Preparing the Soil for "ReGeneration: The Tucson Story"

art by Rihanna Gayle 

I click the link - Join with Computer Audio - like I've done numerous times while recording my virtual play ReGeneration: The Tucson Story. But this time there is a class full of teenage art students waiting behind their Zoom windows for me to be let in. Their teacher, Amy Wood from Sky Islands High School, introduces me. I scramble to recall what I had planned to say to inspire them to create art work for my play - starting with the story of why I decided to take on this ambitious project. I recount how I used to take my kids to the pool every summer afternoon to cool off from the hot Tucson sun. Inevitably we would end up waiting in the car until the monsoon storm had passed. But as the boys grew up, I began to notice that it didn't rain as often as it used to. I began to worry. What if Josh and Jeremy decided to stay in Tucson? Would there be enough water?

Then an event happened that changed our lives.  One fine fall morning, my husband Dan peddled off to enjoy Watershed Management Group’s Homescape Harvest Tour clasping a map of some yards that the co-op had worked on. When Dan got home, all sweaty and out of breath, he rushed me out the door to see some exciting examples of rainwater harvesting. I was especially blown away by WMG’s Living Lab and Learning Center where every plant on the property, including some fruit trees, were irrigated with stormwater. They weren’t using any city water! Docents explained how there was enough stormwater to fill every Tucsonan’s needs if we all “planted the rain.” Finally! A practical solution to making Tucson water secure!

 

For the last seven years, Dan and I learned everything we could about rainwater harvesting and sustainable living. He became a member of their co-op, spending every free weekend digging catchment basins in people's yards to sink in the rain and installing big water barrels to collect runoff from rooftops to irrigate native plants. I blogged about our adventures (and misadventures) in transitioning our own yard into a desert food forest.

Then we realized that despite our best efforts most Tucsonans still hadn't heard of rainwater harvesting. We needed to reach beyond our little Facebook bubble. That's why I wrote the play - to reach out to those who would be the most impacted by climate change - particularly young adults. Like those in Ms. Wood's art classes. We needed their help to make sure our play appealed to their generation. Fortunately, the students embraced the challenge and went to work creating the art that opens many of the scenes. We're thrilled to have them on our team.

art by Aiunae Thompson 

ReGeneration: The Tucson Story is about a diverse group of teens who bring their communities together to save Tucson as the climate disaster progresses. The cool part is that it was presented by a diverse group of teens inspired to share sustainable solutions.

To reach the teen audience, I needed to make sure that the dialogue reflected the way they speak. This was an issue because it had been a while since my boys were teens. A high school English teacher agreed to have her students look over the dialogue when they got back from Spring Break. Then COVID struck.

I continued to work on the script after my screenwriting group critiqued it. I was painfully aware that while the pandemic may have stalled my efforts, it certainly had not slowed down climate change. I decided that it was time to contact high schools and theater companies about producing the play. But they had problems of their own. Teachers were struggling to adapt to virtual classes. Local theater companies were working on ways to stay relevant. There was no time to read a play from an unknown playwright. However, in the problem was the solution. Drama teachers and theater companies started producing virtual (Zoom) plays. That was it! Inspired by their productions, I decided to produce a virtual reading of my play.

It was time for a leap of faith. I started a search for the diverse cast of 16. A friend introduced me to a drama teacher. She announced it to her class. I finally got a response from a bright young actress, Itzel Macias. She convinced a couple of friends from drama club, Ariel Cheng and Andrew Trever, to audition. They impressed me with their talent and enthusiasm! I cast them all. They were instrumental in getting this production off the ground becoming the first members of Team ReGeneration. 

Andrew Trever, who plays Alex, wrote in his bio: “I joined the ReGeneration project because as a young Latinx person it spoke volumes to me to be able to work with such a diverse cast and to be able to talk about a subject that affects me and the very town I call home.”

I strongly believe that our diverse communities need to work together on sustainable solutions if we want to lessen the impact of climate change. That theme is woven throughout the play. It was important that those voices be as authentic as possible. So I researched Tohono O’odham and LatinX cultures. To make sure I was respectful of their traditions, I had members of those communities give me feedback and incorporated their suggestions into the script. I made a concerted effort to cast the main characters with actors of the correct ethnicity. That was a challenge. After an exhaustive search for the Latino brothers, I finally spotted a PSA with a young man who looked right for the part of Rogelio. I tracked Eduardo Rodriguez down on Facebook and asked him if he would be interested in being in my play. I waited with anticipation as he read the script. He got back to me after a few days. Said he was fascinated with the sustainability aspects of the play. But it was the characters’ relationships that kept him turning the pages! He was definitely interested in the part. Only... one thing... he was a Pima Community College graduate. Somehow I managed to convince him that he could play 14 year old Rogelio. And I was right. It was fun watching his transformation!

As difficult as it was finding the young Latino actors, I knew I had a bigger challenge ahead - finding a Tohono O’odham actress to play Ha:san. Then it happened... a little miracle...I discovered a short video by a young Tohono O’odham woman who lives on the reservation near Sells. We connected on Facebook. I was so blessed to have Tierra Domingo in our production. We worked together to make sure her character and the T.O. traditions were presented accurately and respectfully. She even recruited her little sisters for the storytelling scene – all donned in their traditional Tohono O’odham dresses! Tierra recently shared her experience in her tribe’s newspaper, The Runner. Her dress inspired this drawing from Sisiki Bidelman-Owens, one of the art students from Sky Islands High School.

I am so proud of the talented and hardworking young actors who also contributed as the assistant director, stage manager, promoters, technical support and artists. We held all of the rehearsals and production meetings online. There were certainly challenges with using a virtual medium and a steep learning curve for me. But it was fun to work with this creative group of young people to find solutions. The teens were masters at coming up with blocking and using props in the limited space. Even separated in their individual Zoom frames you can see the comradery. They were also my advisers. When I was struggling with finding the balance between using authentic street dialogue and being culturally respectful, they shared valuable insights. They taught me how to be a better director and communicator. And I think they learned a thing or two. Throughout the rehearsal process, the teens discovered sustainability practices like rainwater harvesting and regenerative gardening. During the Q & A at our virtual premiere, some shared what they learned. Andrew said he's thinking of growing a garden! Plans are in the works for Tierra to speak at Ha:san Prep, a Tohono O'odham school here in Tucson.

photo by Javier Castillo

Speaking of the Q & A... There is another member of the panel I want to introduce. I was looking for an artist who could bring a teen audience to our virtual premiere and a friend recommended R3D. To be honest, I wasn't sure if he even wrote the kind of lyrics I needed. There were no songs about the environment or climate action on his page. The closest thing I found was a music video about the police inspired by what had happened over the summer called "Land of the Privileged." But when I pointed out that he still had eight days left to write a new song for the premiere, he took up the challenge. He wrote "Our World" super fast, in two days. I asked him why he was interested in this project and he responded, "I’m all about cleaning the earth. Saving the planet, we live in it and we must keep where we live clean. I also want my kids, kids, kids to have a better future but it starts with us. Therefore our kids will learn and continue to keep Earth clean so their kids future will be brighter than ours."

Listen in as R3D performs his new song, "Our World" and joins Tierra, Andrew, and Itzel on the Q & A at our fun-filled virtual premiere of ReGeneration; The Tucson Story now available on Youtube.

People are always inquiring why more young people aren't involved in our sustainability community. Sometimes they just need the opportunity to share what they love. Prepare the soil and plant the rain. Invite them to the garden. And watch them grow.  

More ideas on engaging the next generation here. 

Engaging the Next Generation

OK. I realize that my enthusiasm for sustainability sounds like the ramblings of Charlie Brown's teacher to my teenage son. (Perhaps a bit more strident...)

My boys squawk at the idea of carrying out the rinse water to irrigate our edible plants. In their defense, they weren't raised in a sustainable household. During my past marriage, we did some half-hearted recycling and that was as far as it went.

So how do you get apathetic teens interested in sustainable living? Looking back at my youth, I recall how I absolutely HATED picking green beans on my Nana's farm. But her legacy lovingly hangs over me as I tend my own little desert garden. So who knows? There may be hope for my boys.

A teachable moment presented itself when Dan and I had to go away for a long weekend. The boys generously agreed to water our yard and garden while we were away. I took the opportunity to not only give them directions, but to explain - in detail - why we do what we do. They seemed a little distracted at the time. Josh was texting his girlfriend... But we came home to thriving plants. (And a pile of dog shit, but that's another story.) I'm not sure this had much of an impact on their lives - yes, I'm still the one taking out the sink water - but hopefully it planted the seeds. Joshua admitted later that he had actually enjoyed being out in nature. Jeremy shared a story on how he saw a scruffy coyote staring hungrily at the squirrels on the other side of our garden fence. (Yes, those are the same squirrels that perch on the back wall ready to pounce on my beloved tomatoes the minute they turn red.) Of course, I'm glad the little critters are alright!

Recently, another opportunity to reach my youngest son presented itself. Since graduating high school, Jeremy has been doggedly pursuing his passion for stand-up comedy. He hits a different open mic every night. I found a way to use this interest to get him to research sustainable principles. I invited him to MC Sustainable Tucson's impromptu storytelling activity "Tales of the Future" at our tent at Discover Local Day. He has to come up with four sample stories on the theme of "Tucson's sustainable future." Sure, this is nepotism. But it's worth it. I am so proud of him for rising to the challenge. He may never become another Brad Lancaster, but he has already come up with some pretty funny shit.

Yes, sometimes it's discouraging that more teens aren't getting on board with fighting climate change (UA Students for Sustainability and Compost Cats are exceptions.) But this success with Jeremy inspired me to reach out to other teens by taking advantage of their personal interests.

The Sustainable Tucson organizing team needed to come up with some activities for our tent at Discover Local Day. After participating in Living Streets Alliance's community hearings on Complete Streets, I was inspired to do an activity on "Planning your Neighborhood." Instead of just taking a crack at it myself, I invited Changemaker High School art students to design and make it. Their principal was delighted that the students would learn about complete, walkable streets while honing their critical thinking skills. Last night at their open house, one of the students, Jasmine, excitedly showed off her work on the project. Gotta admit that made my day! 

So how did this little experiment in engaging our teens turn out?

I'm eternally grateful to Jasmine for planning the street map. (One less thing I had to do!) The students used the neighborhood around their school as inspiration. Four guys painted houses, businesses, streets and the Swan Wash on the tabletop. It turned out to be more difficult than first imagined. The paint wouldn't stick to the plastic coating.  But the students solved the problem by taking off the plastic coating.

There were also challenges with making the movable pieces. The class tried small wooden squares cut to scale with the street map. They were too tiny to paint on! They eventually used a set of children's building blocks (not painted to scale.) To be honest, not all of the Changemaker art students got into to the "Planning Your Neighborhood" project.  They had their own projects. But I'm proud of the ones who worked on it. It wasn't an easy task!

So how did my little act of nepotism work out? Immediately after being hired to MC our storytelling tent, Jeremy went off to his room to brainstorm ideas. He was inspired to write a couple of stories right away. He patiently listened as I shared sustainable principles.  He read my story prompts (as promised) and came up with more ideas. He was actually a delight to work with. He even brainstormed some ideas with me.  I gave him the idea to use the lion character he had developed for a speech and debate competition. He ran with it. He came up with a hilarious story about a mountain lion escaping from the Desert Museum when the power goes out.

I'm so glad I asked Jeremy to MC. I think it was good for our relationship! Jeremy had an excellent attitude. He even agreed to help out as needed.  On the morning of the event, a groggy Jeremy got up and helped (a little) in loading the van.  When I needed more signs, he drew them.

Discover Local Day (October 14th) 

The day started off slow. There wasn't enough foot traffic at our location behind the Tucson Museum of Art to gather much of an audience for storytelling - despite my miked announcement of Mayor Rothschild's participation.  But Jeremy took the storytelling stage and introduced him. The Mayor gamely shared the city council's efforts to make Tucson more sustainable - including how the park bond would include safe bike paths.

Changemaker's "Design Your Neighborhood" activity was well received. It was a good vehicle for educating participants on complete streets and water-harvesting features. I also used it to lure audience members into our storytelling tent. While families played, I asked the parents if their children liked stories about lions. Then I made Jeremy tell his mountain lion story for them. He must have told that story five times! Sustainable Tucson member Stuart Moody joined in by telling stories suited for kids.

Later in the day, there were a couple of magic moments when community members joined our volunteers in the audience. There was a real sense of community as people listened to each other and responded with stories of their own.

Tactical Urbanism Block Party (October 20th)

When we arrived at  Sixth Avenue and Seventh Street, there were volunteers of all ages painting the intersection bright colors. It was an amazing sight! 

Jasmine, from Changemaker High School, showed up just in time to help us set up the tent. She was indispensable! We spent most of the morning tying down everything to secure it against the wind.  A resourceful volunteer from Living Street Alliance brought by plastic donation buckets filled with water to weigh down the corners of the tent. When the wind blew them over, we filled them up with soil that Tank's Green Stuff had generously donated. We taped paper on the table, so the kids would have a place to draw that wouldn't fly away. When we finally got everything secured, Jasmine demonstrated the "Design Your Neighborhood" activity. She did a great job representing her school and Sustainable Tucson. 

After the event, Jasmine asked me to let her know about the next Sustainable Tucson meeting. She might have some other students who would be interested in attending.  I learned an important lesson -  if we want more teens involved, we need to make an effort to engage them. Then show support by showing up.  It is so worth it. 

More Information: 

Changemakers show us the way.

I worked with youth on a virtual reading of my play, "ReGeneration: The Tucson Story."  Read about the process here. 

Teachable moment for the boys

Teachable moment for the boys

catchment basin a work in progress

After digging up layers of gravel and plastic from the backyard, Dan finally got our heritage fig trees and pomegranate in the ground. (Yeah!) After our newly planted startups finally started growing some tomatoes (Yeah!), we have to go away for a long weekend.  Not to worry, my grown boys have come to the rescue.

Look! I grew tomatoes! 

Taking advantage of the “teachable moment," I dragged my disinterested boys along (Jeremy debating politics, Josh texting his girlfriend) as I demonstrated how to care for my babies, eh, garden. Since Jeremy accused me of micro-managing, and Josh demanded, "If you want me to do this, write it down" - this is what you get!

DIRECTIONS FOR WATERING MOM'S GARDEN:

Use blue water bottle to water the two potted curry plants on table, and fill up olla by tomato plant in front of the back wall. The olla (along with the wood chip mulch) helps keep the ground damp longer. Pour the remaining water in the mulch around the plant. Don't forget to put the black cap back on the olla.

Water the kitchen garden in the morning and the evening using two metal watering cans full of water. The best times to water in Tucson are in the morning and early evening so it doesn't evaporate so fast!

Helpful hint: hold up the spout while you are carrying it outside to keep from spilling on floor. If you disregard this advice, step carefully on slippery, wet floor.

Water AROUND the plants, not on top of them. Don't rush and pour it all in one spot making a hole in the mulch. The idea is to keep the ground and mulch damp around my tomato plants.

Water the plants in our freshly dug basin.

Note: Dan still needs to dig this catchment basin deeper (leaving the trees and their circle of mulch on higher ground) and fill in the rest with mulch. But we needed to get the plants in before they were root-bond.  So he put mulch around each plant. Dan plans to install a greywater system here to reuse water from our outside washing machine to irrigate our drought tolerant edible trees.

Use one watering can full of water on my sad looking re-planted tepary beans and chiltepin. (I'm hoping they will come back and add nitrogen to the ground. )

Use one can of water for each fig tree. Pour the water around and around the fig tree getting all of the mulch wet. If it looks like it is starting to puddle, alternate watering the other tree so it has time to sink in.

Use two cans of water for the lone pomegranate tree - watering all the mulch around it. It will hold in the moisture longer.

Don't forget to use the water from your coffee grounds.

You can put the plastic water bucket here while you close the door so the cat won't get out, or you will be spending your weekend looking for the cat.

Alternate pouring coffee grounds around tomato plants, fig trees, or pomegranate. I'm hoping it will keep the bugs away. 

Don't forget to use your dish water on humming bird trumpets. Pour chunky, greasy water on compost.

Lastly, water the surviving tepary bean plants in the garden behind the back-wall (beside the fenced garden.) They survived the hot summer; they deserve to live!  (1 can will do.)

Don't forget the animals...

Feed the dog 1 scoop of dog food and then put her out. You can try using a treat to get her outside  Try to take her for a walk in the evening.

Take out the trash!

Love, mom

Came home to two happy animals and property watered plants.

Yep! The soil is damp! 

The tomato actually grew while we were away!

One happy dog! 

Nicely done, Josh! 

Worms...More than just bait!

Jana and I were able to join the very inspiring UA Students for Sustainability at their community garden for a vermiculture workshop the other day. What's vermiculture, you ask? As we discovered at the workshop, it is putting earthworms to work processing food waste to create high-quality compost in a short period of time.

We began by using damp newspaper to line a surplus bathtub that one of the students picked up at a local thrift store. (Talk about an awesome find!) The tub was divided in thirds, so the worms can be encouraged to migrate over time by moving the food waste into empty sections, making it easier to harvest the fertile compost after they've vacated the premises.

Next, we wet down some shredded newspaper...

and put it in the tub.

After that, it was time to add food waste from the garden and trash cans around the property.

Time to introduce the earthworms to their new home!

Finally, a celebratory photo to commemorate the occasion...

and then cover up the bin to keep the earthworms cool and to keep the compost from drying out too much.

Now that we know how easy it is, we can't wait to try out some vermiculture ourselves. Hmm...we have that old wheelbarrow we don't use anymore...

Changemakers show us the way.

Luis Perales beaming with pride that the Changemaker students' proposal was accepted.

When Luis Perales, CEO of Changemaker High School, invited me to meet with him to see how we could help each other, I had no idea what he wanted to talk about. Perhaps a status report on the doc Evan and I were making on water harvesting? It had been awhile since our initial meeting to see how we might include the incredible work Changemaker High was doing in the documentary. After a warm greeting, Luis asked me how I was doing. The great thing is - he really wanted to know. He had seen the frantic posts on my facebook page since Trump announced his intention to remove regulations protecting our water, and he was concerned that I might burn out. And to be honest, I have been stressing out. It seems like every day Trump is making another assault on the environment or human rights. And here Luis was offering support as a fellow sustainability advocate.

WMG coop workshop or "Where's Dan?"

If you’ve read our blog you know how passionate Dan and I are about restoring our aquifer through rainwater harvesting. As more states experience droughts like ours, there will be more competition for the Colorado River water that we all rely on. So it is urgent that we set up water harvesting in as many yards as possible. So, while I’ve blogged about water harvesting, Dan has spent his time digging catchment basins in other people’s yards (along with Watershed Management Group’s fabulous coop), helping maintain the desert landscaping and water harvesting features at Ward 6 and WMG’s Living Lab, giving tours of the Living Lab, and setting up a system to monitor it. 

While I’m thrilled that Dan has dedicated himself to advancing watershed management, it’s also kinda frustrating. With all of his volunteer work, Dan hasn’t had much time left to install our own water harvesting features. Last weekend he finally got around to planting a little mesquite tree in the front yard. And most people don’t have the expertise to work on their own yards, so they have to rely on a few experts. This creates what Luis calls the bottleneck effect – where you have to wait to get the work done. And, as far as I’m concerned, it isn’t getting done fast enough. 

Proposal shows catchment basins and berms in the flood plain

So I was really jazzed when Luis shared the plans Changemaker students had developed for restoring the floodplain in the Naylor neighborhood near their High School. They didn’t wait around for the experts to advise them. Students and educators became experts themselves -  alongside community members and environmental allies that were willing to share knowledge. How empowering is that?!!! 

Envisioning how lush the desert park will be

Luis Perales describes it best:

“The Swan Wash Bridge Project was initiated by a group of students who were challenged by their science instructor to take on a citizen science project that would have a positive impact in the local community. The group of students decided to focus their energies on alleviating a flooding problem that existed up the street from school and adjacent to a local park. The problem of flooding stemmed from the blockage of a neighborhood waterway, Swan Wash, by another local school. This problem was identified by the students because they had experienced the flooding first hand. This experience led them to conduct a root cause analysis, collect data from local community residents, and propose possible solutions. Their project findings were presented to the school, to the local neighborhood association, to local political leaders, and to audiences at local and national conferences. In short, the group of students along with their science instructor became mini experts on the issue of local flooding and the local wash. Their proposed solution was to create a pedestrian footbridge over the wash and to capture some of the flood water in roadside rainwater catchment basins. These basins are intended to utilize rainwater to support the needs of bird/pollinator gardens.”

The students presented their proposal to the Pima County Neighborhood Reinvestment Board on May 2, 2016. The recommendation to fully fund the project to the tune of $229,000 was announced on July 1, 2016! They got the final approval on their revised proposal on the day I was there! Needless to say, Luis’ enthusiasm was contagious!

While I fumble around trying to get the word out about water harvesting, these kids are demonstrating how important it is. They are educating the city of Tucson about transitioning from the current form of water management - flood control - to one that restores our floodplains and groundwater by directing the rainwater with berms and sinking it in with catchment basins. As their project progresses and succeeds, it will be used as a model for other schools to work with their communities on sustainable solutions.

All of this came out of Changemakers’ mission to change the face of education by creating the conditions where young people can turn their ideas into action. Through their example, they hope to create a culture where schools everywhere take on the responsibility of improving their communities. Perales explained, "Imagine what our communities would look like if every school would adopt their local community within a one to three mile radius. Imagine for a second that the school and its resources not only worked within their own gates to teach students to read, write, and do math, but with equal importance, taught students the skills necessary to transform the look, feel, and potential of their community."

Swan Wash Bridge Project Team: Adilene, Alejandra, Victoria, & Mrs. Snook (Missing, Laynah.)

I am so grateful to the Changemaker students for taking the initiative and advancing more sustainable water management as a practical solution for their community. And for giving me hope for the future.

Watch their video of their project. 

The video highlights the journey that Changemaker High School took to engage the Naylor Community to bring about infrastructure repair and beautification for Belvedere Boulevard and SWAN Wash Park. The process was multi-year and included students, staff, parents, community residents, local agencies, and government officials. This project is an embodiment of Changemaker Education and the mission of Changemaker High School.

SWAN Wash Project Story

Culture Clash with Our Consumer Teens.

As Dan was supervising snack time in the teen space at the library, he was approached by a teen with potato chip breath.

Teen: You get paid to work at the library? How is that possible? What do you sell at the library? You don't sell anything at the library.

This kid couldn’t wrap his mind around the idea that a service that didn’t make a profit had any value.

I’ve heard similar sentiments from my own jobless teen. He has openly expressed his contempt for Dan wasting time working at the library and volunteering for Code for Tucson or Watershed Management Group – when he could be out making real money as an engineer. That money, of course, could go towards a car to drive him to his weekly Magic tournaments so he won’t be forced to endure our sustainable form of transportation (gasp!) - the city bus.

I’m beginning to think that this is a thing - or so I gleaned from a conversation I had with a couple of teenage boys at the Women’s March in Tucson. These cavalier young men felt comfortable in this mass of mothers to boldly hold up signs that read, “Build the Wall” and “Gays for Trump.” The little dickens got what they asked for when they got schooled (or in teen speak, nagged) by somebody’s mother, namely me. I asked them if they cared about the environment at all. They shrugged, “No.” When I asked them why they supported Trump, their unequivocal answer was “more jobs to pay for new cellphones and Xboxes.” (Dan said that there was a group of teens following them laughing, so they may have just been trying to get a rise out of us. Well, they got it!)

Listening to teens with Trump signs at the Women's March in Tucson.

What’s with the youth today? Why doesn’t our son share our values about giving back to the community and living more sustainably? These teens have literally bought into their role as consumers in our capitalistic society. But haven’t we, as a country, been programmed to value the pursuit of profit above all else – even profit without accountability? While Dan and I have pledged to boycott Walmart because they exploit child labor abroad and don't pay their U.S. workers a living wage, our local Walmart just expanded.

What are we really getting out of our “profit first” consumerism? Are we even getting a good value?

Let’s look at some things our American teens consume...

Clothes:

Americans spend billions on the latest clothing fads. What do we get for our money? Disposable clothes designed to fall apart after a few washes, probably sewn in a foreign sweat shop, possibly by child slaves. Poisons from the dyes are dumped into our waterways. After a few months, these clothes are good for nothing but rags or to take up space in a landfill. I may be showing my age, but sometimes I get a yen for the good ol’ days when you could buy classic, quality clothes that would be worth repairing.

Bottled Drinks:

Look around at the store. We have shelves full of every kind of drink you can imagine. Yummy! But to get the plastic to make all those bottles, oil is pumped miles and miles through leaky pipelines. Oh, you drink water? How much do we really pay for that 89 cent bottle of water? Nestle is taking water that has been pumped 322 miles uphill (a whole coal-fired power plant was built to power the pumps that has already used up all the water in the Hopi and Navajo’s aquifer). All of those bottles then become a part of five massive plastic “islands” in the ocean. 

Food:

In America, we can get any food we want, when we want it! But really…how fresh and healthy is our food? To have a longer shelf life, our food is filled with chemicals and preservatives. To improve the flavor they add addictive sugar to everything. (But at least that has spawned the diet industry...) Even our produce is transported from neighboring states, Mexico, or shipped across the ocean putting CO₂ and other toxins in the air. Rain-forests are cleared to raise beef cattle. We Americans just love our weekly specials. But what is the human cost of those bargains? The people who harvest our foods live in squalor and can’t even afford the foods they pick. (For just one cent more per pound, the pickers could double their income to a living wage.) Meanwhile, millions of tons of food is thrown into landfills because it is damaged, unattractive or there is just too much of it (lowering profit.) Luckily, there are some good people working on preventing food waste. 

Fast Food:

Every parent laments how much junk food their teen consumes. But fast food fits perfectly into our busy lives. At home it’s frozen convenience items (about as flavorful as the disposable boxes they come in.) It may be cheap, but you get very little actual nutrition for your money. Fast food restaurants do supply two or three low paying jobs for each of their underpaid workers. To maximize profit, companies fight a raise in the minimum wage. But fast food does contribute to heart disease and diabetes – creating higher paying healthcare jobs. Unfortunately, minimum wage workers can’t afford healthcare insurance. This means choosing between bringing their kid to the doctor or having dinner. If it's a real medical emergency, there will be no money left for their mortgage payments. We can step over them on the street - where they have no value in this society since they are no longer consumers.

So what do I say to our consumer teens?

We may not have all the latest gadgets, the biggest screen TV or even a car. But we are blessed to have a comfortable little house. Dan’s library job leaves him time for his passions: teaching robotics and computer programming, building community, and getting outside to enjoy our beautiful desert landscape while installing rainwater harvesting features. It actually makes us feel good (gasp!) to carry our own delicious drinks in our cool reusable water bottles - knowing we aren’t adding to the plastic island. We enjoy treasure hunting for quirky clothes at the thrift store. Tending our little garden and cycling to work gives us a chance to enjoy our beautiful Tucson weather. And nothing beats the excitement of seeing our little rainwater harvesting projects working!

Hey!

Even my teens can appreciate the yummy home cooked meals and fresh baked bread that Dan has time to make - not to mention the time he has to spend with them.

And just look at these smiles... Aren't they worth it?