The Power of People
I find myself discussing my trip to Guatemala with friends and acquaintances almost every day. To say that my life has changed since my study abroad trip would be an understatement. I now have a new group of friends that I feel like I have known a lifetime and a completely different view of sustainability. For a lot of sustainability students the reason we have pursued this degree is because we feel it is our duty to protect mother earth, to preserve the natural resources, to save unique species, etc. We have a connection with the earth and feel responsible to stand up for it. As much as I believe in all of those things I feel like I have found a deeper responsibility and that is to protect the people that inhabit the earth. In Guatemala we encountered some of the most selfless and generous people and for them to act in this way with their current resources was a self-awakening experience. We were all shocked by their happiness and deep appreciation for what they expected everyday and they were probably even more surprised to find out that we were not as happy as they would have thought considering all the luxuries we have but do not pay much attention to. The difference was our expectations; they did not expect to have anything but rice and beans for dinner so when meat was occasionally on the table their reality exceeded their expectation.
Most of my colleagues would agree that it is not the earth that needs to be saved but it is we the people. But how do we get everyone else on board? How do we change the way we think, act and believe? This answer came easy when studying in Guatemala, in order to save our species we must focus all of our solutions on one particular goal. This goal is a common ambition throughout all of mankind. That goal is happiness. When it boils down to it we are all searching for happiness. Happiness may look like traveling the world for some and access to clean water and healthcare for others. If we start building our cities and communities in ways that promote personal and community happiness I strongly believe we will find ways to continue sustaining life on mother earth. Prior to Guatemala, I underestimated the power the physical environment has on our physical and mental health. We can design spaces that promote interactions between diverse groups of people. I walked through a space in Portland, Oregon that had this ability a few months ago and it literally blew me away. An urban concrete park in the Pearle district welcomed homeless, kids, adults, minorities and professionals all in one space. This was extremely inspiring to see. This simple yet complex space had the power to bring diverse groups of people together instilling trust, safety and connectedness in this community.
When I approach complex problems now, I try to seek ways we can promote opportunities for communities to become more connected to each other rather then how do we force people to make earth friendly decisions. One of the biggest issues in our society, in my opinion, is greed. So how do we reduce greed and promote people to live more in sync with the earth? I think this happens naturally when people are exposed to environments were they have access to green space and they know and trust the people around them.
I am currently interning at Native American Connections and am working on an educational project that promotes sustainable practices at the household level. In order to make the biggest impact I am focusing on material that can directly impact one’s quality of life. Telling someone to recycle because it is good for the environment is not going to convince the average person to recycle. Showing them how they can reuse a household product or make their own cleaning product will be more effective at promoting behavior change because their actions are directly impacting their wallet and their health. User-friendly sustainability is the key in all of the material I produce. I do not think I would be using this approach if I did not study how sustainability impacts our happiness.