Journal #1 "sense of place"

I feel my current sense of place in the environment is probably one of neutrality.   I am not currently involved in any organizations to improve the health of local ecosystems, nor do I pollute, adding to the problem.  When I am in my neighborhood, I pick up garbage along my path and place it in the proper receptacles along with my dog’s feces, so I help maintain and slightly improve my surroundings.  I learned –from a Jack Johnson environmental campaign—that water bottles were filling up landfills and it was an easily preventable waste that I was attributing to. After learning this I switched from individual 20 ounce bottles to gallon jugs, a small contribution but every bit helps. 

To relate my current sense of place to an education experience outdoors, I think that I will learn ways to be an even better steward of the environment.  Taking the classroom outside jumpstarts interests in the natural world around us and puts a face per say on what it is we are learning about.  If we were to read from a book or watch a video of some distant species that is endangered, and then never to see the subject in real life, to us it’s the same as if it were already extinct.  But if we see a local habit being destroyed or an animal that we are familiar with, the motivation and reminder to act would always be with us. If for nothing else, witnessing nature helps it stick in our memories better than if we were to hear about in the classroom.