Tyler’s Schedule

GREENSAW Design & Build, LLC

        820 N. 4^th Street

        Philadelphia, PA 19123

Greensaw Volunteer times:

·         Wednesday, March 3  _ 8:00-12:00

·         Friday, April 1 _ 8:00-12:00

·         Wednesday, April 6  _ 8:00-12:00

·         Friday, April 8 _ 8:00-12:00



Logan's Schedule

Greensaw Volunteer Times
-Tuesday March 29th 2-5 p.m.
-Tuesday April 5th 2-5 p.m.

Philly Spring Clean Up Day, 15 South 7th Street, Philadelphia History Museum
-Saturday April 2nd 9 a.m.- 2 p.m.

Tia Bianchini- Q 1, 2 & 4

1.a. One of my favorite natural spaces is the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ. This outdoor gallery functions as both an organic landscape and museum, allowing me to enjoy two of my favorite things, art and the outdoors. In a contemporary museum, the idea is to conserve and protect artist's work. At the Grounds for Sculpture, however, the artist must truly consider the environment in which their piece will  reside, with consideration of the elements/climate. This dynamic between nature and art is what makes the museum so intriguing, it provides the opportunity to enjoy artwork outside of conventional standards.

http://www.groundsforsculpture.org/index.html

1.b. The Grounds for Sculpture was originally developed by sculptor and philanthropist  J. Seward Johnson in the hopes to make sculpture more accessible to many different people in a setting that they felt comfortable in. Ultimately, he wanted to expose the community to contemporary art in a new way. The museum is also a non-profit organization, which means that the community functions as not only the audience but its supporters as well.

4. Yes, I do agree with Light's hands-on approach to ecological citizenship because it requires that the public be educated. In most areas, I feel, that the public is under-educated about very important issues, whether it be lack of sex education in schools which leads to high cases of unwanted pregnancy or the spread of STI's or the fact that many people do not realize that their drinking water comes from sewers, so they think a sewer can serve as a trash can. The public needs to know why it is important to make informed decisions, and the information needs to be accessible, to anyone, regardless of their background. A point that Light made in his work really stood out to me. He mentions that we should be concerned with building suburbs more like densely-packed cities rather than building cities like. This point again related, to me, to low-income housing in Philadelphia. Recently I have noticed that many housing projects resemble suburban developments, single homes with lawns, no shared walls, driveways and a garage. This not only takes up a huge amount of space when considering the low amount of people that will be residing in each lot, it creates an unrealistic, unsustainable and isolated community. Also, much like he mentions, the representatives of environmentalist organizations lack any representation of people of color or low-income, the exact person who is most often confined to these bizarre pseudo-suburban housing developments. The housing authority would rather provide the low-income community with an unrealistic image of American life than listen to their needs and concerns. Therefor, it is very important to involve the community, and ensure that they possess this crucial knowledge. 

Tyler Scott Questions 1-2,5

1a)  Where do you like to go to find nature in a city (like Philadelphia or your hometown)? Why here?
1b) Who do you think developed and cares for these areas / pieces of nature?

Growing up and living in the suburbs I was constantly surrounded by woodlands and large open fields.  Nature was all around me.  Every morning you could see wildlife, such as deer and ducks, on your way to school and work.  As I grew up the area around me developed as well.  With this development many habitats and natural landscapes were damaged, or even worse, removed all together.  As a kid I would often go with my friends to play in the woods and do the whole tree-climbing, fort-building thing that almost every kid does.  The older we got the less woods there was to play with.  Houses were being built.  Roads being paved.  What many of us thought of as nature was being taken away right beneath our feet.  When I moved to Philadelphia to go to school, I really found it hard to find the “nature” in the city.  Yeah we have our famous city parks like Rittenhouse Square and Independence Hall.  Philadelphia has undergone massive amounts of growth and I feel that city planners tried to incorporate these parks into the urban fabric.  The city maintenance and clean-up crews try valiantly to keep the park clean and really offer citizens a comfortable “nature” escape from the hustle and bustle all throughout Center City and surrounding Philadelphia.    

2) Is there any motivation for you to help care for the existing nature found in Philadelphia (or in your hometown if you would prefer to use it as a place of reference..?) 
If there are any motivating factors, what are they?
If not, what would help motivate you to participate in the development and care of these spaces?

I feel on a certain level everyone has a civic duty to try to live their lives responsibly.  Everyone should be motivated to live in a healthy way, one that has benefits for both people and nature.  The cities natural areas are dwindling every day and as a city we are losing valuable green space to urban development.  As a city we must embrace the green areas left and allow them to grow and flourish to their full potential.  I know Philadelphia has initiated a new recycling program to motivate residents to recycle as much as possible.  Every recycling bin will have a barcode that will be swiped every time recycling is collected from you house.  Your house will then get a credit or points that could be used towards redeeming rewards.  People will keep the trash off the streets, away from our parks and waterways, in return for a reward.  These types of programs offer motivation for people to live responsibly in regards to helping with nature.  Mayor Nutter has a goal for Philadelphia to become America's greenest city by 2015. Greenworks Philadelphia was created in 2009 by Mayor Nutter to reach his big goal of Philadelphia as a green city.  The only way the Mayor can ultimately reach his goal is with everyone becoming motivated to really help and lend a hand.   

5) How can ecological features such as parks or waterways serve as the glue, binding a community together? 

There are various ecological features that can be used to glue and bind communities together.  Many people think that these features would be predominately rivers and woodlands.  The Schuylkill is often packed with people on the weekends, with families and friends physically and socially interacting.  The river offers a “natural” retreat from the hardscape that makes up most of Philadelphia.  Woodlands could be reincorporated into the city and act as public walkways, connecting different neighborhoods and areas.  On a smaller scale, water features can refresh certain areas where they are incorporated within the urban context.  These features not only connect people physically but also socially as well.

Logan Wilson Questions 1-3

1a) I like to go to a park called Prophecy Creek Park, it is in my hometown of Ambler, PA. Although recently when I drove by, some of the trees had been taken down. I don't know why but this park is different then the rest, it doesn't have trails or anything thing like that, it's open fields with trees and grass. What I love most about it is the historical buildings that add a historical touch to the park.

1b) I think the park was created many years ago, and is being kept up and occupied by the township. Whenever I visit it is always beautiful and taken care of well. I respect the fact that the historical buildings are not vandalized and have a beautiful authentic look.

2) Personally I would not mind helping out with the historical nature in the city, but more so the history part because that interests me more. Although without this class I do not see myself looking to volunteer in this area, however if it was an assignment or recommended I could see myself getting involved with restoring and keep the historical nature around historical buildings. I think about would motivate me is finding a way to find it interesting for myself.

3) I think the urban environments are being taken care of fine now, the only additional involvement I would recommend is students. I think students any where from kindergarden to college would be great helpers in beatifying and bettering the environments. I believe the rights and responsibilities are already in the hands of the citizens by the amount of people who volunteer.