Category: culture

Happy Valentines Day!

Roses in February in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly around Valentine’s Day, often come with significant environmental costs due to the region’s cold climate and the need for importation or energy-intensive cultivation. Here’s a breakdown:
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Importation:
Most roses available in February are imported from warmer regions like South America (e.g., Ecuador, Colombia) or Africa (e.g., Kenya).
Air freight, the fastest way to transport fresh flowers, generates high carbon emissions. For example, flying roses from Colombia to the U.S. can produce up to 3-4 kg of CO2 per dozen roses, depending on the distance and transport method.
Refrigerated storage and shipping (to maintain freshness) further increase energy use.
Energy-Intensive Greenhouse Production:
If grown locally in the Northern Hemisphere, roses require heated greenhouses due to cold winter temperatures.
Heating greenhouses with fossil fuels (e.g., natural gas, oil) emits significant CO2. For instance, producing a dozen roses in a Dutch greenhouse can emit 2-3 kg of CO2 if heated conventionally.
Artificial lighting to mimic longer daylight hours also adds to energy consumption.
Water and Pesticide Use:
Rose cultivation, especially in large-scale farms, is water-intensive. In water-scarce regions like parts of Kenya, this can strain local water supplies.
Pesticides and fertilizers used to grow perfect, pest-free roses can contaminate soil and waterways, harming ecosystems and local biodiversity.
Packaging and Waste:
Roses are often wrapped in plastic sleeves, packed in cardboard, and shipped with cooling materials, contributing to waste.
Much of this packaging is single-use and not biodegradable, adding to landfill burdens.
Land Use and Deforestation:
Expanding flower farms in exporting countries can lead to deforestation or conversion of agricultural land, reducing habitats for wildlife and affecting local food production.
Social and Environmental Trade-Offs:
While flower farms provide jobs, the environmental costs (e.g., water depletion, pesticide exposure) often disproportionately affect local communities in producing countries.
Mitigation Options:
Buy Locally or Seasonally: Opt for locally grown, seasonal flowers when possible, though options are limited in February.
Choose Certified Roses: Look for certifications like Fair Trade or Rainforest Alliance, which promote more sustainable practices.
Reduce Demand for Perfection: Accepting minor imperfections can reduce pesticide and energy use.
Consider Alternatives: Potted plants or dried flowers have lower environmental impacts.
In summary, the environmental costs of February roses in the Northern Hemisphere are primarily tied to high-emission transportation, energy-intensive greenhouse production, and resource use in cultivation, with broader ecological and social impacts in producing regions.–Grok

Nomenclature

“Chicken paws” and “chicken feet” are essentially the same thing, but some consider “paws” to refer specifically to the lower part of the chicken foot, excluding the hock joint, making it a smaller, more delicate cut compared to a full “chicken foot” which includes the hock and more bony structure; both terms are often used interchangeably depending on the region and market.Especially for young people, chicken feet and chicken paws are served as a snack instead of a dish. China is the largest consumer country for chicken feet and chicken paws in the world. Chicken feet and chicken paw is not only a dish but is also served as a snack. Chicken Feet are also high in collagen, a protein that works to support skin, coat, and joint health in dogs. While chewing chicken feet, your dog will also be scraping away tartar and plaque, promoting healthier teeth and gums.

Who knew?

hillbilly

highway sign Asheville NC
Pipe smoking, gun toting, barefoot, dead eyes, ragged clothes, sloppy, diffident, illiterate, ignorant, no problem.

ASHEVILLE – A Seattle-based company has purchased The Mountaineer Inn, Asheville’s iconic Tunnel Road motor court, for $6.1 million, with plans to refresh the 1939 motel and adopt it into its outdoor recreation-oriented brand.–Citizen-Times

The Appalachian region and its people have historically been stereotyped by observers, with the basic perceptions of Appalachians painting them as backwards, rural, and anti-progressive. These widespread, limiting views of Appalachia and its people began to develop in the post-Civil War. Those who “discovered” Appalachia found it to be a very strange environment, and depicted its “otherness” in their writing. These depictions have persisted and are still present in common understandings of Appalachia today, with a particular increase of stereotypical imagery during the late 1950s and early 1960s in sitcoms. Common Appalachian stereotypes include those concerning economics, appearance, and the caricature of the “hillbilly.”–Wikipedia

Changeless change

Chesapeake MIR
Yesterday I listened to a portion of a discussion from 2012 with NDS regarding the future of our neighborhood. Discomfort was expressed. Who knew what the future held? AI, MIR, DZO, Cville Plans Together. We had zero expectation of the rezoning of modest homes.
 "Since the city and consultants first introduced the Future Land Use Map in 2021, right up until the most recent pop-ups held by consultants and NDS on the Draft Zoning Ordinance (DZO), residents have asked for visualizations of what actual Charlottesville streetscapes could look like under the new regulations. Neither the city nor its consultants have obliged. We believe that while visualizations do not function as arguments for or against the DZO, they are an indispensable tool for residents trying to form an opinion on various aspects of the proposal. We have therefore prepared several simulated visualization of specific blocks in Charlottesville -- both to provide the tools that residents asked for and didn't get and to show that there was no difficulty involved in preparing visualizations that could have reasonably prevented a competent consultant or NDS department from providing them. You can find the videos below. We anticipate the we will add more over time. If you have an area for which you'd like to see a visualization, please reach out to us via email. Please bear in mind that the purpose of the videos is to help give viewers a concrete sense of height, massing and coverage. These are not architectural renderings or surveys and are necessarily approximate. We do not suggest that the generic 3D models we used are predictive of the architectural styles developers would use or that the blocks we simulate are more likely than others to be redeveloped."--A Nonymous

petition to dial back proposed zoning