blog #9

Deep Ecology looks at the world and sees social and ecological problems that are accelerating to a point where our very existence is threatened. Deep Ecology is the belief that the world does not exist purely as a resource for man's benefit. The world exists for its own sake. We are a part of this wonderful and diverse creation but we do not own it.

I would not say that agree with one view over the other. I think that they both have their places. Deep Ecology is a great place to look at how humans should view themselves in the web of nature however at this time I think that Shallow Ecology has the better chance of making the greatest impact on helping the environment. People tend to resest change and I worry that Deep Ecology is to far of a leap for most people to take at this moment. This may not be right or how things should be but it is the way things are. I agree with most things that Deep Ecology says but I think it is hard to believe that humans do not stand at a higher place in nature than other things. Just as the lion is the king of the Savannah, humans are the king of nature. I think it is our place to protect it and cherish it. I cant help but think of a Native American proverb that says "WE DO NOT INHERIT THE EARTH FROM OUR ANCESTORS, WE BORROW IT FROM OUR CHILDREN"

Blog # 8

Preconditions for Consensus Decision Making:

Common Goal: everyone present at the meeting needs to share a common goal and be willing to work together towards it.

Commitment to reach consensus: consensus can require a lot of commitment and patience to make it work. Everyone must be willing to really give it a go. This means not only being deeply honest about what it is you want or don't want but also able to properly listen to what others have to say.



Trust and openness: we all need to be able to trust that everyone shares our commitment to creating true consensus decisions. This includes being able to trust people not to abuse the process or to manipulate the outcome of the discussion.



Sufficient time: for making decisions and for learning to work by consensus. Taking time to make a good decision now can save wasting time revisiting a bad one later



Clear Process: it's essential for everyone to have a shared understanding of the process that the meeting is using.

Active participation: if we want a decision we can all agree on then we all need to play an active role in the decision making. This means listening to what everyone has to say, voicing thoughts and feelings about the matter and pro-actively looking for solutions that include everyone.

Good facilitation: When your group is larger than just a handful of people or you are trying to make difficult decisions, appoint facilitators to help your meeting run more smoothly. Good facilitation helps the group to work harmoniously, creatively and democratically.

Consensus decision making does has it weakness one being that up to 49% of participants can still wind up being "losers" even though they were included in the decision-making process. This outcome is less than ideal when an organization is counting on everyone to implement a decision enthusiastically. In addition, a vote may be slanted by apathy, inadequate information, or the influence of authority figures who express compelling opinions. Even when discussions do take place before voting, many members of a group may choose to keep important questions, concerns, or alternatives to themselves.

Blog # 7

       Culture jamming is define as a form of political and social activism which, by means of fake adverts, hoax news stories, pastiches of company logos and product labels, computer hacking, etc, draws attention to and at the same time subverts the power of the media, governments, and large corporations to control and distort the information that they give to the public in order to promote consumerism, militarism, etc.

       The idea behind culture jamming is that individuals are not given the choice as to whether they are exposed to ads or not. Without consent every individual in our communities are exposed to thousands of corporate ads each day. Jammers believe everyone should have the opportunity to voice their opinions just like the corporate advertisers. They believe in the opportunity to respond to the advertisements. It is a great tool for activism. It goes to the core of advertising and goes directly to the people.

        Adbusters is at the forefront of an insurgent political movement known loosely as

“culture jamming.” This movement seeks to undermine the marketing rhetoric of

multinational corporations, specifically through such practices as media hoaxing,

corporate sabotage, billboard “liberation,” and trademark infringement.

Here is a link to an example of culture jamming on youtube.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vJVMIYffWQ

Blog # 6

My group teaching project is social ecology. I choose social ecology because I found it to be the most relative and most interesting subject out of all of the subjects we had to choose from. I found the readings on social ecology to be very informative and interesting. It is very in depth and will take time for me to digest everything.

I truly found Bookchin’s “What is Social Ecology” a great reading and thought his challenge of Darwinism to be very interesting and would like to bring it up during the teaching. I also found Trainer's “Third World Poverty” to be very powerful and touching. I think this will be the best to focus on during our GTP leading of the class. I feel that this would touch the class in the deepest way and will make this most profound effect on the class.

The GTP leading our class should be very interesting and I am not sure exactly how we should go about it. I think we should make it as interesting and as informative as we can. Seeing that social ecology is

an interesting and important topic it should not be to hard to get the class involved. 

Blog # 5

By promoting the design and construction of new green schools and by greening existing schools, we can make a tremendous impact on student health, school operational costs and the environment.

These schools are built and operated to be full of clean air and sunlight and to be free of toxic materials and harmful chemicals. Green schools are energy efficient, helping to lower utility costs, conserve resources and reduce waste. Green schools showcase a community's commitment to its children and their future, who in turn learn from an early age the importance and benefits of acting as responsible stewards of their communities and the larger world.

Characteristics of a Green School

• Conserves energy and natural resources
• Saves taxpayer money
• Improves indoor air quality
• Removes toxic materials from places where children learn and play
• Employs daylighting strategies and improves classroom acoustics
• Employs sustainable purchasing and green cleaning practices
• Improves environmental literacy in students
• Decreases the burden on municipal water and wastewater treatment
• Encourages waste management efforts to benefit the local community and region
• Conserves fresh drinking water and helps manage stormwater runoff
• Encourages recycling
• Promotes habitat protection
• Reduces demand on local landfills
  
  
  
  centerforgreenschools.org/why-green-schools.asxhttp

Blog # 4

I found the “Ten Key Values of the Green Party” very interesting. I felt that there where a lot of good ideas that everyone could benefit from following and at the very least reading. If everyone was to follow just one of these ideas the world would a better place, as cliché as that may sound.

Out of all the values I found the “Ecological Wisdom” to be the one that I most believe in. I feel that it kind of wraps up all the other values into one. I strongly feel that we have a responsibility to protect the environment not only for our own sake but for that of future generations. I think it is very selfish and unacceptable to use the resources given to us by the environment with reckless abandonment and with no regard to the impact it will have on our children and their children. Self preservation is something that we all must have and if I believe that if we continue the same way we have there will be too little left to preserve. Following this I believe that having “Ecological Wisdom” is something that everyone must have.

I was most surprised by the practicability of the “Ten Key Values of the Green Party”. What I mean by this is that all of the values in some way or another are all very practical and would serve the greater good of the World tremendously.

Blog # 3

The program that I found most interesting on the Sustainable Carolina website was the "Greening the Mind" team. I found this most interesting because I think in order for anyone to change their way of doing things one must start with changing the way they think and live. I feel that the "Greening the Mind" team is a great place to make an impact on someone trying to be more green. I have also been a big believer in meditation so I think the Mindful Meditation would be very interesting to observe and participate in. 

On the AASHE website I really like the fact that they have Campus Operations Resources. Under this you can find such things as better building, transportation, dining and many other resources on how to make daily operations greener. I think this a great thing because many campuses may want to be greener but do not know where to start. This gives them a great place to start. They even have case studies posted online as a reference point on real word examples that work. The website is a great place for anyone that is trying to figure out how to become greener on their campus.

What is the best way that someone can make an impact on becoming a greener campus?