Little Fish Blog

Nashville, TN – Come Hell or High Water

The Grand Ole Opry is in tatters, there’s a drinking water shortage, a state of emergency, an unprecedented number of business closed, jobs lost, homes in disrepair, over $1.5 billion in damage, and Nashville, Tennessee is HAPPY! I’m

Nashville, TN

serious folks. I came here to do flood relief work for a few weeks. I wish I could say it was a philanthropic, heroic, do-gooder feat; but actually I’m getting paid decently by a private company. Regardless of my visitation motives, I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve always had the impression of the world’s country music industry capital as being a cheesy, dog-eat-dog, superficial place. Forgive me Nashvillians! I was dead wrong. Nashville is artistic yet unpretentious. Everyone in Nashville is a character. Nashville is submerged in muddy water. And Nashville is in a good mood. Everywhere I go I hear of someone living with friends who lost their home, or walking miles because they lost their car, and they are happy as they speak about it. Where are all the angry frowns and the destitute screaming and crying flood victims? Not to downplay the frightful and stressful experience that so many people are going though here, it’s just that they take it in such amazing stride. I must be in the friendliest city in the Western Hemisphere. Someone finally told me today that Nashville was voted by some national media source as “America’s Friendliest City,” and I’m pretty sure at this juncture I’d vote the same. Nashville is also very conscientious. Every restaurant I’ve eaten at so far (mind you I look for these places,) serves “local produce” with a smattering of fair trade this-and-that served up next to a community garden, all for under 10 bucks. And the violin shops! They let you check out fiddles and take them home like you’re at the public library. So I’m test drivin’ some of the finest fiddles here in music city. (I’ve got a little crush on this deep voiced, sexy Romanian one and just might have to take him home with me.) Nashville’s not on the coast. It’s not in the mountains. It’s just hip as hip gets sitting right here in the middle of nowhere. And greeeen! There’s something about these small hills that gives you an infinite view of the subtropical rain forest around you. If Nashville skips a day of cutting the grass (which fortunately they have the decency to do,) Mother Nature takes over. She’s a bit sassy and out of control here. Like most of the personalities in Nashville, she’ll tell you just what she’s thinking. It’s where the jungle meets the city. This place is somehow even greener than Appalachia. Maybe this is what keeps these people perpetually jolly. So I’m letting Nashville be a positive influence on me. It gives me hope here near the end of the American Empire. Apparently, people can be quite blissful in the midst of natural and economic disasters, and friendly and helpful to the people around them to boot. It’s all in the attitude. So cheers! Here’s to all y’all happy people in Nashville. May we remember your attitude when the Empire falls, (That’s another article all together. But at least now I’m looking forward to writing it.)

Department of Natural Resources saves (you guessed it) natural resources, and $$, with volunteer “Green Team”

Graph indicates how well water is heated in solar thermal tanks at the DNR before lunch time on a January day. The red bars represent water temperature, the "T" represents the temp. sensor.

As if having the state appointed responsibility of protecting and preserving South Carolina’s precious sea life wasn’t enough, a group of employees at the DNR’s Marine Resources Division has volunteered to “greenify” the entire complex.  The Green Team, appointed by Deputy Director Robert Boyles, consists of four men who have put in endless unpaid hours to reduce the DNR’s footprint.  Why?  Well if you’re going to be the entity responsible for protecting South Carolina’s marine resources, why not go all the way?  The concept is simple: If one of the greatest threats to marine resources (and all SC natural resources for that matter) is the burning of fossil fuels, reduce the use of fossil fuels.  And so they have.  The Green Team, created in 2007, has already installed solar hot water, a rain recovery system, replaced a few older vehicles with hybrids, and has initiated creative recycling and waste reduction improvements.  They are investigating more solar options, looking at biodiesel trucks, and experimenting with running the off-shore research vessels on biodiesel.  The four gentlemen have completed energy and transportation audits of the entire massive complex, and are in the process of conducting waste/recycling and water usage audits as well. The immediate low-cost to no-cost changes made will save approximately $40,000 annually.  According to team member Mike Arendt, some of these simple changes were “to encourage people to use artificial light when available, use desk lamps with CF bulbs in lieu of overhead lights, and to make sure to turn off lights and appliances in offices/hallways/bathrooms when not in use.”   Being that 77% of all the hours in a calendar year  occur when people are not at work, turning off lights and appliances when not in use is essential.  Accordingly, there is a concentration on creating awareness among the more than 200 people who work at the complex.  The team members adamantly state that it is truly a division-wide effort.

Being the passionate individuals that they are, these men make sustainability a way of life on and off-the-clock. To power his Mercedes, Jason Powers filters and dewaters waste oil from restaurants (which must save him several thousand dollars a year in gas.) While we conservatives pull out our credit cards at gas stations, Powers has driven the length of the country pulling over at restaurants to claim their used oil for his car’s consumption. Arendt, the team member who orchestrated the energy audit, has installed a rain-water collection system on his home, solar hot water and more.  His home improvements have reduced his electrical usage by 30%. “It was seeing these incredibly favorable results in my own home that led to my involvement with the Green Committee and specifically the infrastructure energy audit.”  Randy Beatty and Robbie Meyer, who have been with the DNR for more than 20 years, have been making their own upgrades to the complex since the 90’s.  Their efforts prior to the advent of the Green Team make them essential advisors to the group since they bring with them imperative base knowledge.

The team’s efforts don’t stop here. Their second mission is to mentor the creation of Green Teams in all of South Carolina’s DNR complexes.  The amount of money saved by taking these measures should be enough to quickly convince the other divisions to do the same.  Besides, (as Arendt points out the obvious) “As our agency mission statement reflects, we are tasked with being ‘stewards of natural resources.’  Thus, leading by example on the eco-front is very important.”  Once the success of the Green Team is made public, they will surely serve as inspiration to organizations and businesses throughout the Lowcountry to follow suit in creating their own, magnificent Green Teams.

If you’d like to receive an energy audit on your home or business, you can contact the following:

www.sustainabilityinstitute.org

www.oliviasolutions.com

I joyfully present to you: A Bike Lane on Folly Road !!!

The petitions are already full of signatures and on their way to “the powers that be.” Why Folly Road? For a cyclist, it is the main thoroughfare connecting all of James Island with Folly Beach and downtown. Many of us lost a very good friend there on his bike. No one who ever knew or heard the music of Hawke Morffi will ever forget him. Hawke, a gypsy style multi-instrumentalist, was an absolute character to remember. His humor, voice, stories, solos on the strings, woodwinds, percussion, and keys, have changed us forever. He was killed four years ago riding his bicycle home from work on Folly Road. A group of us promised we would get this much needed bike lane in. We had a petition signed years ago, but we apparently dropped it into the wrong hands. We should have taken it to Jim Armstrong, the Charleston County Director of Transportation Development. I had a beautiful conversation with Armstrong, who told me that all he really needs is one signature and then when the time comes to resurface the road, a bicycle lane will be added. Hwy. 171 is a state road which one would assume would be maintained by the state. However, according to our friend Jim, he and the county are actually responsible for its maintenance. Of course when the road is resurfaced, it will be done in sections over time to avoid major traffic issues and fall within budget limitations.

Ben Sollee; cellist, composer, vocalist, and activist; was quite the inspiration as he and his four piece entourage cruised into town a few weeks ago for a concert on their bicycles! The group has been on tour carrying all instruments, gear, and merchandise on their bicycles in support of fossil fuel reduction and to bring awareness to a nonprofit called “Oxfam” which is an international organization that “creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice.” The tour loops around the entire south east. I went to the show and spoke with Sollee and told him that he had inspired me to ride my bike to the show. After having biked this entire side of the Mason Dixon, his comment to me was, “isn’t that Folly Road a dangerous one!” I told him about our friend Hawke, and he said something along the lines of hoping he doesn’t have to get killed to make a change. Well, he doesn’t. All we need are a couple of signatures. The state of SC is actually very supportive of bike lanes and has an entire sub-department dedicated to it

If you would like to see a bike lane on Folly Road, please send a short email in favor of the bike lane to Jim Armstrong (Charleston County Director of Transportation.) JDArmstrong@charlestoncounty.org. Even though we are told that all we need is one signature, the more pressure we apply the faster things move along. Thanks to everyone!

ALL HAIL THE CHARLESTON GREEN COMMITTEE!

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” The Charleston Green Committee and all citizens involved embody and rightfully claim this prolific quote cited on the CGC web site. The Charleston Green Committee is a group of people, more than 800 strong, who have come together to create a historic plan for “Regional Climate Protection and Sustainability.” The plan, called The Charleston Green Plan, fiercely aims to reduce green house gas emissions by 83% by the year 2050, commit to a goal of zero waste, and create communities that function in a sustainable manner.  The committee was the brain child of Charleston’s Mayor Riley who has already hired full time staff member, Brian Sheehan, to implement this massive undertaking.  The plan, completed just last week, will be presented to City Council in December.

Over the last two years, over 800 volunteers have come together publicly, bringing their own knowledge, research, and expertise to the round table to find, and agree on, solutions.  They have politely and lovingly debated the isssues; genuinely listening to one another’s opinions.  No one has been paid.  Not a tax dollar has been spent.  This has been the public working for the public.  No one waited for the EPA or for federal initiatives.  Charlestonians are in charge here, and in accordance with our independent nature, we don’t have to wait for the feds or for anything else.  The public has been encouraged to attend all CGC meetings, join a subcommittee of their choice, and do the work.  The work has included endless meetings, debates, late night research, writing, giving up ego issues, listening and more listening.  Upon completion of the plan’s rough draft, one committee member half jokingly stated, “It was more difficult than I imagine having a baby to be.  In fact, I’ll be afraid to give birth after this.”  This has truly been a magnificent example of “The Power of the People” on a local level.  The Charleston Green Plan itself is monumental and deserves a larger amount of media recognition than is possible to receive.

The plan itself is 181 pages long and can be downloaded right now, for your convenience, at www.charlestongreencommittee.com.  Though this may seem a lengthy read for the average 40 hour work week citizen, I encourage readers to at least take a peep.  It is in very large print and is full of fascinating and easy to read charts, graphs, and statistics that are designed for the commoner to understand.  You don’t have to have a PHD in Sustainable Technologies to comprehend the document.  Your fifth grader can grasp it; it was written with this intention.   So take a look, you’ll be surprised and entertained.  The document is the future of Charleston.  It is the future of legislation, the future of sea levels, the future of air quality, the future of education, the future of the fish in the sea.  And above all, it represents the future of communities realizing just how powerful they are; and how a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.

Charleston's efforts to protect sea turtles has so far been fruitful.

Fun With Plastax!

“Plastax” is a tax on those testy little plastic shopping bags that fly around your kitchen whenever you open your cabinets.   Now how could paying yet another “tax”  possibly be fun for Charlestonians? Well for starters, because we don’t have to pay them if we don’t want to.  We only pay them when we use plastic bags.  So not only am I saving $$$ with my sassy, stylish, little brown bag; but I’m also doing the Atlantic Ocean and the Sea Turtles a big favor.

Yes, the ocean.    And the turtles.  Most of us have heard of the gigantic mass of trash in the Pacific gyre at this point, but I’ll give a quick review here anyway.  The Pacific gyre is where the notorious plastic garbage “island” is located.  It’s not actually an island, but rather a swirling mass of plastic garbage that is estimated to be twice the size of the state of Texas, located between California and Hawaii.  Air and water currents have caused plastic bags, bottles, cups, etc. to migrate to this particular territory, or gyre, in the Pacific.  Plastic is not biodegradable.  It breaks up into tiny particles which omit PCB’s and dioxins into the water, into the phytoplankton, and into the fish. We eat the fish, therefore we eat the plastic.  The gyre is thought to be the Pacific’s largest breeding ground of phytoplankton. (Phytoplankton are microscopic plant-like organisms that live near the ocean’s surface.  They are the base of the food chain for most ocean dwelling species.)  Without phytoplankton, we have no fish in the sea.  It is estimated that 80% of the ocean trash comes from land.  Plastic bags are like kites, they fly.  Cups and other items fly from beaches and boats and even from landfills.  Debris travels from rivers into the sea.  Nations around the world are tying to figure out if it is even possible to clean this disaster up.  The great mass of plastic debris was only discovered a decade ago and has been growing ever since.

As far as the Sea Turtles are concerned, it is estimated that over 1/3 of the turtles around the Carolinas have ingested plastic inside them.  Because plastic bags in the ocean resemble jelly fish, they are eaten by Sea Turtles.  In spite of Charleston going to great lengths to save Sea Turtles via nesting grounds and “lights out” propaganda, there is still the issue of the bags. Charleston County’s web site on Sea Turtles states that “Plastic bags are a frequent source of injury or death to sea turtles and other marine life.”

So as far as the Pacific “garbage patch” is concerned,  I started to think that there must be one in the Atlantic as well, since the Atlantic also has a “gyre” where water and air currents swirl around.   So, I did a little research and, you guessed it, the Atlantic has its own gigantic mass of swirling plastic.  It is located in the Sargasso Sea which is a territory in the middle of the North Atlantic.  The Atlantic’s plastic swirling mass has not been well researched or sized yet and we know little of it, other than that it definitely is of significant size, spanning a huge section of the Atlantic gyre.  Like the Pacific gyre, the health of the Sargasso Sea region is imperative to the health of the entire Atlantic Ocean.  The great mass of plastic in the Pacific is estimated to weight between 3 and 3.5 million tons.  As for the plastic Atlantis, we’ll have to wait and see.

Bags in particular are a nuisance to the sea for a lot of reasons.  The EPA states that only 1% of plastic bags actually get recycled.  We take them to the recycling center where they are often just discarded into the landfill, since recycling the bags is such an expensive and complicated effort.  Between 500 billion and a trillion plastic gags are consumed world wide each year.  Solutions?  Decrease the use of plastic.  Everyone in Ireland pays a 15 cent tax each time they use a plastic bag.  As a result,  Ireland has cut plastic bag use by 90% and raised millions of euros in revenue which is being used for environmental projects.  China is following suit and has actually outlawed the manufacture of certain types of plastic bags.  Many forward thinking cities in the U.S. have completely banned the use of plastic bags.  If Charleston were to pass a “plastax,” could this mean for Charleston what it has meant for Ireland?  Sure, why not?  The county could use the revenue generated for any number of environmental projects, such as funding research into cleaning up the Sargasso mass (and therefore making the fish that we eat healthier.)

So, I’m all about the plastax and my super hip cool brown canvas bag.  Now for all you Charleston Tea Party tax evaders, I have a confession:   I hate paying taxes as much as you do.  And like any good American, I look for any and every little loop hole in the system come each April.  However, given the chance to participate, I’d go right out and vote for the plastax.  I eat a lot of fish.  And after all, most of us won’t be paying it!

Great sites for more info on the gyres:       

www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/debris/

www.theplasticocean.org

Great sites for more on the Sea Turtles:

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/seaturtle/outreach.htm

www.seaturtle.org

Save $$$ and be Green with . . . Oysters?

 Almost.    Almost! After writing this brilliant little article, I did my usual fact check and discovered, much to my chagrin, that I couldn’t in good conscience promote the use of oyster shells as a safe building material.   According to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, oyster shells need to be returned to the sea after the oyster roast.  Oysters apparently develop in “reef” fashion growing off of existing oyster shells. Young oysters must attach to a hard substrate, ideally another oyster shell, to develop.  If no suitable substrate exists, the oyster dies.  Hence, the “cluster.”   According to the DNR, oysters act as little environmental ambassadors by helping the environment in the following ways:

• Filtering (adult oysters filter up to 2.5 gallons of water per hour, improving water quality in the process)
• Providing habitat (oysters build reefs, which provide habitat for fish, shrimp, crabs, and other animals)
• Controlling erosion (oyster reefs are natural breakwaters that protect shorelines).

So, for the time being, I’ll recycle my oyster shells at one of the many local shell recycling centers conveniently provided by the DNR. (Go to   http://saltwaterfishing.sc.gov/oyster.html for recycling locations.  They will even pick them up for you if you have large quantities.)  Were it not for South Carolina marine biologists doing such a fantastic job researching and taking measures to preserve ocean life, the following article would hold merit and be able to be published.  Due to a procrastinated  fact check on my part however, I must leave it sitting here unpublished on this lonely blog.   Here it is; the invalidated article.   Read and devour.

Shuck an oyster and save $.   Shuck an oyster and save the coast.   Oysters are a fantastic building material and paving alternative.   Let’s start with the driveway.  You have the option of paving the entrance to a new subdivision, or a driveway, or a boat landing,  with asphalt or with oyster shells.  Asphalt will cost thousands of dollars.  Oysters are free.   So there, you just saved thousands.  That was easy.  And which is more beautiful to come home to?   Black/grey asphalt, or crushed, pearly white oysters?  Well that’s easy to answer as well.  So how does using oysters as opposed to concrete and asphalt protect the fish habitat in our area?  How does this protect the water quality of the creeks, harbor, and ocean?  How does this counter global warming and the amount of carbon dioxide put in the air?  Can “paving” with oysters really do all of that?    Yes!   First, let’s take a look at what’s involved in the production of concrete.

“Embodied energy” can be defined as “the amount of non-renewable energy used in the production of a material, from the acquisition of natural resources to product delivery.”  As far a building materials go, concrete is pretty high up on the list of using the most embodied energy.   In order to produce concrete; tons of sand, cement, and crushed stone have to be shipped to a mixing facility.  Before they can be shipped, the stone must be crushed, the sand harvested, the cement made, and water piped in.  So we’ve already burnt a lot of fossil fuels before we even make it to the plant to make the concrete.  Now we have to use more electricity (which means burning more coal) to weigh, mix, create the concrete.  Now we have to ship it wherever it’s going.   In a nut shell, the amount of CO2 put in the air by concrete production is exceptionally high.

Now let’s look at the embodied energy in oysters as a building material.  Well, this is going to be a short paragraph.  I guess a few gallons of gas have to be used to go out in the boat and throw them in the truck and deliver them to the party.  But we were going to do that anyway right?  It’s more a matter of recycling those oyster shells.  So we can’t even honestly include those few gallons of gas in our survey of embodied energy.

So what happens once the road or driveway has already been built?   We’ve all heard of “stormwater management,” but what exactly is it and how does it work?  In order to save you, the reader, from doing infinite research on this topic and trying to understand it, I’ll cliff note for you here. After a good rain, storm water runs off of concrete and asphalt roads, parking lots, driveways, and all impervious surfaces into creeks, the harbor, and the ocean.  In this process, the water carries with it human pollutants (oil, pesticides, pet waste, plastics, etc.) that have been deposited on these surfaces by every day human use.  The pollutants are carried into the creeks, rivers, ocean, and move their way through the food chain ending up the fish.  This storm water run off also causes the erosion of creek and river systems and causes flooding.  This “stormwater” is “fresh water,” which rapidly desalinates the rivers and the harbor.  Oyster beds near urban areas are often closed after approximately ½ inch of rain due to being saturated with pollutants.  Ever go shrimping after a good rain?  Probably not; because if you are a shrimper then you most likely already know that you’re not going to catch anything after the fresh water has inundated the shrimp territory.   The shrimp and other fish swim like mad to the deeper, saltier waters.

Imagine that all of the domestic roads and driveways in Charleston were “paved” with oyster shells.  The storm water and pollutants would be absorbed into the ground beneath the oysters.  The harbor and rivers would be much cleaner and freer of pollutants.  The fish would be more abundant and safer to eat.  The amount of mercury going into the air, the water, and the fish would be significantly reduced (the mercury comes from the coal fired power used to produce the electricity to make the concrete.  Almost all of Charleston’s electricity comes from coal.)  And a dent in CO2 emissions would be made.  What a beautiful solution!   Almost!  Almost! If not for the facts.  For now, we must recycle our oysters at one of the locations listed on the DNR web site so that they can be used to spawn the creation of more oysters.  As one my teenage students used to say when reprimanded for cursing, “Well Pooots!”

Here you can find a list of places where you can recycle your oyster shells.    http://saltwaterfishing.sc.gov/oyster.html.  This site gives you a lot of great information about recycling oysters in general.  You can also read about concrete production and more at www.buildinggreen.com.

Now go shuck some oysters!

I always say that I can’t take credit for the really good songs that I write, only the mediocre ones. The good ones come from some place else, some place far beyond my imagination. Great songs come out whole, effortlessly, in the same amount of time as the length of the song itself. I believe this is true for most composers. The times that I’ve tried to actually sit down and write a song have been in vain;  hours and hours of mental labor gone to waste. The songs come out sounding forced and contrived.  In spite of being a composer,  I confess I don’t know how to write a song.   I’ve copywritten great songs, but I really can’t say that I wrote them.  It is as though they were already out there waiting for someone to snatch them up.  Thoughts, colors, sound waves, energy, electromagnetism, emotions, celestial orbits; these are all patterns. Everything in the universe is a pattern, like the mathematical patterning on a piece of sheet music. Truly great melodic patterning that evolks feeling and emotion, comes from all over the universe.  If it comes purely out of one human mind, it will sound dull.  In order to “write” a song, I have to leave my mind completely and open up to the universe to receive whatever is sent.  The mind is useless for this task.  A person can not compose soulfully using the mind.   The mind is controling, it thinks.  The heart space is open, it receives.  This is the essence of all creativity.