The Byrd was quiet and fairly empty as we walked into the lobby Saturdaymorning, but a couple people were there, manning the seven or so booths set up along the small mezzanine. I had never been in that part of the Byrd Theater before and the first thing that John and I noticed was the visible haze of popcorn butter that seemed to have floated up to the second floor. Over the course of our shift, a couple of individuals made the walk upstairs to check out the booths, but most seemed either uninterested or already sufficiently informed about the issues Sierra Club was advocating. Toward theend of the two hours, however, the activity level picked up a bit, and John and I had the chance to talk with some people who had just finished watching one of the films. Whichever movie they had seen must have ignited some small spark of inspiration because these people seemed more interested in the what the Sierra Club had to offer than the people from the morning, and a few even signed up to become members of the local chapter.
During lulls in tabling, I looked through a booklet I had picked up from the Virginia Conservation Network’s table, and noticed a couple articles that were particularly interesting. One piece talked about cleaning up the water of the James River, and argued that the three biggest focus areas are point sources, stormwater regulations, and agricultural cost share needs. The timing of finding this article was almost perfect because of the fact that we had just talked about these issues in class a couple of days ago.The most interesting part of the article in my opinion though, was a fact that “every $1 of water and sewer infrastructure investment increases GDP in the long-term by $6.35”. I’ve never seen this fact anywhere else and I’m curious to know whether or not it is accurate, and if it is, how the experts define “long-term”. If evidence of the return on this investment comes relatively quickly, then improved water infrastructure could be a really powerful way to not only clean up our watersheds, but help our economy as well. Other articles in the booklet touched on topics such as improving public access to the river, attempting to increase the dwindling populations of Atlantic Menhaden, strengthening land conservation efforts, and improving public transportation options.
The two hours I spend this past Saturday morning volunteering for the Sierra Cluband reading about local conservation and environmental protection efforts were certainly interesting and informative. I am glad that there are other people out there who care about these important issues, and that they are willing to do something, whether it is signing petitions or joining their local Sierra Club chapter, in order to help alleviate the issues facing our community and our planet as a whole. It was also nice to read about some of the topics we are discussing in class, in a non-academic setting, and to get the chance to see how they apply in the real world.
For anyone who is interested, here is the link to the Virginia Conservation Network’s website: http://www.vcnva.org. In particular, there is a “Healthy Rivers” website that could provide some useful information for our class.