AfterWords

Across the country this past weekend, volunteers in the millions spent a few hours of their Saturday to participate in the day of national volunteering. It is more widely known as The Make A Difference Day, sponsored by USA Today, which marked its 18th year on the 25th.

In our own state, there were numerous options available all over the map ranging from helping plant trees to trash pickup. On our campus, organized by our own Americorp Member extraordinaire Penny Green, interested students ventured a short distance to the Alderwood Manor to help remove the invasive blackberry bushes. But first we were treated to a talk and potluck with a very grateful group of Alderwood Manor members, which gave the task ahead a bit more purpose.

Now, I don’t know how many people have ever worked to remove blackberry bushes. It can be a daunting task with a few war wounds to prove it. But surprisingly, it is such a rewarding job. You fight side by side with your group of comrades; cutting, pulling, digging, laughing, yelling….anything….to allow the hidden plants underneath the domineering blackberry free. And once you are done, a mini celebration breaks out among the troops and you feel victorious.

The day was established to encourage people to get involved. And I am hoping to encourage the same. You don’t have to wait or the next national day, and you don’t have be experienced. There are many different options of work you can help with, in many different places, and any can be made fun!

AfterWords is back with a new focus: service-learning and sustainability. Check out the new About this Site and Featured Blogger sections introducing our writers Yin Yu and Lisa Quirk. And, like all good bloggers, we’re joining Technorati: Technorati Profile

I am not sure how to start blogging with a theme of service-learning…
Should I start on the first week of Summer LEAF when I was thrown on to a kayak and was expected to know how to maneuver a kayak without crashing into nearby boats while attempting to pick up trash at Lake Union? Shall I begin with the 10-mile near death hiking experience while moving bridge supplies up two hills at Orcas Island? I tease that Tom likes to torture his students for at times he laughs at our expressions as he tries to scare his class by announcing our survival plans for the day.

However, it’s the moments outside the classroom conducting service and working with community partners that I’ve come to recognize the native plants and learn about the State of Puget Sound. It’s moment while we were cleared trails and help create new Whidbey Institute tour trail guides that I come to recognize the difference between deer fern, lady fern and sword fern. Through the memories of these experience that I relive my childhood when in those days the terms used were “field trips”. These field trips to the zoo or any area outside of the classrooms where the memories that I remembered and cherish the most. Tom’s field trips are called service-learning where we conduct service like removing invasive plants or building bridges while learning about the native habit and the history of the area. He also takes us to sustainable business like Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream, Camino Island Coffee Roasters, and Whidbey Island Coffee House to show us other businesses’ missions and ways local businesses help contribute to the community.

Prior to Tom’s LEAF school, I’d never been on kayaks, camped on a camp ground, and been out in the sun longer then an hour. My typical summer consist on finding the latest bag and finding the latest outfit to match my latest bag. Lisa (also Summer LEAF alumni) and I have a joke where we say “LBL” which stands for Life Before LEAF. We joke about the silly things we did and what we thought were important to us.

As we journey towards a sustainable future, we’ll try our best to lour and kidnap curios students through this blog and other volunteer events. We’ll hypnotize and brain wash them with service-learning ideas and convert them to little green solders.

I’ll be honest with you: I am not sure how to write this. I think it is fair to say that there are very few people who don’t care about the environment. But I think there are few who do much about it. So where is the disconnect, and how do I try to bridge it in this blog?

The 12 or so experts who gave their time and extensive knowledge at this past Saturdays Climate Change Forum attempted to bridge this as well. And for me, it worked. This is why:
I am a fledging environmentalist, meaning I do some. I am aware of climate change, the melting ice caps, the need for organic products. I recycle when I can, turn off lights when I don’t need them, and carpool when available. But I am realizing, I truly don’t understand the full impact, or maybe its the reality of it because the negative results of my actions (or inaction’s) don’t obviously hit my daily life. Do you fully understand what’s going on?

We all know that we need to make changes, but what does that mean, and what kind of time table are we looking at? As Dr. Richard Gammon told us, the need is now. Literally. We are dangerously close to the “tipping point”, meaning as the temperature continues to rise, its effects are so damaging to so many different things, we can’t go back if we hit that point. Which btw, is only about another degree. We’ve got a fragile grip on our opportunity to save the planet. Thus far, we have already lost a country due to sea level rise. Did you know that? I didn’t! Nor did I realize that Greenland is likely to be lost too in the next short few decades, if immediate and drastic change is not made by ALL.

We all know the carbon emissions are a bad thing. Dr. Gary Goldbaum of the Snohomish County Health District pointed out something not commonly thought of: our health. There is already a severe increase in heat strokes, skin cancer and asthma due to air pollution. (What are we doing to ourselves!) Did you know that 20% of those emissions though, are due to our energy use in our homes? I didn’t! Strange to think that something as simple as unplugging an “energy vampire” like your tv could have such a large impact.

And if this hasn’t hit home yet, our local streams and rivers in Snohomish ….not a one of ‘em is clean enough for contact recreation.
There was a ton of information that was shared, but I’ve highlighted the ones that effected me the most.

Here are a few things you can do:
• Vote! We the people are way ahead of our chosen representatives, and part of that is because we aren’t adequately voicing our concerns. Remember they work for us, but we have to direct them.
• Look at your house and see what you can do. Change your light bulbs to energy efficient ones to not only save the world, but lower your power bill.
• Be a conscientious consumer. The power of money can’t be denied, so recognized the power you have with each dollar. Buy locally, and reduce the carbon footprint created to get your purchase. Or shop for stream friendly products like phosphate free detergents.
What are your ideas to do your part dear readers?

For great info, check out the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

As your new blogger for AfterWords, I will attempt to not scare you away from my introduction. Being a student at the EdCC for six years, I’ve grown with this campus. I received my Associates of Arts Degree in the fall of 2007 and probably am one of the few current students on campus with +150 credits. Many thanks to Thomas Murphy for his LEAF class this summer or else I would still be struggling in my “almost quarter century middle life crisis”, for entrusting me with the burden of caring on the legacy of the AfterWords blog and for being my boss for my part-time position at the campus as the Service-Learning Programmer. I am not a journalist or an English major; however, I love to blog and have been blogging personally for more than ten years. I tend to think in fragments and write in incomplete sentences but I’ll try to edit my blogs so they are somewhat understandable in hopes to not upset the English Department too much. I’ve enlisted/nominated other non-bloggers to step-in to be my guest bloggers, at times, since I lack the ability to be at more than one event at the same time. They are blogger virgins. I ask that you be kind to them since I am juggling working 50-hours a week and taking six credits on campus. There’s no way I can manage this on my own without completely losing my sanity. As one of your dedicated bloggers, I will try to enlighten you with my reviews on events I attend, ramble furiously on my struggles with life and promote endlessly for events that students work so hard to coordinate them. I am thankful for your time and I hope that you’ll help me build an AfterWords cult.