Walk towards the library at Pacific Lutheran University, and you’ll see a gardening site that looks just like any other on a college campus. It’s just a bunch of tree’s and bushes, with gravel. What you cannot tell is that this area preserves water because the area is xeriscape -- it has gravel, and native plants to reduce water use. Xeriscape is a landscaping style that requires little to no irrigation or other maintenance. In America, we emphasize well kept, green landscaping with heavy fertilizing, irrigation, and non-native plants. Even though it’s terrible for the environment. Consequently, I get really happy that despite waters invisibility this garden isn’t like American green grass -- the area is sustainably composed. The Golden age …show more content…
My teacher was a big influence on my life, and she had a permaculture garden in her two-acre yard, and is dedicated to raising awareness about environmental issues -- she helped build and design greenhouse, started a gardening workshop, and started after school Environmental Science workshop . My scout master was on the other side of the spectrum. He grew crops and believed Global Climate Change is a hoax. It was a world of difference when they talked about growing food. My AP Environmental Science teacher -- Ms. Houser, rambled on and on about how she planted this one tree next to these plants for reasons x, y, and z. My scout master blathered about the quality of soil, pesticide, and the cost of water. Ms. Houser wanted us to be interested in class and help make a rain garden outside. My scoutmaster wanted the price of beans to go up in the grocery store, so he could get more money. Ms. Houser was conscious of her impact on the environment. Whereas My scoutmaster didn’t feel connected to the environment; he saw it as a way of making a profit. The native plant section at PLU tells me the college is conscious of their impact as well! In Fisherman's essay the big thirst, he talks about how we’ve lost our relationship, and stopped thinking about water because of the technology in the golden age.”One of the hallmarks of the twentieth century, at least in the developed world, is that we …show more content…
“We used to build monuments - even temples- to water. Now we don’t. However, that doesn’t mean one cannot develop bonds with it today. Houser pushed everyone to have a relationship with the environment. In her gardening club we all picked up trash. In class we learned about ways to be sustainable. She helped us build a rain garden to conserve water. I was in every one of Ms. Houser’s clubs. Consequently her love of the environment, and relationship to water rubbed off on me. By Junior year she left, and every student in AP Environmental Science left except for me. My math Teacher Ms. Klyn pushed me to bring back a “green mindset” back to my highschool ACPA. I ended up beginning with recycling. Recycling paper saves seven-thousand gallons of water for every ton recycled. It goes to show water is invisible, but research, and a close relationship with water will overcome that