Setting Boundaries

    Throughout the semester a lot of our discussion has revolved around ethics when it comes to nature: ethics regarding accessibility to nature, the value of nature, the destruction or burning of nature, the protesting of nature, etc. And so for one of my final blog posts, I wanted to do a comprehensive walk-through of my local neighborhood to see what "boundaries" or ethical limits are set in order to protect nature and the people within my local community. I thought it would be interesting to consider these elements on a smaller scale compared to what we have talked about in class with state parks. 

    As silly as it sounds, one of the first elements that caught my eye was a speed limit sign. It got me thinking back to our class discussion on accessibility to nature and how we wrestled with what was the fine line between tearing down our natural resources so more people can see it vs. maintaining nature but risking the fact that fewer people can see it. I was thinking about both the physical and symbolic purposes of the signage and how it affects the experience for a "consumer of nature". Obviously, we all know the physical meaning behind a speed limit sign is to slow down the speed of traffic, especially in the context of a neighborhood setting to keep the residence members safe. But symbolically, I have to wonder if it also represents slowing down in the context of nature. Think about a highway for example. Most speed limits on a highway are fairly fast because you are going longer distances and around the highways are normal shops and whatnot so you are not worried about the context. But within a neighborhood at least around mine, there is a lot more creation whether that is people or nature so maybe it symbolizes the slower pace of development. The signage is a boundary within itself when it comes to driving but I also believe it can represent and influence much more than that. I also think back to driving in state parks like Yosemite and the speed limit tends to be fairly slower in those parks as well just to be cautious of people but I also believe in the nature around you.

    The second thing I noticed was the dog stations and trash cans within our neighborhood. These are fairly new additions to our neighborhood and truthfully the dog poop pickup and trash pick up before in our neighborhood was not the best. But studying the placement of these trash cans, it seems that walkers in our neighborhood really have no excuse when it comes to throwing away their trash. I like to think of it from almost like a business perspective. In one of my classes called Services Marketing, we talk about managing customers/ setting boundaries, and one of the ways companies do that is to physically ensure customers can not mess up. For example, if a fast food restaurant like In-N-Out has trays, they make the holes of their trash cans too small so the customer physically can not accidentally throw away the tray. I believe the same encouragement and boundary are set for consumers of nature. Items like trash cans every few feet even those that provide poop bags are really reducing consumer error in this circumstance. But as we have discussed in class, some authors could argue the addition of a trash can is not of nature it may take away from the nature around it. It may be a fine line between purpose and protection. 

    The last element I will touch on is the natural use of hills and canyons. Where I am from in San Diego, there are quite a lot of hills in the neighborhood. But what I love about California, is rather than tearing a mountain down or straight through one, these neighborhoods rather are built on top of the natural structure provided by the hills. I love to stand at the top of one and look out to see all the hills and neighborhoods layered throughout the area. I think it reminds us of the power and strength of mountains which limits builders and developers from completely destroying everything they touch. Rather they are limited to what they can design and how they can design it like homes leveled on a hill. Amazing how even the nature around us can set boundaries to our capabilities and everyday life.

    I enjoyed studying elements of my neighborhood that I truly take for granted each time I am home. Kind of cool to think about it all through the lens of ethics and boundaries based on discussions we have had throughout the semester in class. My hope and prayer are that I continue to bring this lens with me to all new regions I explore.