Reflection Weeks 13-14 and Overall Course

Wow, these past 2 weeks have flown by! I feel like we've covered a great deal in that time frame. Some of the things that we did was tour Goodwill, junking, our online activities, the advocacy fact sheet and our last eco-chic lifestyle changes.

I learned a lot about Goodwill during the tour. Prior to the trip I wasn't very eager to it because I really didn't know what they had to do with the environment. What I learned actually opened my eyes. Not only do they save millions of pounds of stuff from heading to the land fill, but they also employee many individuals who need work. I also learned that just about everything that comes through their doors in either reused or recycled. Things that no one wants even gets sent all over the world to people that need it. I just thought that this was amazing.

Junking also taught me a lot. I like the general concept of it; taking things no one wants and turning them into your treasures. I think that's really cool. I think a lot can be said for being so conscience of the environment. It saves who knows how many things from the landfills. It showed me that I don't always have to buy new, and also made me realize that it's not very often I get to really use my creativity like that!

I don't know about anyone else, but I actually liked the online learning activities. There was so many different topics that my group picked that reading each one was so different and eye opening. I really did learn a lot from all of them. It also showed me that there is so much out here about the environment that I haven't even learned yet! It's good to learn from your peers :)

I feel like I've learned a ton long the way, and these past few weeks are no exception. There is so much out there and it was fun discovering it along the way.

---------------------------Over all------------------------

Everyone keeps say, what haven't we learned? This is so true, I basically came into this class thinking there wasn't anything out there that was going to effect me very much. Even though that's a stubborn thought, I'm happy to say I was dead wrong. I learned so much from this course, it always gave me something to think about. Never in my college career has a class moved me enough to make me willingly change any part of my lifestyle. Now all I want to eat is organic and local. I want to have a garden someday, I want to tell everyone to never buy bottled water!

It's crazy how much my views on nature have changed. I've always loved nature, but I never understood it on a deeper level like I do now. The activity that kicked this thinking off was the Eco Footprint activity. I found out how terrible my actions have been for the environment. It really got me thinking about changing my actions.

Another thing that changed my views was all the documentaries. Fresh and Green were the two that effected me the most. My family used to farm when I was little and my grandparents and uncles still do, so those really hit home to me. It really showed how everything has gotten so out of hand, and let me see that something needs to change. Both of them really made me decide that I was going to eat organic as much as possible.

As surprising as this might sound, the tour of Bagley really was eye opening to me. After all that we've learned I've decided that I want to be as eco-conscience as I possibly can. For the future I would love to build my own house, and Bagley showed me that even my home can be environmentally friendly.

Again, I've learned so much from this class. Looking back, it's amazing how much I've actually learned, not only from Dr. V but from my peers as well. Everything was so eye opening, and I hope that this sort of learning about the environment doesn't end for me. I hope that in the future I will continue to take what I've learned and apply it to life. :)

Image from my junking project, taken by me!