Victoria, Noah, Danielle
Wildness, Conservation, and the Environment
For our final project, we decided to focus on wildness, conservation, and the environment. These themes resonated with us throughout the class and featured some of our favorite writers. The video features readings and interpretations of our favorite excerpts and ends with a call to action. We want the class to realize that even though we are just college students, we can make a big, positive impact on the environment by completing small tasks.
Below is a list of the passages we enjoyed learning from and reasoning for its inclusion in our video:
1. “Beds are Burning” by Midnight Oil
“Beds are Burning” was one of the first things we read as a class. This song/poem highlights how the Earth as we know it is deteriorating and it is time for us to fix it. We must “pay our rent” to the Earth we call home. We liked this song because it is catchy and has a call to action. It demonstrates how subtle messages are hidden in pop culture to help our environment.
2. Preserving Wildness by Wendell Berry
This passage demonstrated environmental stewardship. It suggests that humans need to stop taking nature for granted and appreciate where it comes from. To be a steward of the Earth we must preserve wildness and practice conservation. The quote we use in the video describes how humans need to have a certain love for the earth and what we take from it. Berry suggests that environmental stewardship is the most important factor in conserving the planet.
3. “The Wild Honeysuckle” by Philip Freneau
We chose to read this passage from Freneau’s poem because it highlights how fleeting human life is in the large scheme of the world. Humans are here for a limited amount of time just like flowers. It is our job to leave behind a beautiful, healthy Earth, because it will go on forever (hopefully), but we will not.
4. Industrial Tourism and the National Parks by Edward Abbey
Abbey is one of our favorite authors we read this semester. This passage highlights the importance of wilderness preservation. We need to limit urbanization and industrialization to save nature. Edward Abbey claims he would rather live in a thermonuclear war than a world without wilderness preservation. It is a cry for action.
5. Before the Flood featuring Leonardo DiCaprio
Before the Flood features climate change issues and environmental destruction. Our class took this film to heart. Most notably it featured the need to reduce our pollution as Americans because a lot of the world has yet to receive the same technology we have. When the rest of the world does, the outlook for our environment is grim, unless we change our ways and limit our carbon footprint. Additionally, this film featured the harmful effects that the use of palm oil has on the environment. We included this film because, although grim and sad, it is a call to action.
We used Before the Flood as a grim transition to the more uplifting part of our video. Over the semester, we did read many works that discuss preservation, preserving wildness, and the environment. A lot of these works could be viewed as sad, but we found that these works are more of a call to action and are incredibly positive. There is still time to reverse our carbon footprints and make a large effort to bring awareness to our environmental issues.
As a college student, we often times find ourselves asking what could we ever do to help such a large problem? Our video answers this question in an educational and humor-filled way through the usage of environmental tips and tricks. We listed the following tips and tricks in the video:
1. Walk to class instead of driving. It will help eliminate air pollution
2. Spend time outside. The CO2 you emit is actually great for the environment.
3. Purchase products that do not contain palm oil. The only way to stop destructive palm oil farming practices is to not buy items containing it.
4. Turn off the lights when you leave a room. This will reduce your energy usage.
5. Use reusable water bottles instead of plastic water bottles. This will save plastic and will save you money.
6. Read class assignments on your laptop instead of printing. This will help save trees and eliminate paper waste.
7. Buy your clothing from sustainably-sourcing companies.
These tips may seem simple, but it is important to be reminded of simple tasks we can do to help conserve and save the environment. Our video highlights that you do not need to come up with an Earth-shattering solution to an Earth-shattering problem, but rather we can make a collective effort to take small steps towards reducing our carbon footprints and enhancing the environment. If every college student practiced these seven tips, the environment would be better off. These small steps also have the potential to lead towards eventual greater steps to help the environment.
We had a great semester in this class. It really opened our eyes and taught us how to appreciate nature in a deeper way and that we are the future of environmental stewardship. Any effort we can make to help is well worth it. Thank you!
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