Friends of the Earth

Friends of the Earth is an environmental activist group that works towards becoming a leader in environmental issues, such as climate change and global warming. Friends of the Earth strives to not only alert the public of the dangers of these global phenomenons, but also to create and alter policy that is in the best interest of the Earth. This organization uses various media sources to convey their messages, and aims to target a younger audience so as to educate not only members of academia, but also high schoolers and college age students.

On the Friends of the Earth website, there are many resources that can be used to assist secondary students in becoming active in the climate change movement. Users have the option to donate money or become a part of the solution. On the "Action Center" portion of the website, an individual may choose to participate in an event, either online or in person. If I was a teacher, I would break my class into groups and require each group to become involved in at least one of the events. Although it may look challenging, I believe that a group of dedicated and determined high school students could undertake the work that Friends of the Earth does, particularly regarding the environmental policy. A group of government students who are concerned about the Earth could access the policy information on the Friends of Earth website to learn how to proceed with doing such a things.

Although I had not previously heard about Friends of the Earth, I was quite impressed with their website. The website is very user friendly, and provides great information and resources for students and adults. Their approach is different from that of some other groups that are geared towards fighting climate change, for they separate the issues into "climate and energy," "food and technology," "oceans and forests," and "economics for the earth." To me, this is a great way to attract a wider audience, and may be easier for high school students to narrow their focus and truly make a defense in the global warming pandemic.

Click here to access the Friends of the Earth website.

How the "Stay at Home Mom" May Change the Future

Over the course of this class, many of us have probed "why" and "how?" Why are individuals not taking climate change and global warming more seriously, and how can each of us play a part in combatting this horrendous change that is taking place on Earth. Although I do not have the answers to these questions, I believe that, with the assistance of the "right group", climate change may soon become a known global challenge, to which we may be able to someday mend.


Yesterday, as we were strolling through the woods and adventuring around the lake, I was having a casual conversation with Jacob. Although I do not recall the exact context of the conversation, I do remember cracking a joke at the expense of stay at home moms. It was then that an idea sparked in my mind! "I will write about the stay at home mom profession!" I had struggled to target a profession before yesterday, because I am still a lost teenager who cannot even decide where she wants to spend the next four years of her life. Although I do not desire to be a stay at home mom on a long-term basis, I know that I will someday have a family, and I will stay at home with my children while they are growing up. To me, stay at home moms may be the solution to global warming wound.


Although this is not true in every case, stay at home moms are typically associated with wealth, and quite often are deemed "trophy wives;" at least where I am from. Many of the mothers who I now know that stay at home have grown children that they do not have to look after during the day. Many of these moms are married to doctors, lawyers, financial advisers, CEO's, professional athletes...all professions that allow for only one spouse to work, while providing quite a large cushion for "family adventures" on the side. Many stay at home moms have the luxury of being able to afford large gas guzzling automobiles, the finest cut of steak, and hundred dollar heels. They often join clubs such as Country Clubs, workout facilities, and more. Just think, though, of the power that these moms could have if they were to apply this wealth to combatting climate change. Instead of paying a monthly fee to West Hills indoor athletic club, the Beverly Hills mom could pay a monthly fee that would allow her to enjoy local foods and rock climb and bike outside, without the use of electricity.




Although it may be challenging for stay at home moms who have little kids to find time to dedicate their lives to climate change, I have many friends whose moms now say they have "nothing to do with their lives" now that their kids are in high school. These mothers could spend their days presenting at schools, attending conferences and forums, preparing healthy meals for their families and friends, and alerting the general public about the dangers of climate change. While researching "stay at home moms and climate change," I came across an article that discusses exactly that. Mothers vs. Climate Change describes the mechanisms that would allow mothers to become the next environmental activists. Because scientists and politicians have not seemed to convey the message, perhaps moms who shop, vote, care for their families, and network, may be able to do the trick. By making climate change an issue that concerns mothers and their children, we may be able to solve the problem. After all, stay at home moms quite often have a fountain of wealth and connections that may allow them to combat global warming once and for all.

My Sust House (Climate Change Game)

I was absent on class Monday evening, so I did not choose a video game to research. As I was looking through the list of available games, I noticed "My Sust House" was not chosen. I decided to play the interactive online game, and I'm glad I did! "My Sust House" is a Scottish game that allows players to create their own town, environment, and house to live in. The goal of this game is to create a house and living situation that is as economically friendly as possible. Overall, this game is very informative. Before creating your own house, you must watch a short yet detailed introduction video. For each section (environment, town, and building) a short synopsis is given on the environmental dangers and causes of many different scenarios. 

The environmental section of "My Sust House" describes the importance of location and housing projects on the environment. The player must select appropriate settings for their house based on different locations. For each decision, a cost and benefit analysis is given, as well as the environmental impacts. The building section of this game gives the user a budget and an environmental impact sustainability meter. The player must make decisions regarding which resources to use to create a house. Like the environmental section, a cost and benefit analysis of using each resource is given. In the town section of "My Sust House," the same concepts as the environmental and building sections apply, however the user must play more than just one game. To create a sustainable environment, the player has to make decisions in different aspects of the town such as retail, agriculture, and transportation. At the end of the three sections, the player is given an overall sustainability score. The user may read about how to improve their sustainable everyday methods. 

This game seems to be appropriate for a middle school audience for the concepts are not extremely complex, however the information is also not appropriate for elementary school students. A teacher could use this game as a resource in a classroom that is learning about climate change and global warming. 

If you'd like to delve into the fun, go to http://www.mysusthouse.org/game.html!

Oryx and Crake

Oryx and Crake is a novel that details the life of a young man named Snowman and his ability to overcome life in a rather post-apocolyptic world. As a young boy, Jimmy, also known as Snowman, befriends a boy named Glenn. Glenn and Jimmy involve themselves in many adventurous acts, such as watching child pornography, smoking skunkweed, and playing outrageous video games. Throughout the story, Glenn is also referred to as Crake. After high school, Crake invents a species called the Crakers. He creates Oryx, a small, asian, Craker girl, who serves as a sort of sex slave or prostitute to him, and is a leader to the Crakers.

While at work, Crake develops a disease that becomes a global pandemic. As it turns out, only a few people are immune to this disease. Soon, only the Crakers and Snowman survive. Although I was not able to track the book extremely well, it appeared as if there was no true conclusion. The human race was modified, and then pushed to extinction. Perhaps this serves as an example of what will happen if our species does not attempt to combat climate change immediately. With rapidly decreasing resources comes a severe increase in competition amongst individuals, which drives people to take actions such as the ones in this book. Although I cannot see life on Earth going as it does in Oryx and Crake, there are some very powerful messages behind some of the events.

Oryx and Crake was by far my least favorite read of this entire class. Although I did not think I could bare to finish the book to conclusion, I did finally commit to reading it last night. Overall, I was very disturbed by some of the discussions in this book. All of the challenges that the main character Snowman faces stem from the implementation of genetically modified organisms in society. Although there will no doubt be problems that result if GMOs dominate society, I find it hard to believe that the events that occurred in this book could ever happen as they were presented in Oryx and Crake. For example,  the humans eat their own feces, there are specific breeding seasons, human organs are grown inside pigoons, or pig-like creatures, and there are many elements of child pornography that are discussed. I personally would not recommend this book to anyone, but there many be individuals looking for a disturbing, post-apocolyptic read. 

Flight Behavior

Flight Behavior

"Flight Behavior" by Barbara Kingsolver is an exploration of science, religion, and self-awareness. The author uses quite elevated and sophisticated vocabulary to detail the events in rural Appalachia. The main character, Dellarobia, is impregnated at the age of seventeen, which binds her to a life of rather challenging circumstances. Her somewhat uneventful marriage leaves her feeling lonely and bored throughout the first half of the book. Although she does not seem to enjoy many aspects of motherhood, there are many times throughout the first few chapters that expose Dellarobia's judgements and views on the ways in which other people raise their children. She lives in a small town, and is only exposed to a very narrow-minded view of life. It appears as if, throughout the book, Dellaboria is going to begin to challenging some of the ideas she is surrounded by, which may result in many complications.

While reading this book, many elements of Dellaboria's life strike me as being similar to that of my extended family. My parents are from Ohio and West Virginia, and they both grew up on farms in small cities. Although we do not have much remaining family in West Virginia, I have more than 200 relatives in Southern Ohio. A majority of these individuals live in a town named Camden, which has a population of around 2000. Although I adore most of my family, many of them have not been exposed to life outside of their small, predominately white, farming town. Camden seems to be similar to Feathertown, Tennessee, where Dellaboria resides. It has always been somewhat challenging for me to travel to Camden, for I have lived a life full of diversity, and some individuals in Southern Ohio are not as accepting as the people I have grown up around. Although I should not, I often find myself questioning and critiquing the mindset of many of my family members. Like Dellaboria's family members, my family in Camden holds strong religious, economic, and political views, some of which I am not entirely in agreement with.  I am looking forward to reading more of "Flight Behavior," because I feel that I will have a deep connection to Dellaboria and the life she is beginning to question even more than I already do.

As it turns out, this book is one individual's exploration and investigation of climate change and it's effect on Earth. As Dellaboria goes through her regular, monotonous routine, the weather patterns begin to shift dramatically and rain begins to cause mudslides, torrential downfall, and horrible storms. After the rain, Dellaboria's town gets a migration of monarch butterflies.At first, she, like the rest of her town, thinks these butterflies are a message from God. With further consideration and research, Dellaboria begins to believe the butterflies are actually a result of changing weather patterns, and an increase in temperature. She tries to convey her message to her town, however she is quickly shut down, because the people have not been educated on climate change and global warming.

This book is a great example of climate change denial, or at least lack of education surrounding these issues. Perhaps, with supplemental materials that detail climate change events, this book would be a great eye opener to expose the lack of knowledge that surrounds climate change. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone in our class. Although it is not my favorite book ever, I did enjoy the way in which Kingsolver wrote, and her message was very powerful. I also enjoyed the personal connection I felt with the characters, particularly Dellaboria. I felt as if I could relate to her because she was from a small, somewhat uneducated town, and she had to face many societal pressures.

Into the Wild

"Into the Wild" is the true story of a young man who spends years after college exploring and touring the US and Mexico. This man, Alex McCandless, leaves his educated, typical American life, in search of...something. Throughout the book, it is apparent that no one, not friends, family, or acquaintances, ever knew what McCandless was looking for. In some ways, it appears that this man lived a life of solitude, depression, and loneliness. However, many of the people who encountered McCandless stated that he seemed quite content living the life he loved, and he enjoyed spiriting around the world, desiring to find adventure wherever he went. There is a large amount of irony that exists in Alex McCandless's tragic tale, for his presumable cause of death was starvation, and before he went on his life-altering adventure, he donated his life's savings to a foundation that assisted starving children.
Although I had never read "Into the Wild," before reading the book, I had heard many individuals discussing the content of the book. I went into it thinking that I would find many similarities between Alex McCandless and "Catcher in the Rye's" Holden Caulfield.  Holden and Alex both appeared to view the world with unique and aspiring optics, however even though both of the young men desired to "be different," and lived life in confinement at times, McCandless was much more educated than Holden, and he seemed to have a skill set that was not seen in Caulfield. In addition, their social skills seemed to vary drastically. Holden had trouble communicating with others, while Alex enjoyed the company of others, and many individuals spoke quite highly of him. Many of the people who spoke of Alex in the book suggested that he was a very intelligent, handy, and hard-working man. All of which are traits that Holden did not possess.
McCandless was a firm believer in owning only what you could carry on your back. Through his writing and the stories from people who knew him, it appears that he did not enjoy carrying the burden of schlepping around extra baggage; be that clothing, friends, or food. I found his letter to Ronald Franz, a man he met on in South Dakota, to be quite revealing. McCandless prompted Franz to "make a radical change in his lifestyle," and "become accustomed to such a life" of traveling and adventure. In this letter, McCandless exposes his true feelings on life, and his motives for hitchhiking across American borders. He states that he sees no value in living life by "going right back to the same situation you see every day."

So far, I am only about one half of the way done with this book. I have been very intrigued by the story, and I can't wait to read more. This story is more captivating than the usual tale about the depressed American hitchhiker and bum who travels across the country, living off mere rations and assistance from kind-hearted soles, because Alex McCandless (aka Chris) is an educated, bright, hard-working individual, who does not ever seem to feel as if he is alone in the world. His outlook is very positive, and the actions he takes could possible serve as a lesson to many people. If I had to create a message from the first half of this book, it would be that a person should take time to truly explore and break their typical, daily habits. For if we don't, we will never truly find the true meaning or beauty of life.

11th Hour

The "11th Hour" is a documentary that is narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio. The film encompasses a variety of topics that center around the idea that we, as a species, are doomed to become extinct in the near future if we do not create sustainable methods that will allow all organisms on Earth to flourish. Many speakers are present throughout this film, ranging from Steven Hawking to neuroscientists, who are perceived as experts in their field. The speakers share their thoughts on the different ideas, and at the conclusion of the film, many of the speakers agree that extinction of the human race may not be a dramatic loss to life on Earth.
Throughout this film, viewers are able to not only learn about humans are spoiling Earth's environment, but they are also able to view live footage from events such as tornadoes, glacial ice breaking, floods, starvation, and more. The dramatic music that is played along with these events created a sense of urgency and severity that is not present when reading a book about climate change and destruction. The speakers also included a wide assortment of individuals, ranging from disabled, to Native American, to celebrities, which may allow some viewers to understand that climate change is not just an issue for scientists, but the general public.
To me, the most interesting aspect of the "11th Hour" was the concept of humans accepting that they are a part of nature. Many of the speakers suggested that humans view Earth as a place for nature, and a place for humans. In actuality, humans are a large part of nature, however we do not treat our counterparts as equals. As we have talked about in class, humans have a tendency to deplete resources rapidly, which has led to tremendous turmoil over the last century. Before the Industrial Revolution, our lives were based off of sunlight, rather than technology.

Sunlight was the driving force of plant growth, which in turn created food for livestock and the human race. Sunlight determined the circadian rhythm cycles of our species, and allowed other species to live peacefully at night. For many years, sunlight indirectly provided clothing, shelter, food, water, and more to the human race. Not long ago, some of the sun's power was replaced with that of coal, fossil fuels, and a shift in agriculture. We resorted to the Earth's resources, rather than the Sun's rays. As we have seen, this change prompted a series of unfortunate events.
We have become "environmental refugees" who rely on resources that are rapidly declining. We are simply "astronauts floating in space, in solidarity, who are dependent upon information that is sent to us from millions of miles away." In order to see a change, we must "bridge public policy with public opinion." As discussed many times throughout the "11th Hour," American's are governed by a Constitution that was created in a time when deforestation, global warming, and processed food were completely foreign. In order to thoroughly combat and overcome Earth's destruction, we must create a shift in culture. A shift that focuses on nature and human being part of the same body, rather than two separate and unequal entities. Without this union, the human race, as well as many other species, will soon come to a fatal end.