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I will go first then. Simply off the statment of How we Shall live.
ReplyDeleteWe allways have a choice, to live for ourselves or those we com in contect with.
We can attempt to help the world or to use it.
Though we have all heard lectures and speeches about the enviroment we often forget what we heard after we leave the room.
So a question is how can, what we hear, stay with us to make a difference on our lives and those around us.
We do it by reminding ourselves to stay informed...to not turn off or tune out issues that come across our radar every day, through newspapers, radio, tv, etc. And even more importantly, to take an ACTIVE role in being informed. Join a local Sierra Club chapte, foe example - the Allegany Co. group meets at Dantes in Frostburg. Go to public meetings on issues like fracking and wind energy issues. Be a PARTICIPANT in the world.
DeleteHow shall we Live.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how to start this but I'm just going to list some ideas that i have had that could help with some of our problems.
Well it more like i have a few ideas(most i cant remember right now) that could help but only for a few specific problems. I know that we, as a planet, are in trouble in so many aspects; from pollution, to global warming, even over-population.
My first idea would help with the Home Energy issue, and to most like a pain.
My inspiration for this idea has come from some of the hotels that i have stayed in, where they will have a light switch that instead of turning on an overhead light it takes and turns on outlets which are connected to lamps in the room.
So instead of only having the switches that would control a lamp or something have a switch that would act as an in room circuit breaker. So that when you are done in a room for the day it would turn everything off. This would save the electricity that the lights on electronics would use, along with what is used by AC adapters that are plugged in but not used.
Other than that idea I just have common knowledge information that will help reduce pollution and help the environment.
Such as:
• Keeping car repaired and fluids changed regularly will cause a higher MPG for the car
• Replace old windows and doors with energy star ones to save on heating and air-conditioning used.
• Find temperature leaking areas in your house (possibly with a thermal camera) and insulate them
• Recycle and dispose of waste properly.
• Try to limit your spending on un-necessary items
• Don’t by bottled water use a reusable bottle with tap or filtered tap water.
By Nathaniel Walkling
Yes on the water bottle...I am giving everyone on my Christmas list a filter bottle this year. And that leads me to think in larger terms about how we as a society handle gift giving. I am in the process of writing a book about this. It connects to your mention of having/getting UN NECESSARY stuff...
DeleteHere is one thing that I have done for years...it took me a while to get friends and family on board, but it is working. Instead of giving me a THING, I have asked that they "give" a donation in my name to any one of a list of organizations I support. In any amount. My list includes the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Audubon Society of MD, the Ethnobiology Dept. at FSU, The Evergreen Heritage Foundation, Mt. Savage, MD., the Catoctin Forest Alliance, and others. That way, I have no clutter, no wrapping paper going to the landfill, and I have been part of some outreach for the environment.
FOR EXAMPLE, SEE THIS LINK: http://www.cbf.org/image/lightbox/aa-lightbox-eoy-2012-row2-text.png And donations are still tax deductible, so the giver gets something back as well!!
DeleteInteresting idea concerning the use of power in mass occupied buildings. Maybe you should run with this and get a copyright....
ReplyDeleteHELLO!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement above,.."Though we have all heard lectures and speeches about the enviroment we often forget what we heard after we leave the room.
So a question is how can, what we hear, stay with us to make a difference on our lives and those around us."
I think the focus is getting people involved with environmental issues by revealing a more sentimental point. Making something emotional will leave and impression on people, at least it always works on me. We as human beings need to realize the significance of the environment's issues on our lives, instead of pretending they don't exist. If we make it PERSONAL it will always matter, and we will push forward to make a difference.
This reminds me of the video we watched in class about the pollution in our oceans, and how those bird's decomposed bodies where filled with plastic and all other sorts of crap! I could not get my mind off it. I came home eager to show my finance the video and explain it all to him. It was sad and neither of us had previous knowledge of how bad this issue was.
Now, there I was informed of this environmental issue, it then became emotional and PERSONAL to me. I got the word out (ie "told a friend") so,.....NOW WHAT? my issue has always been finding out how to get involved. Even after we understand the issues in our environment, we then have to get involved and become a part of MAKING A DIFFERENCE or at least attempt to.
By DiJone' Childs
You are right about the emotional appeal being the best grabber for many of us. How could a person NOT be moved by the photographs of Chris Jordan? While Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keeffe shared with us the beauty of the environment through their art, Jordan is using his gift with the camera to bring to us another view of the world...neither pretty nor to be ignored.
DeleteAwareness is the first part of the equation. Once we KNOW something, we can no longer ignore its impact on our lives. How you find ways to share what you know will be a process of discovery. Be awake to opportunities! And if you are one day a Mom, be sure to make the environment part of your child's life, through reading, science, music, art and being outside!!!!
Our environment is being destroyed and everyone knows it. It’s a question of how to get those in power (politicians, corporation owners, etc.) to be willing to stand up and make the necessary changes rather than just leaving it go or continuing to repeat past mistakes. I agree with DiJone’ that making it personal is the way to go. It’s personal for us when we see the birds killed by plastic pollution or beautiful wildernesses destroyed by the removal of apex predators and it pulls at our emotions and makes us want to encourage change. In order to make that change occur, we need to make it personal for those in power. We need to threaten to change their way of life, by voting them out of office, not buying their company’s products, etc., if they are not willing to listen and help make the necessary changes.
ReplyDeleteBy Seth Davis
Knowing of something then makes us either supporters of the status quo if we stay silent or advocates for change if we stand op and speak out. We do not have the luxury of being passive any longer. Join special interest groups like the Sierra Club, or others that are more activist in nature if that is one's calling.Greenpeace and the get to know how elected official actually VOTE on environmental issues....all of this is available to us. Here is a website listing many groups of all sorts and their links: http://www.slac.com/tree/links.html
DeleteTaking time to learn where our products come from...even our food...and as you say, making conscious decisions not to support certain things IS a proactive step. CONTACTING companies anmd speaking out is the next step.
Our earth is sacred, yet we have so many issues deteriorating our land, water, and resources. We are living for now and not for the future. everyone is aware of these issues, yet nothing is being done to help them. We are all aware of them, and we all hear about them, but still we aren't doing anything to help. Buying products with the logos, or donating a dollar one time isn't enough anymore. there's talk but no actions and that's where we need to get more help. Like the slideshow of the decayed birds we saw, recycling is definitely a number one global issue we aren't doing enough to reduce. yeah buying a reusable water bottle is better but in all seriousness not everyone in the world is able to do the same. We need to threaten our leaders who say "I'll do whatever it takes to stop it", because clearly they're not
ReplyDeleteBy Meredith Eibl
On the other hand i think that everyone should have the chance to not just camp out and have fun but to do a trip like our BCLS class and really go to a place that can change their views on our earth. Sleeping under a tarp with a sleeping bag and some food, water, cooking utensils, and a change of clothes for at least a week is definitely powerful enough to change ones point of view. Personally i wasn't expecting half the stuff we did, saw and even the new skills we learned on the trip. You start out on the road walking up to the beginning or the dirt trail. You hike in to the wild and continue on with nature all day. Stopping briefly to re-fill water bottles, and continuing on until night fall when you learn to set up a tarp, camp, and cook in the dark with just a tiny amount of light from a head lamp. Falling asleep to nothing but the sounds of the wild. When we started i thought it was just going to be all trail hikes with the campsites on the side. Surprisingly enough once we got to the top of a trail it opened up and felt like not only the top of the mountain, but the top of the world. It went from trails covered by trees to open land and scenes of the wild that looked like i was in the open in Alaska. experiences with nature like this are a special experience, you learn to use the land to navigate. I think we need to get more people outside and connect with nature and the wilderness to see what else is out in our world besides TV, hate, crime, terrorism, public issues, etc. Teach then the seven Leave No Trace Principles, and put them out there for a life changing experience
ReplyDeleteBy Meredith Eibl
Lectures and pictures aren't working because actions speak way louder than words
ReplyDeleteBy Meredith Eibl
PLEASE SEE THIS LINK FROM 2011...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s1372
It refers to the NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE initiative now taking shape in many states....
As I have shared with the class, I am involved with he Evergreen Heritage Foundation in Allegany County, and our goal is environmental education for all schoolchildren, K-12.
ReplyDeleteOfficial Summary of NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE
This summary was written by the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan arm of the Library of Congress. GovTrack did not write and has no control over these summaries.
7/14/2011--Introduced.
No Child Left Inside Act of 2011 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require states, as a prerequisite to receiving implementation grants, to develop environmental literacy plans, approved by the Secretary of Education, for pre-kindergarten through grade 12 that include environmental education standards and teacher training.
Directs the Secretary to award Environmental Education Professional Development Grants to states and, through them, competitive subgrants to partnerships that include a local educational agency (LEA) and, permissibly, institutions of higher education (IHE), other educational entities, or federal, state, regional, or local natural resource or environmental agencies, for activities involving, among other things, teacher training and the development of more rigorous environmental education curricula that advance the teaching of interdisciplinary courses.
Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to partnerships that include an LEA and, permissibly, IHEs, other educational entities, federal, state, regional, or local natural resource or environmental agencies, or park and recreation departments, for activities to improve and support environmental education that include:
(1) advancing content and achievement standards, and
(2) developing or disseminating innovations or model programs.
No mandate works unless there are people - US - on the grassroots level who will design programs, lobby school systems, teach children, find and write grants, join special interest groups, spread awareness at all times, and become PROACTIVE and not remain inactive or silent.
ReplyDelete