Greening Indiana
Submitted by oceanrev on November 1, 2007 - 6:48pm
A recent Forbes.com article ranked the 50 states on six environmental criteria. Vermont wound up at the top (most green) and West Virginia at the bottom. Giving WV a run for their money to the bottom of the eco-barrel was Indiana.
“So who's at the bottom? Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Indiana and, at No. 50, West Virginia. All suffer from a mix of toxic waste, lots of pollution and consumption and no clear plans to do anything about it. Expect them to remain that way,” wrote Forbes.com.
That last short line bothers me for its hopelessness.
I spent my college years in Indiana. I hiked, rode a mountain bike and paddled my kayak across the state dozens of times over. I snorkeled and scuba dived in the quarries, got lost in the forests and corn fields and considered the place mostly beautiful in a rolling midwestern fire-colored leaves in fall, green-blanket in summer sort of way.
This month I returned to DePauw, twice. Once for an eco-celebrity (e.g. Greg Watson, Bill McKibben, Bobby Kennedy and others) laden conference on sustainability and the next for the 100th anniversary of Old Gold homecoming weekend, to receive a distinguished alumnus professional achievement award for our science and environmental advocacy work.
Aside from not feeling quite up to “distinguished alum” status just yet, I was truly honored to be on campus for both events. Combined, they gave me a sense that all was headed in the right direction in Greencastle, Indiana, as far as the environment goes.
Add to that a meeting at Indiana’s organic Endangered Species Chocolate Company, lunch at Traders Point organic creamery, DePauw’s recent acquisition of 500 acres of quarry and land that has been turned into a Nature Park, the adjoining new Prindle Institute for Ethics--a building with an eye to local materials, sustainability and deep thought about our planet’s future.
There’s even talk on campus at the Delta Chi house of a student-led sustainable fraternity/sorority movement. That’s some serious progress from two decades ago when I was there.
Altogether one just might confuse Indiana for somewhere like Vermont, Oregon, or Santa Cruz County, California.
For a moment. In the right light.
I’m counting on DePauw and its new science and ethics programs to produce some courageous and creative young environmental leaders to bring our beloved Indiana into the modern world of cleaner air, water and food. And the economic prosperity and well-being that follows. And to compete for a top ten spot on Forbes’ list.
For the sake of all children and the nature of the place, and ourselves.
And local, organic ice cream, of course. Organic chocolate bars, too.
“So who's at the bottom? Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Indiana and, at No. 50, West Virginia. All suffer from a mix of toxic waste, lots of pollution and consumption and no clear plans to do anything about it. Expect them to remain that way,” wrote Forbes.com.
That last short line bothers me for its hopelessness.
I spent my college years in Indiana. I hiked, rode a mountain bike and paddled my kayak across the state dozens of times over. I snorkeled and scuba dived in the quarries, got lost in the forests and corn fields and considered the place mostly beautiful in a rolling midwestern fire-colored leaves in fall, green-blanket in summer sort of way.
This month I returned to DePauw, twice. Once for an eco-celebrity (e.g. Greg Watson, Bill McKibben, Bobby Kennedy and others) laden conference on sustainability and the next for the 100th anniversary of Old Gold homecoming weekend, to receive a distinguished alumnus professional achievement award for our science and environmental advocacy work.
Aside from not feeling quite up to “distinguished alum” status just yet, I was truly honored to be on campus for both events. Combined, they gave me a sense that all was headed in the right direction in Greencastle, Indiana, as far as the environment goes.
Add to that a meeting at Indiana’s organic Endangered Species Chocolate Company, lunch at Traders Point organic creamery, DePauw’s recent acquisition of 500 acres of quarry and land that has been turned into a Nature Park, the adjoining new Prindle Institute for Ethics--a building with an eye to local materials, sustainability and deep thought about our planet’s future.
There’s even talk on campus at the Delta Chi house of a student-led sustainable fraternity/sorority movement. That’s some serious progress from two decades ago when I was there.
Altogether one just might confuse Indiana for somewhere like Vermont, Oregon, or Santa Cruz County, California.
For a moment. In the right light.
I’m counting on DePauw and its new science and ethics programs to produce some courageous and creative young environmental leaders to bring our beloved Indiana into the modern world of cleaner air, water and food. And the economic prosperity and well-being that follows. And to compete for a top ten spot on Forbes’ list.
For the sake of all children and the nature of the place, and ourselves.
And local, organic ice cream, of course. Organic chocolate bars, too.
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