The EMbarrassing Impact on Earth....

1). My 100 items list: In class, we were assigned to create a list of a maximum 100 items that we thought we needed to live off of. Well, where do I begin? I could tell you everything on my list, but I had 100 items and was a little embarrassed, especially when I realized I probably needed more to get by everyday. Because of my girly-girl antics and love of clothing/make up, most of my list was made up of those items, leaving me few amenities such as shampoo, hair brushes, razors and deodorant. Not such a clean or happy way to live, is it?

2). The actual number of items I own: After the initial list was made, I went home and counted the number of items I actually own. As if I wasn't already embarrassed by my initial list, my actual list sent me into a corner. To be honest I stopped truly counting once my number hit 450. Like my initial list, the actual one consisted of mostly clothing, including 27 dresses which I found mildly amusing. Hopefully the future will allow me to rid myself of some clothes, as long as I can keep in mind the next portion of the assignment and constantly consuming impacts the world.

3). Reflection on research of chosen item: After the "list" assignments, we placed ourselves into groups to research an item to see what it was composed of, where the components came from, and how they were all placed together. My group decided to choose a baseball which was composed of leather, cork, string, rubber, and a few other chemicals. When breaking apart these components, we found that each were made up of other parts such as oils and cotton plants which come from several countries all around the world (China, Taiwan, France to name a few). All of these components were then shipped together and made into a baseball in Korea. The amount of fuel being placed into the environment from the transportation of these items and the oils being drilled daily for each made me realize how much work is put into any item of choice. Is that new ball really worth all of the carbon emissions in the air? Hopefully one day the entire world can think like this in an attempt to cut back.

4). Ecological footprint reflection: There was a quiz assigned to us in class which asked us questions about our lifestyle and how much carbon and toxins we put into the atmosphere the way we live. When the quiz was over, it informed me that if everyone on Earth lived the way I did, we would need close to 7 Earths to care for my needs. SEVEN??? ARE YOU KIDDING!? That's disgusting, I was so shocked! I never would have thought traveling overseas once a year and just plain driving did such damage to the Earth! Thankfully the quiz gave us tips on how to improve our ways of life, like turning up the thermostat in Summer, which I happily did!

GOING GREEN!

Our class recently split into two groups focusing on separate parts of a "green" unit. I have been working on the "Green Team" portion of this unit, and together our team has been working on making our school a more Earth friendly place by changing its recycling habits.

Prior to starting the Green Team, our whole class read articles and watched multiple videos about other major green topics such as collaborative consumption (featured in my last blog post) and different aspects of recycling. All of this discussion focused around lifestyle changes in order to create a better, cleaner life, which would in turn effect the quality of life for the entire world. Since we embarked on these discussions, I found myself changing my lifestyle based on what we've learned mostly about collaborative consumption. Although I have not completely gone through my closet, drawers, house, etc., to see what I don't need or use anymore, my mind set has changed thoroughly. I am now on the slow road to recovery from being an impulse buyer, to buying what and when I truly need something. For example, at the mall shopping for prom shoes recently, mother dearest offered to buy me a new pair of shoes because the ones I was wearing were from last Spring. Before the unit began, I would have jumped at the chance to buy a pair. But in the store I sat and thought about the shoes and if I really did need them just because they were "last season's." After a few moments of deep thought and confused looks from my mother, I decided against the shoes and left the store. I have to admit, it was a weird feeling. Never before had I willingly turned down a shopping experience, but I do believe it started a trend for change in a new way of thinking in my life.

Other than basic concepts and ideas from collaborative consumption and living a minimalistic lifestyle, I've learned a few different facts from this unit. One example deals with the recycling of water bottles; I had no idea you couldn't recycle the caps with the bottles! Since then, I make sure to unscrew the caps before depositing them in the recycling bins. I also learned that almost anything can be recycled, but there are barely any places to recycle the rarer items like yogurt containers and plastic cups. One of the final facts I've learned dealt with the very beginning of the unit where we watched the water bottle documentary. I now know the dangers of BPA in water bottles and how bad they really are for the environment. The chemicals found in bottled water also came as shocking news to me, which I try to warn my peers about.

As a member of the "Green Team," I have been working on a tournament, which will hopefully take place in May, which consists of flicking the can tabs off of soda cans and then collecting the tabs and cans to be recycled/donated to the Ronald McDonald House for charity. Other than having a good time and handing out eco-friendly prizes to the winners, Green Team members and I were hoping this tournament would help initiate a desire to recycle in the student body, which would eventually force the school board to get more involved. In doing this, I also co-wrote a letter to Mr. Newman explaining the tournament and asking for his approval. With the other members of the team I also helped collect surveys about the recycling habits of the school from other teachers.

Hopefully my millions of followers have gathered from the first section of the post that I am hoping/planning on having these minimalist lifestyle & collaborative consumption concepts stay in my life for as long as possible. If I break, however, I can guarantee that my recycling habits will continue to improve. I have become recently obsessed with protecting the Earth and its inhabitants, and plan to make my lifestyle habits the factor that saves the world.

B-CYCLE!

Our G&T class is now learning about a "collaborative consumption" concept, in which we each explored new ideas through websites which connect the Earth by sharing land, products, etc. The concept of collaborative consumption was first brought to my attention through a TED talk done by Rachel Botsman which can be watched here. I was privileged to research B-Cycle:

B-Cycle allows anyone to simply swipe their credit card at a B-Cycle station for 24- hours, or register online to choose a bike from a B-Cycle station and grab a bike and go. Then you simply park your bike at any B-cycle station to return it.

As of now, there are B-Cycle stations located in Chicago, Denver, Des Moines, Hawaii, Louisville, and San Antonio. In order to get B-Cycle into your city, you vote on there website by putting in your zip code.

B-cycle is the only bike-sharing program that measures the actual distance traveled on each ride and keeps track of the calories you’ve burned and the carbon emissions you’ve prevented. All this information is available on your personal B-cycle web page.

B-Cycle was founded by 3 major American companies: Humana, Trek Bicycle Corporation, and Crispin Porter + Bogusky

There’s a membership fee that provides unlimited access to the system for a period of time, or a usage fee that is typically measured by 30 minute increments, making this a profit organization.

Remembering the Holocaust

This past Friday, the members of my GT2 class and I took a trip down to Washington D.C. to visit the famous Holocaust Museum. Having visited before, I thought I was slightly prepared for what I was about to see, only to realize upon arrival that the last time I visited I only participated in the "Daniel's Story" portion of the museum which is designed for children. That being said, I only had a few minutes to mentally prepare for what I thought most of the museum would be like. In those few moments I was expecting to see more images than anything else. Images of living conditions before and after death camps, dead bodies, children, and the other generic sad things you think of when you think about the Holocaust.

However, that was not the case.

Stepping into the elevator was the first step of many in creating a long list of overwhelming experiences. While inside the elevator, you were crammed against the walls, and strangers visiting that day. The walls looked like what would've been a gas chamber, or another under-supplied area of a camp which would have held Jewish people. One of the items I saw which made me feel the worst was the broken Torah in a glass case on the second floor. Being of Jewish decent, I've grown up with the Torah and understand the importance of it within the Jewish community. For you to compare it to something, in my mindn it was like staring at dead puppies behind a glass case (I apologize for the juvenile comparison). Another item I saw which reminded me of family were the Star of David patches framed on the walls. I have the patches of many of my great aunts and uncles, and making the connection in front of my eyes upset me. The last thing I saw which left me speechless was the incredible amount of pictures which informed you of the people who perished. The number of images was overwhelming, and I found myself at a loss for words.


I left the Holocaust Museum taking away more understanding for the specifics that occured before, and during the camps. Prior to the museum, I had a general idea of what occured; but the amount of information provided there was overwhelming.




(P.S. Ms. Mystrena, I'm sorry my brain is fried from HSPAs)

In Conclusion...

Hello everyone! I know what you're thinking; I haven't posted anything in a few weeks and your sadness is hollowing out your brains. Well, I have good news: I'M CONCLUDING HOPE & THE HUMAN SPIRIT!

Since my last post, our G&T class has finished our first portion of the Human Spirit project by splitting up into groups and doing an individual study. My group, consisting of 5 members, decided to ask questions and interview people around our school, and then compile their interviews into a video to show our class. I will ask you, my fellow bloggers, these same questions; hopefully you can give me your own answer:

1. What does hope mean to you?

2. What does it mean to be human?

3. Can you experience hope without going through a hardship?

4. Do you have an experience where you gained or lost hope? Why?

5. Do you have hope for humanity?

To our surprise, we did not get many varying answers to the 5 questions. Most people said hope was something along the lines of, "what gets you out of bed in the morning," and being human was "making mistakes." Yes, I did think that the answers would sound similar at some point or another, but I think because of the details we've explored in this unit, I had more "hope" that everyone would have their own, different definition.

Despite my expectations, our group managed to create a terrific video, highlighting some answers to the questions that particularly impacted us. In the near future, our group is hoping to compile with the other groups in our class to create a "master video," to show all of the answers we received.

From the project, I continued to realize that there is no true definition of "hope" or "humanity." I'm hoping, even as the unit comes to an end, to perfect my definitions, as well as explore separate aspects of the topics like the other groups accomplished.

Ubuntu

The word Ubuntu is a Nguni word that has no specific translation to english, but is used to describe an African view of life where humans can only get a full fulfilment in life by interacting with other people. This represents a a human spirt that unites mankind across race and religion boundaries.

To me, Ubuntu means that a human will not die happy or satisfied unless they interact with people outside of their comfort zone. It has a hidden meaning in my mind that tells you to help the homeless man on the street, attend a religious service that will help you understand other people's opinions, or give that extra 3 dollars to the pizza man. Despite other arguments, no one wants to be alone. Doing something which requires you to step out of your small comfort box could help you make the lifetime connections with people that help you escape loneliness.

This relates to the Rifkin RSA video perfectly. The video told us how we needed to forget about everything society has made up, (politics, religion, social ladders, etc.) and come together as a human race if we want to survive. Ubuntu is essentially telling us the same thing, only comparing it to a person's happiness. I think the human race can survive if we adapt a portion of both philosophies. Getting rid of the "made up" portions of society will not fix everything because we are human, and we are flawed. Everyone needs to help everyone if we want to survive.

Of course, all of this carries back to our essential questions of our Hope/Human Spirit Unit. It falls under the ever-growing category of loneliness and how a human expresses hope when they are lonely. Hopefully a lonely person in the world will understand this, and start a new generation of hope that is planted in your brain the day you are born.

Feeling Human Aywhere

Another beautifully written article we analyzed in class was posted by Ezra Klein, and can be viewed here http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2... .

The article talks about a 35 year-old disabled man named Jason Rowe, who uses his online character to, in a way, carry out the life he wish he could. He explains that by using his character, he can walk, fight monsters, or simply hang out with his friends at the bar. His online living really ties into our "Humanity; Hope and Spirit," unit.

For this man to survive everyday is a struggle. I would think going on the internet and seeing other people live their lives relatively normally would upset him, and make him regret his online decisions. Then again, living out your life in a fake persona can always give you more strength to live, like in Mr. Rowe's case. The hope this man possesses must be stronger than all of ours combined. Waking up everyday knowing what you and I would consider the simplest tasks are almost impossible to him, and still trying to make online friends inspires me.

The smallest improvements to our technological world can change lives.

Even though some people may consider his way of living and making friends unnatural, I feel like it's his only option. Getting out of bed is hassle in itself, his will to live exceeds his want for death because of online gaming.

Let people live; if you do that, your own spirit will have room to grow.