Friday, December 12, 2008
Christmas Lights
Hey what do you guys think about Christmas lights? Do you think that they are energy "well spent" so to speak. Is the happiness (or mood) that they inspire greater than the amount of energy it takes to light them? That's just something I was thinking about today. I hope everyone has a really fun (and sustainable) winter break!
Final Post
At the beginning of this course I wasn't sure what sustainability meant, but I thought that it would have to do with limiting the amount we use. I still believe that it has to do with limiting what we use, but I definitely think it has to do with more than that.
Sustainability is more than just making sure to recycle, or to build houses or buildings that use renewable energy sources. To me, it's more important to realize that the building needs to stop. Yes, your brand new house may use solar energy...but did you need to build a brand new house? What about all the other, older houses in the neighborhood over that are vacant? I think it's a common in societies like ours that we gauge the level of advancement or the wealth of a country or place by the amount of development. This is so backwards! By development we mean destruction and then creation. Destruction of the environment, of ecosystems, of life and creation and construction of non-living material buildings, or parking lots, or whatever. Our economy and our lives are both viewed in linear manners.
I think that this has something to do with the difficulties we have in discovering what it means to be sustainable, and in attempting to be sustainable. For most of us, we see life as being born, growing up, and dying. We don't seem to be sustainable as human beings so what do we know about sustainability? But I think that we are sustainable. I think that our bodies are sustainable. When we die, the line we live on does not end. It loops around and becomes a circle. Our bodies decompose and nourish the earth. Our minds go on and do whatever you believe they do (perhaps they are reused as the cycle of births and rebirths continues), but our lives are not lines, they are cycles. I think that once we de-mechanical-ize our lives and focus more on just being passionate and creative the connection with nature will be effortless to acknowledge. This also seems to relate to the idea of quality, not quantity. If we limit the amount we use, the amount we buy, we will automatically limit the amount we throw out and the amount we disrupt the environment.
One of the main ideas of sustainability to me still seems to be networks, circles of life, relationships. Once we realize that we are intertwined with everyone around us and with nature, we can being to see that what we do has an impact. We can take ideas from nature and use these ideas to come up with more sustainable ways of living. Nature demonstrates that sustainable systems are possible, so we should be taking ideas about how to live from nature (for example, structure of things that we build can be built in more "natural" ways). I guess I still don't really know what sustainability is. But I think that it begins with education. I think that education should begin from the very beginning, from pre-k. All throughout our young childhood we spend so much time outdoors, and I think, many of us feel a real connection to nature. Then we get put into school for seven hours a day, a school filled with artificial lighting and we learn theories and formulas but not about our connection to nature. We should integrate sustainability, in whatever way we see fit, into classrooms starting at the beginning and moving way on up to engineering school (for example). In addition, I think that sustainability has to do not only with limiting, but with not doing. Deciding whether we actually need something before we build it, or buy it, or use it. I think sustainability also has so much to do with relationships. Relationships with nature and the environment, but also relationships between people. We need to work together, across academic fields, across occupational areas, across fences and yards as we work in a community and strive for a sustainable future.
Sustainability is more than just making sure to recycle, or to build houses or buildings that use renewable energy sources. To me, it's more important to realize that the building needs to stop. Yes, your brand new house may use solar energy...but did you need to build a brand new house? What about all the other, older houses in the neighborhood over that are vacant? I think it's a common in societies like ours that we gauge the level of advancement or the wealth of a country or place by the amount of development. This is so backwards! By development we mean destruction and then creation. Destruction of the environment, of ecosystems, of life and creation and construction of non-living material buildings, or parking lots, or whatever. Our economy and our lives are both viewed in linear manners.
I think that this has something to do with the difficulties we have in discovering what it means to be sustainable, and in attempting to be sustainable. For most of us, we see life as being born, growing up, and dying. We don't seem to be sustainable as human beings so what do we know about sustainability? But I think that we are sustainable. I think that our bodies are sustainable. When we die, the line we live on does not end. It loops around and becomes a circle. Our bodies decompose and nourish the earth. Our minds go on and do whatever you believe they do (perhaps they are reused as the cycle of births and rebirths continues), but our lives are not lines, they are cycles. I think that once we de-mechanical-ize our lives and focus more on just being passionate and creative the connection with nature will be effortless to acknowledge. This also seems to relate to the idea of quality, not quantity. If we limit the amount we use, the amount we buy, we will automatically limit the amount we throw out and the amount we disrupt the environment.
One of the main ideas of sustainability to me still seems to be networks, circles of life, relationships. Once we realize that we are intertwined with everyone around us and with nature, we can being to see that what we do has an impact. We can take ideas from nature and use these ideas to come up with more sustainable ways of living. Nature demonstrates that sustainable systems are possible, so we should be taking ideas about how to live from nature (for example, structure of things that we build can be built in more "natural" ways). I guess I still don't really know what sustainability is. But I think that it begins with education. I think that education should begin from the very beginning, from pre-k. All throughout our young childhood we spend so much time outdoors, and I think, many of us feel a real connection to nature. Then we get put into school for seven hours a day, a school filled with artificial lighting and we learn theories and formulas but not about our connection to nature. We should integrate sustainability, in whatever way we see fit, into classrooms starting at the beginning and moving way on up to engineering school (for example). In addition, I think that sustainability has to do not only with limiting, but with not doing. Deciding whether we actually need something before we build it, or buy it, or use it. I think sustainability also has so much to do with relationships. Relationships with nature and the environment, but also relationships between people. We need to work together, across academic fields, across occupational areas, across fences and yards as we work in a community and strive for a sustainable future.
Sustainability.
The lifestyle project really influenced me to just try harder for the little things in my life that can impact the larger sense of life. It was not always easy and required me to concentrate on what I was doing in my life. It seemed not only me that this project affected though, numerous people were infected with sustainable knowledge. I think the idea of a sustainable world seems endless, but also the knowledge and education is in constant pursuit. Sustainability to me means to put forth effort and dedication, to putting the world as a whole before your self. I gained a lot from the film king corn. It educated me own some of the current problems in sustainable technology. Over the course of this class my idea of sustainability has changed into a more attainable goal that we are constantly struggling towards.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
sustain imagination
At the beginning of this semester I had what I now feel is a very cold philosophical definition of what sustainability means to me. I held that sustainability is the appreciation that we ourselves cannot be separated from our environment. I felt that we have to realize that we ourselves are part of an intricate web that has the capability of drastically harming other links within the web. This definition leaves me asking wheres the room for the trash art or sustainable fashion sense within my philosophical premise. I missed something which I now believe is integral to my notion of a balanced web and that is the role that I as a human being play within this web. It is not my job as a human being to simply keep the balance within the web I can add so much more. We as humans have the ability to use our imagination to enrich our environment in unlimited ways. For instance Natalia's refitting of her clothes, she could have chosen to simply maintain them so that they didn't go to waste but she chose to make them more aesthetically appealing. This is it! This is huge letting the human imagination enrich life without disrupting the critical balance between ourselves and our environment.
I believe this is essential we must reign in our imaginations and gear our imaginations to improving the lot of not only ourselves but the entire environment. When we can do this we will not only be able to live in harmony with the environment but each other as well. Patrick with his can crushing recycling bin proved that the human imagination can artistically create solutions for improving our relationship with the external world. I think we all found ourselves having to use our imaginations to comply with our lifestyles project I know i did. This is why I am going to add my new tentative definition to the Mix.
Sustainability is the artistic practice of applying our imaginations to improving our relationship with the ourselves and our environment.
I believe this is essential we must reign in our imaginations and gear our imaginations to improving the lot of not only ourselves but the entire environment. When we can do this we will not only be able to live in harmony with the environment but each other as well. Patrick with his can crushing recycling bin proved that the human imagination can artistically create solutions for improving our relationship with the external world. I think we all found ourselves having to use our imaginations to comply with our lifestyles project I know i did. This is why I am going to add my new tentative definition to the Mix.
Sustainability is the artistic practice of applying our imaginations to improving our relationship with the ourselves and our environment.
Back to the question...
Sustainability has definitely become more meaningful to me from the beginning of the semester to now. I still retain a lot of the initial inferences I made about sustainability at the beginning of this class, like our responsibility to the earth and how we should not take the things we have for granted. Along with this, I want to add that not only is sustainability a very real and impacting run of give and take, but it is a mission on all of our parts to create the ideal way of life that benefits both us and the world we live in. From the readings I found the magnitude of the "green" movement and all the ways people have already come up with to help the earth. It was encouraging to see how many people already feel passionate about and work towards this cause. From class discussions, I realized that there are people of all ages (even --- ESPECIALLY --- my age!) that are already very driven in this endeavor, which is inspiring as well. And from the Lifestyle Project (oh, the Lifestyle Project...) I discovered that even though making your life sustainable (or MORE sustainable) does take some work, it really is easier than it seems. Already I find myself automatically doing things like not getting a tray in the Commons, turning the extra lights off whenever possible, being conscious of how long my showers take, and eating more veggies instead of meat. This course made a positive impact on my lifestyle and how I view sustainability, and I'm really glad I took it. :)
Sustainability
Our environment is in quite a mess right now, and if we don’t anything about it, that mess will become a full-blown crisis. Sustainability is the answer. It’s up to us to work together as a community to enlighten others and live as an example.
I’ve learned that living sustainably isn’t easy. It takes dedication and effort. But, sustainability isn’t all about sacrifice; it’s also about creation. It’s about creating beauty and magnificence by restoring nature’s inherent majesty, turning trash into treasure, and creating new innovations that inspire change. I see things like wind turbines, solar panels, compost heaps, gardens, electric and vegetable-oil-powered cars and can’t help but be amazed.
Sustainability offers us hope. We can do this. If we start living sustainably, generations after generations will be able to live in harmony with this earth.
I’ve learned that living sustainably isn’t easy. It takes dedication and effort. But, sustainability isn’t all about sacrifice; it’s also about creation. It’s about creating beauty and magnificence by restoring nature’s inherent majesty, turning trash into treasure, and creating new innovations that inspire change. I see things like wind turbines, solar panels, compost heaps, gardens, electric and vegetable-oil-powered cars and can’t help but be amazed.
Sustainability offers us hope. We can do this. If we start living sustainably, generations after generations will be able to live in harmony with this earth.
Sustainable water usage
When the option for an activist project was initially mentioned, the first thought I had was of the awful sprinklers that seem to be watering everywhere, all the time. I felt this would be an opportunity to bring justice to this situation, an element of sustainability I have been thinking about over the course of this class. I started with high hopes to fix the complete sprinkler system but did not quite realize that I had no plan of action.
After meeting with Dr. Van Horn, he gave me the name and number of the school landscape manager, Mr. Bessent. I set up a meeting with him and we were able to talk for a long time.
As my Dad would say, "get to know your enemy before you attack". This is not a war of any sort, but I did realize that before I make any outward claims or accusations, I must first educate myself on what it is I am really dealing with. This will strengthen my understanding and give me more options for my plan of action. Here are some things I learned: the sprinkler system is computerized, it comes on nightly, but it is sensitive to weather so it will not run if it is/has recently rained. If there is a sprinkler that I see shooting off onto something that won't benefit from the water, I should turn in a work order for that sprinkler head.
More interesting than sprinkler facts, I learned about the hierarchy within this educational institution. It is desirous for the landscaping to look "institutional" so they plant green foliage that will achieve this, but is not necessarily the best choice of plant for our climate region, weather or soil. There are so many beautiful Texas plants that could be planted around Southwestern, but instead, "they" have chose Asian Jasmine.
Mr. Bessent did say however that there was potential for more native plant beds around campus, one of which I see between the DLC and Lord Center. I plan to continue dialouge throughout next semester and beyond to show that Southwestern students care how their tuition money is being allocated. Sustainable (and consequentially efficient) methods should be most practiced. This project has helped me learn and exercise two parts of sustainability that I believe are crucial: education of the subject and a call for justice. I am excited to learn more about the system and see the different ways that a student voice can make a difference.
After meeting with Dr. Van Horn, he gave me the name and number of the school landscape manager, Mr. Bessent. I set up a meeting with him and we were able to talk for a long time.
As my Dad would say, "get to know your enemy before you attack". This is not a war of any sort, but I did realize that before I make any outward claims or accusations, I must first educate myself on what it is I am really dealing with. This will strengthen my understanding and give me more options for my plan of action. Here are some things I learned: the sprinkler system is computerized, it comes on nightly, but it is sensitive to weather so it will not run if it is/has recently rained. If there is a sprinkler that I see shooting off onto something that won't benefit from the water, I should turn in a work order for that sprinkler head.
More interesting than sprinkler facts, I learned about the hierarchy within this educational institution. It is desirous for the landscaping to look "institutional" so they plant green foliage that will achieve this, but is not necessarily the best choice of plant for our climate region, weather or soil. There are so many beautiful Texas plants that could be planted around Southwestern, but instead, "they" have chose Asian Jasmine.
Mr. Bessent did say however that there was potential for more native plant beds around campus, one of which I see between the DLC and Lord Center. I plan to continue dialouge throughout next semester and beyond to show that Southwestern students care how their tuition money is being allocated. Sustainable (and consequentially efficient) methods should be most practiced. This project has helped me learn and exercise two parts of sustainability that I believe are crucial: education of the subject and a call for justice. I am excited to learn more about the system and see the different ways that a student voice can make a difference.
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