Docein. Alex Steffen sees a sustainable future. Captain Charles Moore on the seas of plastic. 1) Moore observes that we moved from a conservation-oriented culture in the ‘30s and ‘40s to a society enamored with disposable items by the ‘50s and ‘60s.
In certain communities, however, this may be changing. Investigate Zero Waste Communities. What does it mean to be a Zero Waste Community? Where are they currently located? How did they get started? Zero Waste International Alliance: Waste Alliance: Waste Europe: 2) Artist Chris Jordan believes that certain statistics are too enormous for many people to interpret—such as the one Moore shared about the amount of plastic bottles Americans use. Algalita Marine Research Foundation United Nations Environment Programme Year Book 2011: Plastic Debris in the Ocean You Tube: Boston University -- Sustainability Lecture with Captain Charles Moore Discussing His BookPlastic Ocean(11/30/2011) J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement. Chip Conley: Measuring what makes life worthwhile. Conley asks business leaders, “What kinds of less obvious metrics could we use to actually evaluate our employees’ sense of meaning, or our customers’ sense of emotional connection with us?”
Investigate how this might work in education. How is your school measuring its success? Meet with school and district administrators to learn what metrics they’re tracking and to whom they report this data. Identify metrics that you think would be good additions to the existing measures; share these with school and community leaders. Explore whether and how students could develop and administer these measures. Learn more about Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index. Columbia University Earth Institute: World Happiness Report Centre for Bhutan Studies: Gross National Happiness Chip Conley UN High Level Meeting: Happiness and Well-Being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm. Richard St. John: The Power of Passion. Passion is contagious, so hang around people who love what they do.
It sure beats hanging around people who hate their jobs. Also, you can read, listen, or watch successful people and celebrities being interviewed on radio, TV, and the web. They usually get excited when they talk about what they love to do, and their energy rubs off. Here are some links to check out: Isabel Allende tells tales of passion Gary Vaynerchuk: Do what you love (no excuses!) Leymah Gbowee: Unlock the intelligence, passion, greatness of girls Benjamin Zander on music and passion Academy of Achievement More about Passion and the 8 Success Traits Educational Resources.
Richard St. John: Why It Pays to Work Hard. Society has many negative impressions about work.
Just try and find a positive song about work. They usually gripe about how work sucks. So, unfortunately there aren’t many resources out there to help get us fired up about working hard, which is what we really need to do if we want to succeed at anything. Hats off to writer Malcolm Gladwell who gives work a boost by showing the importance of work and practice. He quotes researchers who found it takes 10,000 hours of hard work and practice to become good at something. Carl Honoré praises slowness. Brainstorm examples of what Honoré calls “bad slow” and “good slow.”
Create an entertaining way to share your examples with others, and work with classmates to launch a “Slow Living” exhibit or fair in your community—perhaps in conjunction with the Global Day of Slow Living (exact dates vary year to year, but it usually falls during spring). Honoré says, “Some of the most heartrending emails that I get on my website are actually from adolescents hovering on the edge of burnout, pleading with me to write to their parents, to help them slow down, to help them get off this full-throttle treadmill.” Inspired by these pleas and growing out of his own experiences as a parent, three years after his TED talk Honoré authored "Under Pressure: Rescuing Our Children From The Culture Of Hyper-Parenting.
" Learn more about the genesis of this book and why Honoré worries about kids today at Work with classmates to survey or interview parents and children in your community. Slow Food International. Ellen DeGeneres at Tulane University Commencement 2009. Steve Jobs at Stanford University Commencement 2005. How Simple Ideas Lead to Scientific Discoveries. Jackie Jenkins: Greeting the World in Peace. Lessons Worth Sharing.