Creative Journal #6 -- Response to Patti Lather

I will fully admit that many of the concepts that Patti Lather brought up went far over my head.  There were far too many -isms that I'm not familiar, I guess.  There were a couple I understood, of course.  I mean, she mentioned the classic feminism, which is something I've had a lot of experience in,

I consider myself a feminist, and more specifically, and eco-feminist.  This is where I was able to make a few connections between our class and the lecture.  In essence, eco-feminism is the bridge between feminism and ecology.  There are many connections between women and nature -- think "Mother Nature."  Because we view the earth to be a female figure, society feels as though we can repress and exploit it.

Think of it like this: Women are generally treated as inferior to men, and nature is treated as inferior to "Man."  I think this is why eco-feminism is so appealing to me.  The duality and the parallels of it is very interesting.  I'd suggest any ESCI 302 folks to look more into it -- it's probably something that might appeal to you as much as it does to me.

My drawing for this one is fairly straight forward.  I put a poorly drawn version of the earth in the center of the trans symbol.  I understand that the symbol can be seen as problematic -- adhering to a gender-binary, and all -- but hey, that happens.

Creative Journal #5 -- Butt Out (Hah!)

This creative journal is more or less something that just bothers the hell out of me.  Every year, without fail, once the melt hits, there are cigarette butts e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. Walking around campus, one can't take more than 5 steps before seeing the remnants of a cigarette on the ground.

I think the thing that gets me the most is the fact that there is a radius around the ashtrays that are littered (hah!) with butts.  It's as though they're trying to miss the receptacle that is placed there for one reason.  The wind takes these butts and they fly around campus, into crevices and gardens alike -- areas where it's super difficult to clean them up.  Often they'll end up in storm drains, which is also a huge issue.  All because someone who smokes decides they're too important to use an ashtray.

I know that there are some people who think that this is a ridiculous request (I Imagine they think i'm like Pheobe from this scene of Friends), but I mean, it's such a simple thing to do.  I've started calling out my friends when they do it -- I encourage others to do this, too!

Creative Journal #4 -- Environmental Racism

Environmental racism is a topic in which I feel very invested in.  I'd go as far to say that it's the branch of environmentalism that I like to explore the most.  I think it's due to the fact that it seems to cause the most discomfort, as it touches upon two things that people tend to shy away from.  When we were starting our Action Learning Group Projects, I watched a documentary called Tipping Point: Age of the Oil Sands, which focuses heavily on the tar sands of Alberta, and how they are affecting the Aboriginal population who live downstream of the project (specifically those in Fort Chipewyan).

I actually used this documentary during my internship and it sparked a whole lot of conversation.  I had a number of students who were for the tar sands, and a number who weren't.  It was really interesting to see their perspectives of the topic.

In my (very crude) drawing, I have the Keystone XL pipeline going through the Wood Mountain Reserve -- near Assiniboia.  My best friend is from that reserve, and when the Keystone XL talks were going on, if my memory serves, the pipeline would be going right near his old stomping ground.  This was something that irked the both of us.  Usually he's not very invested in his Aboriginal heritage, but this was something that got to him.

Creative Journal #3 -- Response to Leo's speach

Prior to Tuesday's class, I had not heard Leo DiCaprio's UN address in it's entirety -- bits and pieces, sure, but not in full.  Honestly, I was quite impressed by it.  I mean, I don't want to just give him a bunch of credit for giving a damn about things everybody should give a damn about, but he seems to hold legitimate stakes in environmental issues.  He knows what he's talking about, he made many legitimate points, and most of all, he showed genuine passion.

I mean, I know he's an actor.  He gets paid to be ingenuinely genuine.  Whatever, it's fine.

His mention of industry is something that really resonated with me, and that's what prompted me to draw this picture.  As we become eco-literate, we should become more and more aware of what is really happening in the world.  We should become more critical of what we buy and where/who we buy it from.  With "Eco-Friendly" becoming a  huge buzz word, more and more products are boasting about how they're the eco-friendly-est.  But what does that even mean?  What is the minimum effort that has to be put in before something can be called "Eco-Friendly"?  Who decides the criteria of eco-friendly products / companies?

This makes me think of the SK based company Ten Tree Apparel  who boast being eco-friendly by planing 10 trees for every article of clothing that is purchased.  This is a pretty cool idea, and if they really have planted 4.5 million trees, as their website claims, then that's awesome.  That being said, the folks who started the company have no issues hopping on a private jet to fly to Las Vegas. Hey, that's their thing, right.  They're not the only ones who have, do, or will fly on a private jet, but when their company is promoting eco-friendlyness, flying across the continent doesn't really refelct those ideals.

Humans "Saving the world"

Much the same as the "Environmental Science as a scenic landscape" rhetoric, I absolutely hate the idea that we need to "save" the world.  Not due to the fact it doesn't need saving, but when it's put in terms of us "saving" the planet, it removes any and all owness from human beings.

We are the ones who did this.
We are the ones who spend unfathomable amounts of dollars to tear the face of the planet up
We are the ones who are polluting at a terrifying rate.
We are the destruction

We're not saving the planet from anything but ourselves.  This is why I drew this sketch.  Think of it like a math equation.  If people didn't exist on the planet, the earth would still (likely) be the same.

So it's not our job to "Save" the planet.  It's our job to unfuck the planet.

Creative Journal Entry #1

All right, so this is my first entry into my creative journal.  At first glance, it's a bit barren, I know -- but I'll take this time to explain it.

I decided to delve into the question "What does Environmental Education look like?" At the risk of sounding outrageously pretentious, environmental rights is a topic that I have an extreme amount of feelings towards.  So much revolves around the health of the environment, and it frightens me that people don't understand this.  Luckily enough, I've had the opportunity to teach Environmental Science 20 already, so I've gotten my feet a little bit wet in the marsh that is high school environmental education, and that is where I got the inspiration for my sketch.

Generally speaking, when someone brings up the topic of the environment, a mental image of some kind of peaceful scene will be birthed in the minds of the listener.  You know, the image of a sunrise/set, a beautiful green landscape, some silhouetted birds flying silently across the sky, and trees as far as the eye can see.

I really detest that idea.

This is why "MORE" is written across the sketch.  Environmental Education should be more.
There should be more talk about the impact of humans on the environment.
There should be more talk about political impact on the environment.
There should be more talk about the travesties that are happening on a daily basis.
There should be more talk about the complete disregard of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people in terms of environmental destruction.
There should be more action.

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