Janelle Nanos: September 2008 Archives

I'm always a little bummed when I hear that the MacArthur "Genius" Fellows have been announced for the year. That means, once again, that my phone hasn't rung out of the blue telling me that I've been bestowed with $500,000 for the next five years. But shortly after I get over my disappointment, I quickly become mildly obsessed with the real geniuses who did win. And this year's batch is no exception, particularly when it comes to their impact on the world in which we travel.

• Stephen Houston - As an anthropologist, archaeologist, and epigrapher, he's a modern-day Indiana Jones. "He has worked on the excavations of several major Mayan cities, most recently the ancient city of Piedras Negras in Guatemala, which had not been explored since its initial discovery more than 60 years ago."

• Walter Kitundu - A music-maker, literally. He's affiliated with the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and his "phonoharp" instruments are "inspired by hip-hop, other modern musical forms, and traditional Asian and African instruments... [they] are hybrids of turntables and stringed instruments."

When I was a kid, I grew up so addicted to "Sesame Street" that I was pretty well convinced that television existed for the sole purpose of showing off the antics of Bert and Ernie, Big Bird, and Oscar the Grouch. But looking back, I now credit a large swath of my cultural literacy to the program: it taught me how to count in Spanish, and that other cultures were fun and interesting (remember watching Big Bird in China and the haunting moon song from his visit to Japan?). And it introduced me to the concept of religious diversity (Shalom Sesame fascinated me with its Israeli Muppets. Who knew the Muppets were different in other places?).

All of this cultural richness stemmed from the imagination of Jim Henson, a puppeteer who helped create Sesame Street, which is in its 39th season and airs in over 120 countries around the world. The show's message of tolerance is credited as one element that bound Serbians and Albanians together in post-conflict Kosovo, and earlier this year, Northern Ireland launched their own version of the program, "Sesame Tree" which celebrates diversity and encourages children to ask questions about their world. 

It's been 18 years since Henson passed away suddenly to pneumonia, but his legacy is still kept alive spectacularly in the traveling exhibit, now at the Smithsonian, "Jim Henson's Fantastic World." I had the chance to visit last weekend (which is at the International Pavilion, appropriately enough), and it was a tremendous treat.

The Church of England has just released an, um, enlightening book called "Don't Stop at the Lights," which outlines ways for its many churches, such as St. Paul's Cathedral in London (who has over 2 million visitors each year), to make their buildings more energy efficient and encourage their parishoners to go green. One of their suggestions? Dim the floodlights that illuminate the churches at night. Many churches are open to the idea, though they say concerns about security will be addressed before they flip the switch. But this trend means that in the coming years, they may let there be a little less light...

The Washington Post ran an interesting essay in their Outlook section a few weekends ago about a problem that we know well: Global tourism and its negative impact on the places we visit. Under the title "Don't Go There," writer Elizabeth Becker makes a strong case for why sustainable travel is so important, and interviews National Geographic's Jonathan Tourtellot, director of the National Geographic Society's Center for Sustainable Destinations, in the process. She writes:

The places we love are rapidly disappearing. Global tourism today is not only a major industry—it's nothing short of a planet-threatening plague. It's polluting land and sea, destroying wildlife and natural habitat and depleting energy and natural resources. From Asia to Africa, look-alike resorts and spas are replacing and undermining local culture, and the international quest for vacation houses is forcing local residents out of their homes. It's giving rise to official corruption, wealth inequities and heedless competition. It's even contributing to human rights violations, especially through the scourge of sex tourism.

Becker has been writing a book about how journalists cover the tourism industry, and some of her stats are well worth the read. And, in nod to us here at NG, she mentioned National Geographic Traveler's annual Places Rated issue, and our Center for Sustainable Destinations as great resources on how to travel better.

Julia Ross of World Hum reported on Becker's op-ed, and included a mention of Traveler. In it, she asked:

Setting aside the innumerable benefits of foreign travel we take on faith at World Hum, is Becker unduly alarmist? I don’t think so. A $7 trillion global industry that accounts for 8 percent of all the jobs in the world deserves critical attention—something I haven’t seen much of in U.S. media, with the exception of a few venues like National Geographic Traveler.

So we ask our readers: do you think the media has been remiss in reporting on the negative impact of the travel industry?  Do you think things really are as bad as Becker says? 

Photo: A monk at Angkor Wat, one of the sites threatened by global tourism. By Jay Burleson, via the Intelligent Travel Flickr pool.

Subscribe to this blog's feed

The colonel greets visitors to Xi'an China

Some nice news out of China on the preservation front: The city of Xi'an has announced plans to remove all advertising billboards from within the historic capital's walls in order to eliminate "visual pollution." They'll be taking down over 190 current ads (with the exception of bus stops and some electronic screens) and banning others from this point forward. China Daily reports:

The local government has ambitious plans to refurbish the area within the ancient imperial city wall by building old-style streets, commercial establishments and residential buildings in the area, He Hongxing, director of Xi'an urban planning bureau, said.

"We hope to complete our plan within 50 years, by which time the number of residents inside the city wall will have decreased from its present 450,000 to less than 250,000," He said.

Xi'an is more than 3,000 years old and was the capital city of China for 13 dynasties, and most visitors venture there to take in the incredible terra-cotta warriors at the mausoleum of the first Qin emperor (which you can get a virtual tour of here). In our Places Rated World Heritage Sites list, Xi'an's mausoleum got a middle range rating of 66. One panelist said:

"The terra-cotta warriors are an overwhelming experience that is well worth the trek. The presentation and site are very well kept, and the museum is informative. Access to it is through Xi'an, a city well worth visiting for its wall, its Muslim district, and its mosque, even though, like most cities in China, it is being transformed very rapidly, and not necessarily in a beneficial way for the heritage districts."

We're glad to hear of the changes in Xi'an and hope that this means more preservation efforts are on the way for the region.

Photo: missnoma via the Intelligent Travel Flickr pool

Subscribe to this blog's feed

You may want to bring your gas can to the lake from here on in, thanks to some promising news about the future of algae as fuel. Arizona State University recently announced that it has received a $3 million grant to help develop a kerosene aviation fuel derived from algae. Why algae? It's plentiful, grows faster than any crop, and you can harvest it every day. Scientists found a strain of algae that can convert their cellular mass into oil that contains medium chain fatty acids. When the oil is deoxygenated, the result is a product that's similar to kerosene. Mix that substance with a few fuel additives, and you can really fly green.

The good news continues, as the University of Virginia has announced plans to develop a commercial model to grow algae more efficiently. National Geographic Magazine discussed the race to create algae-based fuel in their "Growing Fuel" cover story last October. In it the author, Joel K. Bourne, Jr., writes of algae's seemingly endless possibilites:

Algae not only reduce a plant's global warming gases, but also devour other pollutants. Some algae make starch, which can be processed into ethanol; others produce tiny droplets of oil that can be brewed into biodiesel or even jet fuel. Best of all, algae in the right conditions can double in mass within hours. While each acre of corn produces around 300 gallons (1,135 liters) of ethanol a year and an acre of soybeans around 60 gallons (227 liters) of biodiesel, each acre of algae theoretically can churn out more than 5,000 gallons (19,000 liters) of biofuel each year.

NGM also has a great interactive which describes where biofuels are made, and how they compare in value to the regular fuels they're up against. So one day, when you're crossing the Pond, pond scum might be what gets you there.

Thanks to CleanTechnica for the tip!

Photo: Alexander Yates, via Flickr

Subscribe to this blog's feed

After a lovely long Labor Day weekend, I'm back at my desk and wishing I was still on the beach at Tybee Island, Georgia. I headed down south to Savannah and Tybee this past weekend and relied heavily on your picks, so thanks to all those of you who submitted them. They were, as always, fantastic.

Just after getting off my flight, my aunt drove us into Savannah for lunch. I've always loved visiting the city, which has been portrayed in recent history as the host to both Forrest Gump's famous bench and the bizarre true crime book (and film) Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

But I love how the antebellum culture of city is just as thick as the Spanish moss dangling from all the trees. Founded in 1733, it is known as America's first planned city, with 24 town squares that break up the grid of streets and offer residents a shady respite from the heat (Gump's bench was in Chippewa Square, but has since been placed in the Savannah History Museum). Cotton created an economic boom for Savannah, the results of which can still be seen in the downtown historic district, with its elegant homes, many with intricate wrought-iron porches. These homes and porches can still be appreciated thanks in part to the fact that Union general George Sherman decided not to burn the city down and instead offered it to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift.

We got about that close to history while dining out at Vic's on the River, a favorite of my aunt, which was also recommended by reader Katie. The restaurant is housed in an old cotton factory building that looks out onto the river, and you can watch from the windows as the riverboat cruises line up like ladies at a beauty pageant. The food had all the trappings of southern comfort, from the biscuits that arrived first with honey butter and marmalade, to our main courses, one of which was an amazing helping of shrimp and grits that had me longing for a larger plate. But the most authentic aspect of our meal wasn't on the plates at all, but hidden in the walls. We sat in the main dining room, just to the right of a map which was preserved under glass. I noticed that it hadn't hung like a typical artwork, and a small placard next to it explained that it had been found during a renovation of the building in 1901. During the Civil War, Union soldiers had occupied the building, and they'd mapped out General Sherman's march through Tennessee to Georgia on the plaster in the wall. It was a fascinating glimpse at history.

I feel like I've been hopping on flights nonstop over the last few weeks, and despite dealing with some airport struggles and the knowledge that I need to tally up my carbon footprint, I attribute a continuous spring in my step to my new travel shoes: Toms. Produced in factories that pay their workers a fair wage, these incredibly lightweight canvas shoes collapse into nothing in a suitcase. And for every pair you buy, they donate a pair to kids in need—so far, 10,000 pairs in Argentina and 50,000 in South Africa. Toms have a leather-lined sole that's surprisingly supportive, great for biking or wandering the streets during your travels. And their slip-on design is great for airport check-in lines. They're available in a variety of colors (like my cute polka-dot numbers), and the Toms team encourages you to buy their plain white kicks and decorate them yourself.

Apparently these shoes also encourage traveling: While poking around their website, I noticed that they plan to give away 200,000 pair of shoes around the world this year, and they accept applications from people who want to travel with them on their international "Shoe-Drops." They've also created a promotion team called the "Vagabonds," that will travel the country visiting college campuses, high schools, and communities, spreading the word about these cool shoes (and their spring semester team is still accepting applications).

Photo: Janelle models her Toms at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge.