garrett's blog

Forestry experts and scientists from Oregon State University have just published an article that shows forests are naturally regenerating in the wake of searing forest fires.

Fun Facts about Paige:

• Licensed massage therapist and Reiki Master
• Has her own travel log
• Shopping for a veggie car

Q: As SCA's west coast representative, what was a strange experience you had on the road?

One of the best parts about working at SCA HQ is the great people you get to work with. Unfortunately I would not know anything about that because I am stuck sharing on office with this guy. Haw haw just kidding, Jim is rad, I mean come one now, check out those curls.

This is the first post in a series I am starting, unambiguously titled "Faces of SCA."

Fun facts about Jim:

Story and Photo by Garrett Allen

Please recycle this tea bag.
(Babelfish probably completely botched that translation)

Upon arriving in Munich for the first time this summer I immediately noticed two things:

• It is an old city
• It is a very modern and efficient city

The problem with being around for a long time is that you start to accumulate a lot of junk. This area of Vermont and New Hampshire was established around 200 years ago and has little visible or logistical municipal waste problems. Munich was founded in 1158 and has their refuse problems under control. Athens has been around for 3000 years and is now out of landfill space.

"Mountains of refuse filled the streets in early January, spilling out of garbage cans and marring the face of one of the world's most fabled cities." - via IHT

When your civilization has been around for a long time you understand resource management better.

The immediacy of recycling as a necessity never hits home when you live in Vermont. Everything is green, clean, and out of sight. Even billboards are outlawed. Its no excuse, but just something I thought about today as I tossed a post-seep tea bag into the garbage. I find my self not recycling as much as I should because it is inconvenient and there is no direct daily visible proof of why I should be recycling more than the usual cans and bottles.

Unlike in American where you usually see only one refuse container (trash), Germany's Green Dot system is a way of life for them. Its not even an issue, its just the proper way. I met a group of young Germans one night and upon finishing a bottle of altbeer they would deftly toss them into the Grünglas (green glass) bin. They were much more interested in what I had to say about Eminem and 50 Cent than my views on recycling. Who wants to talk about recycling over beers at 1am anyway? But thats beside the point...

How to recycle a tea bag

1. Remove the two tiny staples attaching the string to the tag and the tea bag.
2. Place the staples in the metal recycling
3. Open the tea bag and dump the tea leaves into compost
4. Place the empty bag, string, and tag into paper/cardboard recycling

But does it matter?

Let's look at a few statistics:

Waste Generation - via NationMaster

• #4 United States: 460 kgs per person per year
• #11 Germany: 340 kgs per person per year
• n/a Greece

Municipal Waste Per Capita - via NationMaster

• #1 United States: 720
• #12 Germany: 546
• #24 Greece: 370

Ecological Footprint - via NationMaster

• #2 United States: 12.22
• #14 Germany: 6.31
• #24 Greece: 5.58

UN Human Development Index (HDI), 2006 - via UNDP

• #8 United States
• #21 Germany
• #23 Greece

So in conclusion, Germany recycles more and seems to have a lesser impact on the environment, so does Greece, but it doesn't really matter when you have been around for 3000 years because you will still have garbage flowing in the streets. Well we may not have four different refuse/recycling bins but at least we have a higher HDI. In your face Deutschland.

Photos & essay created by Emily B. Hertz. Emily has been an SCA volunteer in the Bureau of Land Management’s Tucson field office since 2003. She clears trash in southeastern Arizona along the Mexican border.

Needle and string. Virgin Mary beach towel. Cans of tuna. Bus ticket stubs. Voter registration cards. Pesos. Baby bottle. Fleece-lined corduroy jacket. Pornography comics. Multi-colored oxford shirt. Cloth rosary. 10-speed bike. Red training bra. Fleece onesie.

I remove evidence of human migration and trespasses on U.S. soil. This is my third year as a conservation intern.

I came to Arizona because I love the land. The jagged red rocks, cobalt blue skies, and 350 days of sun. I came to Arizona to understand more about the land, the rocks, the plants, the people, and the relationships between them all in the Sonoran desert. I came to Arizona because I was interested in the people crossing the border. Why? Who? How? Where are they now? Did they make it? Are they happier? I still ask myself these questions.

I had my own concepts about the border situation before I moved here. In line with the contemporary obsession to vilify and glorify, I too, had cast the heroes and villains, unaware that I would end up working alongside the entire cast. Border patrol agents. Ranchers. Environmental advocates. Military personnel. Human rights activists. Law-enforcement agents. Hunters. Mothers. Fathers. Sons. Daughters. People.

Most media doesn't have the time to delve into complexity. Most people aren't privy to the stories I hear everyday. Being followed home after work. Giving birth in the desert. Finding abandoned children. Finding abandoned parents. Being threatened at gunpoint. Giving a ride to kid and his bike en route to Phoenix from Mexico. Finding human bones. Cutting fences. Breaking open water pipes used for cattle. Feet, without soles—worn away from walking. Roads spider-webbing the landscape. Washes full of trash up to mid-calf. Many times I have come home from working in the desert, having made choices or having heard or seen things that really challenged and questioned my life philosophy. At times I have gotten headaches, nauseated, or vomited. I have vented to friends or cried. And afterwards I usually write. But I’ve wanted to understand the issues I’ve been confronting more in depth — to come to a place of understanding about the history that’s being created, from all perspectives.

Since January, I have been writing, recording conversations, and taking photographs of the Border Patrol. Border fence. Rescues. Tracking. Infrastructure. Firearms. An agent's day-to-day activities. This essay is the first of a series of five. I plan to also photograph a local rancher, a person who works with a variety of human rights organizations, a person who works for an environmental advocacy organization, and an immigrant.

My journey is about seeing people in their entirety. It is about juxtaposing the stereotypes with the ordinary. It is about taking a moment to see beyond the image and listen to the stories. Ultimately, it is about seeing ourselves in each other.

Today I opened a small black bible I found months ago in the desert. Green, pink, and yellow marker highlights, adorn bible passages. Words of love, courage, hope, and fear are lightly penciled in Spanish, on rice paper for someone named Cinthia.

"I love you with my heart, with my body, with my mind and with my soul. I love you so much that I can’t bear it. Remember me and don't forget me. When you sit alone watching the sky and remember where you are from, you are going to see those stars that are together and nothing can separate them, although years will pass, like our love."

Did she leave this bible behind? Where was she going? Who penciled in the passages at the back of the bible? Where is she now? Where is her family? Did she make it to her destination? Did she get caught? Did she see me?

This man's bootprint is one of ten footprints, agents spotted a half mile south of where the group was apprehended.
August 2006, Douglas, AZ

Agent J. makes time to eat his lunch while driving.
April 2006, Santa Ritas, AZ

The Douglas Border Patrol station begins building another section of the border fence using landing mat materials from the Vietnam era.
January 2006, Douglas, AZ

The border patrol's search and rescue team, BORSTAR, prepares B. to be flown by helicopter to a hospital for further assistance. B. developed complications due to exposure, after walking for four days with her daughter from Mexico.
February 2006, Arivaca, AZ

A section of border fence that has been cut and entered illegally by vehicle traffic numerous times. Through this site of recurring repairs towers the Fresnal Mountain in Sonora, Mexico.
August 2006, Douglas, AZ

Water jugs—one of the most prominent pieces of garbage found in border areas. August 2006, Nogales, AZ

A poster in a training classroom at the Nogales Border Patrol station.
January 2006, Nogales, AZ