Culture

FXCollaborative's sustainability workgroup Team Green celebrated Earth Day 2020 by sharing personal observations on the unintended consequences of this pandemic.

Daniel Piselli, AIA, LEED, CPHD, Senior Associate and Director of Sustainability
"Could this current shock prime everyone to understand that that our climate crisis is on a COVID-like exponential trajectory, and its curve has to be flattened with similar urgency?"

The photo [at the top of this post] was a very hopeful moment—a view from a (socially distant) jog through Sunset Park in Brooklyn at twilight. NOTICE THE STARS (very unusual for New York City)!

As we all hunker down, NASA and others are recording much less air pollution in NYC (25%) and elsewhere. While this is not exactly positive in our current predicament (we all want to get back to a more normal lifestyle & productive economy), one cannot help but see possibilities. Are these the skies we'd have if vehicles were all-electric? Could the air be even cleaner if our homes and offices were powered by all-renewable resources like New York State plans? Could this new normal really be possible in our lifetimes?

And, could this current shock prime everyone to understand that that our climate crisis is on a COVID-like exponential trajectory, and its curve has to be flattened with similar urgency?

Michael Buesing, Senior Associate
"With all this indoor time, the urge to run outside and grab handfuls of grass and earth reinforces how much we all depend on our natural planet and are responsible for its future viability."

Spring is awakening in New York City! Being in one place, with less urban noise and more time to observe what is happening outside a window, focuses awareness on the green, bird sounds, and temperature changes. With all this indoor time, the urge to run outside and grab handfuls of grass and earth reinforces how much we all depend on our natural planet and are responsible for its future viability. Here are three things I've been thinking about—about our planet, nature, making things, and community.

1. Tomas Saraceno on Buckminster Fuller and our shared and individual responsibility to Spaceship Earth.

2. While I miss spring hikes in the Hudson River Valley, I am optimistic for summer and fall hikes. Here is a sound recording of wood frogs from a pond on Breakneck Ridge. Looking forward to visiting those little guys again!

3. Beautiful images from the 1960s-1970s—people making art, architecture, and objects of and within nature.

Thomas Reeves, AIA, LEED GA
"It amazes me that even in an urban environment, nature will still find habitat in unexpected places: 'Life finds a way.'"

A little over a month ago, we noticed a pair of mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) courting each other. The male (who we named Thurgood) chose the nest site on our fire escape. The female (Ruth) gathered twigs, and built it. The mourning doves shared nesting duties, Thurgood taking the day shift, and switching off with Ruth in the afternoon. After the eggs hatched, the squabs remained for two weeks until they flew off. Recently, we noticed that the entire family has been coming back to the fire escape—the squabs at the bird feeder and Ruth occasionally inspecting the nest.

In quarantine, observing the doves every day has been the highlight. It amazes me that even in an urban environment, nature will still find habitat in unexpected places: "Life finds a way." It makes me appreciate even more some of the measures we take in design to foster urban ecology. Reducing the heat island effect, providing green roofs, and bird-safe glass—all of these help to increase the likelihood of chance encounters with nature in the city, and the likelihood that Ruth and Thurgood will return to our fire escape next breeding season.

Leslie Infanger
"Below are a few of the beautiful Unintended Consequences we've encountered so far this quarantine."

1. We have taken to rooftops, backyards, and fire escapes as extensions of our indoor workstations.

2. A few push-ups or a burst of exercise has felt more re-energizing than another cup of coffee at 3 pm.

3. Many runs and walks, I have especially enjoyed walks along Lake Michigan.

4. In the place of our commutes we have been doing yoga, cooking, drawing, reading, gardening, bike riding, taking walks, and more walks.

5. Between the days getting longer, not being in an office, and not spending time on the subway. We have found ourselves in the daylight more often and feel more tuned into the cycles of the day.

6. Lunch at home means less single-use plastic and waste from takeout containers.

7. I am in a long-distance relationship, however due to this quarantine I have had the chance to be in the same place as my significant other for two months. It has been a beautiful unexpected outcome for all of us to have extra time to spend with our quarantine crews whoever they may be—roommates, friends, significant others, families, or some combination of the above.

Megan Ng, LEED GA
"The street trees outside my window ... refuse to be on PAUSE. Such changing scenery, particularly under our current circumstances, reminds me of the importance of mindfulness."

Although I am an introvert, I know I am one of those who prefer to work in an office. To many of us, being suddenly moved home, especially while the world was basically shut down, was not an easy transition. But then I started to notice the street trees outside my window. Some were gradually flowering, but these days, the green is getting stronger and stronger. They refuse to be on PAUSE. Such changing scenery, particularly under our current circumstances, reminds me of the importance of mindfulness, which Ellen Langer defines as "the simple act of actively noticing things." Such a small act can help us and probably our planet too. Stay well.

Resources:
Ellen Langer—Science of Mindlessness and Mindfulness
NYC Street Tree Map

Ann Charleston, LEED AP BD+C
"It's a powerful time to reflect. How do we connect to our food supply chain? What are we learning now that will stay with us in the future?"

We have all seen our cooking and eating habits completely change during this pandemic. Scarcity of flour and meat, huge surpluses of milk, fewer dining options, unemployment in the restaurant industry, takeout margaritas, on and on ... I'm finding myself drawn to intensive and slow recipes. Stock, beans, roasted vegetables, and trying to bake a halfway decent bread.

In Brooklyn, there are companies turning their business models upside down to keep operating. This has opened up new opportunities to try incredible local produce and seafood. Local Roots NYC, a CSA program I've used for years, is still operating and donating produce to unemployed restaurant workers.

It's a powerful time to reflect. How do we connect to our food supply chain? What are we learning now that will stay with us in the future?