Blog Post #5

I don’t really know if there is a strict model that a Green Learning Community must follow but after reading the material assigned for this class and Monday’s class my view of a green learning community is a group of members who share an interest in sustainability and are motivated to come together to learn about the world around the them.  As far as specific characteristics go, I feel that a Green Learning Community would follow most of the Green Values outlined in the reading “Defining Environmentalism” as opposed to Conventional Values.  A Green Learning Community would use a non-hierarchical set-up with the students and the teacher being on the same level.  As Caspary stated in “Students in Charge” students would not simply be told what to do by the authority figure.  There would be no traditional authority and responsibility would be shared among members.  A Green Learning Community would also promote cooperation as opposed to competition among its members.  Following the Grassroots Democracy value outlined in “Ten Key Values”, a Green Learning Community would give every member a say in the decisions made by the community.

            In my opinion, the goal of a Green Learning Community is to incorporate Green Values into the community.  In addition to the incorporation of these values, Orr points out a number of other goals in “Ecological Literacy”.  What I took away from this reading was that a Green Learning Community should promote ecological literacy and encourage a sense of wonder among its members in order to foster ecologically competent students.

Blog Post #4

I am really impressed by what are considered “green values” and I feel that following these values would help create a healthy world for us all to live in.  The green values that I believe the most in are Ecological Wisdom and Respect for diversity.  

Ecological Wisdom states that we are a part of nature and not separate from it and this is something that I strongly believe in.  I feel that a lot of times we as humans like to view ourselves as being superior to nature and having the power to exploit nature for our own advantage.  Unfortunately, this viewpoint has led to the creation of a number of ecological disasters.  I feel that it is important to recognize both our role in nature and our responsibility to nature as humans in order to maintain the ecological balance of the world. 

Another value that I strongly agree with is Respect for Diversity.   If you look around at our surroundings, it is obvious that nature is extremely diverse and it is this diversity that makes our world beautiful.  Each component of nature has its own unique identity that we should work to protect.  Just because a life form is not like us does not mean that it is any less important than us.  Also I feel that this value can be applied on a social level.  If we can recognize that we are a part of nature, humans should respect the diversity that is displayed among humans (race, sex, culture, etc.). 

What surprised me most about the readings was how much they addressed social issues.  The “Principles of the Left Green Network” and the “Ten Key Values” readings both addressed things such as racism, sexism, class oppression, gay rights, etc.  Before these readings, when I thought that “green values” would all be focused on the environment and are responsibility to protect the environment.  It was therefore really interesting to see that “green values” really expand to all aspects of life.

Blog Post #3

The program that I found to be the most interesting on the AASHE website was the STARS (Sustainability Tracking Assessment & Rating System) Program. I find this program to be interesting because it really helps encourage colleges and universities to set long-term sustainability goals while providing them with a framework to follow in order to make these goals more feasible.  By using a points system, STARS allows colleges and universities to compare their progress against other colleges and universities located in the U.S. or Canada, which I find to be really interesting and also a great motivational tool.  If your college or university is not stacking up well against the other colleges and universities participating, you will obviously be motivated to make some progress and improve your rating.  I was happy to see that USC has received a Gold rating on STARS!

            On the Sustainable Carolina website and the Project Team Summary worksheet, I was most interested by the Global Sustainability Team.  As an International Studies major, I am extremely interested in seeing how different issues are being dealt with around the world.  Therefore, I think that it is great that there is a project team of Sustainable Carolina that is specifically committed to increasing awareness on the USC campus about a number of sustainable issues going on around the world.

            My question for Margaret Bounds is: What is your favorite part about working for Sustainable Carolina and why?

Blog Post #2

Hi everyone!  I’m Ali!  I’m a senior at USC double majoring in International Studies and French.  I am from a town called Langhorne, which is located just north of Philadelphia.  Last year I was able to study abroad in Paris, France for the entire academic year.  I loved my experience abroad and I hope to return to Paris in the near future.

            As far as my academic interests go I am interested by anything and everything that has to do with the French language or culture.  I’m also very intrigued by environmental issues, which is why I decided to take Green Politics this semester.  When I’m not in class or doing homework, I love to cook and bake.  I’ve always loved to cook and bake but this passion became even stronger during my time abroad.  During my spring semester in Paris I was actually able to land an internship with a French chef who owns his own cooking school in Paris.  Through this internship I learned a lot and I ate extremely well!  After graduating from USC in the Spring of this year, I hope to attend a culinary school (preferably in Paris) to study French pastry.  Eventually, I hope to open my own French-style bakery in the United States.

Blog Post #1

            I decided to take Green Politics this semester because I hope to gain a better understanding of the green political movement both on a national and international level.  During my first semester of freshman year at USC, I took Poli121: Green Explorations and was able to gain some insight into what green values are.  I therefore hope to expand upon this knowledge and learn how these values are translated into the political world. 

            What interests me about green politics is that it really recognizes the importance of the environment and is willing to give environmental issues the attention that they need.  I am also intrigued by the non-hierarchical structure that is often incorporated in green politics.  When I think of politics, I often think of hierarchy so it’s refreshing to learn that a political system exists that makes an effort to step away from the traditional hierarchical design structure.

            In this course, I hope to explore what is really means to be “green”.  I am especially excited to participate on one of the project teams of Sustainable Carolina and I feel that this experience will really help expand upon my own ideas of what I believe to be “green”.  More specifically, I am excited to learn about the green political thought topics that we will be studying in class because I do not know much about any of the topics but I think that they all sound very interesting.