E.A.C. Project Update: A Case for Less
March 23 2020
Hello from the E.A.C.. While our co-founder, Max, is quarantined in Colorado, our additional co-founder and director, Jeff, is quarantined in Peru. With travel restrictions firmly in place until 4.1.2020 or later, his return to the U.S. is a hopeful approximation at this point. In the meantime, Jeff is busy interacting further with the students he originally traveled to teach, and potentially starting a podcast to continue his work remotely. Max is stateside in Boulder, self quarantining and publishing papers on topics from Covid-19 to the sustainability of a viable future in the aftermath of the lessons learned from this virus crisis.
While our projects have moved into phases that require time to start again, we want to quickly address the current state of affairs regarding the cultural impact following the global shift of priorities because of the Coronavirus. We deeply sympathize and empathize with those affected by this crisis and thank the emergency, medical and response workers who are risking their lives everyday.
TRANSITIONING TO CASH: Local and global economies have taken a huge financial hit because of the virus outbreak. Service and entertainment industries are some of the most affected. We see this truncation in business as a valuable experiment and data set related to our project. With so many transactions being moved online and cash sales drastically decreasing due to less human contact, credit card fees are maintaining their stronghold on local economies and increasing their influence. Credit card fees are usually 2.3%, and in 2018 these fees cost the U.S. economy 107.78 billion dollars. That money could go into local economies rather than huge payment processing corporations. If localities adopt practices that benefit local economies like paying with cash, it becomes a foundation for action against climate change (VISA and Mastercard typically invest fossil fuel industries), providing more transparency in supply chains (disclosures of profits and practices by provincial business is easier to obtain than multi-national conglomerates), and creating better options for local production of goods (Walmart and big companies are less likely to reinvest profits into local economies as compared to small businesses.)
We understand that human wellness is paramount to financial structures, but we can none the less take stock of the picture of our local economy at this time. We are increasingly more remote, socially distanced and trying to maintain our livelihoods. Online delivery services are becoming a safer way of acquiring the goods and services of health and wellness. While this is necessary as we see our selves and our communities through this crisis, our means of "economic reintroduction" once mass quarantines have ceased can be premeditated and intentional. When it is safer to exchange monies for goods and services, consider using cash at your long-time-no-see favorite stores. Withdraw cash and coins to carry with you when you get a taco, buy a drink, restock on toilet paper (again). While printing money costs the U.S. budget 955.8 million annually, thats 100 times smaller that what we pay in transaction fees. The budget to maintain the cash supply is just 0.04% of annual expenditures.
We encourage you to look into the supplied article by Hsin-Wei Luang from Merchant Maverik.
And the Bite-Sized Books Vol. 3: How Credit Cards Damage Local Economies.
ELIMINATING EXCESS NIGHTTIME LIGHTING: The nighttime light is hard to see, especially as we quarantine ourselves indoors. If some are lucky enough with large windows and good views of the night sky, being on lockdown inside doesn't eliminate the pleasure of stargazing altogether. Even when a global virus pandemic is NOT affecting our daily circadian rhythms, most of us do not see the stars in the sky. We are increasingly magnetized to a 24/7 plugged in lifestyle. When was the last time you saw the Milky Way galaxy right above your head? When you look up at night, do you mostly see the light pollution of the places you call home? And finally, what are the psychological and cultural effects of a species that doesn't acknowledge the night for the balancing and grounding qualities it possesses?
Currently, large scale areas of public interest for many nighttime activities like sports and concerts are not being used. This could create less light pollution overall this Covid-19 pandemic could be eliminating the excess nighttime light that prohibits us from seeing the starry sky. When this Coronavirus crisis is over, what will society - and you - want to do with the freedom of safety? When all things are possible again, will we yearn for the outdoors like never before? What activities could become so popular as the antithesis to quarantine that entire towns and cities begin to schedule a new calendar to accommodate? Might that activity be stargazing? Might we want to assess the light pollution in our backyards and might we be ready to think twice about its sheer existence? If we return to the business as usual where after eight hours indoors at work we stay in an arena for three more hours and then go to bed, it might feel like a disservice to the opportunity we have of realignment with our natural rhythms. We can now let our imaginations wander far, we can wonder about the sky and how beautiful it is, and we can prepare our spirits for the end of quarantine, when we can stargaze with our loved ones in a city that has implemented nighttime "dark hours" so we can clearly see the awe and inspiration of the cosmos above. We are very small in all the universe, and yet our problems are very big and real. We can recapture the time and sense of humility that comes from knowing there is more out there.
We encourage you to look into the supplied weblink about "The City Dark", a documentary about nighttime light by Ian Cheney from 2011.
And the E.A.C. project page.
ELIMINATING PLASTIC PACKAGING IN MARIJUANA SALES: We all need medicine, in one form or another. Medicine comes in all appearances: food, prescription dugs, hugs, love, spiritual practices, the pets we have, or cannabis. Cannabis is medicine, despite the absurd classification by the US Government . Whether you are afflicted with life altering mental hinderances or your physical body needs the pain relief, cannabis is a viable resource for those with access. Many people are fighting to increase access, but not many are cognizant of the environmental impact the packaging of marijuana sales. Many companies are not considering the recyclability of the plastics they use to sell their products, and many still are not conducting responsible business by using so much packaging in the first place. The burden of proof that our world is overrun with plastic waste is passed on to the consumer. Consumers are becoming the janitors to the large businesses that claim their products are recyclable by in practice cleaning up the mess created by those very companies. And with regards to the kinds of recyclables accepted at certain material processing facilities (MPFs), many citizens are greatly misinformed about the processes of actual recycling that are claimed to happen.
When the Coronavirus is over, many patients and advocates will return to medical and recreational dispensaries alike. Perhaps with all the time we've spent quarantined, we will be open to seeing the cannabis business in a new light: a plastic wasteland with little oversight with room to improve. When the next eighth of flower is purchased, perhaps you will notice the plastic bottle that is sold to you, and perhaps you will ask the clerk if you have a reusable bottle instead. Maybe you will then think of all the times you've purchased cannabis before, and all the little plastic and cardboard packages you had to dig through to just get your medicine. And finally, you might wonder: why? Why do we have all this packaging? What actually happens to it all? Is it even "recyclable", do municipal facilities accept these kinds of plastic, and do we actually know what happens in the lifecycle of that little piece of petroleum? Imagine how much change will occur when more and more people start to question the system and business as usual. Imagine how much plastic you can eliminate by refusing unnecessary packaging and by furthering the conversation with a local government representative, by pressing them to look into this issue further, and ask the very same questions.
We encourage you to look into the supplied article by Greenpeace on recycling in the USA in 2020.
And the E.A.C. project page.