Guerrilla Gardening

4/22/10 8:56 PM

  Did anyone happen to notice the random collection of stenciled phrases written in mud that seemingly manifested on-campus late Friday night? For those that didn’t have a chance to view them before foot traffic and Loyola power washers blurred them to obscurity, the mud stencils advocated for garden development on-campus in the stead of the plethora of tulip and beautifying landscaping. Some of the stencils, which were concentrated about the “Ashtray” in front of the CFSU, Quinlan Life Science Building, the corner of Sheridan and Winthrop, and the Shuttle Bus enclosure, read, “This could be food,” “Why not food,” and “Grow food. Grow Change.”             The small group of...

Ten Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

12/8/09 12:17 AM

After last weeks lengthy post, I figured that we could all use a little break. Although last weeks column proved to be tiresome, it is necessary to understand the general foundation before we can go any further. In weeks to come, I will dissect the “locavore” movement (those that eat local produce and meat), as well as why choosing a vegetarian lifestyle benefits everyone, and without the basic knowledge of greenhouse gases, the entry would be useless.             On a lighter and much more applicable note, I want to lay-out some very basic practices the average college student can do to reduce their personal carbon footprint. I just completed a class assignment that had us go to myfootprint.org, and through a brief... 1 comment

A Green Thanksgiving

11/18/09 1:55 AM

       In lieu of the upcoming Thanksgiving festivities, I thought that it would be a great time to discuss how we can all take part in participating in a less environmentally burdensome tradition with some fairly simple, and pain-less practices. I began thinking about an assignment I had for an environmental class that had us assess the food mileage that was attached to our traditional feast. I remember that after the entire assignment, I was astonished as to how many miles were attached to a simple dish like pumpkin pie, or mashed potatoes. I am a firm believer in the “local-vore” movement. I know that there are some issues with these practices being inefficient, but in the grand scheme I know that when I participate in my local Farmer’s...

What is Global Warming, and How is it Anthropogenic?

11/4/09 12:55 PM

“I don’t believe in global warming, ” said Michael LaFemina, who is part the Alliance for Climate Education, an organization that travels around the Chicago Public School District educating students of the science behind our changing climate and the concern that should come with the newfound awareness.   LaFemina spoke at Loyola’s 350 Day of Action that was held on Oct. 24. He started out the speech by telling everyone that he didn’t believe in global warming.   Now, there was an obvious populace bias that was in attendance, and I know everyone (including myself) was horrified to hear one of the premier speakers denounce the sole purpose of why we were all there. To everyone’s relief, he went on to illustrate why there is nothing to...

Killing Good Trees for Bad Newspapers

10/28/09 1:51 PM

      Slapping Hitler moustaches on President Obama while comparing his methods to every fear-inciting political ideology, the temperamental lunatics lingering on the outskirts of campus make my day. But the LaRouche Political Action Committee and their ridiculous decries of government control to 9/11 conspiracies bring up a really good point: Never trust a radical without sources.         The debate that enshrouds environmental issues, from organics and free-range to human induced global warming, are simply ill-informed and biased ideals until a firm basis of credentials are stapled on. Here at Organic Ginger, I will be tackling some controversial issues on all things environmental. By strategically placing the column online,...