Imaginings
stories, creative nonfiction, poetry, and other imaginative accounts of the natural world
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Snapshot: Zero Waste?
At the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (National Museum of Natural History) in Paris, the third floor of La Grande Galerie de l’Évolution (the Great Gallery of Evolution) is dedicated to humans’ impact on the environment. This collection of garbage represents a meager portion of the waste we produce globally. The RCC’s latest Perspectives volume, A Future without Waste? Zero Waste in Theory…
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Student Research: Food Waste
by Sibylle Zavala (with Ramona Mayr and Thomas Müller), Environmental Studies Certificate Program students Our final project, and that of our fellow students, was pioneering work. As a biologist, an interculturalist, and an environmental planner, we formed a rather interdisciplinary group. We wondered what we could work on that would encompass sustainability across our three fields of…
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Photo of the Week: Annka Liepold
Kuta Beach, Bali, during “Trash Season.” On top of the regular daily trash left behind at the beaches, this is a phenomenon that occurs annually between the end of December and the end of February. Because of strong winds, plastic discarded in the ocean in Java is washed ashore on the beaches of Bali’s southwestern…
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“Nachhaltig Schenken”: Tips on Sustainable Presents
On 9 September 2013, Kmart (an American chain of discount stores) aired its first Christmas advert, giving shoppers a mere 106 days to make their Christmas purchases. It starts earlier every year, and it’s not just businesses who ask us to shop. During the recession in the UK, politicians took to the air to encourage…
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Film Review: Plastic Planet
Post by Ellen Arnold How much plastic do you think is in your life? Probably more than you realize. Werner Boote’s documentary film Plastic Planet explores the rapid expansion of plastics production and consumption since the 1950s, bringing both a global dimension and personal, intimate perspectives into the discussion. His main goal, and one that…
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Photo of the Week: Christof Mauch
Wiseman, Alaska. Formerly a gold-diggers town. Wiseman now has 13 inhabitants: eskimos, indians, and a family from Bavaria. On the road to the graveyard of the town is this container with beer cans. Most people go to the closest city only two or three times a year (the drive takes more than a day each…