n2s2p
n2s2p
Sep 2, 2018 · 7 min read
Welcome to Shamrock Estates, a young Mormon family’s wet dream and a tortured punk teen’s nightmare. This is suburban hell- a place where class and race enter a union that creates amazing school systems, safe neighborhoods, expertly maintained sidewalks and ocotillo plants, and a sobering vision where upper-middle-class realize that rabbits weren’t meant to be killed by cars.

How growing up in a suburban hell kills the earth

by Gabrielle Chambers

I have had the recent pleasure of reading a passage from Communicating Nature (Corbett, 2006) whereupon a discussion of how an adult’s development of environmental beliefs begins in early childhood. It was brought to my attention that if you were lucky enough to roam around in open forest/desert/nature as a child then as an adult your environmental activism and beliefs may be different from the individual who may have only indirectly learned about the environment by watching Bambi or seeing the bears at the zoo on field trips in elementary school.

Since the industrial revolution, the world has only become closer and smaller. By that I mean the fact that the phenomenon of urbanization has infiltrated every continent, country, and province- more people are living together in urban areas than ever before. Technology is another phenomenon that shapes how we communicate and live more radically than the year before. In my own experience growing up, I grew up in a newly developed suburb of Phoenix- the prime example of urban sprawl in the 21st century. The way I learned about nature was by burying roadkill in the neatly-manicured gravel that was adjacent to the main road by my house. I used to pick the pink and white oleander flowers that grew from the plants that had been placed there in a methodical fashion by the landscaping company that my subdivision hired to make the parks by my house have an “authentic desert appeal.” I would capture the rattlesnakes who were just looking for a place to cool down in the faux-arroyo that was my front yard. Though it could be argued that my childhood experience with nature-specifically the nature of the desert- is as valid as Sam Gribley’s from My Side of the Mountain on account of us both authentically investigating and adapting to our surroundings the best we could, I would argue that in some ways I was deprived of an authentic childhood experience of growing up in the desert because I lived in the suburbs.

My Side of the Mountain (1969)

Though I wouldn’t necessarily have wished to grow up in a hut behind San Tan Mountain and wake up with a rattlesnake in my shoe- as authentically as someone who had the pleasure of not living in the suburbs did- I think I can admit that perhaps my experience of nature was veiled behind a cozy suburban fence where people lived in half a million dollar homes and drove to work with air conditioning in their cars.

SanTan Mountain- the view that everyone in the Chandler-Gilbert area is intimately familiar with.

As an Arizonan- specifically a Phoenician, that is simply the way of life. You couldn’t bike to Susie’s house that was a mile away during summertime on account of the very real fact that you could pass out from heat exhaustion. So your mom drives you to Susie’s house, whereupon you and Susie play in the 6ft pool for an hour. Afterwards, Susie’s mom bakes you cookies in the middle of the afternoon whereupon Susie and you retreat to her room to play make-believe in the comfort of a 4,000sq ft air conditioned house.

Depending on how lucky you were in regards to growing up in a socioeconomically stable household, one grows up using water, energy, and other resources without remorse. It is how we can stay comfortable and happy despite living in an actual hellzone. In my studies here at NAU, it has come to my attention that Phoenix may not exist by 2050- which I wholeheartedly believe based on our current water and energy consumption. The truth is that when Darrell Duppa saw Phoenix as a city born from the ruins of an ancient civilization- he should have quite literally kept on walking. The booming metropolis that is Phoenix today- an area of high water/energy usage shouldn’t exist in a dry desert valley. As Phoenicians, we grow up adapted to the climate- to an extent- because as long as there are air conditioned shopping malls and movie theatres to hang out at, and hipster little smoothie shops to waste money at, you as a “desert-dweller” will always be accommodated.

Phoenix is the sixth largest city in the United States. More and more people will be born here and move here on account of it being a beautiful desert reprieve from snowy mountain areas. The more people move to and live in Phoenix- the more people will be accustomed to turning on air conditioning in the middle of the day and accumulating single-use plastic waste from their frequent Starbucks runs throughout the week. As our world continues to grow (and shrink in some ways) no one will choose to live roughly when technology, Taco Bell, and Teavana teas are right at their fingertips. But that technology, Taco Bell, and Teavana tea all adds up somewhere. Our carbon footprint from airplanes and automobiles (which every teenager is expected to have in Phoenix by at least age 17 because how else are you supposed to go to school or work?) pollutes the atmosphere with ever-increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The fast food places we frequent get rich off of monoculture and modern-day farmer slavery (thank you Fast Food Nation) while normalizing a culture of single-use plastic waste for convenience that never biodegrades (on account of the fact that every piece of plastic ever made still exists today.)

This is one of the (as in I worked at two different)Taco Hells I worked at senior year of high school. As a suburbanite living at the poverty line establishments such as these were common and some of the few places that a teen could work in the Chandler-Gilbert area. Across the street was a Starbucks and a Cafe Rio (which I would personally frequent on Taco Tuesday on my lunch break while working at Taco Hell)-just some examples of modern establishments that produce obscene amounts of single-use plastic garbage. I would know I worked at one of those places.
Phoenix, AZ illuminated from above as seen from space on the ISS

Water usage and plastic reliance has pervaded our society- Phoenix being no exception. What is interesting (and some would argue “scary”) about this predicament is that it doesn’t look like it’s going to end anytime soon. More and more kids will be born into suburbs of big cities where they will take advantage of the privilege that is having a Starbucks a two-minute drive from their house. They will grow up with an entitled (American) view of water and energy usage. They will drive the cars that were bought with their parents’ money both long distances and short distances. They will ignore the public transportation and rideshare groups. They will use water with reckless abandon. They will eat more and more Cane’s Chicken from styrofoam boxes and drink lattes from plastic cups. Though personally I hope for them a future that is more sustainably developed- I can’t let my idealism cloud the trends that science has already consistently calculated.

Teens in the Chandler-Gilbert area are currently addicted to Cane’s Chicken, how will this outpouring of Styrofoam and plastic waste affect the Phoenix area in 100 years from now?

I wonder if the Phoenician child who grows up in my community 30 years from now will bother to bury the dead rabbits that always end up on S Banning St in May. I wonder if they will wake up early to watch the hot air balloons in December leave the dirt hill that is across the street from their house. Will they trespass on state property and explore the Queen Creek Canal as did I in the early 2000s to search for turquoise? Will they try and catch lizards that climb up on their cement-brick walls while singing songs in their backyard? Do you think they would care if those magnificent and giant pine trees right outside their community gate were cut down?

I can’t be sure but I sure hope so.

I hope my children and the children that will have the unfortunate pleasure of living in Shamrock Estates in Gilbert, Arizona will not fall away to internet addiction and become so disconnected with their environment (arranged and immaculate as it is) that they do not see the beauty and blessing it is to live in the desert. I hope they understand that the life they have the good fortune of living in is in some ways “not real.” I hope they will realize that 100 years ago rabbits wouldn’t be killed on account of giant metal automobiles surging on paved blacktop but perhaps by the appetites of rattlesnakes or hunters looking for a good meal. Maybe they will realize that 100 years ago people just saw more rabbits in general. Perhaps they will realize that 100 years ago people and rabbits were more a part of nature than they are now.

My childhood home. The leftmost top window was where I would gaze at the hot air balloons that would ascend into the heavens just a stone’s throw away from my street. This was the house that was on the edge of the subdivision- enabling me easy access to the Queen Creek Canal and a dog park- the places where I spent most of my time outside as a kid. It is strangely bizarre how this picture can evoke such a strong emotional response. This beautiful yellow house- that was bought for $500,000 shortly after it was built, is the place that pops into my mind when I think of my childhood.

So…to conclude this talkathon, this next generation of people are at risk of polluting more, caring less for the environment, using more water, and using plastic nonchalantly since they will have the misfortune of living in an ever-increasingly cosmopolitan world with larger populations and hotter climates. Our technology and modern world will only continue to evolve in a way that has the capacity to seriously and profoundly disconnect our children from the environment from which they come from. Let us hope that though they may live in Taylor Morrison homes, they will find turquoise…or have funerals for jackrabbits. May they use their precious childhood experiences (as artificial as they may be) to become advocates for “authentic” and sustainable desert dwelling as well as advocates for the preservation of the entire world.

*Mic drop* (1468)

n2s2p

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n2s2p

Welcome to my blog- expertly and creatively titled “n2s2p”- an acronym that stands for “nature to science to people.” This is where nature meets the public.

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