The University of Minnesota (UMN) has established an incredible record in their 174 years of being an institution. Not only academically, but sustainably. Let’s dive in. 

Behind these records is a commitment to the environment outlined in UMN’s MPact 2025 as well as their Climate Action Plan (this is a wonderful resource for an in-depth explanation of the U’s climate commitment). Recent publications and awards from their commitment can be found here. 

My personal favorite thing they are doing for the environment? Well–they have a newsletter—they have three actually. (Newsletters - Office of Sustainability)

Seamus Haney

The EPA recently announced a plan to repeal the 2009 declaration that adds greenhouse gases like CO2 and Methane to the Clean Air Act, giving the EPA regulatory power over their emissions from industries like energy and cars. Without this ruling, corporations essentially have free reign to release as much greenhouse gases as they please with no government intervention. This is the most devastating environmental setback in American history and is justified through the usage of an artificial culture war, anti intellectualism and corporate lobbying. This will be a bit different from my normal writing as it will be more of an op-ed, rather than a stats backed analysis or report. I am incredibly disheartened by the overall societal apathy surrounding the destruction of our home and how we are collectively playing the violin while the Titanic is sinking. So I might as well write my pissed off stream of consciousness for the next 20 minutes before going to bed. 

“The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. They have greatly increased the life-expectancy of those of us who live in “advanced” countries, but they have destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling, have subjected human beings to indignities, have led to widespread psychological suffering (in the Third World to physical suffering as well) and have inflicted severe damage on the natural world.” I typically avoid quoting terrorists but the Unabomber really hit the nail on the head with this one. Human beings are animals, first and foremost; and remembering this fact brings into sharp perspective the harms that industrialization has caused both humanity and the earth. We are guided by brains that were optimized to live in small communities, relying on nature and each other for survival; not for a world of infinite knowledge being pumped into our eyes through a screen. Despite our technological advancement and seemingly endless comforts, the hypercapitalist societies of today breed misery, depression and physical ineptitude. We rely on drugs to stay skinny, we rely on drugs to be able to focus, we rely on drugs to feel happiness. To quote author Michael Sorenson, “We must be medicated to tolerate conditions we naturally find intolerable.” This is not an accident. A sedated population is one that can be controlled and manipulated and distracted while America and China and The EU and NATO and Chevron and Blackrock and Exxon and Berkshire and Vanguard and Israel destroy our home for profit. And it is entirely our fault. Complacency and comfort have made us weak and malleable to the point where we lack the ability to feel empathy for our fellow man so long as we get our products. Consumerism is death. I am typing on an ipad that was made with slave labor, wearing a shirt that funds genocide, using electricity that destroys the earth and it is all my fault. And yours. Consumerism blinds us to the horrors that capitalism necessitates. Your life is only as valuable as the profits that you can bring to the system. If you are a middle class American, your value is entirely placed on your ability to consume. If you are an impoverished Chinese or Bangladeshi, then your value only comes from what labor you can perform for as little compensation as possible. To the system you are nothing but cattle, a faceless sack that just buys and buys and buys just so you can buy even and ignore the fact that blood is on your hands. And my hands. Consumerism is death. If you never look up from the trough of slop you will never see the light and you will die with your nose in the endless flow of “stuff.” We have been conditioned like dogs by our profit driven society to view “stuff” as happiness. The worst part is, everyone knows this is true. Nothing I am saying is a surprise to anyone. How many times have you read an article on a Nike factory using child labor or seen a documentary about the oil industry destroying ecosystems? If you are a subscriber to this newsletter I would guess that these are common recommendations in your Netflix algorithm. And for most of us, myself included, the extent to which these impact our daily lives is nil. We consume the information that Exxon kills people or that Apple doesn’t pay its workers and we just say, “Damn, that sucks;” before turning on the next episode of the Great British Bake-Off. What else can you do? I will tell you, dear reader. Resist however you can. All it takes is 3% of a population to resist an oppressive system of consumerism, capitalism and global destruction for it to crumble. Stop buying new things that you do not absolutely need, unplug from technology as much as possible, go outside and appreciate the beautiful, God-given world we have. And most importantly of all, educate yourself. Education is the enemy of oppression. Learn about what they are doing to you and their tactics. You may be an animal, but you should not be led to slaughter.

I recently conducted an interview with my dad about composting at home, something my family does. Here is a non-verbatim summary of the content of that interview. Answers to questions are spoken from the point of view of my dad.

How can I get started? How much does it cost?

The first step to setting up your compost at your home is to dedicate land in your yard for the project. Then, establish a compost bin and a container that you keep in your house to transfer your waste to the compost. Many people build their bins out of pallets (which can be found in many places for free or for a small price). We built ours out of cedar wood and a bracketing system that ran for about $40.

What should I know before I set up a compost?

Make sure you educate yourself on what can go in the compost. I read garden magazines to learn what to do. Roughly ⅓ of your compost should be kitchen scraps, ⅓ green (plants, weeds, grasses), and ⅓ brown (dead leaves or dead plants). Eyeballing these ratios is fine to do, it doesn’t have to be exact. No meat or cheese is to be thrown in a compost. Sticks and wood should generally be avoided because they take a long time to break down, as do egg shells.

Also–decide whether or not you want to do a passive or active compost. Passive composts require turning about twice a month (this is what our family does), but active composts require turning every day. Active composts yield more soil and “cook” at a much higher temperature. The benefit of a higher temperature is that you can throw plants that may be diseased or have died from a bacterial infection and the bacteria will die (annual vegetables also fall under this category); this cannot be done in a passive compost.

What are the risks associated with starting your own compost? Does it stink? Any negative experiences?

The only risks associated are that outdoor animals may be attracted to what is in your compost. Our compost does not stink, it may only begin to stink if you throw meat or cheese in it. The only negative experience I’ve had with it is that a neighbor once thought raccoons were visiting his yard because of the compost. They were visiting his yard because he had planted shrubs–not because of the compost.

Do the benefits of the compost outweigh the upfront costs and any risks?

Definitely. A bag of compost costs around $15 nowadays. We pull soil from the compost twice a year which is about 5 wheelbarrows full of compost each time. A bag of compost is roughly 1/10 of a wheelbarrow (by this math you are saving about $750).

The compost is a natural fertilizer for your yard. It helps plants establish solid root systems and it lasts for about 5 years after being applied to your garden. It won’t cause a quick bloom because compost is generally lacking in nitrogen, but it will undoubtedly keep your plants healthy and strong.

If I didn’t want to do it on the scale you did, how could I do so? Also, how would you do your process differently if you could redo it all over again?

One method people employ for compost is digging a hole about the size of a 5 gallon bucket in their yard to dump their food/plant waste into. Once his hole is full, they’d cover it up in order to “harvest” the compost. The only risk with this is that dogs or animals may be curious about what’s in the hole, so you have to make sure it is covered up well.

If I had to redo it all over again, I may install an augur that turns my compost for me. Or I may use a method with three individual bins that I rotate the compost between which helps to speed up the process and makes my compost more active.

Is there anything else people should know?

Just do it.

~ Seamus Haney

As it turns out, despite our audience’s pessimism (an understandable pessimism), ChatGPT actually consumes 500ml (1/10 of a gallon) of water every 20-50 questions, according to Earth.org.

That isn’t to say that this number is negligible. Spread between the 5.72 billion monthly visits ChatGPT boasts, the amount of water its servers are consuming to stay cool is staggering.

And that’s with a simple text generation. That doesn’t take into account image or video generation.

I don’t have much to say about these responses as they are. I think most of us are on the same page here that paper straws are awesome for the environment, but they “suck” to actually drink from (pun intended).

Thank you to everyone who submitted their responses and for participating in this month’s Tell Us Tuesday. Here is a copy of all of the responses.

Breaking down recycling boxes is one of the easiest ways to help the recycling process.

Put simply, boxes that aren’t broken down take up more space and can jam up machines. Break down your boxes.

TerraCycle is a company that promises recycling solutions. One such material they recycle is contact lenses.

To participate in the program is simple and free:

Unfortunately there are no options to ship TerraCycle your contact lenses if there isn’t a location near you. You have to be an eye care professional in order to ship your lenses to TerraCycle.

*note: some sections of this newsletter were intentionally shortened in an effort to increase readership.

Thank you for reading this issue of The Leaflet.

The Leaflet is not affiliated with any organization or school.

Newsletter produced primarily by Seamus Haney with the help of some friends.