Louv writings...

I am happy to say that I have actually enjoyed the assigned Louv readings. While the first one wasn't so interesting, I have to say that I really enjoyed "The Third Frontier." It is upsetting, how far we have removed ourselves as a society from our roots in nature. Accoridng to Louv, the third frontier is a "not fully formed or explored frontier" with 5 characteristics: a severance of knowledge about food sources, a rapidly disappearing line between animal/humans and machines, an increasingly intellectual understanding of our relationship with animals, the invasion of cities by wild animals, and the rise of a new kind of suburban form. After reading "Nature-Deficit Disorder", I was surpised that Louv took the time to write something that to me was so blatantly obvious. I know first hand that when I am stressed or feel overloaded with work, I escape to the beach or some other form of nature to calm down and regain focus on the task at hand. I feel that even though our quality of life has improved exponentially, it will NEVER trump our need for nature. Nature is part of the human experience; we can attempt to escape it through cities and towns, but I believe that we always will feel drawn to some form of nature because it is our "roots". As I said above, I feel myself succumbing to this disorder occasionally, but it's then that I escape to nature to "recharge." In order to remedy this problem, one needs only to go into nature and enjoy! Even if you don't consider yourself an "outdoorsman", you're sure to find SOMETHING in nature to soothe the nature-deprived soul :)

Week 1!

So this is my first blog post for University colloquium. To be honest, I don't really know what to expect from this class. I have heard from some friends that it is a very interesting and "eye-opening" class, whereas others have said that it is dreadfully long, boring, and totally pointless. I guess I expect to learn more about sustainability (something I do care about) and I expect to get my 3 credit hours and 10 of my 80 required service learning hours. I know that I do have some unsustainable behaviors such as using a lot of paper and plastic products (plates, paper towels, plastic utensils) just because they're easier to clean up after than using a cloth towel, ceremic plates, or normal metal utensils. Since my major is Community Health, it's pretty apparent how sustainability is related to my field of study. In order for a community to be healthy, the environment in which they live needs to be healthy. If a community produces a massive amount of waste and runs out of places to put it, the health of the community will soon begin to decline. Even though they might not like to hear it, the health a community is most definitely tied to their environment and without a clean environment, good health is not possible.