Transitioning to a circular society is a phrase I often hear with little explanation on what that looks like and how to get there. Throughout my time on Cycle the Rockies, exploring places shaped by extraction and regeneration, I have begun to understand how the shape of a system–linear or circular–can determine not just its productivity, but the impact it has on the land and community around it. We have used a tool called systems mapping to visualize on paper the ebbs and flows of a practice delineating its shape.
One captivating example of a linear system was a site we visited early on in Butte, the Berkeley Pit–a copper mine that was abandoned in 1982, leaving a 7,000-foot-long and 1,600-foot-deep pit. The water occupying the pit reaches an acidity of 2.5 because of the chemical reaction that takes place when iron sulfide is exposed to water and oxygen. Water pumps in the pit must operate constantly to keep the water level below groundwater storage as to not infiltrate the city’s source. There are many copper mines like the Berkeley Pit on their way to retirement, making them a linear system where productivity will certainly halt. Oftentimes, there are no plans in place for restoring the land to its natural state once all possible material has been extracted.
We visited Signal Peak, a coal mine in Roundup where we learned how coal is extracted, sized, washed and prepped to be transported. Lifespan assessments suggest that Signal Peak will be retired around 2035, another example of a linear extraction process. Anne Hedges (Montana Environmental Education Center) spoke to us on energy resources in Montana, remarking that coal is expensive and unreliable, creating a “boom and bust” economy. These systems do not consider longevity in the original plans, only patching problems once they arise. Most linear practices adopt a sectorial approach, in which aspects of the whole system are planned in sectors, not as a whole, which can cause issues down the road regarding the interconnectedness of all the moving parts. Hedges says that renewables are the way to go to promote the longevity of a sustainable environment and economy for surrounding communities.
Signal Peak is not only linear in nature, but has created disturbance on surrounding land. Steve Charter, a regenerative rancher South of Roundup, MT, reported subsidence cracks which have caused cattle injuries and herding complications. This is a side effect of longwall mining, an extractive process used at Signal Peak. The effects of longwall mining will only grow with time, on a strikingly straight path.
On the other hand, regenerative ranching involves raising livestock while focusing on preserving the land. The cattle help the land and the land helps the cattle. Cyclical at its core. For Charter, this involves promoting the organismal biodiversity of the grassland through polyculture–planting a variety of nitrogen-fixing species as well as doing his own hot/cold composting to make vermicast for a healthy topsoil. Unlike many ranchers, who spray their cattle with insecticide, Charter uses a bentonite clay-sea salt mix that functions similarly without disrupting essential dung beetle populations. One of the most critical cogs in the regenerative ranching machine is the cattle movement process. Steve moves his cattle so that they are grazing different land daily. This practice allows grasslands to “rest and digest,” preserving their natural state. All of this being said, Charter problem-solves using an integrated approach in which he works holistically with the land, responding to signals it gives him. Each element of the system is a part of a balancing feedback loop, regulating neighboring elements.
Upon drawing out the processes of different sites we visited, concept maps we drew for Signal Peak coal mine were inherently linear, whereas maps for regenerative agriculture were circular. To have sustainable development is to create circular practices considering all externalities, because the devil truly is in the details. I am left not questioning how to identify the shape of these practices, but the challenging notion of how to round the straight for our globe’s most exploitative systems in use.
One Reply to “The Shape of a System by Elena Kozich”
Comments are closed.
Good work, Elena! Land restoration efforts should never be undervalued.