is a playground, and it’s demanding to be played on.

Creating Sustainable Habits for the Future

By Chris Bernstein

 “The goal of sustainability is to leave future generations with more opportunities and fewer problems,” says Ximing Cai, associate director for the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. This is something that needs to be understood at all U.S. colleges and universities. Luckily, there are universities like this that are making major advancements in the field of sustainability on campus that teach students why protecting the environment matters.

The University of Illinois is known as a gold-level sustainability campus. This means that they not only teach the importance of sustainability, they practice it too. Examples include promoting the use of biking and using solar energy. The university understands that sustainability goes beyond recycling, which, according to the article, Future of sustainability on campus appears positive, provides students access to recycling bins across the campus, which sits on 1,783 acres. The university puts a strong focus on sustainability because they believe that students who are taught these important values will have the potential to make a positive impact on the environment beyond college.

“By making sustainability a part of students’ experience at this school, it may be considered in the influential decisions that they make in their professional life. In this way, the University can foster long-term change,” says Nick Heyek, a junior at the University of Illinois and chair of the Student Sustainability Committee.

This sentiment is something that all colleges and universities need to understand. It’s about more than getting students to realize what trash is and what recyclables are, it’s about fostering a deep and meaningful understanding of why it’s important to care for the Earth. The University of Illinois program is just an example of how to create positive, sustainable change in the world. As mentioned in the article in the campus newspaper, colleges and universities aren’t the biggest contributors to environmental damage, but after doing simple research one can learn that they certainly create a large amount of waste.

According to a piece written on Boston College’s sustainability website called Know Your Facts, “The average college student produces 640 pounds of solid waste each year, including 500 disposable cups and 320 pounds of paper.” Imagine an average college that enrolls thousands of students each year—that’s a lot of waste, isn’t it?

Morgan White, the associate director at Facilities and Services for Sustainability at the University of Illinois, says “Really, it’s about finding solutions, using the resources here that can be implemented and trying to spread that awareness not only to neighbor organizations, but also to the students and instill in our graduates the understanding of how this is important.”

It’s a great step in the right direction—using their own resources to teach students skills and practices that can be used no matter where they end up in life. It’s important for colleges to acknowledge the environmental impact that they have and try to come up with ways to reduce that impact while teaching students valuable sustainable lessons. Sustainability is only going to become more important in the next few years, so looking at examples such as the University of Illinois  is a great first step to making positive environmental change at other universities and colleges across the United States.

For more information: 

dailyillini.com/features/2018/04/03/future-of-sustainability-on-campus-appears-positive/

Giraffes Silently Disappearing

(Wikimedia Commons)

By Kerry Hadrava

Around this time last year, it seemed as if all eyes were on April the giraffe who was set to give birth to the first captive born giraffe at the Memphis Zoo. Nearly a year later it seems as if once again the focus of animal lovers is directed towards this magnificent creature, however for a much different reason.

The international Union for the Conservation of Nature has recently moved Giraffes from “Least Concerned” to “Vulnerable” status. According to Smithsonian magazine, giraffes have faced a decline of nearly 40 percent over the past three decades and this is due mainly to urbanization of their habitats and poaching. The poaching of giraffes meat has become increasingly popular due to lack of food within surrounding villages.

However, Smithsonian reports, the largest problem giraffes are facing is lack of attention. “In fact, giraffes have silently been going extinct across Africa over the last century,” the article by Jason Daley states. “The animal is already gone from seven countries, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Guinea, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria and Senegal,” This silent extinction has been a major setback for giraffes and their fight for survival.

For more information:

www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/giraffes-silently-slip-endangered-species-list-180961372/

Snow Day Chores

Blackout during March 21 snow storm (photo: Eileen McCafferty)

By Eileen McCafferty

My phone dinged at precisely 8:15 p.m. that Tuesday night in late March as an alert from Ramapo College. It read “RCNJ Alert Me Now 3/20/2018. Due to inclement weather Ramapo College is closed tomorrow Wednesday, March 21, 2018.”

The inner child inside me expressed joy in the idea of a snow day, but the adult in me already knew that tomorrow was going to be a rough storm and I was not ready to lose power...but Mother Nature had other plans.

The next morning was spent doing homework, to keep up with classes that were cancelled, and catching up on laundry, as well as driveway maintenance and other chores. Every few hours, the journey was made from my front door to the unplowed streets on my quiet Rockland County neighborhood street to walk Jack, the ‘anti-snow/anti-rain, schnauzer-poodle, love of my life’ dog. Within three minutes of being outside and returning to the warmth of my entrance way, Jack’s dark gray fur would be heavily dusted with snow, and once inside it was easily seen that the snow was melting off his face. While he hates the snow, he was so well trained to not relieve himself in the house that he makes a scene at the door when it’s time to go. 

After returning Jack to the comfort of the house, my mother and I would grab shovels to remove the newly accumulated snow from the driveway steps and windshields of our cars. Runny noses, cold, tired hands, and wet socks are all the products of shoveling driveways, but in order to avoid removing all this snow at once, we had to take care of it every few hours. 

Sitting in the bay-window in the front of the house is a curious cat who goes by the name of Poot; she was staring outside, wishing to pounce on these tiny white specs falling from the sky. Poot was so determined to get to these specs that opening and closing doors to the outside world became a game of ‘push and run’. She sits at your feet as you open the door, and you must gently push her back with your leg while making a run outside. As much as she wants to attack the snow, I am fairly certain if I let this house cat outside, she would lose her mind and run inside.

Later in the afternoon, the snow accumulation became so intense that sturdy tree branches in our back yard began to bend with pressure. The house jittered as the harsh winds hit the sides and occasionally the power would hint at flickering off. Everything seemed to be a normal day of snow fall…until a branch crashed down from a neighbor’s yard onto the connecting powerlines that provide a block and half with power. 

The time was 11:15 p.m., the house was still warm, but frighteningly dark. Looking out the bay windows onto the street I’ve lived on since I was born, it was almost like looking at a painting. It was so still, so dark, and so serene. We were left without power for over twenty-four hours. The night consisted of three layers of clothing, two blankets and a curled-up cat on top of me to share warmth. 

Out of all the snow day struggles, being cold with no relief from it is the worst part. Snow days always make my inner kid excited, but I have learned the real struggles that come from snow days. I feel better prepared for heavy accumulations but I also hope that we are done with snow days for this year.

Emotional Pompton Lakes Residents Bare All at a Community Event

By Andrew Herrera

“I basically had to give up [my] house,” one resident said. “I don’t even want to drive down that street anymore, it’s too painful.” Another resident mentioned that her own sister told her to stop making a fuss about the threats to health posed by the toxic groundwater. A couple described the dizzying litany of surgeries their nephew had to undergo in order to treat a rare form of cancer.

These comments were shared by participants in a recent Pompton Lakes community meeting organized by the Ramapo College Environmental Assessment class that is surveying the impacts of the pollution of Pompton Lakes caused by DuPont’s old munitions factory. We students of the class were looking to get some personal insights into how the contamination has affected residents, especially those in the Plume area of town whose groundwater has been contaminated and whose basements have been infiltrated by chemical fumes. What we got was something much more emotional than reading about pollution in Pompton Lakes.

Individual residents sat down with one student at a time; the students asked residents questions based on the type of impacts they are studying for the environmental assessment. My impact indicator is organizational, so I asked residents questions about local politics and debate over the contamination issue. The interviewees offered me some stark truths. One, for example, was the account of the woman mentioned previously, whose sister had told her to stop talking about the issue of contamination in the Plume. Of the 17 or 18 residents who came to the meeting, all seemed to agree that the town council vehemently opposed discussing the contamination at all. This is despite alarming incidents of rare diseases and cancers among residents in the Plume.

Multiple times, residents pointed to property values as the reason why. The town council, as well as residents living outside of the Plume, seem to principally fear that if the contamination becomes more widely publicized, property values for homes throughout town will drop, affecting municipal revenue and residents’ finances. The participant who had contracted the rare form of cancer recalled how he often heard property values mentioned by all sorts of people growing up as the reason why the contamination issue needed to stay away from the public eye. According to what residents hear around town, people seem to fear what will happen if DuPont is forced to pay out reparations or buy homes in the neighborhoods it polluted. Retired DuPont employees worry they’ll lose their pensions, while others believe that DuPont needs to stay in town to continue paying the property taxes that help fund public schools.

Of course, everything said needs to be taken with a grain of salt. We students were only able to hear from a small fraction of the town’s population. No one there supported DuPont or thought that the contaminated water was not a problem. Yet there are clearly plenty of people who think those things. But they don’t come out to events like this. For now, their side of the story remains in the background, less discussed in public.         

        

Agent Orange and Vietnam's Environmental Costs

By Mary Waller

The Vietnam war was one of, if not the most, controversial war in American history. Even with much of the nation turning against the war, scientists were concerned about the chemical warfare used during the war. Agent Orange was a weapon that scientists knew was dangerous but was still used anyways. Even though the Vietnam War was decades ago, the environment is still damaging from the devastating mark the chemical onslaught left behind.

What exactly is Agent Orange? Agent Orange contains dioxin, a contaminant that has detrimental health implications for humans, such as cancer, birth defects, psychological and neurological effects on those who were exposed to it. Agent Orange has hurt countless people both inside and outside of Vietnam, but how has this deadly chemical affected the environment? 

Poor soil quality, water contamination, loss of timber, and heavier flooding and erosion are just a few things that Vietnam was left with in the wake of defoliation from Agent Orange and other herbicides. Vietnam’s woodlands and wetlands covered about 25 million acres, equivalent to the size of Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts combined. During the war, about 20,000 herbicide spray missions were conducted with the intention to destroy these lands and the US Air Force reached approximately 10% of the land area of Southern Vietnam and about 20% of the forests, according to the Agent Orange Record website.

After just two weeks of spraying, about 10% of the trees died from a single spray. The goal of the spray missions were to destroy the forests and agricultural lands with the hope to deny food to the enemy, also damaging civilian food sources.  The destruction was so great in the area that two new terms were coined; “ecological warfare” and “ecocide.”

The environment was not the only thing that was hurt but so was the wildlife who rely on the environment. Tigers, elephants, leopards and bear among others were hurting because of the spray missions. The damage to crops led to the spread of disease among these and other species. Post-war human activities threatened extinction of many types of animals.

To add insult to injury, other sustainable agricultural harvesting of forest products were no longer viable.

Over the years there have been many attempts to help restore the forests but it has been an uphill battle. The Ma Da forest north of Ho Chi Minh City has undergone heavy reforestation and Vietnamese scientists have restored much of the habitat and some wildlife have been returning.

The Vietnamese have planted single species of acacia and eucalyptus in upland forests and defoliated regions as a local source of renewable energy. Every 4 to 5 years the trees are harvested and sold, but it’s only a temporary measure; the long term goal is to increase biodiversity and quality of the forest as much as possible. Yet there has been rising wholesale destruction of forests, pollution in rivers and lakes for short-term economic gain.

It’s important not to forget the devastating effects Agent Orange has left in Vietnam, including dioxin leaching into surrounding areas and lakes that make the toxic chemical spread much faster and more widespread. Scientists are still cleaning up the mess Agent Orange left behind, but the struggles people face on a daily basis is an ongoing challenge. 

Recycling Film Screening April 5

For Immediate Release

Contact: Kristie Murru

Communications Seniors Host Recycling Film Screening April 5

For our Global Communication Capstone Course, we created a campaign based on promoting sustainability and minimizing waste on Ramapo College’s campus. Working closely with Ramapo Green and two of its participating organizations; 1-STEP and the Garden Club, we hope to raise awareness and educate the Ramapo community on proper recycling, composting and waste-reduction habits. Our campaign will work to not only promote our events but assist the organizations on campus that have been working tirelessly on their projects.

As an off campus resource we have been working closely with the local nonprofit MEVO, the Mahwah Environmental Volunteers Organization. This organization engages the local community with sustainability based projects in order to transform its surrounding environment. MEVO works toward addressing environmental concerns on a local level.

Join us as we kick off Earth Month with a screening of Reuse! Because You Can’t Recycle the Planet on Thursday April 5th from 2:15-4:15 in Friend's Hall (SC-219). This documentary, directed by Alex Eaves, follows the director as he travels the United States to teach communities ways to reuse their trash.

Following the screening there will be a workshop with the director Alex Eaves. We welcome you, your students and others you feel would be interested in attending our event and take part in this critical discussion.


--Kristie Murru, Christopher Bernstein, Paul Iannelli, Matthew Stevens
"Realize" Campaign Organizers