Chapter 3: Materials

1. After watching the story of stuff, I am much more conscious about how I consume and the rate I consume. It is a well presented video that is easily accessible to a vast majority of people. It really makes you think about where you things are coming from and where they are going. I was even thinking about how many things I bought that I could easily live without. I believe we are all guilty of buying into things such as trends which motivate us to consume more. We don’t need that new phone or that new pair of shoes when the ones we have work perfectly fine. We need to re-instill the ways of living from the past such and thrifting and being smart consumers in order to change the system. If we stop buying then big companies will have no choice but to stop producing as much. 
2. I side heavily with the idea that environmental sustainability outweighs the consumer economy. Being more sustainable is something that I believe a vast majority of people see as important, it is the ones who produce who value the consumer economy more. I feel that the idea of going “without” is required to be a good environmental steward is well meaning but flawed. I believe that there are numerous other things someone can do to classify as being an environmental steward. Reducing consumption is very important in assisting the environment but there are other ways one could impact the production process such as lobbying and rallying. 
3. The makerspace could be a place of “ethically sustainable innovation” because students and professors can work on projects that can help the campus and possibly the world live more sustainable. They can invent new programs and technologies that can assist in living sustainable. 
4. The materials on campus that I interact with that I would want to be green are books. Many classes require books that cannot be bought used for one reason or another and I think that adds to our issue of over consumption. Another material that I interact that I wish was more green with are the plastic cups that iced coffees come in at the pub. 
5. When things get thrown away on campus they are taken out to dumpsters which then fill up and are emptied. This is then taken to Biddeford municipalities to be dealt with. There is also a large number of recyclable products on campus which are dealt with appropriately. 
6. One “uh-oh” moment I had while reading this chapter was when the author wrote, “It is astonishingly difficult to trace the natural history basis of most everything that we use, sometimes even food, shelter, and housing.” This was eye-opening to me because we really do not know where the majority of our products originate from. We may know the basic materials they are made of but we do not know the intricate materials that are added and sometimes the producers don’t even know what chemicals are in their products.

Chapter 6: Wellness

I personally do not have much of a social media presence but I agree with Thomashow, “At their very best they provide spontaneous access to great conversations; at their worst they create distortion, gossip, misattributions, misunderstanding, and even pathology” (Thomashow 141). As much as I agree with potential damage and harm social media can cause, I believe it is a important aspect of our lives now. I believe it is a crucial tool for reaching out to certain groups, such as students. It can be used to strengthen “social connectedness” and “partnership networks.” According to Thomashow, “These are networks and matter” (Thomashow 141). I personally have discovered a number of environmentally focused individuals and groups through using Instagram. Many of my friends post images that attempt to spread awareness of sustainability. Other networks I am a part of are the face-to-face social networks established through my courses here. Many, if not all, of my friends share a similar love for the environment and knowledge the importance of sustainability that I do.

The idea of sustainability role models is a wonderful idea. The practice of leading by example is something that has proven effective through my own, time in a leadership position. I accept to “espouse sustainability” (Thomashow 144). Another important aspect of being a sustainability role model is showing people what is going on. Thomashow announced this in his own life, “I attempted transparency in my successes and failures accordingly” (Thomashow 143). Many of the environmentalists I have met “practice what they teach.” They are vegan and only eat organic foods. They don’t own a car or if they do it is electric. They lobby and attend environmental rallies. They are true environmentalists. Then there are the environmentalists such as myself, still living much of a normal life. I agree that I should and need to change some aspects of my life such as my consuming habits. I wish I had the money to switch to an electric vehicle but it is not financially feasible at this time. I need to attend more rallies and environmental gatherings. Thomashow has made me address who I am as an environmentalist and challenged me to change for the better.

Chapter 8: Interpretation

There are many questions a visitor could ask to determine how sustainable UNE is. Some of these questions even I have. Some questions they could ask could be questions like where does the food come from? Is it local? If not how far is it shipped in and why? Sticking with the topic of food, they could ask, How is the food disposed of? Is the waste disposed of in a sustainable way? Other questions could be on the topic of energy. How much of UNE’s energy comes from renewable sources? How efficient are the building in terms of heating, cooling, and lighting? Even grounds keeping could be asked about. Are the flowers all native species? Are the grounds cared for using gas powered tools or electric tools? Are harmful chemicals used to treat the lawns? The curriculum and campus life could be questioned. How present is sustainability on campus both in and outside of the class room? Are there programs set up to reward sustainable students such as those who don’t have a car on campus or who have an electric vehicle?

By “balance the visceral with the virtual,” Thomashow is talking about two ways of learning and evocative interpretation. A “visceral” approach to interpretation would be hands on and direct. A great example of why this is important is present within the same section of the text.”Our direct encounters with the ‘natural world’ are always close at hand, wherever we may be” (Thomashow p. 179). Humans are directly connected to the environment and interact with it on a daily basis. Studying these interactions are vital to develop sustainable living plans and projects. The virtual aspect of “visceral and virtual” refers to many technological tools that can be used to achieve many goals. According to Thomashow, “Technology has the capacity to instantaneously bridge space and time, thus enhancing an appreciation of scale, and to gather, assess, and manipulate data, lending a hands-on appeal to learning, facilitating simulations, models, and experiments” (Thomashow p. 179). Technology plays a massive role in evocative interpretation but both the visceral and virtual are crucial.

I cannot think of many ways I could apply this to my own project but in general we could find computer simulations of a proposed project such as how much water would be saved in total if more efficient toilets were installed. For the visceral, we could actually fill buckets with the amount of water that would be saved in one flush. This would put a real amount to how much water could be saved with appropriate toilets. This same idea could be applied to almost all projects.