Discussion Topic: contracts, if you find more good ideas after looking at others' contracts edit or revise your contract and repost it. Keep your ecological footprint score and ecological commitment contract to include in your Autobiographical Portfolio.
So without naming names I'd like to mention that I'm seeing fair amount of rationalization and excuse making rather then commitments. Also, listing what you already do is not what I was looking for. What NEW changes are you willing to make to lead a more sustainable lifestyles?
I know that making meaningful life changes is the hardest part of the quest for sustainability. If it wasn't it wouldn't be an issue. Still, it is the challenge we all must take. If not us who, if not now when?
In reference to the previous posts and discussion. If we see that historically human society has struggled to live in balance with nature, and many of us are unsure of our ability become sustainable at all..... So what do we do now? Give up and hog it all? Can we perhaps evolve, if not fiscally then culturally? What are your thoughts?
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Discussion Topic for Week of 2/5
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16 comments:
Somewhat off the discussion topic for this week... but this came in my email box today and I thought HERE would be a good place to post to the class - please forward to anyone you think might fit this bill:
from Roopa Vasudevan of Gigantic! Productions:
I'm workig on project for MTV. As part of the True Life series, we're
exploring a documentary about the lives of young people who are living
"off-the-grid" literally or figuratively--from those who live in
extremely rural locations off the actual power grid, to those choosing
a back-to-the-land lifestyle, to those simply choosing to "unplug"
themselves from the ever-connected, always-logged-in lifestyles of the
digital generation.
You may or may not be familiar with MTV's True Life -- it's a
long-running, award winning documentary series that seeks to have
young people share their stories, in their own words. The format is
strictly first-person, which is to say that we don't filter the voices
of our subjects through narrators or other third parties. All we do
is follow; it's our hope that by allowing young people to tell their
stories in their own voices, communicating directly with their peers,
we can impact the way people interact and engage with the world they
live in.
For this episode, we'd follow young people choosing to live lives that
defy the norms of their peers. This could mean fashioning
self-sufficient communities in remote areas, generating their own
electricity or other utilities, embarking on a personal journey to
seek solitude, or maybe just separating oneself from the virtual
communities and communications that occupy so much of daily life. The
show would follow along to see what living off the grid means in the
day-to-day as well as individual motivation and goals for making such
a radical lifestyle choice. How are friends, families, and
relationships affected? Is such a way of life sustainable in the
long-term?
We want to connect with young people who might be interested in
participating in this project. Please don't hesitate to let me know if
you have any questions, or if you know of anyone else it might be
helpful for us to contact. I can be reached via email at:
roopa@gigantic.tv.
Thank you so much -- we really appreciate it! Following is the
official casting call text (which is also on the MTV website). If you
have any other questions, please do not hesitate to let me know.
Thanks again!
Roopa
Roopa Vasudevan
Gigantic! Productions
roopa@gigantic.tv
Kathy, that was an interesting article about the MTV series. I immediately thought of my daughter Emily's friend, Michaela Ellis and her mom Kathy, who live off the grid in Comptche. Then I realized that Em's boyfriend, Remy, works for his grandparents at their vineyard in Philo and they are also completely off the grid, including their organic vineyard.
Getting back to Freeda's question about what can we do now, I do not think giving up is a viable solution, although it may be the first inclination of many in this country. It seems such an impossible task, but we cannot give up because everything we do to be kind to the environment, even if it is only a little bit, is a little bit more than if we did not do it. I am a fervent believer that we can and will evolve culturally, fiscally, environmentally and every other way (sorry, old Trekker habits die hard). It must, however, happen on an international level. Each nation on earth must establish standards and work together cooperatively to help improve the environment. I cannot tell you how upset I was when the US agreed to the Kyoto Accord and then later refused to sign on because of "economic concerns." If we are truly to be a leader among nations, we cannot "hog it all" for ourselves because of economic reasons. There must be some other way.
This is just a preliminary post, as I have not completed all the readings for this week, but I know that much more needs to be done so that we can achieve sustainability. I am confident that more knowledgeable and dedicated minds than mine are being put to the problem, and that is encouraging. But I agree with Freeda that every person needs to be willing to make lifestyle changes in order to bring about positive results. It cannot just be a few. It needs to be everyone. With that in mind, I am going back to my ecological commitment contract to rework it and see if I can add more commitments.
I can say that so far, the changes I have made make me feel better, but they are not automatic as yet. A couple of times I have caught myself at work ready to toss something in the trash when I should have been putting it in the recycling bin. It's habit at home; at the office, it takes more thought. I also have changed my bulbs, put my reusable grocery bags in the car, and have been very diligent about turning off lights wherever I go. I have a feeling that by the end of this semester, all these things will have become habits to me.
More later after further reading is done...
Hi this is crystal,
June your ecological contract was done very well. You also gave me some ideas of other ways to participate in saving the earth, such as, reuse items like glass jars and plastic containers I get from the store, change my light bulbs to fluorescents, fueling my vehicle at night, picking up trash on the side of the road and in the woods, planting a tree, and supporting local parks.
I know that there is a lot more things we can do in our environment. I personally recycle, have energy-efficient lightbulbs, temperature in my house is 65 at daytime 55 during the night, and I do water conservation. The only other thing that I would change in my contract is to volunteer for an organization that preserves our resources.
This has nothing to do with the topic, but I notice June and Kathy's comments are always long. I would like to know how you guys get them so long. I have been experimenting with this blag, and I just can't figure out how you guys do it. If you can e-mail me at Alexander9941@sbcglobal.net and tell me how you guys do it. I would really appreciate it.
I've been hurt. Yes, seeing the environment and especially our animal friends abused has broken my heart. I spent a lot of time in nature when I was younger. When I'd hike, I usually took the minimum with me, because I wanted to commune, not just sight-see.
I was here in Ukiah during the days of the Earth First controversies and was devastated by the clear cutting practices at that time.
I grew up with very conscientious people who were kind and sensible and sensitive.
If I seem cynical, well maybe I've earned it. I've watched how man treats man and treats animal and treats earth. I am a sensitive person who has tried to seek out answers and it's really my business if deep down inside I'm angry and hurt.
True apathy is not the answer. I detest the mores and values perpetuated in suburban America and in Corporate America. I despise this Administration's environmental record. But if I feel there's little that can be done to reform the wasteful ways of most average Americans, isn't it the job of others to give me hope for a change? I’m tired of playing Polly Anna… You give ME reasons why I should be optimistic.
No one knows the things I’ve see, or done or felt... Rationalization isn't what it’s about... It’s about devastation. I will change my contract to reflect the legal terminology, but I will not force a phony baloney façade. In my honest opinion mankind is doomed.
Wow. Obviously this class is bringing up issues for me. Can you blame me that emotions are involved?
Who doesn't love the earth? Who doesn't love nature?
Its the fact that I've struggled and struggled for so long to try and cut back, curtail, and otherwise modify my personal ways so as to do the least amount of harm. To be told I need to do more
frustrates me.
I also realized my footprint may have been larger than I expected due to the fact that I thought my miles per gallon were a lot lower than I thought. I don't drive a 4 cylinder for nothin'. I'm getting about 40+ miles per gallon especially since I don't use the highway if I don't have to.
As far as doing more, I think I could do more in the public arena rather than skimping more in my life (besides, I take a tremendous amount of flack for not "owning more" or "consuming more.") I get told that at my age I should have blah, blah, blah. But I don't want all that stuff.
Anyway aligning myself with MEC will be great cuz I really like what they stand for. I really like their bylaws and, who knows, maybe there is a way for me to become more "active" than doing what I already do.
I think it isn't a question of "can we change," but its the fact that we HAVE to change. How, well, I just don't have an answer for that. But, I do have my own theory as to why we think we are doing all we can to protect our planet.
For me, I feel like I am doing a pretty good job to protect the planet(for the most part and probably more than many), but I think it is because I have never really "roughed" it. I have never lived without a TV or heater, or every other unnatural thing possible. I make my assumption that I protect the planet based on emotion. To me, a lot of those "things" seem necessary to live because I don't know any other way. I know it sounds silly, and I am making myself nautious saying so but hear me out...My point is, I may think I am doing all that I can because I am changing the way I am living based on what I know. The truth is, I think we need to start reaching into our discomfort zones and literally be uncomfortable for just a little while to really see change and to appreciate all that we have. So, that may mean to some as living without heat, getting rid of the tv, only having one set of dishes...having the bare minimun so not to create waste and more "stuff."
I think taking a lot of the material things away for a short time will then show people they can live without them because they'll be forced to use what they have, and it will also give them time to realize how damaging we are to the planet. Not only that, but hey, we may actually start talking to one another face to face versus over the internet...imagine that!!!!
I hope this made sense....my thoughts were pouring out. Let me know if there is anything I need to clarify for anyone.
June,
I understand the whole habit thing...isn't it awful?! It takes 2 days to create a habit and something like 2.5 weeks to break it. I think that is some of this world's problem. We are creatures of habit and don't have enough patience to break the bad ones. I think, too, by the end of this class I will have created some GOOD habits...and if I play my cards right, I will suck the old Boyfriend in on them too!!! :)
Happy Friday, everyone!
Yes, bad habits are hard to break. If we make a list of our bad habits that we want to break, and put them on the refrigerator. When we wake up in the morning look at which bad habit we are going to work on today. In a months time that bad habit will be gone. I have broken a lot of habits this way. When it comes to nature I always try to take care of it, by providing shelter and food for the animals around me. Yes, I do get irritated at these people who go out just to hang a trophy on their wall. I do try to make people aware of what they are doing to our environments.
I understand the purpose of this exercise is to determine what changes in our lifestyless we are truly willing to commit to in order to further our goal of sustainability. Just like a long-married couple who decides to renew their vows, I believe reiterating what we already do and making a new commitment to faithfully observe that commitment can be a good way to help decrease our ecological footprint. So even though my contract contains things I may already be doing, I am going to leave them in there so that it reminds me to redouble my efforts and be more diligent in performing some of these commitments.
At any rate, I've reworked my contract to include changes I can make in my worklife as opposed to my homelife, which is pretty solid sustainability-wise (is that a word?). There are wasteful things going on at the law office and I am going to commit to trying to change that so we can become more ecologically sound at work, too.
I have a huge family and a wide circle of friends. Maybe one NEW commitment I can make is to inform others about ways that I am ecologically committed and ask them if they are willing to do the same. I think the more people who join me in these commitments, the better.
In response to the other posts:
Loretta, I like your idea of volunteering in organizations that promote sustainability. Now that is a REAL commitment.
Steph, your post made a lot of sense to me, and please keep continuing to pour it all out! I have never lived off the grid, or "roughed it" as you call it, but when the power has been out for as much as a week at a time, we have learned other ways of doing things without using electric energy. My girls and I actually enjoyed having the power outages and reverting to simpler ways. What I really like is that it is so much Quieter without electronic stuff on all the time.
Christine, I hear your deep anger and hurt, but as we learn in tai chi and Reiki classes, it can be a very healing thing to let go of all that anger. And I do not believe that anyone is attempting to force you to be phony. Why do you think that? As for your prediction of mankind's doom, if everyone had such a gloomy outlook they would probably give up trying to fix the situation and thereby hasten our demise. Is there no room for hope in your heart? It saddens me to think that you have been Eeyore-ized.
As for me, I am not giving up yet on humanity.
Christine asks who does not love the earth? Who does not love nature?
And the sad thing is many people I know do not. I have heard comments by citizens saying the woods are creepy, scary, and unnecessary. But lots of these people seem to be absorbed in American societal norms always thinking and doing what the T.V. and pop culture tells them. The positive part to this is we as people have the ability to plant new seeds of knowledge in the brains of these people. Love for nature and sustainability can spread with proper education on the web of life.
Crystal,
You mentioned "Pop Culture" in your post and that sparked some thoughts for me. I feel as though if our current pop culture doesn't get on the "Go Green" bandwagon (which many have) I feel it will be more difficult for society to change. Since pop culture is so vast and in-your-face, I almost feel it may be a good way to reach out to help others realize how the impact the earth...a way to use the negativity of celebrities and put a positive spin on it. However, I do also wish we didn't have to do that. I wish so much our society and are real cultures weren't so driven by nonsense and were able to continue to reflect and improve.
I guess I still don't see how humanity can be adequately motivated to 'do' something about the environment and the earth's degradation. It seems like the mega-corporations call all the shots, and their motives have little to do with environmental sustainability (for the most part) and everything to do with profit.
It seems like the 'haves' will always exploit the 'have-nots'! I don't see a way to reverse this human tendency...
KW
New Blog Address for Christine.
I will do most of my writing here.
Http://hum3500@blogspot.com
What I mean is: I will do most of my writing THERE.
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