Category Archives: Nature

The Big Gardens

By Geraldine De Goeas, California

The tall iron gates stood wide open in welcome. Nadine read the large overhead sign. The Botanical Gardens. She grinned. No one in Guyana called it that. It was ‘The Big Gardens,’ simply because it was big, and also to differentiate it from the Promenade Gardens, known as ‘The Small Gardens’.

Towering palm trees lined the main walkway. The sweet scent of Frangipani filled the air.

“Which way to the manatee pond, Brother?” Nadine asked.

“Stop calling me Brother.” Nadine’s older brother Julio wagged his finger at her. Then he said, “We’ll go see the flowers first, check out the band and…”

Nadine sucked her teeth. “I came to feed the manatees. I don’t want to see flowers or listen to any old band.”

“Too bad,” Julio retorted. “The manatees won’t come to eat until it’s cooler. I’ll buy you a shave-ice and…”

“So why bring me now?” Nadine interrupted, stamping her foot.

“Because Mummy told me to. But we can go home,” Julio threatened.

Nadine’s lips formed a tight line. I’m not going home, she thought. What I came for is right here. She thought back to the first time she saw the manatees. How she found them ‘So awesome.’ “God’s gentle giants,” her mummy had called them. Nadine pictured them moving, ever so slowly, in the water. No splashing or thrashing; making hardly a ripple on the water’s surface. She remembered their small round eyes that seemed to twinkle as they spotted the eager crowd, offering all that delicious grass. No, Nadine would not be going home. Now that her mother had finally declared her old enough, Nadine was here to feed a manatee, and nothing would stop her.

“I’ll have a pineapple shave-ice,” she muttered grudgingly.

The sweet pineapple juice poured over crushed ice did little to change Nadine’s disappointment. She lagged behind Julio, ignoring the circles of delicate roses, colorful zinnias, and bright yellow marigolds that surrounded her. She shuffled along the dirt path, angrily kicking up dust with the tip of her yachting shoes.

Suddenly, a black bee zipped past Nadine’s nose. Nadine’s head snapped back instantly, but her eyes followed the bee cautiously. She saw it circle, then zoom, into the dark center of a large golden sunflower. As she watched, Nadine’s eyes grew wide and round like matching silver dollars. “Awesome,” she whispered.

“You coming?” shouted Julio.

Nadine ran to her brother. “Oh, Brother!” she exclaimed. “I saw a bee with its head shoved deep into a flower sucking up nectar, just the way my teacher said,” she blurted out excitedly. “Awesome.”

“Hey, I’ll show you something really awesome,” was Julio’s reply. Leading Nadine away from the flower beds, across a metal footbridge that twanged loudly with every footstep, Julio guided her to the far end of the gently running stream they had just crossed.

Huge round leaves, like giant plates, lay on the water’s surface. Pure white flowers, big as water-coconuts, with pointed oval petals, sat between the leaves, gleaming like jewels in the brilliant sunshine. Nadine gasped. Her mouth formed a perfect “O.”

“Victoria lilies,” Julio explained. “Guyana’s special flower. Named after a queen.”

“Oh, Brother, this is double awesome. God sure makes beautiful things.”

And as if in agreement, music filled the air. Recognizing a folksong she knew, Nadine sang aloud, “There’s a brown girl in the ring…”

Julio grabbed his sister’s hand. “Let’s go!” he yelled. And with the wind whistling in their ears, they ran toward the music. Soon, the bright red dome of the bandstand loomed before them. Groups of people dotted the surrounding grassy area; some singing like Nadine to the tune the bandsmen, in their crisp navy uniforms and shiny silver buttons were playing, “She likes sugar, and I like plums.”

Julio threw himself on the lawn and pulled Nadine down with him.

Soon, Nadine’s shoulders were rocking and her body swaying as she sang along with the spectators. “This is fun, Brother. Will you bring me again?”

“Only if you stop calling me Brother.”

Nadine’s forehead wrinkled into a frown. She loved Julio. He was her brother. Why shouldn’t she say so? She’d be happy if he called her Sister.

“Now to the manatee pond.”

Delighted at Julio’s words, Nadine immediately forgot her brother’s threat and sprang up to follow him.

Noisy children, protective parents, and many teenagers stood or sat by the water’s edge. Brother and sister searched for clumps of clean, young grass, then squatted by the water and waited.

The late afternoon sun peeking between the over-hanging Poinciana trees made dancing shadows on the still water.

“Here they come,” someone whispered. Nadine’s eyes lit up. Her heart pounded with excitement. The crown of a manatee’s wrinkled head appeared inches above the water. Then another, and another. As the mammals moved closer, people waved their fists of clutched grass hoping to attract a manatee’s attention.

“The grass, Daddy, hurry!”

At Nadine’s right, a boy about her age sat, both legs in braces, leaning sideways straining to find his father.

In seconds, a manatee’s head popped up out of the water, close to Nadine and the boy. It’s thick round lips opened wide; the two halves of it’s upper lip jiggled as if signaling to be fed.

“Daddy, Daddy.”

Nadine saw the boy’s lips tremble. She saw tears flood his eyes. She knew that feeling. She remembered her anger and her tears whenever her mommy had said, “Not until you’re older.”

Nadine eyed the manatee’s jiggling lips. So close. Quickly she extended her arm and offered her fist-full of grass. “Here take this,” she said to the boy.

“But Nadine…” Julio began.

“It’s okay,” Nadine said. “You’ll bring me another day, right Brother?”

Julio’s eyes misted up. He hugged his sister and nodded, “I promise.”

By Geraldine De Goeas, California. She adds: “I was born and educated in what was then British Guyana. These botanical gardens were my playground of choice growing up.”

A Straight Line: Simply Nonexistent

A Straight Line: Simply Nonexistent
By Sahil Prasad, grade 7, Maryland.

We cannot argue with reality. We cannot argue with science. Therefore, we simply cannot argue with the fact that there are no straight lines in the universe.

Let’s start with science. The science of a straight line falls under the subject of physics. It might seem like a complicated topic, but the theory behind it is pretty simple. Let’s say you are driving a car on a “straight road.” Your first thought is that you are moving in a straight line. But, in reality, the vehicle is traveling on a slight curve. Why? The Earth is a gigantic sphere, so whenever you think you are driving straight, you are actually driving along the slightest of curves as there are no straight lineson the circumference of a circle. If you start rowing in a boat from one place and keep sailing, the concept of the curved Earth will take you in a circle and you will end up where you started. The brain formulates the concept of a straight line to simplify what you see in nature. Consider it a tool for the mind to decipher reality.

Even light, an entity so fast that we might think it travels in a straight line, truly does not follow a straightforward path (See figure below). The concept of gravitational lensing can prove this fact. When you look at an astronomical object through a telescope, it might seem like you are looking at the object right in front of you. However, in reality it is likely to be in a different location entirely. Perhaps even billions of miles apart from your “straight” view. The gravitational influence of the bodies scattered across the universe can bend light rays so much that you will see a completely different object than the one in front of you. The gravity of massive objects can bend light to the point that it will curve backward into itself. This is a characteristic of a black hole! The universe is curved and continuously expanding. Thus, if a light ray were to travel in a “straight” pathway, it will ultimately return to the same place where it began its journey, similar to the rowing the boat example mentioned above.

Figure 1: The effect of gravitational lensing on the path of light. The orange lines show how light bends from the object to the earth.

Another field that is preoccupied with lines is architecture. The famous architect Antoni Gaudi pointed out that straight lines don’t exist. He said, “There are no straight lines or sharp corners in nature. Therefore, buildings must have no straight lines or sharp corners.” Gaudi states that buildings with “straight walls” are human interpretationsof nature. Gaudi’s buildings follow nature’s rules, as shown by the elegant curves of the Casa Batllo in Spain, his home country. The fact that Antoni Gaudi lived 100 years ago and that his buildings continue to inspire many across the world shows that something that abides by nature’s laws—with no straight lines—is likely to be an inspiration for years to come. As Ian Malcolm, the mathematician in the movie Jurassic Park put it “Nature always finds a way” (emphasis on nature, not humanity).

The concept of straight lines was controversial and heavily influenced the politics and society of Europe from the 15th to the 17th century. Hellenistic thinkers and scholars like Aristotle in the 5th century already proved that the Earth was spherical, but many Europeans did not believe in this idea! However, some Europeans during the Age of Exploration refuted this belief. Just as the famous Italian scientist Galileo Galilei was persecuted for advocating a heliocentric model of the solar system, many thinkers like Giordano Bruno were shamed for believing that the Earth was round. Many of these rebellious thinkers were executed and burned at the stake. Not even the rich and powerful European kingdoms could agree with reality.

Well, my friends, let’s move on to life. The concept of nothing going in a straight line can be associated with life as much as it relates to science and architecture. Whenever you do something, it never turns out to play out exactly as planned. I especially know that as a thirteen-year-old! Life is a bumpy road–every time you go forward, it is followed by two steps back or to the side. Just like how science explains it, life is a curvy path full of unexpected twists, turns, and adventures that nobody can ever predict. The fact that life isn’t a straight line is reflected even in the history of the Bible. The Bible was first preserved in the First Temple of Jerusalem, which was destroyed, and then the scattered remains were placed in the Second Temple—also destroyed by invaders. We can learn that even religion doesn’t proceed in a straightforward path—let alone human beings like us.

Who are we to argue with reality?

###

By Sahil Prasad, Grade 7, Maryland.

A Letter to my Grandchildren

A Letter to my Grandchildren:

How To Save Our Health and the Health of the World!

With Earth Day approaching I have been giving a lot of thought to how I can contribute to making this world a healthier and safer place for you. We have a number of issues that may be stressful for you… but I would like to share some of my thoughts on why the food choices we make can be powerful factors in improving the health and safety in your life as well as the health of the world.
What are some of the problems we face?

Global warming leading to extreme weather (storms, floods, tornadoes, droughts, etc.)
Species extinction due to loss of habitat
Crime and violence
Pandemic issues
Obesity and increase in chronic illnesses (like diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, liver disease, etc.)

What is one of the most effective ways to reduce these problems? It’s Food!

Why? When you look around the world…you will discover that certain populations live longer (into their 90’s and 100’s) and are healthier than others. The book, The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner, documents the five regions of the world that have a number of similarities—a whole plant food diet, movement throughout the day, and good social support from family and friends.There are two sources of food available in our world—plants and animals. In the Americas, raising animals for our main food source contributes more to global warming than all the transportation we use. It uses more water and land than using plants for our main food source. And raising animals in close quarters has led to spreading diseases to humans and has contributed to antibiotic resistance. Animal foods are high in saturated fats, which leads to inflammation and clogging of our arteries. Saturated fats also are an underlying cause of obesity, diabetes, and many other chronic illnesses. Also, the processing of our foods to increase shelf life and to make food choices more attractive has increased the fat, salt, and sugar content, and at the same time, made them highly addictive. Addiction leads to anxiety, depression, and a lower quality of life. It may lead to mental illness and potentially to increased crime and violence. All in all, raising animals for our food is not only contributing in a huge way to making our health worse but it is also making our planet sick.

So what is the solution? The one thing we can all do is to start asking ourselves questions like: “Are the food choices I am making now because of my habits or will they help me reach my goals and help improve the health of our planet?” Greta Thunberg’s answer is to just eat plant-based foods. And eating plants as they have grown in nature (with only minimal processing) is the healthiest choice we can make.
What gets in the way of us making healthier choices?

Family and friends
Our culture
Myths we live with…

Let’s look at some of the myths we live with.

Myth# 1. Our Genes Determine Our Health
We used to believe that our genes were the main determinants of our health. We now know that genetics account for about 20% of our health. 80% of our health is determined by our lifestyle (what we eat, how we move throughout the day, the chemicals we use, and how we deal with stress). A good analogy is this… If you put a bullet in a gun, no one gets hurt unless the trigger gets pulled. Our genes are like the bullet. If we choose unhealthy foods, live a sedentary lifestyle, use tobacco or alcohol, or do not learn how to handle stress, then our trigger gets pulled and we can develop the diseases that hurt us. So if you want to be the healthiest, do not stress out too much about your family history, but instead concentrate on the lifestyle choices you make. And eat healthy foods regularly to achieve your best health.

Myth# 2. The Best Source of Protein Is Animal Foods
The building blocks for protein are called amino acids. All of these building blocks are made by and found in plants—greens, beans, legumes, grains, roots and tubers, seeds, fruits, and nuts, etc. Animals are like a middleman. They eat plants and plant products to make protein. Our teeth and long digestive tracts are meant to grind up plants and make our own protein, just like the strongest animals on Earth—elephants and gorillas. We have no need to eat other animals. When we eat protein from animals we decrease the fiber content of our diet. Dietary fiber is the main deficiency in the American diet—the Standard American Diet (SAD).

Myth# 3. Protein Is Deficient in our Diet
If you eat enough calories and a variety of foods in the day, you will get enough protein. Do not focus your attention on getting enough protein, but do focus on how you are going to get enough fiber. Why is fiber so important? Fiber provides bulk and makes us full so we do not overeat. Fiber hooks up with excess cholesterol, other excess hormones, and toxins and wheelbarrows it out quickly through our intestines. For every 10 grams of fiber you add to your daily diet, you decrease your colon cancer risk by 10% because the toxins pass through the intestine so quickly they do not have time to do as much damage to the cells lining your colon. Fiber is the food for the good bacteria in your colon. These bacteria are called your microbiome. When you feed these bacteria they feed you back with chemicals like butyrate and serotonin. Butyrate is an anti-inflammatory chemical which helps heal the body. Serotonin is a hormone that prevents anxiety and depression. Remember… more fiber from whole plant foods leads to better health.

Myth# 4. Carbohydrates Are the Enemy
Many of us are confused about this issue. We all know that eating more fruits and vegetables is healthy. But we are told not to eat carbohydrates. Yet fruits and vegetables are carbohydrates plus fiber. So, why wouldn’t we be confused?

Carbohydrates packaged with their usual fiber are healthy and not harmful. That is why eating whole plant foods as grown in nature is healthy, but processing these same plant foods by stripping away their fiber leads to inflammation and spiking blood sugars that lead to disease. So avoid all processed foods like white sugar, white bread, sugary drinks and sodas, and artificial foods that are not grown in nature.

Myth# 5. Willpower Is the Main Factor in Obesity
Willpower is not the main factor in the epidemic of obesity in the Western world. Our foods have been altered (processed) in such a way as to make them highly addictive. Like any other addiction, high calorie density foods light up the pleasure centers in our brains and keep us wanting to eat more…even though we know this is harming our health. Transition your food choices to low calorie density and you will not have to worry about your weight. It may take several weeks for your body to adjust to eating low calorie density foods rather than the high calorie density foods that you are used to eating.

Myth# 6. Milk Does the Body Good!
Milk has been promoted for its calcium. However, science shows that milk drinkers do not have lower rates of bone fracture. In fact, sometimes they have higher rates of bone fracture. Get your calcium from the beans and greens in your diet. 75% of the world population lacks the enzymes to metabolize lactose (the sugar in milk). This lactose intolerance leads to bloating, increased gas, and a lot of unnecessary abdominal pain. Milk has IGF-1 (a hormone that promotes growth). That is good when you are a baby…but it is not so good if you are older and happen to have some cancer cells whose growth might be stimulated by the Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 hormone.

Myth# 7. You Can Trust your Doctor or Health Care System for Nutrition Advice
Currently there are very few medical schools that share the science of ‘food as medicine’ in the curriculum. So do not be surprised if your doctor or healthcare provider actually learns from you. If you look around and see the number of people who are overweight, have diabetes, or other chronic illnesses, you might ask yourself, “Do I really want to trust the information (nutritional advice) that my healthcare system has been promoting for many years?” or “Do I want to do some research and find a better way?”

Myth# 8. Animals that We Eat are Well Cared for
This might be one of the biggest myths. Big Ag (agriculture) has taken over how animals are raised and killed for our food. Animals are kept in very crowded conditions (I think of these conditions like concentration camps) that require the use of antibiotics to prevent spreading disease in these animals. This use of antibiotics has led to antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance is an important issue because if a person gets an infection that our antibiotics no longer can treat…it could result in increased rates of disability and death. The way we treat others (and that includes animals) will influence how kind or compassionate we become as human beings. The way we have been treating our animals is not an example of how I wish to be treated. My choice is to not support an industry that treats animals inhumanely—as is currently practiced in the meat and poultry industry.

It took over 30 years for the United States to understand that smoking causes cancer and death. Food has become our new tobacco. Promote transitioning to a whole food, plant based diet and watch the reduction in deaths from most of our chronic diseases as we eliminate calorie-rich and processed (CRAP) foods from our diet. We will feel healthier as we replace these with greens, beans, legumes, grains, roots and tubers, seeds, fruits, and nuts in our daily diet. Some of these can be eaten raw while others can be soaked and cooked—boiled or baked to make them digestible and palatable. Minimizing salt, oils (fats) and refined sugars and using whole grains (rather than white flour, white rice, etc.) in preparing meals, and fresh fruits rather than fruit juices ensures that we get that important dietary fiber in our digestive system.
The time is right to transition what we eat…let’s be thoughtful about the science of healthy food choices…not only for our individual health but also for the health of our planet!

Love,
Papa

By Dr. Charles “Charlie” Ross. Doctor Ross is a practicing osteopathic physician for over 45 years and a part-time Assistant Professor at Western University of Health Sciences in Oregon. He wants to change the practice of medicine from treating symptoms to treating the root causes of disease. He practices Lifestyle Medicine and co-teaches free community classes on the science of nutrition and food as medicine.

Beneath A Tree

Happy Earth Day to all our subscribers and readers of Skipping Stones Magazine. To Celebrate Earth Day, we share with you a short poem by our contributor Maggie d., an African American poet in Washington. Enjoy it!

Beneath A Tree

Someone planted a tree

For me

To get out of

The sun

And enjoy the fun

Of reading a book

Under a roof of pine

Scented branches

Leaving behind my

Stuffy room

And watch

Zooming birds build

Their nest

Without rest

A hardy thank-you goes out

To the person

Who planted a tree

For birds and people like me

By maggie d., African American poet, Washington. She adds:

“The poem erupted from a shade tree being cut down where I live.”

Color Me!

Happy Earth Day 2023!

Our friend, artist Jon Bush of Massachusetts, invites the artist in you to color this landscape to your liking. Get out your crayons or color pencils and pens to bring to life the landscape in living color of your choice. What different things do you seen in this scene? As you begin to color, you may find many things that you may have missed in your first look. You will need to print out the image before you begin to color. Try different schemes. Have fun. —Editor

Goldilocks Zone and the Three Planets

Have you ever heard of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears? In the story, Goldilocks sneaks into a bear family’s house and comes across three bowls of porridge. She finds that the first one is too hot, the second one too cold, and the third one is just right. Interestingly, there is also a principle called the “Goldilocks zone” in astrobiology. The Goldilocks zone (or habitable zone) is a space shaped like a doughnut around a star, where the temperature is “just right” for water to remain liquid, signaling the potential for life. In our solar system, the Goldilocks zone is a doughnut-shaped area between Venus and Mars’s orbit, with our earth in the middle. The only habitable planet orbiting the Sun is Earth, but there could be thousands of other exoplanets in the universe that have the conditions for liquid water. We can’t be sure yet, but some might even have life.

One example of an exoplanet that suits the Goldilocks principle is Proxima Centauri B. Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star that is the closest star to our sun by a distance of 4.2 light-years. Although Proxima Centauri B lies in the habitable zone and could have an atmosphere and liquid water, there are obstacles that make it harder for people to settle there. For one, Proxima Centauri B suffers from overwhelming stellar wind pressures from its star. Also, as the planet might be tidally locked to its star, meaning that the same side faces the star at all times, one side might be boiling and the other extremely cold. As of now, we are unsure of whether the planet is rocky, icy, or gaseous. However, because the planet is very close to Earth, it might be the first exoplanet for humans to visit, so we should keep it in mind.

Another example of an exoplanet in the Goldilocks zone is Trappist-1e. Located about 40 light-years from Earth, its star Trappist-1 is a red dwarf star that weighs 0.09 times the Sun’s mass. All of Trappist-1’s seven planets have rocky surfaces like Earth and almost all have water in vapor, liquid, or solid form, which make humans look for opportunities to settle there. Out of these seven planets, Trappist-1e has the best chance of being habitable. Trappist-1e has an ocean and land, and if it has an atmosphere similar to that of Earth, people might be able to live there without gas masks or space suits. One interesting fact is that because Trappist-1 and its planets were formed 3 billion years earlier than our solar system, they might even support life that is more evolved than humans!

The last planet we’ll talk about was recently discovered in January 2020. Orbiting around the star TOI 700, TOI 700 d is the first earth-sized exoplanet discovered in the Goldilocks zone. TOI 700’s other two planets are so close to the star that all their water will boil away, while TOI 700 d luckily sits in the habitable zone with liquid water. Out of all the exoplanets in their star’s habitable zones, there aren’t many with the same size as Earth, which makes TOI 700 d one of the best options for settling. However, the distance of 101 light-years hinders us from visiting in the near future.

All three of these exoplanets have a possibility for harboring life. Even though the possibility that any of them are habitable for humans is very slim, we will continue our discovery of exoplanets. Only about 30 years have passed since we first discovered planets outside our solar system. This is only a start, and we can hope that astronomers will find a new exoplanet with the same conditions as Earth. Who knows? Maybe someday in the far future we will settle on a Goldilocks planet outside our solar system.

By Evan Jee, age 12, grade 6, South Korea. Evan writes: “I am interested in this topic of studying space and planets in school classes. And I usually read science novels or watch movies to understand the detailed aspects. As an international school student, I sometimes have time to discuss with foreign friends as well.”

References and Recommended Resources:

NASA May Have Found the Goldilocks Planet of Goldilocks Planets: TOI 700d https://time.com/5763768/toi-700-d-goldilocks-planet/
Earth, our Goldilocks Planet; Datasets from ‘Science on a Sphere’ https://sos.noaa.gov/catalog/datasets/earth-our-goldilocks-planet/
Goldilocks Meets Desidero by Carl Spetzler, 2011

Sustainability and Sustainable Consumption

Sustainability and Sustainable Consumption

By T. Vijayendra, Hyderabad, India

Life on Earth can be divided in two groups—producers (trees and grasses, for example) and consumers (such as animals and human beings). The difference between the two is that producers—like plants—produce their own food whereas consumer species like animals—humans included—live directly or indirectly on food produced by the producer species (think plant life).

To sustain themselves, humans consume goods and services not only from plant and animal sources but also from inanimate sources such as minerals. These resources are either renewable or non-renewable resources. Non-renewable resources, like fossil fuels, minerals, and metals, are finite in nature by definition. In other words, the more we use them, their supply will deplete. Renewable sources, like plants, trees and agriculture, are by definition renewed in nature; both by natural processes and helped by human efforts.

Now, a simple way to explain sustainability: If we consume resources in such a way that the resources we need and enjoy can also be available to succeeding generations (as well as for all other forms of life) for their needs and enjoyment at a level needed by them and for a foreseeable future.

This issue of sustainability was not a big problem in human history because our population was small and our levels of resource consumption per capita were also small. Today, both the consumption levels and our population have increased substantially. As a result, the way we live and consume resources is NOT sustainable!

To achieve sustainability, the first thing we need to do is we must reduce our per capita consumption. Secondly, more of it should come from renewable resources.

There is an interesting fact about most non-renewable resources. Be it the fuel used for transport (petrol for cars, for example), chemical pesticides in agriculture, cement used in housing and construction, or the plastics used for packaging, they almost always tend to pollute and add to the climate change (and global warming) problem. This is one more important reason for us to reduce the component of non-renewable resources in our consumption.

Value Chain

What is a value chain? It is the chain of values [the term “value” used here is a business term, and not a “value” in the normal sense] added to a product from the source till it reaches the consumer. Let us explain this more:

If we climb a tree and eat its fruit, there is no value chain. But most of us buy the goods we consume. For example, apples are grown on trees in an orchard (likely, in a rural area), picked, packed and transported to the urban centers where we live. In the city we can buy fruits and vegetables either from a pushcart or a farmer’s market, or in a supermarket. So ‘value’ gets added to the produce in a chain consisting of picking, packing, transporting and retail selling. Now, if the apples were converted into apple juice, involving some processing, there would be even more links in the value chain and hence more value would be added.

There is a difference between fruits and vegetables sold by a street vendor (or at the farmer’s market) and in a supermarket. It is not difficult to understand that the “value” added to it in a supermarket is much more. This extra value is called a shelf rent – which can include the rent of the place, worker salaries, utilities, and air conditioning, etc. You might also notice that a big chunk of the difference comes from the non-renewable resources used for transportation and processing, etc., contributing to pollution and climate change. This makes it less sustainable.

We can add some more attributes to sustainability. Instead of an apple, suppose it was a locally produced vegetable or fruit, and sold directly by the person who produced and harvested it. It will then have much less value added, and it will be more sustainable.

We can extend this logic to other sectors of our activities. Locally produced food is more sustainable as we have seen above. Similarly, mud houses, straw-bale houses, or houses made using local materials like bricks or wood can be more sustainable, not only because of the material used, but also because less energy is used in heating, lighting and keeping them cool during the summer months (or warmer in cold climates). In fact, heating and air conditioning uses a lot of energy.

To mention another example, neighborhood schools can reduce transportation costs and so would more use of bicycles for small distances. In many cases, sustainable products are more ‘expensive’. While ‘value added’ can be calculated, price is determined by a variety of unpredictable factors, which have a lot to do with politics and the prevailing social order in human societies.

To work towards sustainability, we can use these four general principles:

Consume less.
What we consume should have a higher proportion of materials from renewable resources.
The value chain from the source to consumer (or end-user) should be as short as possible, so that ‘value addition’ is reduced. That is, we need to consume local products as much as possible.
The components of the value chain should use as little of non-renewable resources as possible. For example, the transportation can be done with animal carts or bicycles or hand pushed carts. The packaging can be minimal. Consumers can carry their own bags—paper or cloth bags—instead of plastic carry bags and so on. The main idea here is to reduce waste by recycling and reusing resources, or closing the loop in the resource use cycle.

Our power plants, factories, automobiles, machines and buildings need to be adapted so they use predominantly renewable energy resources instead of non-renewable resources that come from underground (fossil fuels) and emit carbon dioxide and other pollutants when burned.

Acknowledgement

The main ideas of this article were developed by Soujanya Mantravadi in 2017 for a talk on International Hawkers’ Day at Lamakaan, Hyderabad, India.

T. Vijayendra (b. 1943) is political-social activist, living in India. He divides his time between an organic farm at the foothills of Western Ghats of South India, and watching birds, writing fiction and educational articles at his home in Hyderabad. He has published several books. He has been a ‘dedicated’ bicyclist all his life; he has never driven a fossil-fuel based vehicle (automobile). Email: t.vijayendra@gmail.com

An earlier version of this article was also published in CounterCurrents.org (an online journal, published from Kerala, India) along with the above photo of street vendors of fruits and vegetables in Hyderabad, India.

In Search of Cool

Summer is here

They say heat is good for

Tomatoes

And wiggling toes in warm

Sand

But ants are trying to tell us

Something

Diligently building mounds of

Dirt between cracks in

Sidewalks

It is going to be a scorcher

I think

I do not want to be a prisoner of

The Sun I hum

Left to find a place to hide from

The hurting burn

City shade is sparse

Do you hear the asphalt whispering

Beware of the sweltering black

Streets?

By maggie d., African American poet, Washington.

The 2022 Young Poet Awards

The 2022 Young Poet Awards was organized by Camille S. Campbell in partnership with us. A teen author herself, Camille knows the importance of encouraging young writers through showcasing their work. The contest encouraged youth to write poems and empowered them to express themselves through the visual arts. After seeing the impact of her book, Her Poems: Women Poets Who Changed the World, Camille felt inspired to give back to her local community and throughout the country by hosting the Young Poet Awards contest.

We’re very grateful to all students (and also their teachers and parents) who entered their creative works. Our heartfelt congratulations to the winners of the contest this year: Carina Araujo (4th grade winner) and Nova Macknik-Conde (5th grade winner). The two Young Poets will receive a cash prize, Skipping Stones Magazine subscription and recent issues, signed copies of Camille’s book, and four books donated by Skipping Stones Magazine.

4th Grade Winner: Carina Araujo, Maryland.

My Love for my Mom

Art and poem by Carina Araujo, grade 4, Maryland.

My love for you is bigger than the sky

You and me in this beautiful warm night

Staring at the moonlight

Together, you and me

Looking at the big blue bright sky

There are infinite stars above us

Shining in the sky

Holding hands together we stand

Peace all around

In our land

Carina Araujo, grade 4, Maryland (above).

5th Grade Winner: Nova Macknik-Conde, New York.

Winter In My Bed

Glittering white powder covers my home like a frosted cake

The silent fall of snow lulls me to sleep

Icicles lining the roof

The chance of snowmen when I wake up

Cold harsh weather surrounds my home

But it cannot penetrate the warm soft blankets that cover me

Like a hatchling in her nest

Winter in my bed

A full moon glows lighting up my face

My family sleeping warm

Through the frosty night

Me, listening to the sounds of night and family

Slowly drifting to sleep

In my snuggly, lovely, cuddly bed

By Nova Macknik-Conde, grade 5, New York.

Writer’s Block

My pen lingers over the page,

Cobalt ink waiting in the depths,

I imagine, and I ponder, and I muse.

But still the thief steals my well of words,

Cheats me of my cascading thoughts,

And takes my waterfalls of compositions.

The vague scent of ink on a fresh sheet of paper,

The articulation of inspiration,

The quiet bliss of the flowing verse.

The thief deprives me of the joy of invention,

The dexterity of novels, poems, and short stories,

And the rushing streams of world building.

So idea-less

That the only method of elusion

Is to pen

The meaningless things that enter my mind,

Or write about my writer’s block alone.

By Nova Macknik-Conde, grade 5, New York.

Nature Is This and This Is I

I, I, I, I am nature.

Nature is this and this is I,

I, I, I, I am nature,

Nature needs love and care, so do I.

I am this and this is nature,

I need food and water.

Nature is this and this is I,

Nature grows over time, so do I.
I am this and this is nature.

I like to be in the sun.

Nature is this and this is I.

I, I, I, I am nature.

By Arya Khan, age 8, Asian American, Illinois. Arya adds: “…nature and we are alike. Living in the city, nature is hard to find. I wish I could find nature like in my backyard or in a fairy tale. So I hope this (my poem) will help people plant trees and help the Earth a little bit more. I am also doing a project called Save the planet…”