Module 7: Cycles (Water, soil, carbon, oil, electronics, “stuff”)

Required Readings & Videos: 

Stuff:

1. LaDuke, Winona. (1994). Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Environmental Futures Links to an external site.. Colo. J. Int'l Envtl. L. & Pol'y, 5, (Focus on 127-133, 138 - 140 (from Although these instances), 142-143 (from These examples illustrate…). Skim the rest.
2. Annie Leonard 2011. “Story of Electronics” video (9 min)
   https://storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-electronics/ Links to an external site.

Energy Cycles:

3. Sagoff, M. (2000). Do we consume too much?.  Links to an external site.The Ruffin Series of the Society for Business Ethics, 2, (Focus on p 80-83, skim 84-89, focus on 90- 92, 96)
4. Partridge, E. (2000). Perilous optimism Links to an external site.. Published in German as "Gefahrlicher Optimismus," Natur und Kultur,2:1 (2001) (Austria). This paper combines "How Much is Too Much?" and "Holes in the Cornucopia." (Focus on 1-3, skim 4, focus on 5-6, skim 7-8)

Food Cycles:

6. The Green Revolution: Waging A War Against Hunger (10 min)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HucSCNQ01X4 Links to an external site.

7. Shiva, Vandana. The Mythology of the Green Revolution

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIdMMwTTklc Links to an external site. (8m min)

9. Laudan, Rachel. 2015 A Plea for Culinary Modernism Links to an external site.” in Jacobin. (skim)
10. Pollen, Michael. 2008. “Why Bother?” Links to an external site. New York Times Magazine. (skim)

Estimated time: 3-4 hours (32 pages reading, 30 minutes of video)

Again, this looks like a lot, but you are just skimming and looking at general ideas and examples. There is a lot of review in these articles, so you’ll see ideas we’ve talked about in previous modules. In this Module, focus on the exchange of objection/response between the authors.

Reading Guide.

As U.S. ecologist Barry Commoner used to say, there is no waste in nature. Cyclical processes ensure that everything gets reused. We learned in Module 6 that one barrier to sustainability is a reliance on linear processes. In these readings, we focus on some linear processes in modern life and reflect on how we might turn or return to cyclical processes in: agriculture, carbon cycles, water cycles, and consumer products (‘stuff’).

Stuff: Annie Leonard illustrates some problems with “designing for the dump,” a linear process of currently used to manufacture consumer products like phones and computers. Leonard urges manufacturers to switch to design for use and recycling, instead, creating what William MacDonough calls a “cradle to cradle” cyclical manufacturing process.

Energy: Mark Sagoff objects to the idea of “overshoot day” or ecological footprints (though he agrees with the idea of a carbon footprint). Sagoff argues that we can continue with linear processing of fossil fuels and other non-renewable energy sources by always finding something new to replace the old technology. Partridge, Purdey, Benton, and Ehrlich et. al. respond to Sagoff’s objections and urge us to invest in cyclical (renewable) energy sources while also reducing energy consumption.  Note: Partridge refers to the mythical Greek prophet, Cassandra, who predicted defeat at Troy and was ignored, and to Pangloss, an overly optimistic character in Voltaire’s book “Candide, or the Optimist,” a novel against unrealistic optimism (and the philosophies of Leibniz). 

Food: In the 20^th century, scientist such as Norman Borlaug led the shift away from polyculture agriculture towards monoculture agriculture. The video “The Green Revolution” explains why this shift was seen as so important. Vandana Shiva, Michael Pollen, and Wendell Berry respond that the cost of monoculture is too high and urge a return to cyclical agricultural processes.

Recommended

"India’s Green Revolution: More Harm Than Good" by Vandana Shiva, (9 min video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nze2K2hgTqY Links to an external site.

Partovi, Ali. 2015. “Why is organic food so *#@! expensive?? “ TEDxManhattan (13 min video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS6TWtYWaPA Links to an external site.

Optional
1. Ehrlich, P. R., Wolff, G., Daily, G. C., Hughes, J. B., Daily, S., Dalton, M., & Goulder, L. (1999). Knowledge and the environment. Ecological economics, 30(2), 267-284. (response to Sagoff)

2. Annie Leonard, 2007. "The Story of Stuff Links to an external site." (20 min video)

3. Sukdev

4. Berry, Wendell. 2002. “The Agrarian Standard Links to an external site.” in Orion Magazine.

5. Benton

6. Ciesinki, Therese, 2010. Interview with “Michael Pollan On Why Organic Isn't All It's Cracked Up To Be Links to an external site.” in Organic Life.

7. Tuomisto, H. L., Hodge, I. D., Riordan, P., & Macdonald, D. W. (2012). Does organic farming reduce environmental impacts? Links to an external site.–A meta-analysis of European research. Journal of environmental management, 112, 309-320.