Ecology and Imagination

A couple of weeks ago a friend asked me this question: “Would you prefer donating a percentage of your salary for environmental purposes or change the way you live in order to be more ecological?” I was not happy with his question. This question implied that in order to be ecological you need to make sacrifices – one way or the other.  That question is a trap; people need to realise that being environmentally friendly is not a matter of making sacrifices or compromises. In fact, it is the opposite; when you respect the environment and exploit it in imaginative ways it is not only nature that benefits itself but also you as a person and society in general.

Allow me to show some examples of imaginative use of natural resources.

Here you can see a merry-go-round that pumps clean ground water from a well.

 

 

Another good example of imaginative use of resources is our very own jucinator where you can cycle in order to make a delicious smoothie!

 

On a larger scale the Zollverein School of Business Management and Design building uses water pumped from the nearby mine to insulate and heat the entire building – which is both more efficient and environmentally friendly.

There are many more examples of creative design both in small scale and large scale projects you will discover around the world (and your very own neighbourhood). The important thing you need to remember is that being environmentally friendly is not a chore but could be very fun instead!

Orestis (CY)

STS Summer 2013

Seasonal changes around Kandersteg

As a not that traveled Brazilian I was amazed seeing snow around Kandersteg , especially during summer, and how fast the landscapes change from one week to the other. I started observing the landscapes and compare weeks to find out the changes in the environment. This post could be quite obvious for those who live around here for some time or have a similar weather where they live, but not for this Brazilan here, no.

Lotschenpass 18.06.2013

Lotschenpass one month later

 The first thing that is quite diferent is the amount of water in streams, some of them disapeared but some, like the Kander, have increased volume.Thinking about it makes sense: once most of the water here come from snow melting on the montains, so some snow disapeared and the Kanderfirn glacier (Kander river origin) is still there, but the heat makes the amount of snow melting faster. So that eventually will affect the species of trees found near those water sources, depending on the amount of water they need or if the rivers take some soil and affect erosion. Also, when the temperatures arise, snow melts and grass start to grow on the montains and some flowers come with it. The soil gets more humid and we can see a LOT of snails, slugs and salamanders, those cold blooded animals, that need the heat of the sun and need a greater amount of water once their skin looses too much water to environment.

The farmers gradually take the cows uphill, after the tasty flowers and grass, that make their milk taste better (it tastes sweet, really nice milk), so it is really funny to think about it, ‘cause when we shorties arrived here in june, the cows were in flat areas, most of them were still on the villages. Now on every hike you go you can see some cows on the way, and each time you go on a hike they are a little bit higher on the hill, until they get to the farms where they are taken care of, and the grass on the valley already grew and is being cut and dried to be kept for winter time.

This is an overall view and I haven’t talked about the insects that are out showing aroung, but it is really nice to think of the ecossystem and how everything is connected and that things influence each other.

Adri (BR)

STS Summer 2013