Ecotax

            Pigovian taxes may not sound familiar just yet, but you certainly will not forget them.  The principle idea behind Pigovian taxation is that these taxes attempt to counteract a negative externality, which is a cost not translated through prices, through the institution of a new tax law.  A healthy environment would be a positive externality and a damaged or stressed environment would be a negative externality.  This would result in an Ecotax. 

The institution of an ecotax would be positive punishment.  Until natural conditions improve, carbon taxes (related to burning fossil fuels), taxes on deforestation and coal-burning, and waste disposal would all increase.  This would not need to start as a large change either; ecotaxes could be created in connection with the lowering of income or property tax.  If ecotaxes replaced existing taxes, citizens and businesses would have a way of lowering their taxes but only if they made a change to help better the environment.  Individuals using less gasoline or creating less trash would pay less taxes; and corporations who harvest less minerals from the earth, cut less trees and produce less waste (leading them to recycle) would also be taxed less. 

You can already get a tax break by being environmentally conscious.  People who drive fuel-efficient vehicles or otherwise improve their lives in a measurably “green” way (having solar panels) can get government money to help finance this.  The difference with earning these tax breaks and ecotaxing is that ecotaxing is not optional.  It is a deductable built into everyone’s taxes.  Business-standard.com summarizes this well; with an ecotax “there is always an incentive to reduce pollution, whereas with direct regulation a polluting company has no incentive to pollute any less than what is allowable.”

A Pigovian tax would be an effective way to strike up environmental change because it would increase the money available for conservation and restoration of nature, but would also alarm people to the importance of environmental protection, when they feel the pain of degradation to their wallets. 

·         Pigovian Tax by Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigovian_tax

·         Ecotax by Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecotax

·         Does Ecological Taxation Work?, http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/2362/does-ecological-taxation-work

·         Eco-tax should not spoil simplicity of GST by Sukumar Mukhopadhyay, http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/eco-tax-should-not-spoil-simplicitygst/392982/

Some Political Ecology

Rowan University has done a lot of talk about “going green,” Rowan even has posters made, like for their garbage receptacles, to flaunt how “green” they are.   But what makes Rowan green?  I have seen no more green on campus in my 2 years being here, in fact, due to recent construction there is noticeably less greenery.  And what greenery there is now is decorative shrubbery or typical sod.  What Rowan needs to do to go green and promote a healthy ecosystem is to revisit old sites on campus and reevaluate their uses, not just create new spaces.  Unfortunately, this movement will not flow on as smoothly as it should.

One outstanding point of interest is the traffic circle at Robinson and Education Halls.  It is empty space!  Through this lot run a number of concrete paths to a central cement pad, and all of this is surrounded by grass.  This would be a perfect place for real habitat like native trees and bushes; instead it is a useless lot.  Students don’t even do anything in this space, except walk through it on occasion.  What’s worse is that the sidewalks in place do not follow the path students want to take, and on multiple occasions students can be observed walking near but not on the sidewalk.  This is a perfect space to start renovating and it would be naturally and aesthetically bettered by reverting it to a more natural landscape.

The Edgewood garden in Rowan’s sustainable living community is one step in the right direction.  Vacant lot space was converted into planters, which the Edgewood apartment residents maintain.  They plant, care for and then get food or flowers from the garden.  This is among the few redesignations of land around Rowan University that is actually good the environment, not detrimental.

However, there are a number of things that stand in the way of changing land at Rowan: people, rules and money.  First, people have to care about what you’re doing, how do you get them invested in green space?  Even after people are interested in work around Rowan, discussion with RU legislation would have to be opened and all of the pre-existing rules would have to be catered to.  That is, if Rowan’s leaders even want to hear about this.  The big deterrent of change is money; this is what people are concerned with.  Where is there money to do this?  Naturally, money is not a long-term thing and the idea that you could save money by not having to constantly baby a lawn and plant short-living shrubs is too long term to matter.  Any progress toward environmental improvement at Rowan is not going to be without resistance.  

Creative Workspaces

            I initially could not find an interesting field of study within my Google search of “Environmental Psychology.”  What would make my paper stand out?  I sat in my apartment’s living room and looked at all the boring things I see every day.  This is when I stumbled upon an article I immediately hated: ‪ Space Meets Status: Designing Workplace Performance‬ by Jacqueline Vischer.  Her papers strikes at individualism in the workspace and caters those who are “liberated enough to overcome the primitive urges of Territorial Man.”  You cannot help but picture countless sterile cubicals.

            Why Not?, a book  I have read on innovation through creative thought, makes mention of IDEO.  IDEO is global design consultancy, famous not just for their first-class product designs but also for the treatment of their employees.  IDEO prides themselves with providing their employees with personalized offices and public meeting areas that are functional and stimulating.  The Art of Innovation discusses IDEO in much greater detail.  In one of IDEO’s locations, an airplane wing, think “freedom”, is suspended from the ceiling above a central conference table.  Rather than save the best office for executives, IDEO reserves the best rooms and views for public spaces for their employees.  This wild use of space is not what Jacqueline Vischer had in mind though, because one could understand an aversion to IDEO’s somewhat ridiculous prop.  Vischer identified having family photos or art, or bringing lamps from home, as problematic to teamwork in the workplace.

            There must be some credibility to this workspace freedom; IDEO is not the only modern company to have the same idea about their employees’ workspace, another company famous for this is Google.  When pictures of Google’s work areas first hit the Internet, they were considered a hoax.  But Google’s workspace is real, and is complete with fireman’s poles, pool tables and all the food you can eat.  They have employee spaces designed for different purposes such as scenic rooms with retired gondola cars for private conversation and also comfortable workrooms with massive expanses of whiteboards for thinking aloud. 

            I feel that this effort to make stimulating workplaces is part of these companies’ continued success.  I tested this theory with some research of my own.  I wrote this article while sitting in a mock living room set placed in a plot grass between Rowan’s Mullica and Whitney buildings from 12-midnight on.  Complete with a sizeable area rug, a beanbag chair and my laptop (as well as snacks) this workspace provided me with a stimulating but not distracting environment.  Once I moved from my uniform, white living room to a more diverse environment, I felt much more at ease, more engaged in work and I had ceased looking for distraction.

            Although I am a proponent of interesting, engaging work places, I do feel that it should be monitored; however, not monitored to the controlled state that Jacqueline Vischer would like.  My outdoors office had some flaws, and this sort of thing would need to be eliminated to keep workspaces efficient.  Distraction found me, in the form of friends who came to visit me while trying to accomplish my work.  From this I can see there are flaws to having freedom over your workplace, but overall allowing employees liberties when in the workspace makes work a more comfortable and enjoyable place, while still facilitating productivity. 

• Space Meets Status: Designing Workplace Performance‬ by Jacqueline Vischer , http://books.google.com/books?id=em8XYkV44CUC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=personal+space+and+territory+environmental+psychology+optimizing&source=bl&ots=B0-IsAgOzl&sig=7-Ax6sCt8FX9ipbGuOGM6YLapxw&hl=en&ei=C6GTTsH0KsPY0QHj553TBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=personal%20space%20and%20territory%20environmental%20psychology%20optimizing&f=false
• http://www.ideo.com/
• Why Not? by Barry Nalebuff, Ian Ayres. Online version: http://books.google.com/books?id=V34j1m65_I8C&pg=PA219&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q=ideo&f=false
• ‪The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelley, Jonathan Littman. Online version: http://books.google.com/books?id=yjgO70g_qbsC&pg=PT88&lpg=PT88&dq=ideo+wing+workplace&source=bl&ots=Um3eBbfzSI&sig=DlH_z5kYQpoH5yM4Up4Aqws90Og&hl=en&ei=8OuTTrX4G6ny0gHfu5ilBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=ideo%20wing%20workplace&f=false
• IDEO workspace, http://whatyayalikes.typepad.com/.a/6a012875c6f000970c0120a917db19970b-popup
• Google workspace, http://www.snopes.com/photos/architecture/google.asp

What Does Food Mean to You?

            No matter who you are or where you’re from, food sends you messages.  A raw steak, dinner at a friend’s house and good table manners all send messages, conscious or unconscious, to those observing.  These messages can be understood through semiotics, the study of symbols.  The food, act of preparing it and the manner in which you eat are all different symbols, and are constantly interpreted.

            In the most basic sense, food is understood by all living organisms.  A bear receives messages from berries it sees and forages, and from prey it catches and kills.  One example of this type of symbol is illustrated in the science fiction novel, Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany.  In the novel, the main character, Rydra, is given a talking bird as a present.  The bird is trained to say certain phrases and one of these is “Hello, Rydra, it’s a fine day out and I’m happy.” Rydra becomes frightened by this because she knows the bird is thinking “There is another earthworm coming.”  To the bird, Rydra’s presence represents food and Rydra herself is a symbol for food. 

            What’s more useful to us is how we interpret prepared meals.  The act of preparing food for someone is symbolic.  Making a meal for someone has apparent symbols in itself; the amount of effort that goes into preparing a meal creates value, and then by giving someone a meal they receive the message that they are deserving of the food and all of effort that went into it. 

            Even manners are symbolic.  Table manners have social value and displaying them shows respect for the other person and also directly speaks highly of your person.  Knowing how to properly use silverware is not just a silly formality. Pierre Bourdieu, sociologist and philosopher, saw this and remarked “It is cheaper to impress with an expensive meal than expensive clothes, cars or houses.”

            Although food is easily understood to us as necessary sustenance, food unconsciously represents more than just that.  It is evidence of relationships and value and this is unconsciously weighed in our minds whenever we encounter food.

• The Semiotics of Food, http://www.eng.umu.se/culturec/FOO.htm

• Babel-17, Samuel R. Delany