Extra Credit: Climate Pledge of Resistance

Some people are about to risk arrest on November 30th by demonstrating civil disobedience to ensure climate justice worldwide. In the first two weeks of December, world leaders will be meeting in Copenhagen to discuss carbon emissions and to set goals to reduce air pollution. Unfortunately, talking about it isn't going to cut it. People worldwide are acting NOW in grassroots movements to shut down coal factories and preventing talks on reducing emissions because justice for the climate is not being reinforced and actions are not taken. The message is that reducing carbon emissions needs to happen NOW and talking about it for several more years is not going to get anywhere.

The media is being used by providing information about grassroots movements worldwide. There are dates and places where they are going to occur. Also, there is downloadable media provided at the website http://www.beyondtalk.net/where people can obtain more information. Also, there is a place provided on the website where you can sign up for newsletters for future demonstrations and information on the status of climate justice.

I have not heard about this movement because it hasn't been published online by any large media organizations. Also, it may have been on national television but I don't watch t.v. so I could have missed it. In my opinion, I think that this event should be highly publicized so more people can be informed and choose to organize or attend events. Also, what is the Big Island community doing on November 30th to be a part of this worldwide movement? Now that I am aware of this event, I will begin to ask people in the community if they know of any demonstrations that will take place in town, or if they could direct me to more information regarding this matter. Hopefully, by talking with others, I might influence people to look up the CPR website so they could become aware of this movement and its purpose.

Extra Credit: Puna Sustainability Expo

A friend and I attended the Puna Sustainability Expo this past Saturday. Despite the down pour, strong winds and cold temperature, we enjoyed the vendors and their ideas on how to live a more sustainable life. As soon as we arrived, my friend and I had to help a vendor chase down one of his baby chickens that had escaped from its cage. I didn't imagine that the expo would have had so much excitement.

When my friend caught the chicken and returned it to the owner, he discussed the benefits of having chickens. First of all, you never have to purchase eggs from the supermarket. You can eat them when they are matured, and also use their manure as fertilizer for your garden. We also got information on composting (tables had brochures available), portable water filtration and purification, and a recycling guide made just for Hawa'i.

There were a few booths that promoted energy sustainability. One man had information on solar water heaters, another on the benefits of geothermal energy to simply changing your light bulbs in your home to LED lights. All of which use nature to provide energy and another just simply using less energy to operate.

One vendor in particular caught my attention. She was promoting sustainability through health (a section we had covered in one of our modules). She had a small sign that read "Unhealthy people cannot sustain themselves or their resources" which is very true! How can one possibly be conscious enough to live a sustainable life when they are leading a destructive, personal lifestyle to begin with? She had information on where to find AA groups, drug counseling, resources for quitting tobacco and how being healthy can lead to awareness and living a sustainable life.

The event was wonderful. It is important for our community to hold events such as this expo in particular. Through communication, people can meet and share their ideas and resources to show how the culture of sustainability is beneficial and possible. Relationships created at such functions promote community strength and networks for people to help guide one another through the challenges of becoming more socially responsible for living a sustainable life.

5.5: Podcast

After listening to the podcast, I found that living a sustainable life is a constant challenge. Given the culture we live in now, it does become difficult to do things that require less consumption because of time constraints. I would have to agree with Dr. Becker that giving up my vehicle would be the most difficult to do. I also am an independent person and I have a lot of energy, so when I feel like surfing, I need to drive there as quickly as possible then get back to either my work or school on time. I think by challenging ourselves to become more sustainable through communication, we can build relationships with people who think like us, and we as a group can make a change in our daily lives and hopefully influence the community that we live in.

This is the second online course that I have taken from UH Hilo, and I will admit that this experience has been the best. I also believe that we are beyond testing, so having the freedom to take responsibility for our assignments and posting our responses on a blog is more meaningful then a test. Since our blogs are not limited just to our class, people from anywhere in the world can access our ideas and thoughts and begin to question how they will have an impact on the world. Sustainability can be encouraged through this mass form of communication by allowing people to access and comment on our blogs, or to request further information. The age of the internet and it's function in education is only going to grow, and I am thankful for the opportunity to learn how to access and use this form of communication to express my thoughts.

5.2: Sustainability, Communication, Hope & the Future

The MRCSE wise elders and story tellers, who are these people? People who are wise elders not based on physical age, but people who have a depth of understanding. In other words, people who have experienced various aspects of life who can share insight and knowledge to others. MRCSE wise elders can help people and communities grow into a future rooted in sustainability and sustainability education through interconnection with others. There are many wise elders in the world who come from different cultures that can offer valuable knowledge on sustainability. Perhaps we should be reminded that our ancestors existed and flourished for thousands of years in harmony with nature and other living beings.

The film "What Would It Look Like: Global Oneness Project" echoed the theme of respect. As the culture of consumerism spreads, we become disconnected from others and learn to compete for resources. As communities, we separate ourselves from "haves" to "no-haves" and the socioeconomic gap disconnects us from empathizing with others. Our countries compete against one another for power in forms of violence, disrespect and further disconnection. As a result, our feelings, and those of others, no longer matter. We no longer respect ourselves, the people we share the world with, and the natural environment.

The idea of cultural uniformity has plagued our world far too long. If we learn to respect ourselves first, we would learn that as individuals we are all unique. Although we do belong to specific cultures, if we view cultures as unique as ourselves, we can learn to respect cultures for their unique identities and the knowledge that they have accumulated. As a global community, we can share and learn sustainable, educational strategies through respectful communication. Rabindranath Tagore once said, "Uniformity deadens in us the sense of the infinite." I interpret this as uniformity being the end of creative expression, which will kill the excitement of living. It is therefore important to preserve and respect cultures. It is through interconnection and respect that the global community can work together for a sustainable future.

In social psychology, I learned that communal exchanges between people (relationships that are not based on rewards and costs) have a much higher success rate in terms of relationship happiness and quality. Through communication, we can create communal relationships with people of different cultures from our own and begin to use our creative abilities to create a respectful, sustainable future. Many of our wise leaders have hope in this effort, and if we find hope within ourselves and others, we can make a sustainable future for ourselves and all the people we inhabit the world with.

5.1: Communication, Media, and Social Change

Reflecting on our group project "Plant it Forward," I believe our group has made the right choice for promoting and sharing our endeavor with the idea of planting your own food. We have selected only a few plants and spices, but provide websites and resources for individuals to seek on their own. I think it would be important to add some additional information into our project to give people the perspective of organic food (real food) that our nation consumes. A student at California Irvine provided information on a few, but insightful statistics. Two percent of food distributed and consumed in the U.S. is not genetically modified, processed or have been exposed to harmful herbicides. I think our project can include some relevant data to persuade people to shop and produce food that is healthy.

Also, our project has a website (found at wetpaint.com) to show progress, photos and ideas about cultivating healthy, sustainable gardens as a food source. As we already know, the internet is a resourceful alternative to reaching countless numbers of people. Youtube, facebook and other networking media communities have the ability to connect people to share ideas and experiences to promote social change. I think that our group has covered this area of communication by making our project's mission and objectives clear to users of the internet who may encounter our website.

After viewing the film on genetically modified crops, I became more aware and concerned about the unknown dangers of consuming genetically modified products. Also, our government officials are using their political power to allow such products to be mass distributed, we need to make this aware in our community. This aspect can be brought into our project to persuade people to take a stance against allowing GM products in our market. First, people need to become aware of the issue and then told how they can make a change in our community. We need to foster social change by providing information about groups who are involved in petitioning against GM crops, so that they can feel empowered to join them and feel that by being part of a large group, social change can occur on a community level, and then the state level.

Extra Credit: Hilo Boys and Girls Club Garden

I decided to check out the Boys and Girls Club garden in Hilo this past Saturday morning. I was able to convince a close friend of mine to come with me. Athena and I woke up at early and drove into Hilo together. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by Julie and Bodie, two wonderful volunteers who gave us a tour of the garden. The garden was beautiful! Julie showed us the taro they were growing, the turmeric, their green house, and acquainted us with the large fruiting trees that had been there for years.

So we asked, "What can we do for the garden today?" Julie smiled and said, "Well, it's not a planting day so we could either do some weeding or cover areas with mulch. But, you have to do what your heart tells you to in the garden, because you want to be joyful doing it." We chose the hard manual labor because we were feeling energetic, and personally, I was afraid I would be pulling out actual plants rather than weeds (I'm not to familiar with plants). The three of us got to work, introducing ourselves, telling stories of where we were from, laughing, and all the while loading large piles of mulch and delivering them to areas that needed them. Julie told us that the mulch helped to lock in the moisture in the soil so that it wouldn't evaporate too quickly during the peak hours of sun. I had no idea that simply lying mulch over soil could do such a thing. She also told us that the piles of mulch were actually donated by state and county workers, but there was a strategy of obtaining it. Julie said, "If you ever see people on the side of the road preparing mulch, stop and ask where they will be delivering it, because most often they just get rid of it. If that is the case, ask them to drop the load off at the B&G Club, and they are more than happy too. That is how we get our mulch." Apparently, after the mulch is collected and brought elsewhere, it is out of their jurisdiction to bring it where it could possibly be useful (must be a liability issue). I thought to myself, "What a wonderful way for state and county workers to be this garden, I'm going to do the same if I see them on the side of the road mulching!"

My favorite experience was harvesting the first Olena (turmeric) root. We crouched down next to the shoot and Julie showed us how to gently dig along the side of it to expose the root. She told us that the Olena is a medicinal root, packed with super vitamins and is also used for dying fabrics. As we uncovered the root, earthworms and tiny insects danced from their holes, it was phenomenal! I had never seen so many worms in the soil before, I became excited. Julie picked up an earthworm and explained that they have 10 hearts. Also, that there are several hundred earthworms within just a square foot of soil. She said, "Imagine the energy of thousands of hearts beating together in just this one square foot, its a powerful energy." At that moment, I had a new appreciation for these beautiful organisms because they helped that little Olena prosper by giving it energy. After we uncovered the root, we washed it and she gave it to me. She explained how to make tea from it and how to transplant a small root to start in my garden at home.

Later, she brought us to an area where we would be "turning the IMO's" (Indigenous microorganisms). I had never heard of them. She uncovered a small mound and had us feel it. There was heat coming from this small mound! Apparently, this small pile is packed in microorganisms that is cultivated to spread over compost to help speed up the process of a compost pile. In just 3 weeks, with the aide of the IMO's the compost pile would be ready to spread into the soil! Unbelievable, I still have to memorize the steps of creating IMO's so I can use that in our garden at home.

After 4 hours of having a fabulous time, we sat together and ate food that people had brought. The food was organic and delicious! We talked about our experience and what our highlights were. Athena's was meeting and having a healing experience, because she had been feeling down lately. Julie's was meeting and getting to know us. Mine was feeling and having a powerful connection with the earthworms we had uncovered from the soil. Before we left, we held hands and sang "Oli Mahalo" together, which was a song about being thankful for meeting with one another, thanking the gods and our ancestors, and being thankful for our loving experience we shared with one another. We are totally going back to the B&G club because it was a positive, healing experience and we are going to recruit more friends to join us!

4.7: Group Meeting

I missed our last group meeting due to a time conflict and preparation for another class. I did discuss my responsibilities with the rest of the group, and where I was in completing those tasks. Seems to me that our group project is running smoothly! I'm excited for the actual day we choose to "Plant It Forward" and the participation of students on-campus.