A few notes as you compose your second blog post:
1.) Remember that you need to post for 4 of the 5 readings--not all 5.
2.) Proofread your post before publishing it. Yes, this is a "casual conversation" we are having here, but you are also publishing your writing for all to see; it should be grammatically correct and thoughtfully composed.
3.) Read and respond to your classmates' prior posts. As I said, this should be a conversation.
Go in any direction you want--just try to be sincere in your post. Mean what you say. Say what you mean.
How I will grade these:
* Each post will be worth 10 points (for a total of 40 points).
* 10 points: You challenge the rest of us to think about something in a new, thoughtful way. You push our understanding of the text. You introduce a new, original idea or push someone else's post to a higher level. Concise and grammatically correct.
* 9 points: Close to 10 but not completely original or polished.
* 8 points: Good post, but it might be repetitive, wordy, or underdeveloped. You don't offer much for us to consider.
* 7 points: Good intentions but needs more thought or revision.
* 6 points: Repetitive of someone else's post or riddled with errors. Hastily completed.
* 5 points: You did it--but not well.
Your grade will be deducted 1 point if the post isn't time stamped by class on the day we discuss that particular reading.
After reading these two chapters, I must say that I was a little disappointed. I was expecting to learn more about Beavan’s No Impact experiment, but I felt that I was presented with a lot of facts and very little specific, personal information. The facts were interesting, but there were so many different things being presented that sometimes it was difficult to focus and remember that Beavan was completing his own project at the same time. However, Beavan did do a good job transitioning from his experiences to the facts. I just wish there were more experiences than facts in these two chapters.
ReplyDeleteThe best excerpt, in my opinion, was “Do we work for and pay for all this convenience in order to live our lives, or do we live our lives in order to work for and pay for all this convenience?” (p.42). This was a very thought provoking question (one that I think we should ask Beavan if he has an answer to when he comes to talk to us), and it got me thinking about my own life and how much of it is “convenience.” Some convenient things in my life that Beavan did not mention are computers, cell phones, and other technological devices. I find myself constantly with my cell phone in hand in case I need to get in touch with anyone or in case anyone needs to get in touch with me. I also choose to type essays on a computer rather than handwriting them. If I email these essays, I could say that this saves paper, but I am also expending a lot of energy using my computer, and when I think about all the energy needed to make the computer, is it really worth it to type something rather than write it on one piece of paper that can be recycled after it has been read? Beavan also discusses the convenience of takeout food. In my family, my mother usually cooks dinner during the week and then we splurge on the weekends and order takeout or go out to eat. However, after cooking a full meal, there is still a lot of trash that can be found in the forms of leftover food, plastic containers that the food comes in, plastic bags, paper bags, and many other things. There are so many things in my life that make life easier, but they also harm the environment by negatively impacting it. I think it would be interesting to ask Beavan if he has found a balance in convenience and positively impacting the environment. How much “convenience” has he added back into his life?
When speaking about his grandparents, Beavan states "when I was young, they had tried to teach me, too, not to waste." (37) He says that it was not only the fact that they grew up during the Depression that made them this way; it was also that they thought people should "act with gratitude for this life we've been granted and all that comes with it." (37) This reminded me of my own experience growing up. I can remember my grandmother scolding me for leaving any food on my plate or throwing away anything I hadn't used. My dad had to explain to me that it was because they grew up in a time where they couldn't take such things for granted. Like Beavan, this carried over into my own life. This memory of my grandparents has always stayed with me, so I have tried to follow what they told me, but, honestly, I often forget. From reading this passage, I realized the importance of not forgetting the little things. For example, if even just a few people began using cloth napkins, or at least using only one napkin per meal, we could save so much. This reminded me of a quote from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that says "so shines a good deed in a weary world," because one positive influence, even by one person, can shine and be even more noticed when the rest of the world is doing the opposite. So, in a world that mostly takes things for granted, one person not taking things for granted really stands out, which helps makes a difference.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the first four chapters of this book can be summed up when Beavan says, "I can no longer have exactly what I want exactly when I want it. Because our systems are not designed ot be sustainable, I had to swim against the cultural tide, and sometimes I got tired" (page 61).
ReplyDeleteThis quote shows how Beavan is like the rest of us, which I like. It made me feel relieved. He has desires that he knows he has to sacrifice. The pizza example was perfect. Was it worth it to buy a piece of pizza to satisfy his craving when the pizza would come on a paper plate? Sometimes when I think about Colin and the things that he's doing, I picture a perfect man who is doing perfect things to help perfect our Earth. But undernearth it all he is craving things just like I would crave things if I were to try to undergo his project. How enlightening!
"How will I make discoveries in this experiment if every time I have a craving I cave in?" (61). Well said. These are the things that he realizes going into his project. So he says no to the pizza. That's mind boggling- I have so much respect for Colin Beavan
I agree with Bronte, I found these two chapters to be full of facts and statistics, which were very interesting but not what I was hoping for. These two chapters also seemed very repetative and seemed to go into depth on one topic, like wanting the slice of pizza, instead of telling us about more of the personal experiences and struggles that he had. This one struggle was very relavant to the story and it was backed up by very good statistics and thought provoking ideas, but I wish I would have read about numerous experiences, not just a few.
ReplyDeleteThere were pros and cons to the thought-provoking and thematic statements made throughout these two chapters. I really enjoyed all of his thought-provoking statements, but I feel like there were so many that it was overwhelming to try and think about each individual one separately. All of these statements seemed to run together because there were so many. But, at the same time, I enjoyed reading each one and realizing that each statement he made was true.
"Now that I’ve disposed of my throwaway products, you see, my convenience has become the entire world’s inconvenience” (47). This statement was huge for me! I have never thought about how each individual's trash actually affects other people. Individual trash is only individual when it is in one's home, when it is picked up or thrown away in a dumpster, it then adds to the enormous amount of pollution already in the environment and therefore effects everyone.
"When I get what I want, my want does not go away, it just turns to the next thing" (70).
This quote goes back to the discussion of happiness we were having today. We, as consumers, are always wanting more. We are never permanently satisfied with what we have, and we are always searching for something better. Wanting is a slippery slope in which we all take part in. Even when we get the object we were wanting so desperately, it will soon be replaced by the next item we had to have. Is there ever a way to be sastified with what you have? Can people who have lived so long with the blessing of having everything they could need or want at their fingertips ever be sastified with what they have and the present instead of the future?
What I love about this book so far is that it makes me think about new things and make connections that I never would have thought of on my own. Almost every sentence that Beavan writes contains something thought provoking. I just hope we can provide him with some thought provoking questions too!
Tonight, I read this book aloud to my mom. While I was reading, she told me that when she was a teenager produce was not individually packaged. Today, most food is prepackaged , making selecting food and being environmentally friendly very difficult, a problem which Beavan faced (57). We also discussed how the Depression influences peoples' attitudes today. Like Natalie and Beavan's grandparents, mine were very strict about using everything, often quoting "waste not, want not" and lecturing about starving Armenians. However, many people now believe that they worked hard for what they have, and deserve to spend their disposable income on material wants. It’s "a sign of their overcoming difficulty" (63). Of how far we've come. Many people also follow the life of convenience, like Bronte said. We have technology, but when will we have gone too far? My uncle is a programmer and has made a control station consisting of 6 computer screens in his home office, where he can control the entire house. It's a very impressive system, but when do we draw the line?
ReplyDeleteI really liked how he kept asking questions to make us think about how we're living our life. "How do we reconcile such a way of life with the fact that the planet we depend upon for our health, happiness, and security is so depleted?" (63) "If we want to demonstrate our membership in the human race, if we want to fit in, where on earth did the idea come from that we have to do it by having or aspiring to have exactly what everyone else has, by eating what everyone else eats, by drinking what everyone else drinks?" (70) Some of the questions made me think even more about what we were talking about in class today. They related to our discussion of "what really makes you happy?" Does our happiness come from eating a slice of pizza or buying a mesh bag? These things are temporary and a lot of them last fewer than ten minutes of use before going into the garbage can and then into the landfill. Beavan really put things into perspective for me when he used the fast food restaurant example. All of the paper and plastic wasted on one meal is ridiculous. They give you a bunch of napkins, a receipt, plastic utensils that you rarely ever use, the paper place mat. Everything goes into the trashcan in a matter of fifteen or twenty minutes used or not.
ReplyDeleteI'm also really enjoying how opposite this book is from A Small Place. Instead of just complaining about how much people waste and never suggesting anything to fix the problem. Unlike A Small Place he admits that he too is at fault and suggests practical ways to improve the situation. (pg 69)
As Beavan inspected his trash, I found myself mentally assessing my own. When he says that there is a reason trash bags aren't clear (42), that makes a lot of sense to me and raises the question, would clear trash bags help us reduce our waste? The optimist in me hopes this would be the case. We know that throwing these things away is wasteful and harmful, yet we throw them away anyway. We also want to ignore the fact that we acknowledge the damage. So black trash bags are perfect for us. But if we were forced to see the sheer amount of trash we throw out, would we come to terms with reality and change our ways?
ReplyDeleteThis also leads into the idea of "by making so much waste, I was also somehow wasting my life" (44). This goes along with our discussion in class on Thursday. In order to have a lot of waste, we must first have a lot of products we can throw out. In order to have a lot of products, we must have the means (money) to attain them. In order to attain them, we must be busy. In order to be busy, we lose the time we could be relaxing and enjoying life. Beavan mentions that "As the argument goes, all this food packaging helps cut down on the time I have to spend…so that I can have more leisure time" (40). Unfortunately this is not the case. Many times, I spend my leisure time in one of two ways: doing more work to get ahead, or doing something mindless to forget all the work I'll have to do later. But on rare occasions, I am able to relax and enjoy the people around me, which is really the most important thing, anyway.
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ReplyDeleteAlthough many people have said this before, it was kind of sad how he didn't go into the no impact project as much as giving just back ground information, at least in the 3rd chapter. Hearing all about his life as a small child and how he became who he was was all very interesting, but I was just hoping to hear more about the struggles of the actual project. The thing is, though, we are not into the book very far yes and I suspect that he will tell more later on, and also, in the movie, we don't get a lot of this background information and so the movie and book really supplement each other.
ReplyDeleteSomething very interesting to me was how he saved all of his trash. I know we talked about this in class, and I the more I read, the more I thought that this would be a really good idea for us to try. I think I would produce a lot more trash than I think.
Also, random note to Eller: don't know if you caught this last night, but Colin sort of goes into talking about how he is Jewish on page 44 because I know you were wondering what his religious beliefs were.
I really liked whenever Colin was talking about the dead trees and how birds might have lived there. I forgot all the time that all the paper I use once was a tree. I don't even know how there could be that many trees in the world to supply all the paper we use. I am really happy we use the blog for all of this because that makes so much less of an impact.
No Impact Man
ReplyDeleteChapter three (What You Think When You Find Your Life in the Trash) made me think about what I throw out. I looked at my trash and realized that it was mostly recyclable paper and plastics. We never recycle at my house, though there is a recycling center close to our house. I have decided that we have to start recycling at my house. My decision to recycle made me think about the impact of this book. Since it made me want to recycle, maybe other people made changes in their lives after reading No Impact Man. It also made me think about wasted food. At my house, we always save leftovers to eat the next day, but Beavan’s talk about wasted food made me wonder what percent of people eat their leftovers.
The paragraphs regarding the forests and carbon dioxide (“According to the US Forest Service…assisting the water supply cycle”, 49) made me think about how much good comes from trees other than paper. I knew that trees took in carbon dioxide and let out oxygen, but I never think about it when I get a piece of paper. All the wasted paper comes from trees, and every wasted piece of paper leads to less oxygen and more pollution. I liked how Beavan talked about all the animals that lived in trees because it made me think about the consequences of clear-cutting.
Like Morgan and Natalie said, my grandparents also taught me that wasting was wrong and there are people out in the world who don't have once what I have everyday. As a kid I couldn't help but think, "How would me finishing my food and feel terrible for a few hours help those starving kids in Africa?" Thanks to No Impact Man, I realize that me finishing my plate won't help those kids in Africa but it would help the enviornment if I didn't have any waste to put back in the environment.
ReplyDeleteChapters 3 and 4 made me think about what is in my trash and how much of it was only used for less than 5 minutes. I never thought about it before but this book has made me ask the question, why do we make things that are used for 5 minutes out of material that last forever? "It turns out that my family’s plastic take-out-tub trash is part of a huge societal garlic sauce covered slop of molded hydrocarbons and other petrochemicals that, after perhaps twenty minutes of use, will end up in landfills and incinerators, to leach chemicals into the water we drink or vaporize into the air we breathe”(43) So not only do we throw it away, we inhale it and drink it. It clogs up our lungs and we never even knew it. Is there not a better material to use that would be trash for as long as it was used? Also it isn't just one person, me, doing it. It's Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, etc. Basically I think this is saying that in order to create a great change, everyone has to change.