Dreamwidth Stones

I had been sort of planning to write about infrastructure today, in part because of this near-disaster in my neck of the woods last week and in part because infrastructure figures in my dissertation. But I'm having screen-induced headaches and overall feeling super blah (I wonder if I've been slowly catching a cold over the last few days?), so I'm just going to leave this here.

basically:
+ infrastructure facilitates the movement of people, goods, and ideas
+ infrastructure, if it's operating as intended, makes us overlook its existence
+ (that is: when you turn on a light switch, how much thought do you give to the miles of wire connecting you to the substation, the combustion chamber, the fossil fuel mine and processing, and the labor required at every stage in order to bring you light? probably not much)
+ which leads to us taking infrastructure for granted
+ which leads to prioritizing seemingly more "urgent" funding needs
+ which means that when infrastructure fails, it fails *catastrophically*
+ as a corollary: infrastructure makes it very, very easily to live unsustainably, by allowing us to overlook the environmental and social damage caused by the practices that infrastructure facilitates: electrical infrastructure promotes the use and overuse of fossil fuels, road infrastructure promotes the overuse of cars/petroleum and de-emphasizes mass transit options. OTOH, different kinds of infrastructure can be deployed to make much more sustainable practices become automatic and second nature. Feed the grid with solar. Instead of repairing the road, replace it with a light rail. Etc.


Also: I think kitty has found a couple of pro-kidney food flavors that she's willing to eat! *twirls*

( life update )

Anyway, let's knock out a quick Sustainability Sunday, so at least I can keep up with one of my self-imposed weekly series.

This week I'm going to blather about something I do that is not the most sustainable choice in my current city, but was great where I used to live: municipal composting.

When I lived in Iceland, my town collected every bit of organic waste for composting, including things like meat bones, tea bags, and paper towels, that shouldn't go in your backyard compost. Every dwelling was issued a breathable compost bucket (or maybe my landlady bought it, not sure) for use with biodegradablecompostable corn bags sold at the grocery store, which I'd fill and then put in a small bin that rested inside the large garbage bin out back for collection day. I assume the compost eventually made its way into the flower beds and grassy spaces around town, or perhaps to farmers in the wider region.

I loved it; it was really easy to do; and it really reduces the smell. My mom used to keep compost in a plastic container by the sink, and the difference in smell is palpable between that airtight environment and the breathable biobag and bucket.

My big US city doesn't municipally compost (I wish; can you imagine??). I live in an apartment, so even if I wanted to, I'm sure it's illegal to compost on the fire escape or in the alley. There are local collectives that you can join for composting, but most of them are neither cost-effective nor time-effective for a household of 1. I was planning to join one anyway, but then the green-friendly shop that had been running the program went out of business. :/

Nonetheless, I'm still keeping the same household practices that I developed in Iceland. I ordered a biobag bin and some bags, and I put all my organics in it .. before the bag goes straight into the trash can. So, in effect, I've bought an unnecessary plastic thing and am actually adding to the amount that goes in the landfill by way of biodegradable corn bags. But it keeps my kitchen cleaner and less smelly than putting food scraps directly in the trash -- especially with kitty(ies) that don't always finish their wet food. And since it isn't actually going to compost, I feel no guilt at using it for any kind of wet, gross, or smelly trash.

So I can't really recommend this method of composting unless you're lucky enough to live in a place that municipally supports it, but I DO recommend it for improved kitchen hygiene.