Jennifers Presentation Reflection

Overall this was a fun topic and a great lesson. For our lesson I think that the art activity was the best part. It kept everyone engaged and it was a fun activity. The challenge of our lesson was narrowing down our topic. It was very difficult to focus on one specific part of economic sustainability. I learned that everyone has a creative side to them and that you can easily recycle materials into art. I think I would take more time on trying to narrow down the topic if I were to do this again.

             I feel as though this project gave me more insight on how it important it is to create a more sustainable planet.  I have also learned different steps I can take ot contribute to sustainability.

Presentation Reflections

Alana’s Reflection: For our blog presentation we were asked to find some way to use the arts in the classroom as a teaching strategy. Our group chose to create a short PowerPoint to introduce the topic of economic sustainability to our colleagues. We showed three video clips from The Story of Stuff to help us explain the issues of waste and sustainability. After this we gave some examples of artists that create their artwork from entirely recycled/reclaimed materials. We had brought in all kinds of recycled materials and pieces of trash; labels, bottle caps, packing paper, old magazines, etc. and we asked our peers to work in two groups to create a piece of artwork that made a statement about sustainability.

Our classmates seemed very enthusiastic about this project and we not hesitant to get their hands dirty. The groups worked together well and each group came up with a different idea of using the materials to create artwork with a statement. One of the groups created a sign that said, “Recycle” and had the three recycling arrows on it. The other group created the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch – the giant accumulation of trash that has built up in the middle of the ocean and is arguably twice the size of Texas. Both of these pieces of art made the intended statement; that we must do something to discourage the immense waste that happens in our country and find ways to live a more sustainable life.

I think that overall our presentation went very well. Many people were already informed on the idea of sustainability, so that helped our presentation flow very easily. Our peers worked well together and seemed to quickly agree upon a direction for their projects. This activity really engaged all of the participants in a hands-on way, which is something that I strive for in my teaching philosophy. I think that my classmates did learn more about sustainability through this project, and this was a great way to get them to think about the purpose art could have in speaking up for a cause.

As far as our current event went, I think that our group still had trouble narrowing down our field, but we did the best that we could with such a broad topic. I am glad that we did these blogs because I did learn more about my topic and some of the topics the other groups were working on. I think that it is very important for teachers to be informed of current events and it’s a great way to get people involved in community issues. I think that when I am busy especially I tend to ignore the news and some of my civic duties, but after doing this blog I have realized how important it is to be knowledgeable about my community and the things I have the ability to change.

Our Interviews

Chris' interview:

Andrew, my brother.

Me: For one of my class I’m studying Sustainability. Is this a problem you think is important?  Why or Why not?

Andrew: Yeah, I definitely do. I’ll be honest a few years ago I don’t think I had ever heard that word before, but from what I know about sustainability and the environment its something that needs to be talked about. The biggest thing that strikes me about the issue is the fact that we can do things, simple things, and every day to help make our houses or communities or whatever more sustainable. First thing I think of is something as small as recycling or composting. Obviously there are larger scale examples of sustainability, but these are ones we can all do.

Me: Do you think others in our community this is an important problem? Why/ why not?

Andrew: I don’t know, to be honest. There seems to be a lot of emphasis on the importance of recycling in Grafton, but outside of that I don’t know enough about sustainability to know whether or not there is a lot being done about it.

Me: What policy, if any, does government now have to deal with this problem?

Andrew: Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve heard of any laws, recently, that have been passed specifically confronting sustainability. I know there have been some policies about reducing greenhouse gases or carbon emissions, but nothing that I know of related to what you’re studying.

Me: Where can I get more information about this problem and the different positions people take on this problem?

Andrew: Well one of the places that I look to for most of my news is either the CNN app on my phone or Google news. Obviously CNN has tons of other news stories, but at least with Google news you are given the opportunity to search whatever topic you like and it will scan through hundreds of different news outlets. You get a lot of great articles that you normally wouldn’t be able to find. If you’re searching for something on sustainability only through the newspapers you know, like the New York Times or Washington Post then you probably won’t find much. But Google news can bring up an article, written on the exact topic you want from some obscure newspaper in Minnesota or something. It’s awesome.

Reflection: My brother knew a lot more than I thought. I was worried that I’d be asking him these questions and he’d just keep saying, “I don’t know” over and over again. However, just even in the small comments he made that I didn’t record he proved he had some idea about sustainability. I truly believe that in today’s day in age that there are going to be a majority of people who understand some aspect of sustainability. They may not know it by name, but they know ways that they could be more sustainable or environmentally conscious.

Alana's Interview: 
I chose to interview my fiancé, Chris about our topic.

Me: For my social studies class I am studying sustainability. Is this a problem you think is important?  Why/ Why not?

Chris: I think it is highly important because our natural resources are finite and the longer we can use the same resources we have, the longer our planet will last. If we can keep using and reusing our resources then we can prolong the life of our planet. So it’s very important for our well being as a people but also for our world. Because it’s a worldwide thing.

Me: What does sustainability mean to you?

Chris: Recycling, turning off the tap and conserving water, turning off the lights when you leave a room. I think of composting also but I’ve never really done that. 

Me: Do you think others in our community this is an important problem? why/ why not?

Chris: Umm, well in Lynn I see trash in the recycling and vice versa all the time. I see trash on the streets and not a lot of people recycling to begin with. My job doesn’t recycle at all which is really bad because we use so many plastic bottles that just get thrown away and I can’t do anything about it. But in Salem and at school I see a lot of recycle bins and people making an effort to live sustainably. I think that the people in Lynn are probably not educated on the ramifications of these issues and do not see direct correlation from their actions to the effects their actions have. There seems to be this feeling that our resources have always been here, so they will continue to always be there, which is ignorant.

Me: What policy, if any, does government now have to deal with this problem?

Chris: I don’t think so. Not that I can think of.

Reflection: I think that Chris knew a good amount about sustainability, and this reflected what I would expect most people to know about the topic. There are so many different subtopics that surround sustainability, and he was obviously thinking of this from the agricultural/energy standpoint. Many people don’t think about sustainable development or economic sustainability when they hear the word sustainability… they mostly just think of the green movement. I think that because there are so many different facets to this issue, more education is required. 

Is Economic Sustainability Important?

In our opinion economic sustainability is indeed very important. We believe it is important because it helps protect the ozone by lowering the amount of toxins going into it. It also allows less use of non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels and more use of renewable resources such as oxygen, timber, biofuels, and sunlight to name a few.

Not only is economic sustainability important to us but it is also important some of the federal government. There is a federal program called, The Federal Facilities Environmental Stewardship and Compliance Assistance Center (Please reference National Strategy on in link list). They came up with a strategy called, National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship. This strategy states: "This strategy, released on July 20, 2011, specifies Federal actions for ensuring electronic stewardship in the US. An interagency task force co-chaired by CEQ, EPA and GSA developed recommendations that focus on incentivizing design of greener electronics, ensuring the Federal government leads by example in acquiring, managing, reusing and recycling its electronics, increasing domestic recycling efforts, and reducing harm from US exports of electronic waste and improving safe handling of used electronics to developing countries." By recycling electronics and asking for "greener" electronics this will help with economic sustainability immensely because it will aide in lowering fossil fuels from entering the earths atmosphere.

My name is Jennifer and I am a student at Salem State University. The topic about economic sustainability is interesting to me not only because I am a geography double major but because I never knew how something so useful as technology could be so harmful to the environment. I was asked to watch the "Story of Stuff" in a geography class last semester. This video was very intriguing. It made me realize that there are man people including myself in the world who purchase items and do not use them for more than a year if that. Companies are making items that are not meant to last or items that change styles quickly. This allows for people to toss the “old” items and upgrade to something newer and better.

My name is Chris and I am a student at Salem State University. Economic Sustainability is a great topic to research because it affects all of us, in some way, and we can all do more to help better the environment that we live in. Like Jen mentioned, its amazing to think that something like a smartphone or tablet, that does so much to help us, could be so detrimental to our environment. We could all do more and hopefully reading through this blog will give you some ideas about how you can help protect and preserve our world.

My name is Alana and I am a student at Salem State University. The topic of economic sustainability is very interesting and important to me. In this blog I hope to educate both the readers of this blog and myself about sustainability and the currents events surrounding it. I believe that we are currently living in a consumer society that praises planned obsolescence. I think that many factors in our society contribute to this, including big business monopolies, societal ignorance and a lack of caring all around. I believe that the fact that we are living in an era of technology greatly contributes to our rapid waste production, especially the waste created by outdated electronics and ineffective recycling practices. Technology is moving at such a speed that once a new product hits the stores, a newer product is already in production. Because of the hype and feigned necessity built around the “next big thing,” people have allowed themselves to be swept away at the drop of a hat, regardless of need or practicality. According to the Global Footprint Network, today our planet uses 1.5 times more resources than it can actually produce in one year. “This means it now takes the Earth one year and six months to regenerate what we use in a year” (World Footprint). Obviously this serious problem is creating issues for our planet not only now, but for the future of our planet as well. In this blog I hope to explore some of the legislation surrounding economic and environmental sustainability. I also hope to discover some of the solutions that companies and individuals have proposed to the issues we face, and I hope to find daily changes I can make in my own life that will help me lead a more sustainable lifestyle.

            We hope you enjoy our blog. Feel free to check out our sites we have listed. You will find “The Story of Stuff “ there as well!

"World Footprint." Global Footprint Network. N.p., 03 Nov. 2010. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. <http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/gfn/page/world_footprint/>.