Sustainable Tarpon Springs - Think Globally, Act Locally

‘Think globally, act locally’ is a quote that has been circulating in environmental circles for such a long time, attempting to find the origins is quite elusive.  It is possibly a much older phrase than imagined, and attributed to ideas of Scots town planner and activist, Patrick Geddes.   

Geddes was a biologist, sociologist, philanthropist, and a pioneer ‘city planner’ whose concept to work with the nature environment rather than against it resonates more now than ever before.  In his 1915 book, Cities in Evolution, the idea of sustainability was first introduced, although the term was not ‘coined’ as much as implied.  

Whatever the genesis, ‘think globally, act locally, has permanently infiltrated our cultural consciousness and is highly regarded as the grassroots answer to evolving on the local level to affect the global level.  Much like the ‘ripple effect’ in nature, there is an understanding of how local actions spread slowly and start to connect, community to community, until the globe is ‘blanketed’ with a patchwork of local, conscious actions. 

Considering the idea of sustainability has been around for quite awhile, I have to wonder why policies to preserve the living systems in our world are not spreading fast enough to mitigate the damages we humans are inflicting.  We talk about change, we write about it, but are we seriously seizing all the actionable opportunities to save this planet?  I think not.

I am slowly plodding through a document we can all reference on the City of Tarpon Springs website - the Comprehensive Plan - mandated by State of Florida Administrative Code.  I found reading portions of the code to be enlightening, and I was excited and relieved to know there are strict guidelines in place to protect our land and natural resources in this area, and supposedly squelch ‘urban sprawl’.

However, how many citizens are willing to read such documents unless development is threatening their own neighborhoods?  And how are the finely detailed requirements and commitments trickling down to the public in ‘actionable’ recommendations for preservation and conservation?  Unless the City of Tarpon Springs is able to adopt a Sustainability Plan - educating and ‘incentivizing’ participation - it is meaningless talk.

A great example of taking action for the environment is the Pinellas County nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizer ban during the rainy season.  The short-sided view is to worry over not having a picture perfect lawn, but on the more global scale, the estuaries, waterways, and wildlife are healthier without the pollution causing massive algae blooms.  Better yet, these fertilizers should be discouraged ALL the time - and other healthy alternatives, such as Azomite, should be introduced and encouraged. (Next week’s blog.) 

There are hundreds of ‘little shifts’ we could make to move in a better direction with a little more ‘formal’ guidance and encouragement.  Such as, asking if we really need to use plastic bags from the grocery store?  Seattle finally took the step of banning plastic bags in July 2012, joining the efforts of Portland, OR; San Francisco; Los Angeles County; Edmonds, WA; Bellingham, WA; and Washington DC.  This was a necessary step to protect the waterways from being clogged by a huge number of non-biodegradable plastics that weren’t being reused or properly recycled.  We are also in an area where we should be concerned about plastic pollution, so the same type of policy could be put into place.

Now is the time to ‘act locally’ - before it is too late.  My impression is that Tarpon Springs is a small enough city where enough people actually know one another, and the ‘person to person influence could cause a powerful shift in the right direction.  To change our trajectory slowly but surely is always easier than crisis management.  

Whether these ‘Baby Steps Toward a Healthier Environment’ are encouraged through legislation (or not) - we could be voluntarily making changes on our own and encouraging our friends to do the same.  We only have one planet, and as far as we know, there is no Plan B.