Travel Blog

Kluane Ice Cave-Yukon

It was 10:27 in the morning. My hazy eyes stared at my phone in disbelief, which quickly escalated to annoyance.

 

It was one of my final days visiting family in the Yukon, and as per tradition, I had planned a mother-daughter hike, but the trail head to this particular 12 kilometer hike was located over two and a half hours away.

 

My mother was gleefully cooking nutella and strawberry stuffed crepes in the kitchen, and as I had expected, she woke up at the crack of dawn.

 

“I wanted to let you sleep,” she said with a sly grin. “We’ll go tomorrow.”

 

It was October 11^th and the first day of snowfall in Whitehorse. Winter had come early this year and today was the only day for the rest of the week that offered sunshine instead of bitter temperatures and unpredictable blizzards. No matter how much she wanted to get out of it, if we were going to go, it would have to be today.

 

I had originally planned on visiting the Mendenhall ice cave in Alaska. The thought of climbing under those cerulean shards of crystal was something I just had to knock of my bucket list while being in the north. However, no ferries were running from Skagway to Juneau for the rest of the week, so a friend had suggested I visit an ice cave under Mount Archibald near the village of Haines Junction instead. She had visited the cave by snowmobile the previous winter and assumed that the hike would take about four hours in total. We were robbed for time, but I anticipated that if we were to leave now we could make it there and back just before sunset.

 

Finding the trail-head was like a treasure hunt in itself. I was told it began two kilometers past Bear Creek and would be marked with a piece of pink ribbon. I passed the creek and noticed shortly after two pieces of orange ribbon bordering a little dirt road. When I drove in, the road fragmented into three separate trails, this could not be our path. I turned around and started back towards Bear Creek, this time, making sure to measure two kilometers exactly. I did, and still, nothing.

 

I putted forward, keeping my eyes peeled to the bushes to my left. Finally I noticed one flimsy piece of tiny pink ribbon attached to a branch high on an aspen. I was reluctant, but when we parked and walked closer, I noticed a second piece of ribbon leading into the forest like a trail of breadcrumbs, this was it.

After about .5 kilometer of hiking through the marshy wood, we reached a wide gravel creek bed, laced with a frosty winding stream. We noticed that beyond this point there were no more pink markers, so we took note of the surrounding landscape for our return trip. I remembered the angles of the mountain range beside me and the pale, dead tree that was planted in the middle of the creek bed. It was now 3 p.m.

The hike was undoubtedly serene. The rushing water hummed through ice shards like wind chimes as we bounded over the slippery frost-licked gravel. The creek would snake left and right throughout the hike, forcing us into the barren brush, where pussy willows would whip our thighs and callous branches would scratch our faces. After enduring that twice, we decided to take off our shoes and cross the icy water bare foot. Our husky let out a temperamental yelp and paced along the bank several times before finally joining us across the water.

 

About an hour and a half in, my enthusiasm turned to concern. We had noticed several grizzly tracks walking in the same direction we were heading, but what was even more disturbing was that the sun had disappeared over the mountain and we were not even close to our destination.

The wind whistled along our path as we passed kilometer after kilometer of uncompromising terrain.  It wasn’t long before the incline started to intensify, the temperature dropped and the creek bed narrowed. We crossed a broad curving bend of a sandy cliff side and far off into the distance we could see what looked like dark hole under an arctic blue ice bridge nestled in the center of two colliding peaks. We were still far from the cave, but the sight was already remarkable.

We trekked on, and our rocky path was soon traded with  thigh deep snow and latitude had robbed the evening of any lingering warmth. I looked behind me and the shadows on the desolate peaks were rapidly chasing the remaining sunlight.

When we reached the cave the view was captivating. Glassy cubes of ice lined the entrance where parts of the cave’s ceiling had fallen and the deep blue frozen waves above us formed a peephole view to the powdery mountain ranges beyond.

We didn’t stay long. It took us an hour and a half longer to get here than we had anticipated and we knew it would be a race against time to get back. We practically inhaled our lunches, changed into dry socks and were on our way.  Our pace was much faster on our return trip as we were no longer hiking on an incline, but we were still not moving as fast as we would have hoped. The rough terrain made it very difficult to be agile.

After once again being pushed into the unforgiving bank, we became fed up and started to trek through the creek with our shoes on to save time. The icy chill ached right into the bone.  It didn’t matter, the light in the sky dimmed and we were hit with the harsh reality of our situation when we noticed our flashlight was not working. I turned on my mom’s phone to use its flash, but it died almost instantly. Fortunately I was sure to keep mine fully charged for this exact reason, but my confidence died when I noticed the flash on my phone would not turn on. It was too cold for it to function. I strapped it to my bare skin under my shirt to try to warm it and continued on in the moonless night. Paranoia got the better of me when I realized how blind I was to whatever wildlife lurked in these woods. I slid my finger over the bear spray strapped to my bag.

 

We analyzed the surrounding mountain ranges, but could barely make out their shape. I began to question if we had already come too far, so I walked closer to the bank and thought that I could make out a trail. We started on it, with our hands flimsily waving in front of us, but soon realized that we were wrong and had to turn back to the creek bed.

 

We walked another .25 kilometer and I tried to use the flash on my phone once again. It wouldn’t remain constant with the video light, but it did work when I took photos, and I could get glimpses of what was in front of me. I saw a flash of what looked like eyes, but the photo was too blurred to make it out.

The exposure to the elements was beginning to take its toll; we were exhausted, cold and beginning to feel hopelessly lost. Then, miraculously, my video light turned on and just above us was that familiar small pink ribbon. We shrieked with glee. Then, naturally, the light was out again.

 

It was too dark to find the entrance to the trail, but we knew that if we walked straight into the forest, we would eventually reach the highway. The tangled mass of coarse birch and willow branches clawed at our faces as we forced out way over and under trees. I pulled out my phone once again and the light came on, but the forest was so dense that I could only see less than a meter in front of me. I heard a howl of distress and noticed our husky was no longer by our side. We called out and I panicked knowing that my light would die again at any moment. We could hear her breaking through trees and yelping but she couldn’t find us. I pushed towards the noise and came across two familiar ponds-we had found our way back to the trail. I could hear cars in the distance, when our husky crashed through the bushes behind us with grateful bark. We started running and there it was, our vehicle cloaked in glittering frost as the northern lights danced above us.

 

I realized the beauty of the north is both bold and unforgiving.  You’re dwarfed by the land and with a little lack of preparation, the feeling of life’s fragility and vulnerability is inevitable.   For now, I yearned desperately for civilization, but I knew my subconscious call for this desolate, unpredictable and isolated land would always return.

 

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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Take in what could arguably be the most indefatigable, spirit-lifting experience of your lifetime, during the most prevalent Carnival of the year in Rio de Janeiro.

An average on two million people a day flood Rio’s streets, drenching them in energy and sound, which is both contagious and euphoric. Presentations of samba dancing groups consume the attention of millions, as they express a choreographed story to the beat of rhythmic authentic Portuguese music.

Each samba school group showcases their yearlong dedication to their artistically crafted float and costumes. Their attention to detail and commitment to creating aesthetically flawless and symphonious collective unit is truly awe-inspiring.

After the presentations, retreat to coco bongo beach, where the crowd of dancers never dulls until the sun rises. Sprinkled along the beach, are vendors offering Brazil’s national drink, the thirst-quenching caipirinhas, which are muddled with an assortment of fresh fruit such as apples and coconuts and cachaça liquor.

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Jervis Bay, Australia

When I think of a secluded paradise, I think of Jervis bay.  The white sand is as soft as flour and stretches on for miles.  The day begins as I take in the harmonious balance between the animals and the people that reside there.  Red kangaroos lounge in the sand without fear of being harmed.  Swimmers are joined by their dogs for their morning sprint, and in the distance, pods of dolphins break the surface in elegant leaps.

The rock formations create salty beds, and as you sit within, the waves crash in and cleanse you.  They fill and drain through carved tunnels to the sea.

I dive in.  The light above me dances like ribbons in the wind.  The serene calmness of the liquid dunes above revive those in the deep.

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Heber, Arizona

(Post published on Arizona Highways Blog)

A golden stallion with a dual-shaded mane watches approaching photographers with a cautious eye. He calmly moves between his company of four horses, most of which are smaller than him, and the eager photographers, who are clumsily stumbling over logs and rocks in a desperate effort to get a closer look.

Photographers from all over the country are drawn by the chance of capturing the serenity of a wild horse herd amid the green pines of the lush Black Mesa region of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests.

Here, the Heber wild horse herd is a natural attraction for locals and tourists alike. Some claim that the herd is a historical symbol of the area’s history, descendants of the mustangs that were brought to the area by Spanish explorers. But some view the herd as a complication and a nuisance. Many ranchers argue that the horses are overgrazing the area, which presents problems for their cattle.

Due to the continued conflict between wild horses and ranchers all over the country, the federal Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed in 1971 to protect the animals from potential roundup and slaughter. However, the U.S. Forest Service argues that the current Heber herd is likely made up of of mostly abandoned horses without bloodline ties to the original herd.

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Liard Hotsprings-British Columbia, Canada

(During my six day drive from Whitehorse, YT, to Phoenix, AZ)

At two in the morning I finally decided to pull in for the night. I was anxious and exhausted from the road, as I fumbled with my flimsy tent poles in my small pool of light from my headlights. Once my tent was assembled, and the twigs cleared from my sleeping bag, I turned off the lights and walked off into the faded, damp darkness. A walked along a small wooden walkaway and through the secluded swamp with nothing but the sound of grasshoppers and my shoes clicking on the rotten wood below me.

In my hands my half-frozen fingers clasped the only weapon I could find, a small ice chipper for my car window. I followed the walkway for what seemed like an unbearably long time in the darkness until I reached the Liard river hot springs. In the dim light the river’s water appeared emerald green, alive with thick flora, grasping to every surface. I noticed a much older man sitting alone in the springs, perched on a slime-coated bench. His soft silhouette was troubling and he glanced in my direction for a moment too long. I tightened my grip on the ice chipper. I swam to the hotter side of the river, which was fed from a boiling mass below. I realized that most people that came here during this time of year are truckers. Someone that devotes their life to driving an uninhabited road would likely seek more solitude than me. That thought relaxed me as I let the remedial water swallow me.

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Havasupai Falls, Arizona

Cradled by the bold red cliffs of the Grand Canyon is the isolated village of Supai, where thousands of eager travelers pass by every year to reach the world-famous blue-green water of Havasu Falls. However, what they often overlook is the village’s lifeline — its mules.

Supai is one of the last indigenous villages in the United States without access to paved roads, and although a helicopter is available to deliver supplies to the village, it’s almost completely sustained by the sweat and vigor of its hardworking animals.

The village can be reached by traveling along an 8-mile trail interlaced with boulders, pools and the breathtaking cliffside views that only the Canyon can offer. The trail is rigorous, and everything that is carried in — food, mail, garbage and the luggage of travelers — must also be carried out.

Reaching the falls is no easy task for the untrained hiker. The hike is approximately eight miles through the rigorous terrain of the Grand Canyon. Every year, many hikers become stranded from exhaustion and need to be carried out by horseback.

The mules are often seen carrying up to three coolers on their backs full of heavy food and beverages for the return trip 16 miles in temperatures as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit.  At the beginning of the hike, on Hualapai Hilltop, travelers see the horses sweat-drenched, with knees shaking, knowing that they still need to make the vigorous return trip with just as much weight on their backs.

For the adventure-seekers that are planning a trip to Supai this summer, plan accordingly and pack light.   For those who do choose to travel with heavy luggage, the helicopter is the better option.   Not only the more affordable choice, as the riders charge $95 per bag, but it also saves the animals from a grueling and strenuous trip.

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Whitehorse-Yukon, Canada

Whitehorse looks like you’ve opened a door into the past.  It’s time-withered buildings covered with chipped murals of can-can dancers give an authentic feeling of the gold rush.  The city offers little to those with a lavish taste, but it is a haven for the rare breed that seek solitude.  The city is blanketed in barren wilderness that is as silent, lonely and forgotten as a graveyard.  The frozen, pine scented air burns my skin and stings my lungs with every inhale.  

Out of the city limits, I look down at piercing eyes behind the sparkling frosty fur of a red husky.  He sits on an icy bed of white, as he stares with eager anticipation for companionship and guidance. I remember Richard Turner’s words “we allow friends into our company, pets we allow into our solitude,”and it feels less alone.

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Arizona’s innovation in meeting water demands

The lower salt river. Photo credit: Isabel Menzel

(Published in Ahwatukee Foothills News)

http://www.ahwatukee.com/community_focus/article_50f220e6-ad8f-11e5-b6ce-53d5dd39048d.html

By Isabel Menzel

Water, our neglected and often forgotten lifeline.

Burdened my rising temperatures, the prevalence of drought has increased dramatically in the Southwest. It has led to voracious groundwater pumping, an unsustainable practice of our limited resource.

Our aquifers are sinking and the Colorado River, which has been a fountain of sustenance to the Southwestern states, is beginning to run dry. In some areas, where it once provided an oasis for communities south of the Mexican border, is now nothing but a cracked desert, robbed from life and use.

The drought in California has been consistent over the past five years and has severely damaged its $46 billion agricultural industry. Food prices have begun to rise and with it the concern of how Southwestern states will cope with the consequences of water scarcity.

Although this year’s anticipated El-Niño is anxiously awaited, there is no guarantee of more water. California residents have been forced to cut down their water usage by 25 percent and farmers have been looking to less water intensive crops, resulting in higher prices for certain popular fruits and vegetables.

As Arizona receives 60 percent of its fruits and vegetables from drought-stricken California, Phoenix residents are progressively searching for solutions to conserve water and save money.

Timothy Richards, an agribusiness professor at Arizona State University, has studied the drought’s effect on farmland and consumer-purchasing trends to discover which common fruits and vegetables will escalate dramatically in price.

According to his research, he expected the cost of common foods such as lettuce avocados, broccoli and berries to have the highest cost increase. For example, the cost of lettuce is expected to rise by 34 percent this year.

Food for thought

Although the cost of plant-based foods have increased and are predicted to increase further, the amount of water used for fruits and vegetables is only a fraction in comparison to the amount of water that goes into raising livestock.

To put this into perspective, the production 1 pound of corn is approximately 108 gallons of water, 1 pound of pork is 576 gallons, while beef production takes the cake with a whooping 1,799 gallons of water per pound. No, that is not just one thirsty cow; the animal is so resource intensive to raise because of the vast amount of vegetation it consumes in a day and the amount of water that goes into producing that vegetation.

According to the Arizona Farm Bureau, this year the cost of sirloin steak has increased from $5.98 to $7.65 per pound, a cost increase of nearly 22 percent.

Many farmers have already been forced to sell-off their livestock and switch to a more sustainable and less resource-intensive food source such as soybeans.

Considering that meat production depends on a vast amount of limited resources, many innovative companies have begun investing in creating plant-based alternatives. These mock meats not only pose less environmental concerns, but less health and ethical concerns as well. The solution acknowledges the drought issue and lays the groundwork for a more sensible, sustainable future.

Will Schafer, the marketing director of beyond meat, a company that produces plant-based meats, discussed how the California drought had a part to play in the increasing demand of meat alternatives.

“As different municipalities talk about water consumption, more and more people are learning about the inefficiency of animal protein and how you can get plenty of protein from different plant sources and our products would be one of those,” Schafer said. “It creates an incentive for more municipalities to educate consumers about that choice they have.”

Schafer said he suspects mock meats to become more affordable than the real thing down the road.

“When you compare the costs of our products versus the cost of meat options, it’s very cost competitive,” Schafer said. “As there is increasing scale and companies like us get better at it and smarter, costs will come down.”

He said that as of recently, Beyond Meat has become available in many of the mainstream grocery stores across the nation, so there is no longer the concern with the higher food costs of shopping at farmers market-type grocery stores that already carried many mock-meat brands.

“As of about two weeks ago, we are now in over half of the Wal-Marts across the nation,” Schafer said. “Also Target and Safeway, so many of those big national traditional grocery stores are getting on board and they are catering to many of the mainstream consumers that want these afordable options.”

Household tips

Considering less water-intensive dietary choices are not the only changes that can be done to drastically decrease your water usage. Household choices like switching to low water-use toilets, installing water-saving shower heads, washing only full loads of laundry and switching to a low water-use outdoor flora can save a remarkable amount of water and money.

One non-profit organization is going even further in working toward the goal of helping Phoenix residents implement solutions to conserve water.

Lindsay Ignatowski, program coordinator with the Watershed Management Group, said their organization assists homeowners, communities and businesses alike to implement sustainable landscaping.

They help residents preserve water and become more self-manageable and efficient, by replacing lawns with rain gardens and strategically planting trees to shade the hottest areas of their house to reduce electricity use.

“I know a lot of people in Phoenix think that we don’t get enough rainwater to make it worth while, but the statistic that we like to throw out that people really seem to resonate to is if you have a 1,000-square-foot roof, which is a pretty small home, and get 1 inch of rainfall, that’s 600 gallons of water that you can harvest,” Ignatowski said.

The organization allows for several ways that people can get involved. For starters, they host presentations to help residents develop a plan for their home and landscape. The next presentation, called Hydrate Tempe, will take place next year in January. They also have on-site consultations where a workshop instructor will come to your home and help you develop a sustainable water-management plan.

“We are an education-based group that also does implementation,” Ignatowski said. “So, we’ll either help you plan your project or help you implement it.”

The organization also hosts programs where volunteers in the community help people make changes in their home to conserve water. The entire process typically takes five hours or less.

Switching to a less water intensive lawn has many cost benefits from utility savings and governmental rebates.

“We have someone in north Phoenix that has a pretty large lot and she did a complete landscape restoration and her water bill went down from $120 a month to $20 a month,” Ignatowski said.

Government incentives

The government welcomes the conversion and the reimbursement can be very generous. The city of Chandler offers a maximum rebate of $3,000, or pay $200 per thousand square feet of grass removed, but the rebates vary according to municipalities.

The city of Tempe also offers rebates for using gray water. Gray water is recycled water from laundry machines and showers, which is then re-used for landscaping purposes.

Cathy Rymer, who works in the water conservation office of Chandler, works with Arizona residents to use their lawn irrigation systems more effectively. The company provides a water audit program, where they inspect residential homes for irrigation system problems, such as pipe leaks and improper use of irrigation timers.

“Last year in 2014, we in Chandler did 363 audits, and what we do is we track the water use one year per audit and one year post audit and we calculate the savings,” Rymer said. “For the audits we did in 2013, we saved over 17 million gallons of water.”

Although the cost savings of audits are significant, she noted that switching to less water intensive flora saves even more money when considering maintenance fees.

“Water is not the biggest cost-saving component,” Rymer said. “Grass uses a lot of other things like maintenance and fertilization that’ll cost homeowners time and money whether they do it themselves or hire someone to do it for them.”

Green Planet Festival explores sustainability with eco-friendly businesses, local residents

(Published in the Downtown Devil)

The Green Planet Festival, an event dedicated to sustainability education, was held at the Phoenix Convention Center Saturday, bringing together eco-friendly businesses and community members.

The event was created and organized by Kyle Michaud, 24, of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and featured both local and national vendors.

“I saw there was a need to connect eco-conscious consumers with green businesses, so I created this platform so businesses could showcase their services to the local communities,” Michaud said.

Michaud began producing events during his college years in New York, during which he started a company that produced music festivals. Over the course of two years, he produced 25 successful music festivals down the East Coast.

When he sold that company last year, he began working on his passion for a greener future, which led to the creation of Green Planet Festivals, the first of which was held in Fort Lauderdale this past February and had over 6000 attendees.

The high-energy event featured 80 eco-friendly vendors. They showcased an assortment of products including fashion, design, aesthetics and health products. There was also a selection of vegan-dining options for guests to sample and enjoy.

Throughout the day, attendees enjoyed live-music performances and demonstrations to promote green living, such as clean eating demos, solar power installation and presentations on how to effectively practice sustainable home routines.

Brigitte Bavousett, an instructor from Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability, was one of the several speakers at the event.

“I’ve done my research on how businesses can have such a huge effect, whether it is detrimental, or to the benefit of our environment, our people and our economy,” Bavousett said. “What attracted me to this particular festival is that they really focus on how being an educated consumer can make a huge difference.”

Bavousett provided insight to what ASU students have accomplished it terms of sustainability, while also discussing basic climate-change issues.

Also included in the ticket price were a number of exercise activities for all ages and skill levels. These included boot-camp sessions from the local-fitness company Youfit, as well as yoga sessions from NamaStacy Yoga Corporation, which is a national nonprofit organization that has co-branded with Green Planet Festivals.

Corbin Stacy, founder of NamaStacy, created the organization with a “pay it forward…one yogi at a time” vision.

NamaStacy aims to promote sustainability and provide scholarships for yoga-alliance teacher programs. Since its beginning, the organization has given 18 fully paid scholarships to create new yoga instructors, or to allow current teachers to continue their education.

Stacy said that when looking for potential scholarship recipients, he is looking for someone with a drive to create a positive change in their community, with a mission of “education, choice and co-creation.”

Michaud was Stacy’s 13th scholarship recipient, or as he calls him, a “BAMbassador.” The two have co-branded together and are working toward organizing many more Green Planet Festivals to come. By 2017, they hope to host the event in 15 cities throughout the country.

“It’s just a win-win situation,” Stacy said. “It’s a win for the communities that attend the Green Planet Festival, it’s a win for the practitioners and it’s a win for the facilitators and teachers and studios because they become more conscious and involved. It’s a whole circle of paying it forward.”

Mike Sills-Trausch, an event attendee, said the festival could inspire other cities to commit to addressing sustainability issues.

“We heard Mark Hartman with the city of Phoenix discuss sustainability issues,” Sills-Trausch said. “I’m impressed with how the city of Phoenix is making a commitment to sustainability. When you have a huge organization like the city of Phoenix representing and working for a large metropolitan area, it becomes a model for change nationwide and they become a social leader and a laboratory for what can be done.”

Chief sustainability officer in turning Phoenix green

(Published in AZ Big Media)

Mark Hartman, Phoenix’s chief sustainability officer, has already enabled significant progress in the past year since joining the City of Phoenix team.

Before his arrival, he worked as a lead sustainability officer in Vancouver, B.C., where he was well on his way to achieving his goal of making Vancouver the greenest city by 2020. His desire to expand Vancouver’s effective sustainability efforts led him to accept the position in Phoenix. Since then, Hartman has worked as a catalyst to develop a dialogue with various departments to improve the use of energy, water consumption, to provide cleaner air and to encourage communities to be more self-sustained and healthy.

Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher applauded on Hartman’s direction and leadership over the past year.

“The Office of Sustainability’s 2050 Goals will have a significant impact on our community,” Zuercher said. “ Under the direction of Mark Hartman, these goals will be a road map for the city to follow when it comes to sustainability efforts for water, waste, transportation, parks, aviation, public works and air quality. Our goal as a city is to educate, inspire, and empower residents to create a healthy, vibrant, connected community with equitable resources and a thriving economy.”

“As a next step, over the next, the Draft 2050 Goals will be brought to the public and stakeholders for comment and then brought back to City Council for consideration and possible adoption next spring. This type of long-term effort was exactly why the City Council authorized hiring a Chief Sustainability Officer,” Zuercher said.

“Cities could save $17 trillion by using more sustainable practices,” Hartman said. “There are just huge amounts of dollars available by not being so waste-focused and doing things that are more healthy for our society.”

Recently, Hartman worked with the fees sub committee of finance, efficiency and sustainability in developing draft goals for 2050. These included an 80 percent reduction in carbon and transportation emissions and working toward a zero waste goal.

When taking the economic side into consideration, Hartman stressed that businesses and taxpayers will save a significant amount of money by simply asking questions, thinking out of the box and stepping away from the practices that they are used to.

“What cities and businesses are finding is that there’s huge cost savings from actually not being such a waste-orientated society, where we’re really only using 20 percent of the goods we produce,” he said.

Hartman saved the city of Phoenix $1 million per year when he looked into the cost savings of using energy efficient LED streetlights. When he presented the expense report to the city council, the vote to switch to LED lights was unanimous.

Hartman said that living the way we are currently is ineffective, costly and ultimately unsustainable. It is taxing on our society and he has been dedicated to educating both students and businesses alike on a more practical road to a brighter future.

“If you take the total footprint of all the cities globally on an on-going basis, we would need one and a half planets to survive currently the way were living. By 2050 if we keep on this path, we’ll need three planets in order to survive,” Hartman said.

He said that businesses need to consider the use of recycled goods instead of purchasing them at the raw source. The switch would require some design for reconstruction, but ultimately it would result in both significant cost savings and drastic environmental benefits.

“Using materials that have already been produced is much cheaper for businesses than using them raw,” he said. “For example taking aluminum for raw materials as oppose to a tin can uses 20 times more energy.”

Brian Kocour, is president of the Phoenix Green Chamber, an organization that promotes sustainability for business in the community. He has had Hartman speak several times to educate businesses about the advantages of sustainable practices.

“Mark has given us his time to speak with the Green Chamber at lunch and learns and has provided us with a lot of insight on how the city of Phoenix has furthered along education on sustainability and how we can educate and bring awareness to businesses that look at our economy and our market,” Kocour said.

Hartman has also attended over 20 Arizona State University lectures to have a conversation with students about new and innovative sustainability solutions and how they can get involved.

“There are about 8-10 professors that want a city perspective because the students have all these wide-eyed ideas,” Hartman said.

One of Hartman’s major goals is to increase the use of renewable energy in the city of Phoenix. Over the past year, solar energy use has already increased from 6 percent last year to 7 percent. He plans to increase this to 15 percent by the year 2025, which is on par with the utilities goal through the commission.

“It is cost effective to use solar,” he said. “Currently there is a retail price of electricity as 11 cents a kilowatt-hour and the newest solar panels works out to five cents a kilowatt-hour.”

He stressed that ultimately we need to all work toward the goal of zero waste and 100 percent renewable energy, as global warming an issue that grows in concern and urgency with each passing day. To achieve this however it is essential to have someone that initiates the conversation about long-term goals.

“Our waste group can lead the way in achieving zero waste. It’s a very innovative group. It’s really just having someone say we need these long-term goals. Otherwise we’re just going to keep doing what were doing,” he said.

Hartman mentioned a study conducted by the University of Arizona and Stanford University that concluded that 70 percent of Arizona residents believe that climate change is an issue that needs to be addressed.

One of the biggest issues we need to focus on is our food consumption. Animals raised for livestock produce a destructive amount of methane and deplete our scarce water sources.

“Food is 50 percent of our carbon foot print,” he said. “A lot of that has to do with meat consumption. I really like campaigns like meatless Monday.”

A solution he mentioned is to encourage local food production, like farmers markets, which not only has a positive impact on the environment, but also people’s health.

“Huge amounts of our taxes are going into health care and it’s all hidden.”

The state of Arizona currently spends $35 billion on healthcare. If 1 percent of that, or $350 million, were used toward making healthy local food more accessible, it would have an incredible impact.

“The city of Phoenix just recently started a partnership with St. Luke’s Health initiative, we launched a national food policy coalition to double the amount of community gardens by 2020. We’re going to add five new farmers markets to the city of Phoenix.”

Hartman sets a positive example as someone that is creating solutions for one of our generation’s most pressing issues.

“What if the result of us being on this earth could actually make it a better place?” He said. “What if we could make a positive contribution to where the planet is actually better off because were living on it, instead of slowly deteriorating it?”