Should salt residue on our streets be a norm in Upstate New York?

 

I took the same walk through the quad as usual. Besides the deposits of rock salt left on the stairs, in the cracks in the pavement, and inside door frames- the only unusual part of Wednesday, March 27th was the abrupt snow storm that took place on my drive home from Buffalo to Rochester.  I suppose the sporadic weather of Buffalo, NY should not be of much surprise to me as the left over rock salt has become a contemporary norm to Upstate New York. I think what you observe on your daily commute to either a job, school, home, or errands all depends on your "usual" exposure and we typically only observe something that is not a part of this "usual."

 I am sure if my relatives from Atlanta, Georgia came to the quad, they would react much differently to the blue slushie-looking substance on the walkway than my immediate family as they have lived in Rochester for 20+ years and see salt residue on a normal basis. 

The quad appears to be "usual" today as it has been mostly barren like this ever since I started documenting my visits to this spot back in January. However,  like all my prior posts on this blog have suggested, just because something occurs regularly, what I refer to as the "usual," should we accept that as being necessarily good? Just because it is normal for nearly 36,000 Americans to die from the flu every year, the "usual" number of deaths according to CNN Health, I do not believe this average is good. And when I refer to good- is it safe to equate good, when referring to the environment and its inhabitants, as being healthy? There is a use for rock salt, just like there is a use for vaccinations. Rock salt can prevent people and cars from slipping and therefore prevent deaths in the same way vaccines can prevent contracting deadly diseases. But just as you may not necessarily slip if there is no salt sprinkled on sidewalks or how you may never end up getting the flu regardless of being vaccinated, the question that needs to be addressed is unlike vaccines, does adding rock salt to the ground and roads do more harm than good- especially when we take a look at what it does to plant life and the local ecosystem? It destroys and kills the surrounding grass, stunts plant growth, is consumed by small rodents, can be tracked inside our homes, and can irritate the paw beds of our pets. These cons need to be taken into consideration seriously when determining if rock salt does more harm than good and whether we should have the choice, just like we have the choice to be vaccinated, if salt should be sprinkled in our community at Canisius College.

I think we've sprung a leak!

As I was venturing to my biology class from Old Main to Health Science early Friday afternoon, I noticed the storm drain (pictured left) seemed to be clogged with some debris and litter. As I continued on, I came across this storm drain on the right, completely congested to the point where water pooled around it. Although this is not my "usual" spot  where I reflect and observe- any pressing polluting matter at Canisius College is my business as it directly affects my area in the quad.

Mayor Bryon W. Brown, Buffalo's Major who happens to live right near campus, considered littering to be an infraction to the "Zero Tolerance Anti-Crime Program." 

According to State Law:

A. No person shall place, deposit, leave, litter, throw, cast or dump or cause to be placed, deposited, left, littered, thrown, cast or dumped or permit any servant, agent, employee or other person under his control to place, deposit, leave, litter, throw, cast or dump any waste of any kind on any street, sidewalk or right-of-way (including the curbline), public park, public place or any real property or premises within the City of Buffalo without the lawful consent of the owner or lawful consent of the occupant in possession thereof; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall authorize or permit any action that would be otherwise prohibited, but for such consent, by any law. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the dumping of solid waste in an authorized municipal dumping ground.

B. The owner, operator, registrant and any occupants of a vehicle involved in the placing, depositing, leaving, littering, throwing, casting or dumping of any waste on any street, curbline, public park, public place or on any real property or premises within the City of Buffalo without the lawful consent of the owner or the lawful consent of the occupant in possession thereof shall be jointly and severally liable for the penalties imposed pursuant to this article and shall each be guilty of a violation; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall authorize or permit any action that would be otherwise prohibited, but for such consent, by any law.

My question to you is after seeing all the support to stop littering on our college community area, why have I never heard of any students being issued a ticket for polluting our environment or even a warning? Although there are laws that are meant to prohibit littering, law enforcement more or less ignores these "minor" infractions. It must not be until all the storm drains become clogged and streets flood until action is taken. Clearly Buffaloians have no conception of the Precautionary Principle and do not see the harm in throwing their trash into the streets.

In other news-
This week in my Environmental Sociology course, my class watched Blue Vinyl, a documentary filmed by Judith Helfand, who was upset that her parents were re-siding their house with blue vinyl. "She set out (with co-director Daniel B. Gold) to discover how vinyl is made and why, according to some scientists, it is the most hazardous of synthetic materials. Along the way, she meets industry representatives who tell her the key chemical ingredient in vinyl, chloride, is no more toxic than table salt. She also travels to Venice, Italy, to meet with families of vinyl factory workers dead or dying from chemical exposure, and she visits an intrepid, Louisiana attorney who has sued American vinyl manufacturers on behalf of severely injured former employees."

Go figure I stumbled upon this billboard sign in Buffalo a day after completing the film...

This juxtaposition, where one person is saying vinyl is healthy and the other believes it is dangerous), reminds me of the a ongoing debate right here in Buffalo, NY over air pollution.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory- area code 14208 (Canisius College/Hamlin Park) is considered to be a very healthy community to live in as there are zero "One-site Releases and On-site Transfer" locations. However, this report by the EPA does not consider the very polluted town and city of Tonawanda just a few miles away, not to mention Love Canal in Niagara Falls. 

This report by the EPA makes it clear that the only way you will learn the truth about your environment is to adopt environmental stewardship and to take proper care of your surroundings on the most local level possible!

Does Canisius College have a littering problem?

While observing my spot earlier today, I became increasingly aware that something was not entirely right. Is that a cup perched on the statue? Sure is. 

As I looked around to see if there was any other evidence of debris from last night's mischief, I could not help but wonder if Canisius College faces problems over controlling litter and how that impacts our local environment. But the more important question is who actually takes care of the litter thrown on the lawn by students?

As you can see, the weather is fairly warm for Buffalo, NY heading into the second week of March. Which means more activity in the Quad and thus more litter. I found it interesting that Canisius College has a Project Conservation club, however, I feel like the club's presence on campus is lacking. According to their facebook page, they have not posted anything since August 2012. It would be interesting if they took on more responsibility to clean up the Quad rather than have maintenance or better yet no one remove the debris from under the bushes and in the mulch.

According to Central Michigan Life (the college magazine of Central Michigan University), the school and police team up to issue littering tickets to students who throw their garbage on the ground. However, according to one student, "it’s sad, but I don’t think the amount people litter will decrease no matter what." Should Canisius College consider issuing littering tickets? Could this be a solution? I am curious if students would find this action too extreme, after all, the only ticket students really get is parking on the wrong side of Hughes Ave after 6 pm. Another idea would be to place garbage bins  strategically in the areas of the Quad where the majority of littering is occurring.

I shall leave you all with some facts, statistics tell us:

-Each person creates 4.7 pounds of waste every single day

-54% of solid waste makes its way into landfills

-One ton of recycled paper can save the energy equivalent of 185 gallons of gasoline

*Source U.S. Environmental Protection Agency