The inspiration for this post came last week while I was browsing Twitter posts about education. One post directed me towards a pretty unique video. The video was for Sarah McLachlan's single World on Fire. The song itself is very inspiring. According to McLachlan, "The song is about trying not to feel paralyzed when we see all that is wrong with the world, and remembering that even the smallest gesture can make a difference - corny but true." The video was made with donated labor, and as you can tell from watching, very little in terms of flash and glam. The most poignant part of the video is the captions and pictures interspersed throughout. The video gives the standard rates for various production costs and then explains how the money was actually spent. After watching the video, you can learn more about the motivations and inspirations by visiting this page on the Media that Matters website. It says so much that McLachlan used her wealth to make a difference rather than make an over the top music video. One that would have probably diluted the meaning of the song anyway.
Of course this isn't the first time that Sarah McLachlan has used her star power and unique voice to support a great cause. Most of you will probably remember this commercial she did to fight animal cruelty.
There is no doubt that McLachlan is doing great things, but what about us? We make choices everyday that impact our world and it's resources. A year ago I stopped using plastic water bottles. No longer am I buying those thirty packs of spring water from the grocery store on a weekly basis. Instead I am using an incredible water bottle made by Thermos. I normally only need to add ice three times a day, and regardless of how many times I fill the bottle, I always have cold water. Of course, it is easy to make mistakes. I bought the fish the other day in the cafeteria for lunch. I asked them to put it on a plate for me instead of a tray to avoid leaving the cafeteria with one of the lunch trays. Thankfully there was a diligent environmental science student there to point out the errors of my way. The plates unfortunately end up in a landfill, where as the small effort of returning the tray saves this needless waste. I will not let that mistake happen again!
In addition to the small ways we can reduce our ecological footprint, there are other ways we can help as well. I thought this was a great time to explain why my environmental science students are required to follow the Sustainable Thoughts Blog. Michael Despines, the blogs author, is a former graduate of Hanover High School. Through this blog he shares his thoughts on moving towards a sustainable future in the United States. He has also developed a wonderful lecture, The American Dream, The Worlds Nightmare, which he delivers to high school students, college students, and I assume basically anyone who will listen. He is amazingly well traveled and has led a pretty amazing life. I strongly suggest my environmental students spend some time looking at his blog for inspiration as they look for topics that interest them about environmental science. Additionally, Mr. Despines is also an incredible photographer. Along with his advocacy through writing, I am sure his photography also inspires his viewers to treasure this wonderful planet. I will leave you with a current image from his photography website and a question. How are you reducing your footprint?
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Michael Despines Photography |