One Square Inch of Silence

Those who are familiar with the Breathe Journey book may recall reading about noise vs. noise pollution. Noise happens all the time all around us--and we contribute to it too. But noise pollution comes from having so much unwanted noise in your environment that it makes it hard to concentrate, to focus, and to enjoy the atmosphere you're in. It's, to be blunt, really frustrating!

As the Journey book states, "noise pollution goes away as soon as the noise stops" and the One Square Inch of Silence project aims to maintain a place where there is so little noise those who visit this place can truly relax and take in the tranquility of the world around them.  One Square Inch of Silence is said to be the "quietest place in the United states" and is located in the Hoh Rain Forest at Olympic National Park.

 

One Square Inch of Silence was created on April 22nd, 2005 (Earth Day) to protect the natural soundscape in Olympic Park's forest. The website describes the science behind the project:

 

"The logic is simple; if a loud noise, such as the passing of an aircraft, can impact many square miles, then a natural place, if maintained in a 100% noise-free condition, will also impact many square miles around it. It is predicted that protecting a single square inch of land from noise pollution will benefit large areas of the park.

"The hope is that this simple and inexpensive method of soundscape management will prove to be a valuable resource management tool towards fulfilling a goal of NPS Management Policy, Chapter 4.9 Soundscape Management. The National Park Service will preserve, to the greatest extent possible, the natural soundscapes of parks. Natural soundscapes exist in the absence of human-caused sound. The Service will restore degraded soundscapes to the natural condition wherever possible, and will protect natural soundscapes from degradation due to noise (undesirable human-caused sound)."

 

Sounds (or doesn't) pretty neat, hey? Can you think of some ways to eliminate or minimize noise pollution in your own community? Would you be interested in visiting a place like Hoh Rain Forest? I know I would.

 

If you're interested in learning more about the One Square Inch of Silence project check out their website here. You can also connect with the project on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Til next time...

Ashley