Unit 4: Sustainable Practices
I. Graded Assignments
a. 5 reflections (see Guidelines to Writing Reflections)
b. Unit test
c. Unit Project: Consumer Log Assignment and Reflection (includes questions from the book Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things)
d. Environmental Ethics Presentation (January 15-30)
e. Final Paper (due January 15)
Unit Project: Consumer Log Assignment (Collect information November 28 - January 2, assignment is due January 8)
Record all purchases.
Describe the purchases.
A. Where the item was purchased (local
store, online, etc.).
B. What factors went into your decision
to purchase the item (was it a want, was it a need, was it a
gift, etc.).
C. How far the item traveled from where
it was made to where you purchased it.
D. The overall “friendliness” of the item (people friendly, health friendly, earth friendly, animal friendly)
Consumer Log Reflection (to be completed after you have finished the Consumer Log Assignment)
1. How do you decide whether to buy something or not? What factors/priorities do you consider (e.g. price, advertisements, peer influences, where it was made, animal product, etc.)? Are any of these factors/priorities different from what you considered before taking this class?
2. Are there any items that you would refuse to buy? Are there any stores that you would not visit? Are there situations in which you answer to these questions might change? Explain.
3. Many of us are very busy and lead a fast-paced life. How much of a factor is the speed of your life? Give an example.
4. How could you be a more humane consumer with respect to animals, the environment and other people?
5. Other than voting, the single most powerful tool Americans have to facilitate social change is their consumption. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain.
6. Read Stuff: The Secret Life of Everyday Things. For each of the ten consumer items identified in the book, summarize the ecological impact. In addition, identify what was, for you, the most startling fact or statistic about the item. Also identify at least one positive new action you could take to be a more earth-friendly consumer with regards to each of these items.
7. What was the single most meaningful aspect of the unit on consumerism for you?
II. Syllabus
Reflection 13
The readings are found in the notebook unless otherwise indicated.
Read Choices For
Sustainable Living: Call to Sustainability (All)
1. What definition of sustainability
did you like the best? Explain.
2. Provide a response to the article
about Easter Island. What was the point of the article? Do you think the
parallel drawn by the author between the island and the Earth is a fair/accurate
one? Explain.
3. In thinking about nature’s services,
which have the most meaning for you? Explain. Can you identify any of nature’s
services that are being lost in your area?
4. Explain the equation Impact =
Population X Affluence X Technology in your own words.
5. Have technological advances made
your life more or less ecologically sustainable? Perhaps both? Provide examples.
6. Macy says that for the Great Turning to occur, we must want different things. Do you agree? In your life, what new “wants” might replace old ones?
Reflection 14
Read Choices For
Sustainable Living: Sustainable Communities (Ecological Footprint
article only, p. 3-5)
Take the web quiz: Your Ecological Footprint
(www.myfootprint.org)
1. What insights did you gain from the
article Our Ecological Footprint? Did the model contribute to your
understanding of sustainability?
2. On the table comparing footprints of
selected countries, a German’s footprint is about half that of an average
American’s footprint. What do you think explains the difference?
3. On the chart showing global acres
per person, food and transportation together make up half an average American’s
footprint. Which would be easier to reduce, your food or transportation
footprint? Explain.
4. Take the Ecological Footprint quiz.
Record your responses and the final number of planets needed to support everyone
at the level of your lifestyle. React to the quiz questions. Were there any
questions that were not asked that surprised you? React to your final
result. How do you compare to the average American result of needing 4 planets?
5. Now take the quiz again, and
manipulate your responses in order to take up just 1 planet. Record your
responses. Does this lifestyle seem drastic to you? Is it attainable?
6. If you were to reduce your footprint, what are three specific steps you would take?
Reflection 15
Read Choices For Sustainable Living: Sustainable Buying
(All)
Watch video: Affluenza
1. Provide a response to Sustainable
Buying.
2. Author Durning paints a bleak
portrait of our consumer society. Do you agree with his assessment? Explain.
3. How do you feel in shopping mall?
About the physical space? About the activity of shopping?
4. Author Roszak suggests extravagant
pleasures that don’t take a toll on the environment. Can you think of a
“sustainable extravagance” you look forward to?
5. Do you equate material wealth with
superior social status or achievement? Explain.
6. Has advertising ever made you feel
dissatisfied with what you have? Explain.
7. Author Dadd-Redalia provides a
framework for evaluating products. Was the article helpful? Do you have other
purchasing guidelines? Explain.
8. Provide a response to the video Affluenza. What story made the biggest impression on you? Explain.
Reflection 16
Read Choices For
Sustainable Living: Ecological Principles (The Natural Step,
Interface, Scandic, The Laws of Earth and Economics articles only, p. 7-11)
1. Provide a response to these
articles. You may want to write them separately and finish with an overall
summary reflection.
2. The Natural Step’s fourth system
condition calls for a “just” and “efficient” use of energy and resources. In
your view, what would constitute a “just” use of energy resources?
3. Choose a common product (shoes, newspaper, chair, club sandwich, etc.). Does its life cycle violate any of the first three Natural Step system conditions? What steps could be taken to move closer to the conditions?
Does it require the mining of
fossil fuels or minerals?
Does it require synthetic
materials or persistent chemicals?
Does it threaten the Earth’s productivity (soil, water, trees, etc.), or diversity (the natural mix of plants and animals)
4. Meadows contrasts the laws of Earth
and the laws of economics. Does she accurately state the issue? What are the
implications?
Reflection 17
Watch video: Wal-Mart
Watch video: Escape From Affluenza
Read Lifestyles of the Eco-Friendly
1. Provide a response to the video Wal-Mart. What story made the biggest impact on you?
2. Provide a response to the video
Escape From Affluenza. What story made the biggest impact on you?
3. Consumer Credit Counseling teaches San Diego-area kids how to manage money and dodge debt. How would you benefit from this information? What are some ways you could learn about money management?
4. Provide a response to Lifestyles
of the Eco-Friendly. After taking this class, do you think it is important
to try to live a more sustainable lifestyle? Explain. What actions might you
take to live a more eco-friendly life?
Week 15
5 reflections due
Unit 4 Test
Consumer Log & Reflection due
Weeks 16
Environmental Ethics Project Presentations
Wrap up, including Heartland Humane Society reflections (if applicable)
Final Paper (due on the last day of class)
Write a final reflection paper discussing what you have learned from this class. A suggested length is 3-5 pages; the length is less important than the information you share. You may use your notes and/or any materials from the class. Your paper should include, but not be limited to, the following issues:
1. The relationship between humans and the natural world.
2. The relationship between humans and the food we eat.
3. The impacts of human consumption on the environment and other species.
4. The choices that individuals can make to have a positive impact on the environment and other species