"De-Central" Park in the City - Richard Louv Talks about Spreading Green in the City

East 18th Street in NYC

Walking down NYC’s tree-lined 18th Street, my street, I was thinking how grateful I am for how the street is. Grateful for being a part of this beautiful Gramercy community. Grateful for trees on the street.  Grateful for trees entertaining my eyes with blooming flowers and touching my soul with their overwhelming energy and bringing back life after long cold months. Even in winter, I enjoyed the trees’ presence in front of my apartment.
Trees are the integral part of the urban environment. "Why Trees Matter," the most emailed article of the New York Times on April 12, says, "We take them (trees) for granted, but they are a near miracle." As a matter of fact, I wonder if we underappreciate our limited nature in the city or underestimate the power of trees.

This week, I was invited to attend to a lecture, "Richard Louv on ‘Nature-Deficit Disorder,’" hosted by Columbia University’s School of Continuing Education program for Master of Science in Landscape Design. Richard Louv is the author of eight books about the connection between family, nature and community. Last Child in the Woods is his landmark bestseller that became an international force for change. And he just released a new book called The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age.  

At the lecture, he discussed a new meaning of sustainability -- "creating" better cities, rather than sustaining or maintaining the present condition.” We do not want to "sustain" friendships or marriage -- we want and expect beyond that. I think this is very true for the environment. We want to change for the better, not tomorrow, but today. Planting trees in the Amazon is a great idea, but we can start from where we live, Louv passionately argued.

Throughout the evening, the message "we do not want to wait for Congress to sign" was repeatedly shown. Rather, we can start from our backyard, Louv said. He used a phrase, "De-Central Park" in NYC, as a play off of “Central Park.” Similar to the topic of parklets I wrote about in one of my earlier posts, Louv suggested utilizing every inch of open space in the city. While listening to him, I thought of a number of open spaces in the city that are not currently being optimized for green -- unlimited possibilities!

Imagine if we could fill every possible space in the city with plants and trees. What would that be like?  How would we and our children feel in such a greener and healthier city?

 <More Information about Richard Louv>

http://richardlouv.com/blog/

With Richard Louv

Sharing the City - Roo Rogers Talks About Collaborative Consumption

Happy Easter and Passover, readers! It’s a time of rebirth. Everything taking a form will have a chance to be reborn, and its spirit will continue passing on to the next purpose.

Previously, I discussed letting go of things that no longer deliver value to us and recycling resources in my post "Spring Cleaning." At this special time of rebirth, I would like to suggest readers to consider a new way of sharing.

This new way of sharing is one step further from recycling. Recycling is passing goods or materials that you once owned to someone or something that creates new value. As opposed to ownership, this new way of sharing represents an economic model based on sharing, swapping, bartering, trading or renting products. New sharing guides us into a lifestyle of removing all the things that don't add value and concentrating on the things that deliver value. What are the things that you absolutely enjoy and keep to yourself, and what things do you not?

Have you heard the concept of "collaborative consumption"? The concept was widely championed by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers, co-authors of What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption. This week, I had the fortune to hear Rogers speak at a monthly meeting of Shared Squared.

Rogers explained the central concept of collaborative consumption is simple: Access to goods and skills is more important than ownership of them. He shared his view on how the world of consumption would change with the concept, and he spoke of some of examples, from enormous marketplaces such as eBay and Craigslist, to peer-to-peer marketplaces, peer-to-peer travel, and car sharing (Zipcar). He particularly likes the bicycle sharing in Paris.

As you can see, this is not just a concept but rather a movement actually happening in our everyday life. But the concept of reusing or public sharing of products is hardly a new one. For decades, we have utilized some form of public product sharing: the New York Public Library or neighborhood Laundromats are great examples. With some of the latest advances in technology, however, we are going through a different kind of sharing: sharing with virtual communities.

The concept of sharing led me to think about what "owning" really means to us. What makes us tick? We are no longer interested in simple consumption. We are rather seeking an experience of unity or a sense of belonging to the community by owning particular goods. Living in a city that is known for its materialistic nature, I can't help feeling a strong urge to "own" certain things. I think that it comes down to a lifelong exploration of "What's your core value?" So, my saga of fighting against owning beautiful things goes on.  

So what do you think of collaborative consumption? Share your thoughts with us!

Spring Cleaning II - Body and Mind

Do you feel the heaviness of your body as the weather gets warmer? As matter of fact,  in some surveys, we gain, on average, about five pounds in the winter. Now spring has arrived, and our senses are slowly wakening up. Why not take it as an opportunity to switch gears and eat more fruits and vegetables? It’s  high time to do spring cleaning in our body and mind!

This weekend, I scouted around the farmers markets in the city to switch my diet mood. Did you know there are 28 farmers market locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island? And 10 out of 28 locations operate year-round. During peak season, over 100,000 customers visit the markets every week. Approximately 200 farmers participate in these markets and provide a variety of produce to NYC. Even though New Yorkers live in one of the most densely populated cities in the world, we can now enjoy fresher, locally grown food year-round. 

Union Sq. Green Market in NYC

 

A local food system with local farmers providing locally grown food to the community seems to be a simple concept. However, the concept of a local food system -- an alternative to the global corporate models where producers and consumers are separated through a chain of processors, manufacturers, shippers and retailers -- is still relatively new. Supporting local farmers and creating a sustainable community is a noble idea, but a hard truth is that farmers market produce is more expensive compared to mass-produced food in chain stores. Then, why should we eat local foods?

First of all, the produce is much fresher as many of the farmers drive to the city from only a few hours away. Second, locally grown produce goes through less of a distribution chain and is therefore handled by less people. Locally grown produce can thus be sold closer to its peak for ripeness than foods that have to go through a longer distribution chain, and that means we as consumers can enjoy produce at its peak taste and nutrition. Third, eating local food keeps us in touch with the seasons. When I grew up in Tokyo, I never had a strong sense that there is seasonality in food, for most of the food was shipped from around the world. Now I enjoy fruits and vegetables that are at their peak taste, that are the most abundant and that are the least expensive.

It’s a known fact that food and food quality powerfully affect health, well-being and happiness. Eating locally grown food gives us a powerful source of energy and nutrition. But, the higher cost prohibits everyone from enjoying the benefits. An important question then is, How we can create a society where everyone can enjoy fresher and more nutritious food at a low cost? My suggestion is to buy local when you can. No need to break your bank account to be local – that’s not realistic. But just be aware that your simple choice can mean big benefits to the community and society overall.

<More Information on farmer's markets in NYC>
http://www.whatisfresh.com/