Sleep Out Event
Dear Editor: I am writing in regards to the upcoming, “Sleep Out,” Aug. 5, happening in Totem Square held by the Sitka Homeless Coalition.
First of all, the following is my own opinion. I am speaking for myself, and I do not represent any organization.
As a survivor of food insecurity and homelessness, I feel this event misses the mark.
I’ve been in contact with the entities who are putting on this event. Their response was, “Other entities have done this.” The response I received reassured me that the event held Aug. 5 was not “pretending” to be homeless. My question being, if it’s not “pretending” then why must people sleep out for one night in Totem Square? Even if events like this have been done by other organizations, it still does not justify holding a similar event.
I am not against fundraising or advocating for housing for our homeless. I want to make myself clear on that stance. I feel the act of sleeping out for one night is insensitive and falls short of effectively advocating for the people within our community experiencing homelessness. As a Sitkan, I know the Sitka Homeless Coalition can do better.
I don’t think this event was planned with any ill intentions but I hope people can see how the actions of this event are insensitive on many levels.
Again, I have been in contact with the entities in charge of this event and their response has left me no choice to ask the public to rethink this event. Above all, I feel acts like this are more for the people participating rather than the people they are advocating for.
Lastly, homelessness is an ongoing issue, with far more intricacies that sleeping outside for one night can offer.
As a survivor of being homeless, I do not discourage people from being involved. We need this issue resolved. Basic necessities should not be counted as luxuries.
I think this event could be a rally of information and education, as a town filled with non-profit organizations, I think there are many ways to advocate and fundraise for our most vulnerable population, but sleeping out in Totem Square is not it.
Please rethink this event. If anything, donate to the proposed housing on Jarvis Street. For my sake and all others who have experienced homelessness, please rethink partaking in this event. We can to better to raise awareness.
Blossom Teal-Olsen, Sitka
Earth Overshoot Day
Dear Editor: Today, July 28, is Earth Overshoot Day.
Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year.
We maintain this deficit by liquidating stocks of ecological resources and accumulating waste, primarily carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Earth Overshoot Day is hosted and calculated by Global Footprint Network, an international research organization that provides decision-makers with a menu of tools to help the human economy operate within Earth’s ecological limits.
To determine the date of Earth Overshoot Day for each year, Global Footprint Network calculates the number of days of that year that Earth’s biocapacity suffices to provide for humanity’s ecological footprint. The remainder of the year corresponds to global overshoot.
Earth Overshoot Day is computed by dividing the planet’s biocapacity (the amount of ecological resources Earth is able to generate that year), by humanity’s ecological footprint (humanity’s demand for that year), and multiplying by 365, the number of days in a year: (Earth’s biocapacity/humanity’s ecological footprint) x 365 = Earth Overshoot Day.
And speaking of “exceptionalism,” Earth Overshoot Day 2022 for the United States was March 13: https://www.overshootday.org/newsroom/country-overshoot-days/.
Which means that if the entire planet lived as people in the United States do, it would take FIVE planet Earths to satisfy the demand for ecological resources and services.
For more information, go to https://www.overshootday.org/.
Jeff Moebus, Sitka
Sustainability Commission
Dear Editor: Today, July 28, is Earth Overshoot Day, the day in this calendar year when resource analysts estimate that humanity has effectively consumed all of the renewable biocapacity that the Earth is capable of generating sustainably over the course of a year’s time. Statistically speaking, starting today and continuing until the end of the year, humanity will be living unsustainably.
So, for the next five months, our modern global techno-industrial civilization will have to appropriate (steal) sustainability from the future. Not good.
It went mostly unnoticed in our local news, but at Tuesday’s Assembly meeting there was discussion of an ordinance sponsored by Assembly members Kevin Mosher and Rebecca Himschoot to establish a Sustainability Commission. The Assembly decided that the proposed ordinance’s language needed a little bit more work before they could vote on whether to approve, but hopefully a revised version will come up for debate again soon. Maybe at the next meeting on Aug. 9.
Obviously, a group of local volunteers focusing on community-based strategies for sustainability isn’t going to change the global picture much. But such a group could make a world of difference to Sitka’s future.
Joel Hanson, Sitka
