Life Outside of Life
Before taking this class I already had an interest in the environment. This was one of the main reasons why I decided to study Environmental Sustainability and Technology. I wanted to learn more about life outside of life.
Taking this class opened my eyes to a lot of different things. From reading other people's views on different topics to other people commenting on my views. It all allowed me to look at the world in a different aspect.
When I read Tiara's post on Vegetarian Myths, I really got to see another side of how some people view vegetarians. Although I am not a vegetarian myself, I grew up around it. So I never thought about them consuming plants could, in a sense, be the same as them consuming animals. They are both living things, so how do you make one ethical and not the other. When I really sat down and thought about it, I had to realize that she wasn't completely wrong. Even down to the vegans, they eat nothing that comes from animals, but eat plants. Just because they aren't animals doesn't mean that they aren't living things. Even when Dr. Oliver showed us that their are actual rules to consuming food. Who ever knew that? The only rules that I ever heard of were the ones when I was a child, "eat your vegetables first" "don't drink all that juice" , etc. I never knew that their were actual rules.
Even when I read "Staying with the Trouble", I was able to learn how some people actually think that technology could be our savior. While I disagreed, Dr. Oliver showed me that it was ok to disagree. He didn't feel that technology could be our savior either but it definitely wasn't "the main thing hurting us". Reading his comment in a way showed me that even though technology has crippled the world in a lot of aspects, we still need it to survive.
Reading Madison's post on "Birth Strike", was very informal. I never knew that this even existed. I was able to learn how it not only existed but people that had been yearning for kids were even participating in this. The strikers knew that they had to keep global warming under 1.5°C,after which,“ even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.” These people were willing to sacrifice their opportunity of having a family in order to protect the climate. Wanting to be a environmental engineer, I don't think I would be willing to not bare children in order to protect the climate. What if that child that I was supposed to have could have came up with a more ethical way to solve this crisis. We would have never known.
Tiara's post about her home town was quite interesting to read. How do you deal with keeping a certain animal from becoming extinct but not cutting off the income of the people in your community. I didn't think that the Bahamas was going through a crisis like this. At least we know that their fish is real and not genetically modified, because if it was they wouldn't have to worry about it becoming extinct. But could that be a answer to their problem? People would still be able to fish and make a profit. You wouldn't have to worry about them turning to a different type of fish to keep their business a float. But this is a issue that our world is facing.
Talking about issues, why did I not know that the government plays a big role in the Health of American Citizens. The companies that you go to for help are the main ones giving you medicine to fix one problem back make another one worse! This is all a money game and a way for the government to get rid of civilians by letting them fall into their trap. This might not be a environmental issue, but it can turn into one and is still indeed a issue that should not go unnoticed. Humans have a great impact on the environment, if all of them cease to exist what will happen to the environment. Will it prosper or die out?
Humans do play a big role in the tarnishing of the environment, but honestly without us would it even exist?
Some people look at humans to be the "super heroes" of the environment.... but honestly how can all of that responsibility fall on us? Its going to take more than a couple of strikes to replenish the environment to what it is supposed to be. But then again, it is our fault for the state that the environment is in now.
Being in this class has taught me to think deeper on a situation. Being able to post my thoughts and read other's, was a very helpful experience. I was able to learn so much about different issues within the environment and as well as about myself.
How did this class help me to learn about myself?
I had to realize that my opinions aren't always what everyone else see's. There is way more that I could do to help my environment. I'm not saying that I would go as far as going on a strike, but I could help by starting campaigns like "hug a tree save a tree" or the "plastic campaign" getting others around me involved in making a difference with the environment. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be in this class. Even though I was a little late, I still gained a lot.
"Humans have a great impact on the environment, if all of them cease to exist what will happen to the environment. Will it prosper or die out?" It would pretty quickly reclaim the space we'd temporarily "improved"... - See "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman: “Without us, Earth will abide and endure; without her, however, we could not even be.”
ReplyDelete"Humans do play a big role in the tarnishing of the environment, but honestly without us would it even exist?" Oh yes. But not as OUR environment. I think that's a crucial point, actually: the earth is not OURS, the environment is not OURS. We've tried to possess what we an only hope to coexist with, and that's a big source of our troubles. Hug a tree, indeed!