When Yoopers travel, they naturally contrast and compare where they are to life back in the U.P. Yoopers naturally see the world from a different perspective, a Yooper perspective.
When home, you know you are of the land of the Menominee, Dakota, and Anishinaabe (Ojibwe/Chippewa). You relate to the Finnish word “Sisu”-stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness. Your ancestors probably supplied the rest of the country and world with minerals, metals, and wood.
But when you’re downstate, far south, out west or east, even across the Big Water, you miss the meat turnover brought to the region by Cornish miners called pasties (pronounced “pass-tees”). And cudighi, the sweetly spiced Italian American sausage link (often part of a sandwich on a long hard roll with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce), brought by Italian immigrants in 1936.
You listen to the “trolls” (people who live “below the bridge”) complain about a few inches of snow.
When you describe your normal winter of snow measured in feet, they say “I could never live up there! I’d move to Florida!” Then Yoopers quietly think to themselves “Good. Go to Florida, or Phoenix, or Denver, or wherever—anywhere but the U.P!”
In the cities you endure four, six, eight lanes of traffic, creeping along like a funeral procession. You miss the forest, the quiet, the fresh smells.
Since you grew up among clear cold trout streams and waterfalls, you shake your head in disappointment when you see their so-called “rivers” colored either green from algae, brown from sediment, or girdled into a concrete walled channel.
Where are the frogs, the turtles, the trout? Is there really any need for fish to have eyes? What could fish see in that murky water? What memories will the young have of hours spent playing at “the river”?
So instead, you head for the beach at their local lake.
It’s not the miles of open beach along the clear cold shoreline of the U.P.’s great lakes, Superior, Michigan, or the northwest corner of Huron. It’s smaller, more crowded. There are no agates. It doesn’t smell quite the same.
In October, their few trees might turn a pretty yellow color, but they don’t get our explosion of reds and oranges. They don’t have the leaf-lined, golden-carpeted roads like ours, or the near-solid walls of roadside color that reach deep into the forest and change with every turn.
In the U.P., it’s like a color-crazed artist painted a gigantic mural of color along miles of roads. Tourists must drive up to the U.P. for that experience. They must leave all that color here. They can’t take it home with them.
I recall the lyric from the old Joni Mitchell song Big Yellow Taxi about how you don’t appreciate what you have until you don’t have it anymore. You wonder, do they even know how good it once was, how good it can be?
When you grow up with waterways that are basically drainage ditches and greenery that consists mostly of lawns, how do you gain a love of the outdoors? From a zoo?
Modernity has weaseled its way between the land and its people, causing people to pay for the pleasures of good land, but we resist. Yes, we log trees and mine metals, but we also protect our land because when we travel, we see what they’ve lost.
When we anxiously head home over the Mighty Mac, our storied Mackinac Bridge, we breathe a sigh of relief as we turn back onto Hwy 2 or Hwy 41, knowing that soon we’ll soon be home. Ahhh… YOOPtopia!
Excerpted from the Winter’23-’24 issue of Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine, copyright 2023, Empowering Lightworks, LLC. All rights reserved.
Health & Happiness’s Spring 2017 issue included “Going Green, Permanently” by Nicole Walton on green burial. In response to increased local interest and opportunities in this arena since then, here’s an update on this important topic.
Cash in your chips, kick the bucket, pushing up daisies, buy the farm, bite the dust—regardless of what you choose to call it, we’re all going to do it someday.
For those of us fortunate to have lived long enough to attain senior status, thoughts of our demise may come along more often than in our earlier days, as well as questions about what our legacy will be to those who come after us.
When you do “push up those daisies,” will you be hurting the web of life, or helping it thrive?
According to a Berkeley Planning Journal article, over 800,000 gallons of formaldehyde are put into the ground with dead bodies every year in the US. “….the process of preserving and sealing corpses into caskets and then plunging them into the ground is extremely environmentally unfriendly. Toxic chemicals from the embalming, burial, and cremation process leach into the air and soil, and expose funeral workers to potentials hazards. And maintaining the crisp, green memorial plots is extremely land-and-water-use heavy…. with sprawling, pristine lawns that require a ton of water, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides to keep them a vibrant green. These chemicals can seep into water supplies or harm wildlife, such as bees.”(1)
“Conventional burials in the US each year use 30 million board feet of hardwoods, 2,700 tons of copper and bronze, 104,272 tons of steel, and 1,636,000 tons of reinforced concrete.
The amount of casket wood alone is equivalent to about 4 million acres of forest and could build about 4.5 million homes.” They also use up lots of land—approximately 1 million acres of land total in the US alone.(2)
Many now choose cremation instead. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, cremations have recently become the most popular end-of-life option for the remains of loved ones in the US. But as a 2019 National Geographic article explains, “While it’s true that cremation is less harmful than pumping a body full of formaldehyde and burying it on top of concrete, there are still environmental effects to consider… Cremation requires a lot of fuel, and it results in millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.”(3)
Matthews Environmental Solutions, which manufactures cremation technologies, estimates that one cremation produces an average of 534.6 pounds of carbon dioxide. Its marketing division manager Paul Seyler estimates US cremations are responsible for approximately 360,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions each year.(4)
For those who don’t want to use up so much fuel or release so much carbon dioxide when they die, alkaline hydrolysis, also known as water cremation or aqamation, may be a more appealing option. This method of dissolving a body in water “has about a tenth of the carbon footprint of conventional cremation,” says Nora Menkin, executive director of the People’s Memorial Association.(5)
The process uses ninety-five percent water and five percent alkali, not acid, to dissolve the body. The amount of alkali used is determined by the person’s weight.(6)
Aquamation’s water byproduct is a great fertilizer that’s sometimes used on farmland. “But most places, it just goes into the municipal sewer system. And a lot of sewer systems actually appreciate it, because it actually helps with the quality of the wastewater,” says Menkin.(7)
While aquamation appears to be happening in elsewhere in Michigan, currently there are no facilities for it in the Upper Peninsula. So to do more good than harm when you leave your physical form behind, you may want to consider green burial.
According to the Green Burial Council, there are three types of green cemeteries:
Hybrid Cemeteries—Burials without a concrete vault or chemical embalming are in a separate area of a conventional cemetery. A biodegradable container like a wicker basket or a cloth shroud is typically used.
Natural burial cemeteries—Use the criteria described above only. When a dedicated natural burial cemetery has grave markers, they can’t be imported stones, but must instead use materials native to the area, such as local stone or even trees.
Conservation burial ground—A conservation organization partners with it and deed resrictions are placed on the land to ensure its care follows appropriate crieteria, and remains in this use.(8)
For the living, green cemeteries can become recreational community spaces, Michigan landscape architect Wendy Fry explained in a Capital News Service article published by the Michigan State University School of Journalism.(9)
Fry encouraged an Ohio cemetery she worked with to replace large hedges with native plants and trees and let the grass grow out. Paths were laid out for people to walk through instead of mowed lawn. “It became more of a location for people to be able to sit in the cemetery at lunchtime and be outdoors, or to take a shortcut from one end of the cemetery,” she described.(10)
Brian Klatt, the director of the Michigan Natural Features Inventory at Michigan State University, said the idea of cemeteries as public recreational space dates back to the late 1800s and early 1900s. In cities like Detroit, Klatt said, cemeteries served as “green space in an area that was being evermore urbanized.”(11)
Beyond human uses, Klatt said green cemeteries can serve as “island habitats” that provide shelter, food, and water for wildlife and a habitat for plants, including species struggling with population decline.(12)
Klatt pointed to an example in Illinois, where there were more than thirty species per square mile in the areas of the cemetery that weren’t mowed, as a very high level of diversity for the area.(13)
According to a March 2023 Mining Journal article, Michigan currently has fourteen green burial sites, five of which are in the Upper Peninsula–in Chassell, Eagle Harbor, Houghton Township, Houghton, and Marquette.(14)
Thus far, all of the Upper Peninsula’s green burial sites are hybrid cemeteries. For example, since Park Cemetery’s rules and regulations were updated by the Marquette City Commission in 2019 due to strong public interest in more ecological burial practices, the Prairie Mound section near the community gardens has been designated for green burial.(15)
But being buried au naturelle takes more than the right location. You’ll need a funeral director and designated agent, family, and other survivors to understand and be willing to carry out your wishes for ecologically sound preparation of your body, choice of biodegradable materials/containers, winter burial options, and what, if any, natural marker you prefer.
You’ll find a helpful green burial planner developed by the Keweenaw Green Burial Alliance on its website, https://kgba.weebly.com, along with more green burial info and resources.
After all, when you do kick the bucket, you might as well have it spill over with nourishment for the earth rather than agents of its destruction.
There are two categories of earth caring people: evolutionists and revolutionists. Friends and relatives may lean closely to one side or the other. Which are you? A hybrid?
Evolutionists believe that, in the end, nature works. The earth is dynamic and constantly changing. Sometimes it rains, then it doesn’t. Sometimes it’s hot, then cold. Everything is born and dies. Species appear and disappear. Humans are a normal part of nature. Life may not always be what you think it should be, but just wait. You’ll see. There is no need to worry. Earth activism is radical, a waste of time and money. Life is good. Enjoy.
Revolutionists believe the earth is challenged, look for causes, and solutions. We must protect what’s good. Revolutionists organize, network, plan, raise funds, find volunteers, become volunteers, publish articles, make YouTube videos, sponsor research, donate to environmental causes, propose rules and legislation. Revolutionists are early adopters of new technologies that reduce human environmental impact. They ride bikes, install solar, drive electric cars, install heat pumps, and buy organic. They donate and shop at thrift stores. They believe that stewardship has a price, and everyone who benefits should be willing to pay. Life is good. Care for it.
Evolutionist: It’s important to maintain today’s lifestyle for ourselves, our families, and our local environment. There is little reason to monitor scientific research because science seems unsettled. Since science can’t be relied upon, taking actions, or making changes based on unsettled science could be a mistake, do more harm than good, and probably impact the good life that generations have worked so hard to create.
Revolutionist: When looking toward the future, it seems that earth’s life support system is being threatened by human actions. We must be concerned about others and the environment on a national or even global scale. Science provides the best information available, so we must depend on the latest scientific studies and consensus for checking environmental conditions and trends. Responsible lifestyles must be based on science. Ignoring science is reckless.
Evolutionist: One person can’t do much about fixing global problems. Population is not a problem because there is a lot of undeveloped land available. We are much more efficient now than we were, so the impact of population will just get better over time.
Revolutionist: Individuals working together can have a big effect. Our “continuous growth” fossil-fueled economy raises living standards but generates a large environmental footprint. There are already so many people needing so many resources that, according to science, the earth has reached its limits. Increasing the fossil-fueled American lifestyle for an increasing population negates the benefit of greater efficiency.
Evolutionist: It makes no sense to damage the economy and our lifestyle to save some obscure plant or an endangered bug or minnow. Over history, millions of species have gone extinct. Species extinction is a normal part of evolution. New species will evolve. Humans are clever and adaptable. We’ll invent some technological fix.
Revolutionist: Species typically last for at least a few million years. Without human impacts, biodiversity would continue to grow at an exponential rate, but science reports that we are currently in a sixth mass extinction event. Species are going extinct–perhaps 100 to 1,000 times the normal background rate of extinction. The decline has gathered pace in recent years. Clearly, humans dominate the earth and accelerate extinction. Human impact is so significant that the geological age we are living in is now called the “Anthropocene.” Life must adapt to radical, uncharted, environmental changes, and do it faster than we can evolve to it. All life risks becoming proverbial “fish out of water,” organisms in an environment that we did not evolve for.
Evolutionist: Renewables are expensive and unreliable. It will be a long time until renewables are practical. Some people want to install renewables on prime farmland, changing land use and the landscape. Renewables are ugly. That’s why homeowner’s associations often prevent homeowners from installing solar. Solar and wind should be kept out of sight and on wasteland. Renewables for the home are too expensive. That’s why so few install solar.
Revolutionist: We can’t switch to renewables if we don’t install them. We use a lot of energy so renewables must be a priority. Surplus farm crops can lower the value of farm acreage. Farmland might be more valuable with renewables. Landowners can make significant reliable income from land leased for renewables, harvesting sunshine directly, organically, without the expense and impact of irrigation, pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides. Renewables give farmland a well-deserved rest. Watching clean, inexpensive, sustainable energy flow from the wind and sun directly into the grid is a beautiful thing. Tax incentives help people install solar.
Evolutionist: When government gets involved, you can bet taxes and government spending will skyrocket to pay for “clean energy” subsidies. If renewables were so good, there would be no need for subsidies. The free market would eventually make renewables inexpensive and abundant. If the government ever imposes a carbon tax, you can bet the economy and every person in it will suffer.
Revolutionist: The only way out of the climate issue is by stopping fossil fuel use. The only solution is renewables. Capitalism protects capital. It is the motive to make a profit. Oil subsidies keep the price of oil down to keep people buying gasoline. If gasoline goes above $5 a gallon, car buyers are suddenly concerned about efficiency and electric cars. When gas is $3 per gallon, buyers are more concerned about how a car looks. Renewable energy is now cheaper than coal or oil. Electric cars are much cheaper to drive than gas. Tax credits for renewables and efficiency are a wise investment.
Conclusion: We earthlings are products of billions of years of adapting to the earth’s environment at the speed of evolution. If we didn’t adapt, we would be extinct. Individuals adapt according to their personality, lifestyle, finances, and environment. The result must inevitably be an effective compromise that enables a stable future for the next generation.
It seems we haven’t been “fighting” climate change, we’ve been denying it or hiding from it with air conditioning (using extra electricity), flood insurance, fire insurance, consuming products, avoiding or ignoring scientific details, and pretending we can still burn fossil fuels in cars, airplanes, and furnaces. Installing heat pumps and buying electric cars seems too different, too radical, even though their use saves money and cleans the air.’
After revolutionists work tirelessly to address problems, evolutionists see that problems were avoided and say, “See, we were right. The predicted disasters didn’t happen. It’s much better than the revolutionists predicted!”
There is no place on earth to hide from the earth’s new climate. Since we are all in it, we all must live with it. Adapt as you must. Prevent what you can. It’s the only world we’ve got.
Evolutionists say, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Revolutionists say, “Don’t get depressed… get busy!”
Steve Waller’s family lives in a wind- and solar-powered home. He has been involved with conservation and energy issues since the 1970s and frequently teaches about energy. Steve can be reached at NonfictionSteve@gmail.com.
Excerpt from the Fall 2023 issue of Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine, copyright 2023, Empowering Lightworks, LLC. All rights reserved.
Summer is here. School’s out. Time to play. Remember what mom said years ago…. “Play nice!” She meant have fun while treating others and things respectfully. If you play nice, friends always want to play with you, and playthings won’t get broken. So, call those nice friends and schedule some fun activities in the U.P.
Take the kids to a U.P. zoo. Go whitewater rafting down the Menominee River. Google “Hiking Upper Peninsula Trails” for an exhaustive list of some of the best and most beautiful hiking in the Midwest, right here near home, healthy and inexpensive!
Google “Upper Peninsula waterfalls map,” then go. We in the U.P. have the best waterfalls. Lower Michigan has only one puny public-accessible waterfall. Too bad for them!
There are five-hundred-and-fifty miles of the famous North Country Scenic Trail running from St. Ignace at the Mighty Mackinac Bridge to Tahquamenon Falls State Park, to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, through Marquette to the virgin forest in the Porcupine Mountains, then to the Wisconsin border and beyond—enough to wear out two pairs of hiking boots!
Our outstanding U.P. state and national parks and forests are great for fishing, hunting, canoeing, kayaking, camping, photography, birding.
There’s no need to fly to some other state. Instead, experience what the U.P. has to offer!
We have some of the cleanest beaches in the nation thanks to the sparkling waters of Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron—so many beaches, so little time. There are centuries of shipwrecks to explore. If you haven’t been snorkeling, do it! Don’t let all that crystal clear water go to waste. If needed, rent or buy a wet or dry suit, mask, and snorkel. There is a whole world of subsurface surprises waiting for you.
Bike trails—some are paved and relaxing, some are rugged and exciting. Take your pick. Michigan offers more rail trails than any other state and is home to the International Mountain Biking Association Silver Level Ride Center in Copper Harbor. From top-rated singletracks to thousands of miles of family-friendly rail trails, Michigan is one of the most bike-friendly states in the nation. Some trails are e-bike friendly. Call your local bike shop for details.
The above activities all share some critical qualities. They’re local, interesting, healthy, fun, and a great way to be with friends respecting the outdoors by minimizing recreational gas burning. Notice none of the activities above require an airplane, an outboard motor, a jet ski, motorized dirt bike or ATV. I just suggested more than a few summers’ worth of activities that require absolute minimal gas burning. Don’t fly in fuel-guzzling airplanes to play in some other state. Instead, save those fuel dollars or spend those dollars on an electric vehicle rental for your “play nice” local adventure.
Burning fossil fuels just to have fun is not how we play nice in the outdoors.
The International Panel on Climate Change issued its comprehensive summary report earlier this year. They are desperately pleading to get people, especially Americans, to burn less fossil fuel. All regions, including the U.P., are experiencing “widespread adverse impacts.” Oceans and ice caps routinely break high temperature records.
People are slow to change. Marketing relentlessly entices us to distant exotic vacations, powerful, speedy gasoline engines on land, water, and in trucks, and suggests that a beach in another state is better than our own beaches. I’m not convinced.
So, play nice this summer. Leave the gas can at home. Breathe clean fresh air and less CO2. Help keep the climate stable and our amazing U.P. playground beautiful and unbroken, today and tomorrow.
Steve Waller’s family lives in a wind- and solar-powered home. He has been involved with conservation and energy issues since the 1970s and frequently teaches about energy. Steve can be reached at Steve@UPWallers.net.
Excerpt from the Summer 2023 issue of Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine, copyright 2023, Empowering Lightworks, LLC. All rights reserved.
A fundraiser participant shows off an assortment of local products featured in the Farm to School Fundraising program.
The Marquette Food Co-op (MFC) is well known in the community as an ardent supporter of local agriculture and continues to be a local food systems innovator. In addition to being one of the largest retailers of food produced in the U.P., the MFC is an active participant in programming and community development around food systems. Over the years, the MFC has collaborated with partners to develop the NMU Hoop House, a farm tool lending program, area farmers market programs, and food safety programs for farmers. Read on to learn more about a few of our current projects–some of which you can participate in!
Farm to School Fundraising
First begun in 2015, Farm to School Fundraising is a program that sources products made right here in the Upper Peninsula. Schools raise money by selling high quality items from small, local producers. Product selection may change according to the season, but often include honey, handmade soaps, jams, maple syrup, seasonal or root crop vegetable mixes, even plant starts. All products are grown, harvested, or created right here in the U.P.
Farm to School Fundraising keeps money in the local economy, can be connected to school garden work and food education, and is a meaningful fundraiser with interesting products for students to sell. In 2022, the program raised $15,103.77 for schools throughout the central U.P.
UPFE Cold Storage Grant Program
The MFC is the fiduciary for the U.P. Food Exchange (UPFE), a collaborative local food workgroup. In partnership with Upper Peninsula Food as Medicine Team, UPFE has put together a Cold Storage Grant Program which awards up to $14,000 to local farms to expand their cold storage facilities. The grant includes technical assistance and consultation with the Upper Peninsula Produce Safety Technician. Last year nine farms were awarded grants, and three more farms will be awarded funding in late March of 2023.
Generously funded by the Superior Health Foundation, the goal of the grant is to address food insecurity in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Farm debt is a huge problem nationally, with farming income insufficient to pay back loans necessary for land and up-to-date equipment. Easing this debt load with an infrastructure grant helps farmers to expand their production and thus provide more products to their community. UPFE and MFC have led the Cold Storage Grant program and hope to offer more opportunities in the future.
U.P. Food Exchange Food Summit
UPFE’s mission is to broaden collaboration among communities for a mutually supportive food system in the Upper Peninsula. Essential to collaboration is networking and sharing opportunities for community members. After a hiatus due to the pandemic, UPFE is excited to announce the return of the U.P. Food Summit. The Summit is an opportunity to come together around food systems work. Attendees will learn about exciting local food projects and how these could be enhanced or replicated in other locations, provide feedback on projects and what their community needs and, of course, celebrate and honor the efforts of everyone who contributes to a vibrant local food system.
The Summit is a great way to learn more about local food projects from the MFC and many other community organizations. All are welcome to the event, which will be held at the Northern Center at Northern Michigan University on Monday, March 27 from 10 a.m.-4.p.m. Learn more about the summit at upfoodexchange.com.
Article sponsored by the Marquette Food Co-op.
Excerpted from the Spring 2023 issue of Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine. Copyright 2023, Empowering Lightworks, LLC. All rights reserved.
The Fall 2022 issue of Health & Happiness UP Magazine included my article “Order Your Electric Car NOW” covering the basics of electric vehicles (EVs) after my 6,000 miles of experience, but didn’t answer questions many Yoopers have about winter driving. Now, after 16,000 electric miles, including winter miles and new tax credits, I have answers.
A critical detail is that 80% of EVs are charged while you sleep, at home, overnight, from an ordinary 240-volt clothes dryer-type circuit in a garage or outside fixture. Having a home or apartment/condo complex charger (30% tax credit to install) is a big winter advantage. A plugged-in EV is ready every morning to remote start, warm up, and drive all winter long. With home charging, you spend less time charging than you formerly spent pumping gas! Just plug in at night, unplug in the morning, and go.
Unlike many gas or diesel cars, EVs will start even in the coldest weather and are still very powerful. In all EVs, as the temperature drops, battery chemistry slows somewhat, but the power remains. Many EVs can be started remotely and are toasty-warm whenever you get in. Batteries heat the car interior. EVs with heat pumps warm the interior and passengers efficiently, faster than gas cars.
EV winter capabilities vary by model.
Some are absolutely ready for U.P. winters; others have some limits. Below freezing, the EPA range per charge in miles is reduced by about 25%. A daily 250-mile EPA summer charge range is reduced to 180 winter miles. Very few people regularly drive 180 miles per day so that’s rarely a problem. When road-tripping more than 180 miles from home, recharge at a fast-charger. Go to PlugShare.com to find medium and fast chargers on your route. Many EVs know where the chargers are and will route right to them.
Some people are tempted to think they need 400 – 600 miles of range and massive power. That’s usually a mistake unless you tow heavy loads long distances. If most of your driving is less than 180 miles per day, excessive range beyond 300 miles just means you paid extra for excess battery capacity which rarely gets used, which adds excessive battery weight, which drags down the EV truck’s already lower efficiency (MPGe – miles per gallon equivalent), which means you’ll spend much more time charging more energy into the truck than charging a speedy 250-300 EPA mile passenger EV on the same trip.
EV batteries on long winter road trips fast-charge fastest when warm. Cars best suited to long winter road tripping have a feature called “preconditioning” that automatically heats the battery to an ideal temperature as you drive to a fast charger. EVs without preconditioning usually charge much slower in the cold. Slow charging at home is essentially unaffected.
Most EVs are all-wheel drive. Snow and slush eat energy. Snow tires eat some energy too, but AWD EVs often handle winter road conditions better than gas cars. EVs are among the highest safety-rated vehicles on the road.
EV car shopping is fun.
For town/commuter EVs, add a 240-volt charger in your garage, then get almost any EV. For winter road tripping, consider sleek, beautiful, and sexy EVs with an EPA summer range over 250 miles, all-wheel drive, preconditioning, a CCS or Tesla charger connector, and a max charge rate over 150 kW. Tax credits are available for almost everybody—$7,500 for qualifying EVs, 30% credits for installing chargers. Go to shorturl.at/floWZ
Buying another gas car? You’ll be locked into gasoline for five more years. Yuck! Order or lease your electric car NOW!
Steve Waller’s family lives in a wind- and solar-powered home. He has been involved with conservation and energy issues since the 1970s and frequently teaches about energy. Steve can be reached at Steve@UPWallers.net.
Excerpted from the Spring 2023 issue of Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine. Copyright 2023, Empowering Lightworks, LLC. All rights reserved.
Tamarack Builders is a small company primarily doing remodeling and light commercial construction in Marquette since about 1998. We specialize in older buildings, some that might be considered tear-downs. I like that kind of stuff compared to more modern houses and buildings.
Very nice, talented, thoughtful people work with me. When we’re doing projects, we make sure things are done correctly. Sometimes previous work by others has to be corrected. It can be easy to breeze by those things and say they’re fine, but we try to make sure things are done properly.
For example, with remodeling for energy efficiency, we do insulation and venting to prevent ice dams, which can be a huge issue here. Water infiltration issues, proper flashing techniques—all are very important. By doing so, you extend the life of that building, increasing its energy efficiency and decreasing the likelihood that it will get torn down later.
By extending the life of a building, you’re minimizing its carbon footprint because of the embodied carbon in the materials.
For instance, concrete lasts a long time but it’s really carbon-intensive to make. If you can save a building, you’re preserving that embodied carbon. When things get torn down, it all goes in the landfill, plus you use new materials that have their own carbon footprint.
A lot of these old buildings in Marquette were built with old growth lumber. As they get torn down and their components are thrown away, it’s just gone. I try to save building materials. It often doesn’t take that much effort to save stuff. I put old two-by-fours in a pile. When you get enough stuff, you can make something—countertops, sheds—out of the recycled building parts. I’m a little bit of a hoarder of vintage building materials and try to re-use them the best I can. Old studs are beautiful. I try to save those for re-use.
The other day when it was raining, we had enough stuff saved up that we could build a couple of things at the shop out of recycled materials. It’s rewarding and fun to be able to do that. Not always cheaper, but very rewarding. We built a small boat shed entirely out of recycled materials. We installed a couple of recycled doors using recycled materials and re-purposed what we took out. Small stuff but it adds up.
It’s a personal thing.
It feels really good to be able to put something together, like a boat shed, from salvaged materials. It’s good practice for my employees to think it through and make things work. It’s always good for people to practice all these techniques, use them on a small scale. It’s a good way to gain more experience with something like this.
Three good-size commercial projects we did recently were in buildings that were in really bad shape. Little updating had been done to them; one even had some original wallpaper. We spent the time and money to bring them up to code. One building was far from meeting current codes. If there had ever been a fire there, it would have been devastating. We extended the life of these buildings for a very long time.
One of them was the McLean Chiropractic building on Third Street. It had been slated to be torn down for the last twenty years. Now since we’ve done the work on it, it’s up and running, and good for another hundred years.
I’ve worked on a lot of historic buildings—Donckers, Downtown Eye Care, Evergreen Market, what’s now Queen City Running Company on Baraga, the previous flower shop there, and many vintage residential buildings. I really enjoy that. It’s a lot of fun.
How did you get into this line of work?
I’d worked as a carpenter on Mackinac Island in the ’80s and ’90s. I moved to Marquette and building was a way I could make a living with my skill set, and offered a flexible schedule. When I had kids, I could take time off to be with them, go to their events, drive them around, or whatever. was needed. That was a huge draw for me, enhancing my life and hopefully the life of my family too. Having the ability to take care of someone when they’re sick is important. You can’t do that as easily if you run a retail store. Contracting gives a little flexibility. I extend that flexibility to my employees too. It usually doesn’t make a huge difference if we need to take a few hours off. People need that time to have a healthy balance. Work-life balance is number one. I’m not doing this to get rich, and that’s okay because my work-life balance has been very good.
What do you find most challenging about your work? Doing the paperwork–billing and trying to keep track of that end of the business is not something I like to do. I love being on the job, being with my employees, and working on projects.
Anything else you’d like our readers to know? As a builder, I think people should know these old buildings are worth investing in. It’s worth coming up with a systematic, comprehensive approach. These older structures are valuable and contain a lot of embodied carbon. If we have any hope for climate change, we need to take care of them.
It’s astounding to see what’s thrown away—it’s unreal, all the building materials. It’s heartbreaking to see what goes in the landfill. I’m not saying we can recycle everything, but we can do more. We’ve got to make efforts toward sustainability. I’ve encouraged green building, energy efficiency, and presrvation. The luxury of building a new green structure is not achievable for a lot of people, but in every structure, there’s potential for comfort, energy efficiency, and financial savings.
Excerpted from the Winter ’22 – ’23 issue of Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine. Copyright 2022, Empowering Lightworks, LLC. All rights reserved.
The latest Emissions Gap Report from the United Nations Environment Program (https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2022) states that the world has just emitted a new annual record amount of carbon dioxide (CO2). Given this increase, to limit global warming to 2°C, we must cut CO2 thirty percent by 2030. A stepwise approach is no longer an option. We need system-wide transformation.
Who is at the top of the emissions list? Americans, emitting over twice the world average CO2 per person. Even though we like to think we are protecting our environment, that “other” people are the problem, we are the actual culprits breaking world CO2 records.
New record: U.S. population–333 million people in November 2022, increasing by 1.4 million Americans per year (https://www.census.gov/popclock/). We must build a new Dallas, Texas (population 1.4 million) each year to accommodate our new Americans. New record: world population–8 billion people by November 2022, increasing by 70 million each year.
Those new additional 1.4 million Americans, our youth, our future, need a slice of our American pie–food, water, land, housing, heat, transportation, all from the limited environment already supporting 333 million Americans. Each must share a smaller, cleaner piece of green pie.
But what more can we Americans do?
How can we emit less and still be Americans? Since most of the rest of the modern world seems able to emit less, how can we break their lower emission records?
We need to learn to live without CO2, then teach the next generation. Eliminate old, fossilized thinking and think anew. That’s hard. But if nothing changes… nothing changes!
Imagine a life without fossil fuels. Cars emit twenty pounds of CO2 per gallon of gas. How would we still drive? We must shift to electric cars (rebates available). No excuses. How would we heat or cool our homes? Homes must rely entirely on electricity so we must install heat pumps (for heating and cooling–rebates available).
How can we clean all that electricity? It still depends mostly on fossil fuels. Our only clean, cost-effective, sustainable option is using renewables. We must install solar at our homes (rebates available). Encourage wind and solar farms in our neighborhoods. Learn to love the look of solar and wind.
Some fossil fuel use will be irreplaceable, but if you think better, most can be eliminated.
Yes, there is a price to pay for changes. Fossil fuels were dishonestly cheap, so cheap that we used them for everything, everywhere. Cheap because we didn’t pay then for our CO2 consequences. The honest, responsible bill is now due. We must pay for the fixes, and fortunately, the fixes create jobs.
Existing homes and apartments must convert to all electric with solar and heat pumps. New construction needs to use less wood to keep trees alive and absorbing CO2. Use less concrete and steel. Making a pound of cement emits a pound of CO2. Making a pound of steel emits 2 lbs. of CO2.
Smaller homes are better, cheaper, have lower emissions, and are easier to clean and maintain. McMansions are fossil thinking. It’s time to upgrade to smaller. Upgrades always have a cost but fossil thinking costs more. That’s the honest price of a healthy environment. We cannot afford to wait for the environment to be on sale.
Let’s break good records this holiday season. Upgrade to eliminate CO2. Get rebates for efficiency, energy, and electric cars. Emit the least CO2 in your life, ever. Let’s have the cleanest water and air, ever. Let’s consume less than ever. These are records waiting to be broken. The next generation is counting on us.
Steve Waller’s family lives in a wind- and solar-powered home. He has been involved with conservation and energy issues since the 1970s and frequently teaches about energy. Steve can be reached at Steve@UPWallers.net.
Excerpted from the Winter ’22 – ’23 issue of Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine. Copyright 2022, Empowering Lightworks, LLC. All rights reserved.
We finally got our all-wheel-drive plug-in electric vehicle (PEV)—no gasoline engine and no more CO2 emissions. We’ve been driving it hard for a couple of months and tallied over 6,000 miles, including a few 400-mile trips from the U.P. to Chicago and to Detroit.
Based on my experience, you should order yours now because it takes 6 months to more than a year for delivery. As you hesitate to order, the prices keep increasing. They can now cost as much as a new crew cab fossil truck, but cheaper models are available.
Fossil gas drivers have “range anxiety” (fear of running out of battery) but PEVs today have plenty of range, some over 300 miles on one charge. We rarely drive more than 100 miles a day and we recharge at home. It’s like having a gas station in your garage. Charge overnight with an ordinary 240V garage outlet and wake each morning to a fully charged vehicle ready for another long day of driving. For apartment dwellers, there are programs for owners to add parking lot chargers or just fill up at your local public charger, then drive home, just like you do with a gas guzzler. Either way, PEVs drive cheaper.
We drive electric for about $.04 per mile.
Our gasoline car averages a respectable 28 MPG but still cost $.16 per mile. Our PEV gets 131 MPGe in the city and 117 MPGe on the highway. It’s 75% cheaper to drive, saving about $300 per month in gasoline expense. Plus, there is almost no maintenance–no oil changes, muffler, catalytic converter, or tune-ups. PEVs have few moving parts, there is much less to fail so there are fewer repairs. We do occasionally add a windshield washer.
People worry that the batteries will die in a couple of years but federal law mandates that batteries be warrantied for a minimum of eight years or 100,000 miles. Old PEV batteries don’t die, they just have about 5%-10% less range. Experts suggest today’s batteries will last 10-20 years–300,000 miles or more.
On our 400-mile trips, after about 250 miles we needed to recharge as expected, but plenty of rechargers are available. We never experienced “range anxiety.” It takes 20-40 minutes, depending on the recharger’s power, to recharge to about 80% capacity, enough to finish the trip. Rechargers are usually in the parking lots of major grocery chains or near snack areas, and more are being added nationwide. Recharging takes just enough time to stretch your legs, tap a kidney, visit the stores, enjoy a snack, or just lay back and relax for a bit. After hours of continuous driving on a long trip, the break is welcome and healthy. We recharge while the car recharges.
The experience of PEV driving is different—tons of power, electric everything. It’s like driving a computer with wheels except that PEVs often do much of the driving for you. With multiple cameras and sensors, PEVs are very good at adjusting your cruising speed to traffic, keeping the car centered in the lane, and avoiding hazards. It sees and senses more than you can and reacts faster, making PEVs some of the safest cars on the road. People express fears of battery fires, but records show that you are ten times more likely to have a gas-guzzler car fire than a battery-car fire.
Michigan charges a $100 electric registration fee and a $40 electric tax to compensate for road maintenance gasoline taxes that PEVs don’t pay. One month’s gas savings easily exceeds Michigan’s fees, so drive safer, save money, and stop emitting CO2. Order your PEV today.
Steve Waller’s family lives in a wind- and solar-powered home. He has been involved with conservation and energy issues since the 1970s and frequently teaches about energy. Steve can be reached at Steve@UPWallers.net.
Excerpted from the Fall 2022 issue of Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine. Copyright 2022, Empowering Lightworks, LLC. All rights reserved.
Do you crave a quiet weekend at the cabin with a view of the lake or the ocean?
Are you inspired by a mountainous panorama or a garden bursting with colorful flowers and butterflies?
Does a buck deer running through the woods rivet your attention?
Can a short walk outdoors make you feel a lot better?
Is your dog or cat part of your family?
Are you happy that the house plant you’ve tended for years is doing so well?
Then yes, you are a biophiliac.
Erich Fromm (1900-1980), a German social psychologist, originally said biophilia is the “passionate love of life and of all that is alive…whether in a person, a plant, an idea, or a social group.” E. O. Wilson (1929-1921), Pellegrino University Professor, Emeritus, at Harvard University, claimed that “our natural affinity for life―biophilia―is the very essence of our humanity and binds us to all other living species.”
Biophilia is the recognition that you are part of the natural world.
Your ancestors, for hundreds of generations, lived in and depended on the fields and forests. In exchange, they were imprinted with an appreciation of the hazards, bounty, and beauty in wild, spontaneous nature. Sure, they had to struggle through some of nature’s challenges, but afterwards they were rejuvenated by a warm breeze on a summer’s night, a conversation at the campfire, or a cool dip in the lake.
That imprint, passed down from the ancestors, has not diminished. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize in the bustle of modern times, but given an opportunity, the feelings are still there.
Artists, photographers, musicians, all strive to capture the “essence” of nature because it is so appealing. Architects incorporate living plants and bright skylit rooms to make their urban structures feel warm, spacious, airy, and inviting, more like the outdoors. Subconsciously, they acknowledge that most of us are biophiliacs, even if we don’t realize it. When the right nature button is pushed, we get warm and relaxed.
For many, biophilia is the reason we live in the UP.
We want to be closer to nature than to Detroit or Traverse City. We want to meander along a river that runs clear and cold, home to wily brook trout. We don’t want to see human trash or fences. If we lived down south, we couldn’t talk about how we are so tired of winter but love how the trees look after a snowstorm. Biophilia makes us endure the cold so that we can see those lacy white trees once again.
Birds come in a dazzling array of colors, yet none of the colors ever clash. All birds’ colors go together. Is it because the birds are just snappy fashion-smart feather-dressers? Or is it because our sense of color and what goes with it is based on what humans have experienced in nature for thousands of years? Biophilia likely shapes our sense of color, beauty, and art.
That sense of beauty even extends to our preferences in partners. When we say someone is beautiful or handsome, is it because we are drawn to a certain brand of makeup or shirt, or are we drawn to the person beneath all that dressing? Our ancestors evolved this crazy habit of choosing partners that they found attractive and passed that imprint on to us. Biophilia shapes our preferences.
You might discount this ancient influence and think your modern choices are beyond primal inheritance. You might think it is all just a nostalgic excuse for common and conventional thought. But it’s not. It’s art. It’s beauty. It’s natural. You’re a biophiliac.
Steve Waller’s family lives in a wind- and solar-powered home. He has been involved with conservation and energy issues since the 1970s and frequently teaches about energy. Steve can be reached at Steve@UPWallers.net.
Excerpted from the Summer 2022 issue of Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine. Copyright 2022, Empowering Lightworks, LLC. All rights reserved.
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