As I’ve mentioned in my earlier writings, walking into this class, I was expecting to learn about writing and rhetoric. I envisioned seminars where we would use red pens to dissect and correct improper sentences. I thought we would have to set the Purdue Owl website as the internet homepage on each of our computer screens. Walking into class the first day, I knew something was strange when, unlike in most of my classes, our syllabus wasn’t printed out – it was available to view online. Our essay wouldn’t be turned in with hard copies, they were to be submitted digitally. After class, I jumped on my MacBook and began perusing the syllabus online. It explained that our writing “approach will be ‘ecological’ in the sense of attempting to understand our complex interrelationships with the natural and artificial systems we rely on and which we are part” (Rouzie). I asked myself, why are we studying this? Did I walk into the wrong class?
For the majority of the quarter, I struggled to keep my eyes peeled as I carelessly let my pupils explore the lines of Saving Place; our textbook for the course. As only one individual, I felt helpless in our planet’s attempt to become more sustainable, so I let the subject matter bore me to death. Just as I was prepared to give up hope, we received instructions for writing our fifth paper – an essay that detailed environmental sustainability in our field of interest. Finally… a topic that caught my attention and made this class seem somewhat worthwhile. As a sport management major, I researched the current unsustainable practices in the sport industry, and how changing our ways to become sustainable can improve a company’s bottom line and preserve resources for the earth. The ability to help the industry I hope to succeed in one day made me want to become more sustainable. It also transformed my viewpoint on sport, making me realize how vital going green will be for my generation. Looking back, I comprehend that this aha! moment could provide me with a route to the top in this competitive industry.
Although the course title, Writing and Rhetoric II initially made me wonder why we had to learn about environmental sustainability, I’ve now grown to realize the usefulness of the topic. I think the initial turning point of my helpless mindset towards environmental sustainability came when we watched the film A Forest Returns. The video outlined the history of the Wayne National Forest. As far as I understood, the Forest was a mundane land preserve.
Little did I know, however, that just 75 years ago, the land we now call Wayne National Forest was far from woodland. In the early 1900s, during the height of the iron, coal, and logging industries in Southeast Ohio, the area was clear cut of trees and left completely bare (A Forest Returns). In 1934, to create jobs during the Great Depression “the United States government established the Wayne National Forest in southern and southeastern Ohio” (Wayne National Forest). The land was set aside for the replanting of trees to regrow the woods that had once thrived. Today, the land now looks completely natural despite its terrible treatment in the past. This showed me that no matter how much we’ve hurt the earth in the past, it’s never too late for change. As seen in the Wayne National Forest, any sustainable alteration can have a positive impact on this earth. The film taught me that no matter how big industry has become, changing to become more sustainable is a feasible, long term mission.
Pictures Compared: The Wayne National Forest from the early 1900s versus from today
This class has helped me comprehend the daily toll we take on this planet and how the continuance of unsustainability will jeopardize our mere existence. If we want to continue to survive, we must change the way we live. Sooner rather than later, some of the resources we rely on will be completely depleted. The earth will have held us on its back as long as it could have, and we’ll be left to fend for ourselves in a resourceless world. Despite the damage we’ve done to our resource supply throughout our history, a transformation to be more sustainable can still have a positive impact. Now more than ever, a makeover seems necessary. This startling reality has erased my initial doubts about this class. I understand the importance of this topic and the reason we are learning about this at a young age. After we pass on, our generation will be “remembered for the awakening of a new reverence of life [and] the firm resolve to achieve sustainability” (The Earth Charter). As future leaders of this world, we must take initiative to lead that change. That transformation starts with me.
For the culmination of this course, we’ve been challenged to examine our own environmental ethic. An environmental ethic, also known as a land ethic, “changes the role of Homo Sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it” (Leopold). As outlined in this paper, my environmental ethic has dramatically changed throughout this course. At the beginning of this course, I held an anthropocentric view towards planet, much like the original understandings of humans. In Genesis, it was written that we should “fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over… every living thing” (Genesis 1:28).
Similarly, before walking into Ellis Hall this quarter, I treated “the natural world as a resource to be exploited for human resources [and saw] the fate of the environment as separate from the fate of humans” (EcoJustice Dictionary). I valued convenience over treating the earth with respect. If there was no recycle bin a room, I wouldn’t recycle. When I cleared my tray at Baker Center food court, I searched for the waste bin with the smallest line. If nobody was around the compost basket, I would throw all of my trash inside it, including non-compostables. We all need to see the impact a simple ignorance in our daily life can have. It’s destructive of our habitat and selfish towards other beings.
I’m not preaching a complete reversal in our daily methods of living; I still don’t hold a completely holistic approach to human survival. The thoughts of deep ecology, where each species should be allowed to flourish on its own is an ideal way of living in a perfect world – something that is no longer possible. Our daily existence relies on our domination of this planet and its resources. This intense domination needs to be limited and restructured if we want to continue to survive. We cannot attempt to control this planet because nature clearly rules us. We must learn to work in conjunction with it for the benefit of our generation and for our future. Changing to use our planet’s resources in a way that will not endanger our existence is necessary.
Now, while I still cannot do much by myself, it’s the little things that count. Until we completely remodel our practices as an entire human race, it will be tough to accomplish anything. This has to be a long term goal that starts with you and me. I realize our current ways of living are necessary – I will still fly home on an airplane filled with large amounts of jet fuel each break from school because it’s more convenient. I will still purchase electronics that are completely unsustainable because they make my life easier. And I will still drive around a car fueled by gas because it beats walking. However, when I food shop, I will start to choose local alternatives over my normal go-to’s. Local food requires less transportation, which is more environmentally friendly. I will consider using renewable energy – my parents have already installed solar panels on the roof of our house. As they save more and more money on energy bills, they will continue adding more panels. These are the small steps that need to be embraced on the individual level if we want our children to live on a clean, resourceful planet. I’ve come to realize that the rejection of this viewpoint on the individual level will jeopardize our very existence. We’ve come to a point in human history where a change is not just encouraged… it’s necessary.
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Works Cited
"The Earth Charter." Earth Charter Initiative. Earth Charter Associates, Ltd. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/content/pages/Read-the-Charter.html>.
"EcoJustice Dictionary." EcoJustice Education. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://www.ecojusticeeducation.org/index.php?option=com_rd_glossary&Itemid=35>.
A Forest Returns. Perf. Ora Anderson. Ohio Landscape Productions, 2005. DVD.
Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There. New York: Oxford UP, 1949. Print.
The Old Testament. Genesis 1:28 ed. Print.
Rouzie, Albert. ENG 308J Winter 2011 Syllabus. Web.
"Wayne National Forest." Ohio History Central. Ohio Historical Society. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2191>.
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