Sustainable Living Journal
By Jacob Cabrera
First Entry- Day 1- April 15th, 2004
#1 Overall situation.
Although I am starting a bit late in the quarter, and there are only seven
weeks left, with constant entries, and because of all the material I have
previously worked on, I should be well on my way to completing my senior
thesis.
#2 Inability to write enough
It is very difficult to have time to write, and I have been feeling a bit sick
recently so I'm going to go to bed and hopefully have more time tomorrow. I
have lots of ideas and wanting to put into this journal though. I wish I wasn't
so tired and sick. There is a lot I haven't been getting done.
#3 Approval of Spring 2004 Independent Senior
Thesis
Really quickly. I met with Steve Gliessman and he approved my senior thesis
independent study for the quarter. He also gave me some good ideas.
Day 3-April 17th, 2004- 10pm
#4 Been Busy
I was unable to get to my journal yesterday. I was quite busy, and my family
came to town so that added to my not having time. I cannot recollect what I did
for sustainable living yesterday. Very little I guess.
#5 CSC Meeting
Today I had a Campus Sustainability Council (CSC) Steering Committee meeting.
It was very productive. We worked on the governing documents mainly, and made
some great progress. I believe we could be done soon. Unfortunately this is one
of one hundred things I need to be working on, so it may be a problem getting
it completed in time.
#6 Outline of next entries:
Right now I would like to go over a few entries:
-reading ESLP papers
-Steve's ideas
-my predicament with this thesis and situation
There are many other things I could depict, but this will get me started.
#7 *My predicament with this thesis and
situation*
So this journal is to help me guide my thoughts in the writing of my senior
thesis. I have been working on the idea of this thesis for over three years.
There have been many things holding me back to move forward with it, but in the
end there are a few things that seem to come up over and over. One is that I
myself am changing so fast, and am so involved with such an extraordinary
number of projects and organizations, that what I once believed sustainable
living to be, no longer encompasses it. As I have been learning, it has
occurred to me, that many of the ideas, projects and concepts that I believed
to be under or within sustainable living, are actually outside of it.
Sustainable Living is only one small aspect of Sustainability, and Sustainability
is only one seventh of the world, which I have begun to organize for myself.
But the process of organizing my world and thinking of new ways to exist and
organize does come under the ospis of sustainability, and therefore it might be
possible to underline it in a simple way during my thesis.
#8 Two aspects of Sustainability:
There are two main aspects that I see to sustainability, and therefore to
Sustainable Living (and really any realm of life). One is the
personal/individual understanding and organization. The other is the multiple
or societal collective understanding and organization. Each is equally
important, but the collective understanding is based and grounded in each
person individual understanding added to that collective. Therefore it is, and
will be, important to begin and create a foundation with the individual in
mind.
#9 Realms of life and reorganization:
Through reorganizing my individual understanding of my life, I have come to realize
that sustainability is one of seven realms. This is only one way of organizing
a life, and is specific for how I organize my own; every person could have a
different way of doing so. The realms are: Dreams, Journey, Sustainability,
community, Government, Business, and all of them put together create a realm of
itself: LIFE. So that organizational structure, or the way that it relates to
the world is not what is important to this thesis. What is important is that I
took it upon myself, in a manner of sustainable living, to reorganize the way
in which I looked at my life, to better understand it and be more effective in
what I do. How I did this is of great importance, although it still my not be
included in my thesis. Some of this work might be useful for comparative
analysis. For example, Dreams are not always real, the Journey is everything in
motion through a path, and Sustainability is the sustained existence of
everything individually, and also collectively. Community and so forth becomes
much more complex.
#10 Complex situation and past work done on
Thesis
Furthermore my situation is more complicated by the work that I have already
done. I have over 50 pages of writing which encompasses a variety of aspects of
sustainable Living, interlinked with the start up, running and operations of
the Student Environmental Center (SEC). There are many more documents, which
back up this paper. Unfortunately it is not written that well, and as I have
learned more about the organization of my life which gives distinct and
explicit understanding in the difference between a community organization, and
sustainability on the individual or collective level. Although the SEC is
involved in community sustainability, it in and of itself does not exist in the
realm of sustainability, and more specifically sustainable living. That does
not mean it won't be part of my senior thesis, it definitely will, but it will
be cast in a light of collective sustainability and used as an example. As well
as the new Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP), which is a product
of the SEC here at UCSC, where it will be beneficial to use examples of
individual lessons in sustainable living.
#11 Conclusion of Ownership and Freedom for
paper
I could go on forever on my current situation, but that is what applied to the
thesis as of now. For a quick conclusion, my feeling is that this senior thesis
that I am going to write, must be, in and of itself, sustainable, and exist in
the realm of sustainable living itself. There must be complete personal and
individual ownership. This bring freedom of expression and a much desired
ability to completely scrap, and re-scrap everything, and possibly change
around the entire concept whenever it is needed. There is so much that entails
sustainable living, there is no telling what the end product might be, but I do
know that what ever ends up on the final cutting board, will change right
after, and the final executive summary, will have to be the last thing
rewritten, after the rest of the paper has changed.
#12 Outline and morphing of thesis and
*Steve's Ideas*
These ideas aren't anything new. They are the same ones he's been telling me
all along. Mainly that I need to have an outline for my paper. There is no
problem in having an outline and being structured. It is just that this
outline, which I will be creating, will be changing. One of the main problems I
had before is that I created an outline and couldn't bring myself to change it
because that was what we had agreed upon. But hopefully Steve will understand
the importance of personal individual ownership, and allow me to change and do
whatever I need at any time, even if it means that the next draft has a
completely different conclusion or dialogue/ argument, than the one before it. Other
than that, Steve just encouraged me to collect my thoughts, and went over the
crucial fact that a good thesis will have tons of material and documents, which
aren’t in the final product at all. Steve also mentioned that this should serve
as the capstone to my entire work that I have been doing throughout my college
career. It should include and bring together all the work that I have done.
#13 Paper Logistics: Writing the
paper
Before I get into reading ESLP Papers, I would quickly like to put a few words
about what I would see some of the paper logistics to look like.
I would like my senior thesis to be as short as possible. There will be an
executive summary no longer than one page to explain the dialogue and
concluding remarks. Then the rest will be as short and to the point as
possible. I am guessing it will not be able to be any shorter than 15-20 pages.
I will start with a one-page contents/ outline, with the beginning of an
executive summary (that will change a thousand times). That will be no longer
than two pages. Then I will write 4 pages for the entire thesis. Then add in a
couple more to make it 6. Then 10, then 15. Stay at 15 for a while, and then
maybe start adding a little more, in a couple of locations, but not too many.
#14 Journal Guidelines:
One short comment on how this journal should be written: if a paragraph or
section is not complete, then it should end up in the next days entry as it
becomes completed there. This will bring continuity and clarity. Each
entry/paragraph will get a number and short title afterwards, which will index
it and make it reference able. There is no need to put the number or the title
to each entry at the moment of writing it. It is ok to go back to past entries
and add minor details or corrections. The main goal is that the entry just has
to be finished before it can count for that day and time. Otherwise it stays
under the line in the category of unfinished or entries to be made. It is also
an option to add a line at the end of an entry for Key topics, which are gone over
in that entry, which are possibly in need of more discussion or further
entries. This should be done in the order they appear in the entry.
Key Topics: completion of entries, continuity & clarity, title and number
of entries, index, reference ability, corrections to entries, the unfinished
entries, key topics
#15 *ESLP reading of Papers* (and a little on
the class)
Our class for ESLP has over 150 people in it. Every week students turn in
papers on the lectures the week before, and there are many interesting accounts
for me to work with for my senior thesis. I will write in comments as I read
through them. As for the first speaker which is what the papers are based on,
some of his main points included the understanding that sustainability was like
Zen, the universal energy which connects all things together, and gives each
one its own life source. Naturally anything connected to it acts in a
sustainable way. Yet somehow our society has disconnected ourselves with the
natural source of all energy, and we are out of sink. It is very simple to
reconnect; we just have to believe that we are sustainable. He encouraged us to
make one drawn in our houses sustainable, and clean it etc. Each act in and of
itself must have the intention of being sustainable, as opposed to an out come
of such. It is in process that makes a changing world go.
Day 4 - April 18th, 2004 9am
#16 The four categories of sustainability:
All ideas of sustainability fall into one of four categories: movement,
practice, cosmology, and choice. Movement: environmental and natural resource
conservation (involving: activists, politicians, the media, and economists).
Practice: individual daily lives, state of mindfulness and consciousness,
actively aware, role model for youth generations. Cosmology: earth was a
sustainable place for billions of years; humans have set a break, and natural
law dictates sustainability. Choice: there is no set of rules, you can start
with yourself, this choice is the same freewill that has gotten us into
trouble, but it is the same freewill that can bring us back again-Jay Chen,
Tracy Da Lomba
#17 Anything new is never perfect, earth has
everything for coexistence:
Any new method created will never be perfect, but how much improvement will be
accomplished by this new method. Earth has given us the resources to exist
here, and we have everything we need to coexist with our friends from the
animal kingdom (we are a part of the animal kingdom) and we can seldom coexist
with ourselves. -Jamie Colato
#18 Need for federal funding of alternatives
For sustainable technologies like solar to become institutionalized and
cheaper, our federal government must be supported by the community to uphold
solar power and other alternative forms. Right now we are 99 percent oil based,
and very few research dollars go into alternatives. This issue is a
community/government issue, and only falls under the category of sustainable
living in the collective progress of using alternatives.
#19 Is the earth a closed system?
The earth is a closed system, the energy we have today, is the same energy
we've had since the planet was formed. I'm not sure I believe this because the
sun continues to bring more energy every day. Open systems interact with the
surrounding; a meteor could hit earth anytime.
#20 A little on life and connection
Basic needs include food and shelter,
but they must be kept simple. We indulge in our basic needs in this country.
The most essential needs of all,: care and affection amongst each other. There
is a harmony that one can enjoy with the natural world, something that nothing
can come in between. No matter what surrounds it, there will always be a line
drawn to connect it.
#21 Holy cleaning and Belief
Cleaning can be one of the holiest acts. The sponge to a plastic container to
recycle it... "We are part of the universe thinking about the universe, we
are the stars thinking about the stars"-Laurence. One is as sustainable as
they believe themselves to be.
#22 The solution to sustainability (un) is not
sus but community and gov.
The Solution to sustainability doesn't necessarily have anything to do with
sustainability, or sustainable living. The problem you see is unsustainability
and the disconnect of the natural law of energy and balance in our society.
Therefore the true solutions are in building community and supporting an active
government that supports the earth.
Day 5- April 19th 2004
4:20pm
#23 Interconnectedness of sustainability
Sustainability is interconnectedness with ourselves, energy, nature and the
entire universe from the beginning of time. Think local, global, and universal,
act in balance. But with sustainable living, individual people become in and of
themselves independent in that they are owners of themselves, and have total
freedom of will. Yet at the same time they are interdependent.
# 24 Hope
Hope is what keeps people going, persistent, and keeps people from quitting.
#25 SEC Article in Santa Cruz Sentinel
Yesterday, Sunday, April 18th, the Student Environmental Center was on the
front page of the Santa Cruz Sentinel for a special on Earth Days. It discussed
Marcia Winslade, ESLP, CSSC, and the Green Building Policy.
#26 Journal and Time Issues
This journal, and because I have such a small amount of time to write in it everyday,
is very difficult to keep up, in and of itself. I hope it is not too cumbersome
to write about many of these issues even through they might not end up in my
thesis.
#27 List of Topics:
SEC, ESLP, CSSC, UCSCSECCSSC,
UCSCSECESLP, Work plan....
April 19th, 2004,
10:43pm: Entry II
#28 No Time to Write ON ESLP and My Mind Is
Changing
I feel that tonight’s ESLP class was wonderful. It is difficult that I have not
had time to write about the ESLP class; hence that is one of the main focuses
of this journal and thesis. But I believe it would be beneficial to go into
more detail about what exactly I would like to write for my senior thesis. I'm
feeling more and more that it isn't going to be focused on the list of topics
in entry #27.
#29 Concepts vs. Principles of sustainable,
what the thesis could be focused on.
There are many things I could write
on or about. One of the main ideas I have had since I first started thinking
about Sustainable Living was that it would almost be like a Manuel titled, the
Principles of Sustainability Living. Since then I have learned that there are
many other types of possibilities for example: concepts of sustainable living.
Concepts and Principles are two separate ideas, and of course there is
definitions. It is very important to make a clear distinction between sustainability,
and sustainable living. This in turn still isn't a very good example of what
the focus of the thesis could be, but I will have to go more into that later. A
principle of sustainability is a founding shift of understanding that underlies
all aspects of internal education personal and or collective. Concepts of
lessons and examples of how to apply this to your life in the form of action,
and are much more tangible groupings showing how they work.
#30 How to deal with so much information
There is no question that this senior thesis is going to be about a lot of
information. It almost seems like it could be very overwhelming, especially if
it isn't very long. As Steve said, it is always good to have a lot of back up
for a paper, and it is very possible that I could have a lot of information
that wasn't in the thesis that it referred to, or that was hinted at. Therefore
the focus could be more clear and concise.
#31 Key topics to have in thesis according to
Steve.
Some of the topics that Steve laid out that seemed like good candidates for
things that need or should be covered would be: All of the endless
organizations that I have been a part of and have contributed to this work.
What went into working on that level or sustaining myself in those organizations?
#32 Ending with a glimpse at the future
direction of my work
Also it would be good to end with a glimpse at the future, kind of like this
journal is going to be talking about the next journal of Life. This would
include discussing the difficulty of making distinctions between Sustainable
Living and life in general. In some ways Sustainable Living is the intersection
between life and sustainability.
#33 Organization of the Paper
I believe that the paper should be
organized and be approachable from many different perspectives and accessible
to any particular topic of the entire thesis. For example each paragraph should
have a title just as each section and part as seen in the SEC paper. Each
sentence will also have a written description of the key words or concepts
brought up in it. This will be described/ be available in the detailed outline.
There will also be an Overall Outline, a General Outline, a Main outline etc. I
don't know exactly what they will be called, but it will make since on some
level. There will be at least three outlines, probably four. That is why it is
so important to make sure the paper isn't too long, because it isn't easy to
make all the outlines and descriptions of the paper, but this will make it
accessible to any detail of the information in the thesis for people who aren't
into reading the entire thing. There also needs to be a glossary with all the
key concepts and ideas where a little more information could be available. Also
the entire thesis should be organized and written to be available, accessible,
and navigatable on the web as the primary version. There should be a
downloadable version in word and PDF based on the web version. There should
also be the ability to interact with the thesis and give real time comments on any
segment or issue brought up in the thesis, or be able to fix minor errors (or
at least propose them).
Key topics: Accessibility, outlines/title descriptions, glossary, and web
version as primary version of thesis, interactive component
#34 Difficulty in writing in journal &
Dilemma between Life and Sustainability
It has been very difficult writing in this journal and not having enough time
to do so. There is so much that I am unable to write about that happened today,
and there is little to nothing I can do about that. It is very late, and I have
been sick. Writing in the journal also takes away from my life, which brings up
more issues between Life and Sustainability. Some of what I didn't do right now
is exercise, and sleeping, and meditation ECT, that would help me in many of
the endeavors of the rest of my life. This will be an ongoing dilemma I am
pretty sure and could even possibly be incorporated into the thesis as long as
it is in the focus of Sustainable Living. I have to get up early so I'm signing
off.
Day 8, April 22nd, 2004, Earth Day
#35 Little Time to Prepare to Meet
You would think that on earth day, I would have lots of time to concentrate on
issues like these. but I don't. Today I am going to meet with Steve so I am
going to try to get done as much as I can in the 14 minutes that my computer
has battery power. Luckily Steve has a connection that I can use when I meet
with him. I am going to try to make a type of outline to show him what I've
been doing.
#36 Possible topics of the paper would
include:
-Executive Summary (1 page)
-Contents (1 page)
-Introduction (relationship between sustainability and Living, and the
difference between them showcasing the similarities {this is not a paper on
sustainability and what it is, no definition of cause or crisis})- (the conscious
paradigm shift is the essence of sustainability to change the way in which we
look at the world and the way we make goals and achieve them.? building
community?) (1 pages)
- Organization and structure of paper, how to use (1 page)
- Case studies and personal activity in sustainable movement, Writing a
sustainable paper, Individual ownership and freedom, Organization collective
movement (SEC..) (What went into working on that level or sustaining myself in
those organizations.) (3pages)
- Focus of sustainable living in the education system (Individual vs.
collective sustainable living) (2 pages)
- Introduction to Conscious shifting (spectrums, humans as part of nature..) (1
page) systems, Hope, interdependence, intention
-Principles of Sustainable Living (2 pages)
-Concepts of Sustainable Living (2 pages)
-What next (the next steps of this work, How to go beyond sustainable to
thriving life) (1 page) (? Community as a foundation)
-Glossary (organizational references and concepts at a quick glance) (2 pages)
-Index to Appendices (1 page)
Total length: 18 pages
Appendices:
-Outlines
-Journal
- First paper on "new" living and Sustainable Development
- Paper on SEC
- Other referenced work from organizations with index
April 30th
#37 Balance
Balance is the focal point of all
life and is a core factor in sustainability like that of all relms of life. The
fact that I haven’t mentioned this word at all until this far in my journal is
amazing. It is crucial that balance is a focus of this thesis and is included
in all aspects including future ones.
May 1
#38 Definitions of Concept vs. Principle
Today while meeting with Steve, our main discussion was about the difference
between a concept and a principle. I decided that I would look the two up:
con·cept n
1. something that somebody has
thought up, or that somebody might be able to imagine.
Also called conception
2. a broad abstract idea or a
guiding general principle, such as one that determines how a person or culture
behaves, or how nature, reality, or events are perceived
3. the most basic
understanding of something
4. a method, plan, or type of
product or design
Key words: imagination, thought, abstract, general, guide, behavior,
perception, basic, method, plan
prin·ci·ple n
1. an important underlying law
or assumption required in a system of thought
2. a standard of moral or
ethical decision-making
3. the basic way in which
something works
4. the primary source of
something
5. an ingredient of a
substance that gives the substance a particular quality
Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Keywords: law, assumption, thought, moral, ethics, decision-making, basic,
primary, source, ingredient, quality
Overlap: thought, basic, These words can be ignored
but it is interestesting that the common vocabulary between a concept and
principle is a basic thought.
Concept: An imaginative abstract perception used as a general guide,
plan, or method of behavior.
Principle: The primary source or ingredient for moral and ethical laws,
assumptions, [or beliefs] used for quality decision-making.
These definitions are much better than what I had before, but I believe I was
generally right with what my perception was. Mainly I had a feeling that
concepts would be tangible steps that people could take to change their
behavior.
I also believe it is very interesting that Concepts vs. Principles fall in line
with the same understanding between, sustainability vs. sustainable living, as
well as individual vs. collective. Each can be applied to a group or person,
but sustainability, principles seem to relate more with the larger
understanding and consciousness of the collective, and Concepts and sustainable
living seem to relate more with individual evolution. The individual evolution
through, is the basis for the larger understanding and consciousness.
May 2st
# 39 Some next steps
I did some writing on some paper that last couple of days and hopefully will
have a chance to input it into this journal. believe the next steps are to actually
start writing some outlines for the different sections of the thesis. This
should be able to be done pretty quickly. This draft will need to be emailed to
Steve as soon as possible.
May 3rd
#40 Principles of Sustainable Living
-Intro- with definition and
overview/ purpose
The primary source or ingredient for moral and ethical laws, assumptions,
[or beliefs] used for quality decision-making. These principles can be used on a personal level or
collective level.
- Balance- everything is balanced, up to the highest levels. give and take,
good and evil, foster balance, understand that balance everything exists
within, each of us has good and evil inside. Light includes everything. Death
brings life. Life brings life, and sometimes death brings more death.
- Spectrums- Although you only need two things to create balance, good evil...
to live sustainably, you must understand where you exist in relation to
everything around you. Therefore nothing is black or white, there is always a spectrum
of colors. There are always many options available, and each must be
considered. Levels of spectrums.
- Intention- Everything must be done with intention and understood. Only with
intention does an action speak for itself, no, enacting a plan with a purpose,
instead of just going with it because there isn't enough time to do something
else. Truly believe in what you do, and allow a community too also.
- Interdependence?
#41 Concepts of Sustainable Living
-Intro
Concept: An imaginative abstract perception used as a general guide, plan,
or method of behavior. These are tangible examples of how to apply
principles of sustainable living into practice. These are meant to be able
bring systemic change within a system.
-?Choice
- Waste Prevention- Cycle of production
- Teaching/Learning?
- Cleaning
- Organizing
- Health
- Relaxing/releasing
- Common Sense
-Not all of these will end up being concepts, some of this is just a brainstorm.
May 5th
#42 Writing the first Draft
Now that I have started writing the first draft, I feel that my journal will
take less of a role in the experience. It seems that I will put most of my
focus in to the actual drafts of the thesis as opposed to writing entries. I
will try to continue to include entries when able. But really writing the
actual drafts takes the new roll of the journal.
May 6th
#43 Editing Rough Drafts
There are a few things that go into editing the drafts of the paper. First of
all as it becomes more of a web application, it will be saving the websites
themselves. Hopefully this wont be that hard to figure out. Everything else is basically
the same, but today I am interested in getting the next rough draft together, so
that when I meet with Steve he can see how that might look.
#44 Process
Should process and how we do things be part of the main aspects of sustainable
living. It seems that how we do things is more important than what we do.
Everyone should and has the free will to do what they want. We can tell people
what to do. WE can only give recommendations on how to do what they want to do.
That is the general basis of principles and concepts. Furthermore doing things
with intention is extremely important. So process would either go under the
Intention part or it would go under its own part.
#45 Steve ideas that must be incorporated into
the Thesis
I just had an insightful, productive meeting with Steve. It went very well and
he had some very interesting and deep comments and suggestions. He was very
excited and fond of the clarified understanding of the difference between
concepts and principles.
First he wanted me to explain exactly why section II is before section 3 in
that the experiences explained in section II lead up to the realization and
understanding of the concepts and principles presented in section three.
Principles of ecology are presented in the concept of ecosystems.
Principles of sustainability are imbedded in the concept of a sustainable
ecosystem.
Steve explained a good way to bring more depth into the comparison was that
assumptions are principles, and concepts are rooted in action.
Intention needs to clarify why something needs to be done as well as process.
Steve had this great Idea of connecting back the Concepts of sustainable Living
to the Case studies to allow for a fluid approach.
An executive summary: what is most a person will read before stopping and still
get the core of it. It has more detail than an abstract and may need to be
longer than a page.
The Introduction has three parts: What’s the situation, Why important, the plan
to be presented.
Sustainability is a type of oxymoron because you can sustain something for a
period of time that’s not sustainable. IT is about producing a quality example.
He talked a bit about beyond sustainable, but I'm not sure he understood
exactly where I was coming from. He said something about it being beyond the
concepts. Bring the assumptions from the principles into the concepts to create
good changes. Hopefully he will like my ideas of where I'm taking this.
#46 Log and Logististics
Save all the time. I forgot to save enough and I lost about 4 journal entries
when the program crashed. Ooops
#47 Rough Drafts
It will be a great practice that any time I want to do brainstorm writing, I
will take the section of the draft, and past the topic or the writing into the
journal and do my brainstorming there. Then it will all be saved and will allow
better flow. Many times when writing directly into the draft I hit writers
block because I'm worried about it being perfect.
May 11th
#48 The New Paradigm
I went to the most amazing workshop at the Whole Earth Festival in Davis. IT
turns out this festival was founded one year before Earth Day in 1969 and is
the original founder. One of the Co-founders, Jose Aguilera?, has been involved
in a global movement to redefine the way understand time and the definition of
the physical world. The equation which was given is like this: E(T)=Art. Energy
Factored (or fractled) by Time is equal to Art. There is a lot that goes into
this, but the outcome of it is an entirely new way of the foundational
organization of our society, which is the calendar. The global movement is to
change the present calendar on a person-to-person basis, to a 13 month 28 day
calendar. Just a few of the benefits include that everyday of every month of
every year is the same number and the same day of the week. So the first day of
every month is a Sunday. and the last day of every month is a Saturday. The other
cool benefit is the Global holiday called "day of of time" 13 times
28 = 364, and the 365th day is the day out of time that has no number or day of
the week. We just have a global celebration. This new calendar system is not
new at all, it is based off of the Mayan calendar and many indigenous cultures
that still use it today, and even more used it before our calendar system was
adopted by the Romans and imposed on the rest of the world. So I might find a
way of putting this into the thesis.
May 20th
#49 Overwhelmed at the End of the Quarter
I have been having a really hard time writing in my journal and working on my
thesis. I believe it is because we are getting to the end of the quarter and
CSSC convergence is coming up, massive budgets, which I have never worked on
before, and much else is going on in my life. I didn't even get to go to Steve's
office hours today, so I will have to email him what I have worked on. I am
very excited though on working more on the thesis.
May 21st
#50 Next Steps
I'm not sure how much I would like to get done on my thesis today. It would be
nice to have a draft on about three sections minimum. The following ones will probably
be where I start my efforts. I would also love to feel done enough with the
content that I could move towards working on the outlines, as well as the
journal matrix. Hopefully everything works well.
#51 Organizations part of a Collective
Movement
My involvement in the movement is
many organizations, so many in fact that there is no way that I can talk about
all of them in may paper. Luckily it will be possible to talk mainly about the
ones that have to do with the Sustainable Living Movement. This includes (and
should go into the glossary): SEC, CSSC, UCSSC, UCSCCSSC,ESLP, UCSCESLP, UC
Regents, UCOP, CSC, there should also be a quick reference to the organizations
that aren’t part of the collective Movement. like earth first. I do know that
for this section I would like to focus on the organizations and not me at all.
But I am not sure how to relay the information about this collective movement
in totality. I know I will start with some information about the SEC paper. Cut
and paste from the SECpaper.
The Beginnings of a Sustainability Movement at UC Santa Cruz
The collective movement for sustainability at UC Santa Cruz was slow coming.
For years there were many attempts at students and staff alike in making
individual efforts to improve the sustainability of our campus and society.
Student groups would come and go, and information would be lost, breaking continuity
throughout campus and the community. Then in the Summer of 2001, a student
named Jessian Choy founded the Student Environmental Center (SEC), based off of
the CU Boulder SEC, in an attempt to bring continuity and a central location to
the movement at UC Santa Cruz. This brought about the ability to have multiple
organizations and projects all working together to improve the sustainability
of the campus. Within three years the momentum has grown exponentially with
ripples across the state of California and the nation.
Collective Sustainability Movement Year 1 & 2
The first year the SEC focused on foundation, a Board of Advisors, and getting
a ballot measure passed to help fund the efforts. The first Annual Campus Earth
Summit was put on, along with a successful Campus Earth Festival. The next
summer leaders worked with Greenpeace to start a statewide UC Go Solar
campaign, founding the California Student Sustainability Coalition (CSSC). At
UC Santa Cruz, the SEC founded three campaigns, the UCSC SEC CSSC chapter of
the statewide coalition, Student for Organic Solutions (SOS), and Waste
Prevention. In one year, the students improved knowledge about organic foods,
educated about waste prevention, got a $3 per student per quarter ballot measure
passed to create the Campus Sustainability Council (CSC) as part of student government,
and helped the state wide coalition to successfully lobby the UC Regents to
pass a Green Building Policy and Renewable Energy Standard. Also the second
Campus Earth Summit was a success, with an even bigger Campus Earth Festival.
Collective Sustainability Movement Year 3
Right after the UC Regents passed the sustainability policy, the California
Sustainability Advisory Council (CSAC) was founded as the Advisory Board for
the CSSC. The CSSC founded two new statewide campaigns, Move UC, focused on transportation,
and the Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP), focused on curriculum.
During the year the California State University system joined the CSSC, and the
University of California Student Sustainability Coalition (UCSSC) evolved as
the UC branch. At UC Santa Cruz the CSC was founded as a funding body within
the student government, the UCSC SEC ESLP Chapter was founded, and an eventful
Campus Earth Festival was put on. The most successful Campus Earth Summit,
which was even attended by the Chancellor and Assemblyman Laird, was fully
documented and became the first completed Blueprint for a Sustainable Campus. A
staff and student coalition has been created to form a Blueprint Committee and
a Chancellors Advisory Committee on Sustainability.
A Bumpy Ride
The magnitude and momentum created from this growth over the last three years
is magical. These are entire organizations listed, not just projects, and each
organization has many inter-related projects which are coordinated from a few
crucial hubs like the SEC Steering Committee, and the Statewide Coordinator. As
always, when you have this much going on, everything doesn't work out the way
you want, and we have found ourselves coming back to many foundational
communication and structure decisions which cannot be overlooked any further.
For everything that goes wrong or fall through the cracks, there seems to be
five that go right. In this time we find ourselves with a massive
organizational collective, which should begin to slow down growth and ground
itself into the earth and the community to re-collect and strategize its
momentum.
#52 Sustaining Personal Involvement
in the Movement and Individual Applications of Sustainable Living
My life has completely changed due to
my involvement in community organizations involved in the sustainability movement.
At some points I was going to eight meetings a day and working late at night.
Grounding, Support... The only way to ground the movement is to ground the
people within it.
Set up for an Individual Case Study
As the writer of this paper, I have had a pivotal role in each of the listed
student organizations, as well as many not listed. I was a founding member
within the CSSC, UCSC SEC CSSC chapter, CSAC, ESLP, UCSC SEC ESLP chapter, CSC,
was involved in each of the Campus Earth Summits and Festivals, and helped
draft the beginnings of the Blueprint for a Sustainable Campus. How was I able
to do all this and still stay sane, well maybe I wasn't sane to begin with, either
way my involvement completely changed my life and effected my physical, mental,
emotional, and spiritual being. The more I learn, the more I understand the importance
of grounding myself, and slowing down to allow my personal growth as a human
being.
First three years of College
During my college career of six years, only second half of them were spend
working on this collective movement. For the first three years, I spend much of
my time grounding myself with YOGA, and into my family roots when I lived in
Madrid, Spain with relatives where I first got an email about the founding of
the SEC.
May 27th, 2004
#53 Check in
I have been working very hard to get
through the end of this year. I am really slacking on my physics, and am
worried about my final in that class. Nonetheless I must continue to write my
thesis and get a completed draft so that I am able to continue my work on the
outlines and the appendices. Hopefully it will come well.
#54 Sustainable Living in the Education System
This topic is extremely important and
is the focal point of this project I am working on as it has to do with my
education. I originally wanted to do an independent major on this topic, and I
am hoping that some day we will be able to make it into a minor. There are so
many areas that play into Sustainable Living and when united with a classroom environment,
there is a magic that occurs which allows for an amazing experience for the
student. One incredibly important principle of this experience is teaching and
learning as a student who is teaching themselves to their classmates. I believe
that for the importance of this section I will need to look deeply at the
Resolution that I am writing in favor of the methodology of the ESLP program.
A Quick outline of this section could entail:
Introduction of what will be said, aka this:
Case study of the class, why so incredible, what happened
The lecturers
The Seminar and the Action Research Teams
The methodology of the class
Feedback
The feedback from students was incredible. They would say to us that it is the
first class they had every really taken, or the best class , or the first real
class, or that it had changed their life. The material actually connects the
dots. One of the facilitators said that it was the class that I always wanted
to take, so I had to teach it.
Teaching as a means of learning, importance of student run
Structure and moving forward.
Here is a little more on each:
Case study of the class, why so incredible, what happened
The Education for Sustainable Living came out of an idea to have a lecture
series from one campus , and the need for a class to pass along the knowledge
gained over the last few years. So merging the two created an amazing class
that got 5 UC campuses to work together to put on the a statewide lecture series
to more than 500 students across the state.
The lecturers
each lecture brought in a different world or nationally famous speaker to talk
about a variety of sustainability issues. including... England, Bolivia
The Seminar and the Action Research Teams
Many of the campuses contributed to making action research teams, some campuses
even had a seminar class with many less students. What is an action research
team, how related to public service, and group learning
Feedback
The methodology of the class
As part of the sate wide strategy, we are assessing what made our class special
and documenting it as the foundational methodology of teaching evolution. There
are many parts to the methodology that are important, but the key factors
understood so far are: experience learning, students teaching and engaging
their own education, group learning, student research which is applicable to
the community and society, and public service.
Teaching as a means of learning, importance of student run
having this program be student run and student taught is one of the most
crucial principles involved . Only when students are control of their education
in a balanced relationship with their professors, the education on both sides
increases. IT is true that there can't be consensus on all issues, but it is unimportant
for students to take the step to the other side where they can begin to
understand what it is like to be a teacher, and why it is so important to teach
what we learn. It helps for not only understanding the importance of this
class, but also in learning in all other classes
Structure and moving forward.
The ESLP will grow and evolve, and next year may even be an intersystem program
between UCs and CSU's. Having it be a student program allows for
interconnections that would never be possible with administration. The program
is constructing advisory boards, and already planning for next year. One other
most important part is to have well documented information and make sure that
#55 Much to be done
At this point I need to finish up the part on my own practice of sustain myself
during my college carrier, I need to finish each sub section on the ESLP
program, I need to go into extensive detail on interdependence and deep
ecology, go through examples of principles and concepts, and then I am done,
except for the executive summary and the introduction...?conclusion. So I still
have quite a bit of work to do. I hope that I can get this done soon and off to
Steve. In fact I do believe I can do this by tonight. I just need to get
started on every part.
#56 Introduction to Conscious Shifting (
humans as part of nature, Deep Ecology) (1 page) systems, Hope,
interdependence, intention (This might be the first part of the next section
The main thing connecting us all is our interdependence to the earth, all
living species, natural resources, and each other on this planet. You are, therefore
I am, is the foundation for understanding that we are only a creation of what
is aground us, and vice versa. It is not enough to say that a tree should not
be cut down because that will limit our oxygen, or that it looks pretty to us,
or that it has a type of animal in it that we like to eat. We must respect
organic life and energetic life in and of themselves. WE must love and want to
not cut down the tree simply because it is and is beautiful.
Open Systems & Interdependence
We must understand open systems and holistic systems in there
interconnectedness. We must build structures and ways of life that increase
connection and interaction between all species, cultures, and realms of life.
Currently our society has been built and thought to our children as a closed
system, with different aspects of our world being separate and fragmented from
one an other. It is crucial to limit fragmentation and understand the interrelation
of all ideas and beings.
Hope
One of the Underlying aspects of our society and the conscious chance which is
taking place, is bring back hope to each and every person, and child. Beyond
all other problems in our world, hope is needed to bring understanding and happiness.
Intention
It is not enough to just do things that you believe are right, or that because
it is the only way we know how to do it. With every action we must bring
intention into our lives. What is intention. Intention is believing in what we
do, that that what we do will make a difference. Believing that what we do is
going to make a difference in the world.
This section is going to need a little more research for example into what
Saticsh and Starhawk said during their lectures, as well as William waterway.
One thing I remembered about satish was about Trust!
TIME
What are all of the types of conscious changes taking place?: Consciousness,
changing, systemic shift, paradigm shift, fundamental shift, foundation shift..
All of these are important aspects of our world and are needed to be used.
Obviously I'm a little out of it
#58 Money in the community movement
For the first time in my life I have begun to experience the problems
associated with having lots of money within an organization. It is so hard when
it deals with people, and how relationships can completely change when money is
involved. I believe it is so important for people to realize the increasable magnitude
of having economic sustainability. It is often overlooked, and I am discovering
that it is one of the fundamental flaws with our society and is when all aspect
including the global government and ooil stugles. GREED sums up the concept. I believe
I need to put in my thesis a general explanation of how the sustainability
triad, Economic, Environmental ,and Social Justice relate to Sustainable
Living. Maybe it could be part of the section and come before the principles.
The key with money is the process in which it is dealt with, especially within
organizations or businesses.
#59 Definition of Sustainable Living in
relation to triad
Economic
creating processes which outline the need for justice in all monetary
transactions to bring life to our communities, species, and planet. Measured in
Currency: $...
Environmental- Understanding hour owr decisions affect our surrounding environment
of our recion and the entire glob through affects to the land, soil, air,
water, and the earthly conscious spirit of thriving live on this planet. This
can be measured through area, miles squared, and volume, cubed
Social-Understanding the process in which we work with all human cultures,
species and societies, ecosystems of life. Measured in lives, eyes, and people.
May 31st
#60 CSSC Convergence
This weekend I went and helped facilitate the CSSC convergence. It was amazing
and reassured me of the wonderful things that are going to happen in California.
I got many ideas about implementing sustainability, but I wasn’t able to be involved
with the ESLP program because of the need to help with the Green Building
implementation. In all it was very helpful to go, but I didn't get done on my
thesis. I hope that I will get through a lot tonight. I wish I could get a good
rough draft together to give to my students tomorrow just as their papers are
dew.
#61 Introduction to the Sustainable Living in
the Education System section
The introduction to this section should lay would how important it is to
incorporate SL into the entire education system of our society. It should be
part of every major and a major itself.
Our societies educational system is at an evolutionary turning point, similar
to the paradigm shift of consciousness. The way in which we teach our children
has been changing drastically with increased standardized testing. The methods
for teaching children in will continue to change drastically and by bringing
Sustainable Living into the classroom we are able to increase the activity, involvement,
and engagement of students into every aspect of their own education. The case study,
which evolved from the movement, is the Education for Sustainable Living
Program (ESLP), started in Spring 2004, which is a student run, student taught
class, lecture series, and seminar simultaneously administered at five UC
campuses.
June 2nd
#62 Intention
What we do is not of as much concern as to our intention that we use with every
action in our lives. An action taken with intention gives it purpose and brings
meaning. You can write a plan all you want, with details unto how you will carry
out your project, yet unless you have a plan with a purpose and vision to guide
it your attempts could be fruitless. There is no need to do something that you
do not indent for approve of, especially when taking action because there isn't
enough time to do something right. Truly believe in what you do, and allow a
community to build along with your actions.
#63 Hope
Hope is the thread that holds our
world toegheter.Hope is what keeps people going, persistent, and keeps people
from quitting. It is the bond that brings all ability for us to continue living
and pass on our knowledge to future generations. Nurture even the slightest
figment of hope as a tiny seedling. Hope leads to creating an atmosphere of
care/comfort needed to evolve.
#66 Academia & the Movement’s Vision
Some progressive academics believe that the current societal paradigm that we
exist in now, defined by huge environmental catastrophe, has been caused not by
“stupid” people, but by well educated academic graduates. As academia has the
same fundamental roots it did hundreds of years ago, some are now waking up and
realizing that the only way to change the course of our society is by changing
what has lead it astray in the first place; our education methodology.
Professors across the United States & Canada are already working with
organizations like Second Nature and students to unite universities everywhere
as a multi-billion dollar industry with billions in investments. The vision is in sight to have a
coalition that stretches beyond the university system, and connects with
industry and government programs to expand the ideas and experiments being
attempted within campuses to city programs to save energy, resources, and
improve the quality of life. The
leaders of the academia level are professors linked up with professional
organizations with high-level links with Democratic administrations. John Kerry
himself was co-founder of Second Nature and with people like Denis Kucinich
tilts the Democratic Party toward sustainability. If the American people can
sustain a Democratic administration in the white house, we could see massive
sustainability and Sustainable Living vision implemented on a international
level that has already been laid with the Talloires Declaration, the Kyoto
Protocol, and the Agenda 21 UN Sustainable Development programs.
#71
Reworking the Presentation Sum-up
Through the application of Sustainable Living, the union between the realms of sustainability
and life, we can change the way in which we understand the world individually
and create an action oriented approach to improve our society. By bringing
Sustainable Living into the classroom, we are able to increase the activity, involvement
and engagement of students in every aspect of their own education. When
engaging students in a coordinated effort to improve the community, they become
immersed in experiential learning. Core ideas have developed from a unique cultural
evolution involving a collective movement. The foundation of Sustainable Living can be condensed into a
few principles and concepts, which can be practiced through our daily lives and
used for decision-making. They can help us understand the importance of
balancing our thoughts, emotions, and actions that affect the world. Sustainable
Living and the concept of sustainability allow us to explore beyond the confines
of our educational experience and into any aspect of our life experience as
well.
#72 Re-working
the Basic Conclusion
The only way to change the course of
our society is by changing what has led it astray in the first place: our education methodology. Sustainable
Living provides an opportunity to shift our education, and as the union of
sustainability and life, it becomes the study of sustaining life. The
foundational principles are: balance, spectrums, intention, hope, trust, and
time. The foundational concepts
described include the cycle of production, the cycle of education,
collaboration, physical, mental, and spiritual health and safety, releasing,
forgiveness, gardening and common sense. Sustainable Living is only one aspect
in a greater understanding of our world. Community itself or community
organizing, could separately be looked at in more detail along with many other
realms of life. Everyone will find
their own actions to incorporate Sustainable Living into their unique
experience and take it upon themselves to reorganize their relationship to the
world and actively revitalize and energize their surroundings.
#73 Building a sustainable living space in
your Home or room
It is a very important intention to
create sacred space within your surrounding areas. I myself have started spending more time cleaning and
decorating although I would like to spend a lot more time the little time that
I have spent has helped my spirit and body have more energy and feel better
being at home and getting work done.
#74 Kinship
Kinship
is the concept of going beyond stewardship of the land where we see ourselves
as the overseer of the land and director of restoration and improvements of the
ecosystem. With Kinship we see
ourselves as part of the environment and we are part of the ecosystem being
steward by a higher force. We play
a part in bring balance to our space and we have as much to learn from our
surroundings as we can provide to them.
#75 Information Sharing Evolution
Sharing information is one of the most important activities there are and
evolution of information sharing and communication is on the brink of a massive
shift. Everything and everybody share information in the point of
view of their own existence. So it
is also true with documented history that it is always in the perspective of
the person who writes it. Is there
a way to create the ability to store information in a way that it can be easily
formatted in a way that can easily be reorganized to bring the point of view of
the observer. It was not possible
to do this in the past, but now with computers it is as simple as a matrix.
Everyone can create their own matrix, and as long as there is a translation
vocabulary, similar to a language dictionary, the information can be exchanged between
as many spectrums and methods of organizing the information as there are
created.
#76 Next Journal after this one
After this journal on sustainable living, I will start a new journal with a
much bigger concept of my life in general, but not just a life journal. It will
be what I had originally expected this thesis to be on. At the moment what I am
calling this is the Community L.I.F.E. Network. I have already stared a life
journal, and I am not sure if that will be what evolves into this, but I do
know that it will cover every realm that I work with, as well as interrelate
how other people experience the world.
In the next paper that is created from that journal, there will be
explicit descriptions and ideas on the natural order of life and the balance of
everything. In the appendices there
will be information on all the information that I have been working on in the
past years from all the realms of my life, not just Sustainable Living Work.
#77 Original Closing:
This experience has been an amazing one, and I feel very excited to continue
this project beyond the confines of my college educational experience and into
the rest of my life. I thank again
the amazing people that have guided me on my path. I can now happily say that I can move beyond the second part
of my project and although I will always come back to it, it will no longer be
the focus. The focus will be much
greater on the bigger understandings of all the realms of life and the balance
of everything including Time.