An “environment” is something you are in. It is not alive. A subway tunnel is an environment. environ (v.) late 14c. (implied in environing), “to surround,” from O.Fr. environer “to surround, enclose, encircle,” from environ “round about,” from en- “in” (see en- (1)) + viron “circle, circuit,” from virer “to turn” (see veer). Related: Environed. [...]
Perhaps you haven’t heard, but on Thursday it was reported that tea “from Japan’s Shizuoka prefecture had above-standard radioactive cesium levels.” Tokyo lies between Fukushima and Shizuoka, which means … some big news is being suppressed. You might ask why it’s being suppressed: the government is trying to prevent panic; maybe the people of Japan [...]
We are pleased to welcome Victoria Dunch, who hails from from Amherst and is a current student at Smith College. Originally from California, she has also lived in Madrid, Spain, and is trilingual (English, Spanish and French). She is currently studying environmental and social sciences and hopes to gain valuable experience with Biocitizen as she [...]
Yesterday, Springfield got its roofs ripped off by at least two tornadoes. Our hearts feel pain for those who are suffering as a consequence, and our minds try to grasp how and why such climate-violence has come to disturb the middle CT River Valley. I was @ Warm Colors Apiary in S. Deerfield when the [...]
A typical day at Our Place camp includes: —meeting at 9am at the Forbes Library, then driving away in the van for our day’s explorations —arrival a few minutes later @ our field study site in one of the 5 ecoregions of the Nonotuck biome, which has been chosen because it is a fountain of [...]
In today’s NYT’s article about Japan’s welfare-program for nukes, we learn industrial capitalism is a form of heroin: With no substantial reserves of oil or coal, Japan relies on nuclear power for the energy needed to drive its economic machine. But critics contend that the largess has also made communities dependent on central government spending [...]
Plant a seed and you will grow—I’ve been out in the field for the last week, planting planting planting. It’s raining so I had a chance to look @ the NYT’s and, lo and behold, I found the usual post-modern argument that there is no such thing as natural human rights: human rights were invented [...]
The sun is out! And you’re planting! Why not triple your joy by planting an 1) interesting perennial that you can 2) harvest herbs from & that 3) feeds the honeybees? Here’s a pdf of an old Bee Culture article that lists some of the plants bees love most: bee plants
We’re going to fix this thing: It’s a hand-cranked winnower that Rick Tracy, of Intervale Farm, rescued a decade ago when the Westhampton Blacksmith Museum was being cleaned up. Two were donated and there wasn’t enough room for both; the one in the museum is in better condition, and we’ll refer to it as we [...]
I’m hardly alone in my love for the New York Public Library— What’s not to love? Beautiful Mead McKim & White neo-classical building that makes you feel like you’re a participant in a grand enterprise of mass enlightenment that stretches back to Athens (you are!); bustling owl-eye intellectuals flocking to feast in the fields of [...]
