Two weeks down! I can hardly believe it has actually already been two full weeks. At times it feels like time is moving slow and then all of a sudden two weeks have gone by. After spending two weeks at Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision and I feel like I understand their mission and I’m starting to understand my place in it. Progress!
It’s hard to define the mission of Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision because it encompasses a lot and they are so open to new ideas and directions. If you looked at their website you would see that they define their mission as improving the environment and economy of Southwest Detroit. I would say that is it in a nutshell, but a very small nutshell. What I understand it to be (after my short tiny two weeks there) is to engage and represent the community as much as possible to create a healthier environment for the entire community. I have really been impressed at how big of a focus they have on outreach and involving the local community. The projects at SDEV range from setting up, maintaining, and promoting community gardens to writing grants to replace old vehicles in shipping fleets.
For my part I am going to be working on the anti-idling campaign this summer. This is another project that has a number of possible directions and objectives and at this point I’m still not entirely sure which direction we are going to take. For example, there is an existing anti-idling ordinance in Detroit, however it is almost never enforced because the courts have no way of processing the warnings that are issued and so police don’t issue them! Another focus is identifying hot spots for truck idling, and reaching out to truck drivers to try and better understand their idling behaviors and what causes them to idle as well as potential solutions. Those are just the first two examples I can think of off the top of my head! Next weeks big goal is to nail down what my focus should be. Big goals!
I can’t believe it has already been two weeks. I already feel so at home in my cozy little apartment and I’m excited at the idea of continuing to get to know this city and the other students in DCBRP. The first two weeks were definitely a bit of a whirlwind, but I feel like I finally have all of the things I need and I am finally really feeling settled so it is time to get down to business! Next week I will (finally!) have my bike downtown and I will be able to start biking to work (something that should do wonders for my mental health as far as clearing my head) and I really need to set up a schedule to study for the GRE! I’m happy that I have some goals to look forward to next week and hopefully by this time next Thursday I will be able to report on their accomplishment!
Bye for now,
Kayla
Big ups for your knowledge about how physical exercise is linked to quality of mental health. Ain’t nobody know that
Anywhomst, please educate me about the consequences of vehicle idling. My knowledge of its environmental impacts is shallow at best. I thought it was worse to turn your car on and off in rapid succession.
That is the number one (probably only) myth about idling! It actually is much better (in terms of pollution, engine wear, and fuel efficiency!) to turn your car on and off in quick succession. You may notice that many new cars actually do this on their own! My Dad’s car is like this and lowkey he kinda hates it cause he’s not used to it, but any time we stop at a stop sign the car turns itself off (for those short 7 seconds!) and then restarts again when he takes his foot off the break.
Vehicle idling is one of those problems that starts small and adds up to a lot over time. Especially in an area like Southwest Detroit (home to the Ambassador bridge) where there is a ton of truck traffic, the extra pollution from idling vehicles can add up to a ton of excess pollution, contributing to why Detroit children have rates of asthma 3 times higher than the rest of the state :/
If you’re interested in even more info we actually have a pretty nice website with info on all of our projects!
http://www.sdevweb.org/issues/anti-idling/
Hello Kayla,
I’m glad your feeling like you understand your organization and are settling into the program and apartment. I agree that the first two weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind. I know this has been a lot for me to adjust to in a small amount of time. I think I’m also settling in and am starting to understand my organization. I’m happy to hear about the bike situation working out. I know you talked about looking forward to biking to work. I hope it does help with your mental health, that is very important. I look forward to hearing more over the course of the program!
Best,
Kyle