Most people have no idea what state the ecology of the world is. They still think it is about saving the wildlife.
But they are terribly wrong.
The wildlife has already been decimated. The forests, plants and animals are for the most part destroyed. Not some of it but the majority of it. We have these little trophy displays of wildlife in parks, very much like we have these token Native American Indian reservations.
But they are a sad joke and a lie.
If you don’t believe me look into it. The numbers are astounding. And they all point to one thing: we’ve done it, we’ve destroyed the world. It’s accomplished.
So saving the wildlife is too little too late. We still need to save what little is left but that is not the main focus right now. The main focus is saving ourselves from extinction.
People don’t realize this is what we need to focus on now.
Did you know that if you put a frog in a pot of cold water and put it on the stove that the frog will slowly let itself boil to death. It does not notice the incremental changes in temperature leading to it’s death.
Humans are the same. We are not aware of the incremental yet continuous changes in our environment leading to our extinction.
So as a green builder in Brooklyn what does that mean? It is not about saving the wildlife obviously. That has all been cemented over.
In Brooklyn as in the rest of the world it is about reducing the toxic environment we have created that will eventually kill us if we don’t do anything about it.
Gowanus Canal is a toxic cancer pit. The old timer Italians living along it all confirm that the cancer rates are higher.
Newton Creek in Williamsburg has 30 feet of what they call “black mayonaise” at the bottom of its toxic waters, a buildup of sludge over the years that has mutated into some unknown substance. The area around Newton Creek also has “widespread stories of people who lived near the heavily polluted Newtown Creek and developed a deadly illness,” according to this article in the Daily News
The oil leak in Williamsburg that went unrepairable since the 1940’s has built up into a giant underground lake under Greenpoint, East Williamsburg, and Maspeth in Queens. It is one of the largest oil spills in America’s history and nothing has been done about it. It sits there.
Long Island gets it’s drinking water from wells that are contaminated by industrial toxins, giving Long Island the title of “Breast Cancer Center of the World”.
The amount of blood illnesses, severe asthma, migraines, “fuzzy head syndome”, cancer, and general malaise is astounding. And like frogs in the heated pot we take it for granted.
It is no longer about bringing back the birds and vegetation in Brooklyn. It is about stopping the massive toxic buildup from getting worse.
We’ve been shitting in our own back yard for many years and it has gotten to the point where our environment is so toxic it is killing us.
This is why as Brooklyn green builder I have such a passion and sense of urgency. I have two kids living a block from the Gowanus canal. I have spoken to the community old timers who can list the number of friends and relatives who have died of serious illnesses. It is not pretty.
It is easy to ignore this from the living room of a Park Slope Brownstone. The beauty of some Brooklyn neighborhoods is astounding. But they are the exception. And they are only blocks away from the Gowanus Calnal and only a nice breeze away from Newton Creek.
Most of ecology happens on a microscopic scale in the dust and microbes. And that dust on our doorsteps is in bad shape.