Paddling Through Pollution

  • Dredgers, a group that gets together to canoe on the Gowanus, hope that if people see the state of the canal, they'll be inspired to help clean it up (Photo by Samara Freemark)

A group of New Yorkers is trying
to convince people to get out on one of
the most polluted bodies of water in the
country – literally out there, in canoes.
Samara Freemark reports that they hope once
people see the water up close, they’ll
realize just how dirty it is. And maybe
then they’ll help clean it up:

Transcript

A group of New Yorkers is trying to convince people to get out on one of the most
polluted bodies of water in the country- literally out there, in canoes. Samara
Freemark reports that they hope once people see the water up close, they’ll realize
just how dirty it is. And maybe then they’ll help clean it up:

(sound of water, paddling)

You wouldn’t believe the stuff people have pulled out of the Gowanus Canal.
Refrigerators. Bathtubs, rusted cars. A 5000 pound dead whale. A suitcase full of
human body parts. Sewage floods into the canal all the time. So you see everything
people flush down their toilets. The water itself is a sickly, opaque green.

And that’s just the stuff you can see. The canal used to be a dumping ground for the
factories that line it. And the sediment at the bottom is still full of a laundry list of
toxic chemicals: cyanide, mercury, lead, asbestos. Scientists found strains of
gonorrhea in a water sample just last year.

And I’m sitting in a canoe in the middle of it.

(water noise, “Ewww, oh, God, gross. It’s like a subway down here.”)

The Gowanus is a 2 mile long trough of murky water that flows into the New York
Harbor – though the word ‘flowing ‘ is a bit optimistic, since the water mostly just sits
there.

You wouldn’t think anyone would want to canoe in this kind of water – much less
see it as a good way to spend a lazy summer afternoon.

(Laughs.) “ My first day was like, hell no. I knew it was going to be nasty.” (Laughs.)

That’s Alex Kovaleski. She’s a Dredger, a member of a group that gets together to
canoe the Gowanus.

“But I’m always looking for an adventure or a way to see things from a new
perspective, so I went out. And then I started having dreams about it, and it was all
over.”

Kovaleski knew she had to do something.

So almost every summer weekend she and the Dredgers gather at a makeshift pier
and paddle up and down the canal.

They invite others along. Anyone who shows up can jump in a borrowed canoe and
take it for a paddle. They get a lot of first-timers, New Yorkers who have heard about
the trips and come for the novelty or to get a taste of nature in this most urban of
cities.

That’s why Stephen Kline and Beatrice Aranow came. This is their first time at a
Dredgers event. I speak with them on the pier, before they step into a canoe. They
say they came because they love nature, they love being out on the water, and they
want to see their city from a whole new perspective.

Stephen and Beatrice are in for a big surprise. Twenty minutes later, they had their
new perspective.

(talking over each other) “ There were like dead rats, turds. It was a lot worse than I
could have ever imagined. It wasn’t that mysterious. I actually thought I was going
to have a pleasant time going out but it was pretty intense. It was repulsive.”

This doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement of the Dredgers.

But Alex says Stephen and Beatrice’s reaction isn’t that bad – it’s actually kind of the
point.

“Part of it is just being out there with the poop and the trash, like, hah, here it is,
there’s no getting away from it. When you’re in it, you’re naturally longing to see it
restored.”

A week later I came back to the Gowanus canal for another Dredgers event. This
one’s a cleanup day, and volunteers are out with rubber gloves and bags, picking up
trash. It’s kind of a festive scene- there’s music and free pizza. And there’s a group of
high schoolers who came to spend the day canoeing and helping out.

(students talking about canoeing, cleaning)

Alex says those students are who the Dredgers really want to reach. The Gowanus
isn’t going to be clean anytime soon. But those kids are going to grow up, and they’re
going to be tax payers and voters. Soon they’re going to make the decisions that
decide the future of the canal.

For The Environment Report, I’m Samara Freemark.

Related Links

Green Buildings Mean Retail Greenbacks

  • This retail store in Ottawa, Ontario cost 10% more to build than a conventional building would have. Owners believe they'll ultimately make up for the extra cost in energy savings. (Photo by Karen Kelly)

Green building experts have known how to make buildings more energy efficient for a long time, but the building industry is slow to change – especially in retail. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports on one company that’s challenging the status quo:

Transcript

Green building experts have known how to make buildings more energy efficient for a long time, but the building industry is slow to change, especially in retail. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports on one company that’s challenging the status quo:


At first glance, the Mountain Equipment Co-op looks like your
typical outdoor retailer. You’ve got the
rows of protein bars and the freeze dried camping
food. Forest green backpacks hang from the wall and candy-colored kayaks hang from the ceiling,
but what makes this Canadian company unique is what you can’t see. Almost everything, the displays, the floors, even the concrete, is
environmentally friendly.


Architect Linda Chapman designed the store, which is in Ottawa – Canada’s capital. She says part of her assignment was to reuse as much as she possibly could.


“A lot of the steel structure that you see, the steel beams and the steel joists here are all from the old building that was on site here. It actually saved us time because there was a real backlog and delay from ordering steel at the time we were building.”


Being environmentally responsible is part of Mountain Equipment Co-op’s mission. It’s a non-profit cooperative. It’s million and a half members pay a small fee and have a say in how the company is run. Mountain Equipment’s Mark VanKooy says their members want the company to reflect their own environmental values.


“They’re the ones really out there hiking, kayaking, canoeing, rock climbing, and it’s in their interest, I mean… most people realize the connection to environmental stewardship and the outdoors – that if you aren’t an environmental steward, you’re going to lose your wilderness and the outdoors and the places you like to do those things.”


That mission resonates with customers such as Trevor. He’s been a member of Mountain Equipment Co-op for almost 20 years.


“It shows me they’re forward looking, they’ve got a keen sense of awareness about the environment they’re in here… good corporate citizenry if you will. I’m very comfortable here.”


(sound of store)


Mountain Equipment Co-op has built eight stores – each greener than the last. When the Ottawa store was finished in 2000, it became the greenest retail building in Canada. In fact, there are too many features to mention. They seem to permeate every section of the building. It ranges from the wood floors salvaged from local barns to the high tech meters that control the intake of fresh air.


Mark VanKooy says it cost an extra 10 percent to construct the building, but they’ll get that back in energy savings over the next decade, and he says that’s a key point in trying to persuade others to follow their lead.


“Obviously, if it was twice as much to build the same building with the green building practices as it would be through standard construction practices, it wouldn’t be worth it, because even as a demonstration building, no one in their right mind is going to look at it and say oh, it’s a nice idea but its cost twice as much, yeah I’m going to do it.”


VanKooy gives lots of tours to architects and business people, but the building industry has been slow to adopt the idea. One of the biggest challenges is the way that buildings are typically constructed. Architects often come up with a plan without consulting the engineer or the construction manager, but in this case, they all sat down together from day one. They discussed each step in the process. The approach is called integrated design, and architect Linda Chapman says it ensured the environment was considered at every step along the way. She describes how the group chose materials to use in the walls.


“In terms of which one would have the highest recycled content, which one would have the best price, which one would be easiest to build…so that’s how decisions were made as a group.”


(sound in store)


The Mountain Equipment Co-op did receive a grant from the Canadian government, but funding for this kind of project has mostly dried up. Still, proponents say interest in green buildings is growing. According to the US Green Building Council, 5% of new commercial buildings last year met its strict environmental standards.


Retail stores such as Starbucks, Williams-Sonoma and the Gap have already built, or plan to build, green stores. In Canada, the Mountain Equipment Co-op has added two more, that are even more energy efficient, and were built without government help. They say if a nonprofit outdoor retailer can do it, a lot of other companies can as well.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Kelly.

Carrying the River Within Us

We don’t have to travel far to experience nature. Many of us have special places that connect us to the natural world. Great Lakes Radio Consortium commentator Bob Hamma reflects on the lasting impact those places can have on us:

Transcript

We don’t have to travel far to experience nature. We all have special places that connect us to the natural world. Great Lakes Radio Consortium commentator Bob Hamma reflects on the lasting impact those places can have on us:


One day in early September, my son and I rented a canoe and took a trip down the St. Joseph River where it crosses from Indiana into Michigan. The cloudless sky was a rich, deep blue and the light breeze created just a soft ripple on the river’s surface. Young turtles sunning themselves on logs plopped in the water as we glided by. We spied an occasional blue heron perched on the bank and a few swans moving gracefully through a pool.


The river was surprisingly empty of human presence. There were a few boys fishing under a highway bridge and a single pontoon boat. But they did not rob us of the sense that the river was ours, that on this river so close to home, there was a quiet, peaceful world without the pressures and demands of our everyday life. I like to remember that day, not only for its quiet beauty, but to create a peaceful space within myself. I want to carry that day, that river, within me.


I close my eyes and I am there. The river becomes part of me and part of the bond between my son Peter and me. It flows through my mind, carving a path through my psyche, laying bare the texture of memory. I travel upstream and remember the joys and sorrows that have formed the course of my life. I am carried downstream as I recall the people, places, and things that I cherish, moving always toward the great sea to which every river flows.


As the river becomes a part of me, I sense my life as a whole rather than as scattered fragments. There is a peaceful center, which I need only take the time to connect with. I know that just like this river I come from somewhere and am going somewhere; that I am a part of something greater; that I belong to people and to places.


When you are bruised or troubled, go to that place where you connect deeply with nature. Go to that river, that woodland, that mountain. Let the river carry you, the forest shelter you, the mountain bear you up. Close your eyes and go to that place which is for you a source of life.


Host Tag: Bob Hamma is a writer who lives in South Bend, Indiana.

Crafting the Perfect Canoe

Jet skis have quickly grown in popularity. But paddling a canoe isstill a favorite with many outdoors enthusiats. While there are severalmodern materials canoes are made of, there’s one man who prefers morenatural canoes. And he prefers to build them himself. The Great LakesRadio Consortium’s Todd Witter has the story: