Introduction

In his 2009 address, “You Are Brilliant and the Earth Is Hiring,” Paul Hawken challenged the graduating class at the University of Portland to “Forget that this task of planet-saving is not possible in the time required. Don’t be put off by people who know what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done.” Hawken then went on to charge all of us to envision a world of restoration, connection, and possibility.

Throughout the semester, you have learned about different ecological challenges as well as opportunities to change the world for the better. Figure 23.1 records a sign from the September 2019 global climate change protest. Protest is one of the options recorded in Pathways of Public Service and Civic Engagement, but what other solutions to current ecological challenges exist? In this assignment, you will be asked to put Hawken’s goals and your environmental knowledge into action in a direct and meaningful way.

For this lab, you will complete a personal sustainability challenge, submit a discussion board post, and participate in an in-class debrief or online discussion.

Lab Directions

Follow the directions below to complete this assignment.

Part 1: Selecting and Completing a Challenge

Choose one of the personal challenges below to address an environmental problem and contribute to sustainability:

WASTE REDUCTION

• Reduce total waste: Conduct a waste audit to learn about the waste you generate. Determine the total amount of waste you (or your household) generate as well as the type of waste (categorized into recyclables, non-recyclables, and compostable items). Identify and implement strategies such as Rethinking (what you buy), Refusing (to purchase any overpackaged or single-use disposable products), Reducing (by purchasing only what you need and buying items packaged in reusable or recyclable materials); Reusing (by repurposing items for new uses), Recycling (your waste appropriately). Document both the overall reduction in your waste as well as waste reduction by categories of waste.
• Avoid using plastic: Conduct a plastic audit to determine the amount and types of plastic you (or your household) use and then reduce your use of plastic. Document both the overall reduction in your plastic use and the areas where you succeeded and areas where you encountered challenges in avoiding/eliminating plastic use.
• Avoid single-use disposable items: Conduct an audit of single-use disposable items you (or your household) use, like single-use disposable water bottles, disposable plastic utensils and straws, plastic bags, etc. Identify and implement strategies to reduce your use of single-use disposable items, then document the steps you took to reduce your use of these items and the resulting reduction in your waste.

FOOD SUSTAINABILITY

• Follow the FLOSN diet: A FLOSN (Fresh, Local, Organic, Seasonal, Nutritious) diet is often considered to be expensive, but that is not always the case. In this challenge, put your culinary skills to work: follow the FLOSN diet to feed yourself and your family while keeping the cost per meal under $5/person. Document your meals, including where you sourced ingredients and what they cost, the percentage of FLOSN ingredients you used, how what you ate changed over time, etc.
• Reduce food waste: Learn about your food waste by keeping a food journal for a week and tracking all the food you (and/or your family) throw away and what happens to it (landfilled or composted). Identify and implement strategies to reduce your food waste, then document the steps you took to reduce your food waste and the resulting reduction in your food waste.
• Compost food waste: Conduct an audit of the organic/food waste you generate. Learn about composting and research to determine the best way to compost your food waste for your living situation. Build/set up the composting system and start composting. Track how much organic/food waste you divert from landfills as a result of your composting system.

REDUCING CARBON FOOTPRINTS

• Reduce your dietary carbon footprint: Calculate the carbon footprint of your diet, then determine what you can change about your eating habits to reduce your carbon footprint. Implement these interventions and document the reduction in your dietary carbon footprint.
• Reduce your transportation carbon footprint: Audit your driving habits by totaling the number of miles you drive each week, tracking the destinations and distances traveled for each trip, and calculating your transportation carbon footprint. Determine where you can reduce your carbon footprint by biking/walking, carpooling, or using public transportation instead of driving. Implement these interventions and document the reduction in your transportation carbon footprint.

WATER CONSERVATION

• Water conservation: Calculate your total water usage and determine how much water you use in each category such as showering/bathing, laundry, washing dishes, toilet flushing, handwashing/brushing teeth, cleaning, cooking/drinking, etc. Determine where you might conserve water in daily tasks and change habits to reduce your water use. Document the steps you took to reduce your water use and the reduction in your water usage as a result (both the overall reduction as well as the reduction by category of water use).

LITTER PICK-UP

• Pick up trash: Identify areas in your neighborhood or your favorite park/forest preserve that are regularly littered. On a daily walk, pick up the litter and document the amount of trash you collect. Record where you collected the litter, categorize the litter you pick up by type, and record what you did with the trash.

Consult with your professor on the challenge you select and how you will go about conducting the initial audit. Carry out the challenge you select for 2-4 weeks as determined by your professor. Continue to consult with your professor for how to best document your efforts as you conduct your sustainability challenge.

Part 2: Build Presentation Slides

Develop a PowerPoint or Google Slides presentation as described in the Lab Response. Make sure your slide presentation has sufficient text detail and visual elements to convey your sustainability challenge project and the insights you gained from completing it, given that the presentation needs to be self-explanatory.

Post your slides to a discussion board, Google folder, or another location as specified by your professor so that your classmates can view your work prior to the class discussion.

Part 3: In-Class Discussion

Read the PowerPoint presentations of your classmates and be prepared to discuss the questions posted in the Lab Response form.

References

Hawken, P. (2013). You Are Brilliant, and the Earth Is Hiring. NAMTA Journal, 38(1), 269–271. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1078017

Pathways of Public Service and Civic Engagement. (n.d.). Haas Center for Public Service, Stanford University & Campus Compact. Retrieved April 7, 2025, from https://haas.stanford.edu/about/our-approach/pathways-public-service-and-civic-engagement

FLOSN Guiding Terms. (n.d.) Conscious Kitchen. Retrieved April 19, 2025, from https://www.consciouskitchen.org/guiding-terms/

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Lab 23 Response: Personal Sustainability Challenge

Part 1: Selecting and Completing a Challenge

Select and complete your sustainability challenge as determined by your professor. Your professor will determine the duration of the challenge and may require ongoing check-ins. For example, as you begin your challenge your professor may require you to consult with them on the challenge you select and how you will go about conducting the initial audit. Further into the challenge your professor may require you to consult with them for how to best document your efforts and measure the impact of your sustainability challenge. Use all this experience in completing the challenge to inform the presentation you will build for Part 2 of this lab.

Part 2: Build Presentation Slides

Develop a PowerPoint or Google Slides presentation that you will share with your classmates. Your presentation slides should include the following elements:

Introduction (suggested number of slides: 3)

Include the following in these slides:

• Title of your presentation and your name
• Describe your challenge and identify the underlying environmental problem you are seeking to address
• Discuss the reasons why you chose this challenge

Accomplishments (suggested number of slides: 5-8)

Include the following in these slides:

• Document the challenge in action as follows:
  • Discuss the steps you took and the strategies you used while participating in your challenge.
  • Include videos, photos, and supporting descriptions that showcase your engagement in your challenge.
• Document concrete measures by which you evaluated your success as follows:
  • Include data tables and graphs that showcase the impact of your challenge, that is compare before, during, and after the challenge.
  • Discuss the broader impacts of your challenge, such as reduction in carbon, water, and nitrogen footprints.
  • Discuss how you amplified your challenge by sharing what you were learning and engaging other people in your challenge.

Lessons learned and course connections (suggested number of slides: 6-8)

Include the following in these slides:

• Explain the environmental problem your sustainability challenge addressed, using at least 3 credible sources that are not your textbook. Cite your sources at the bottom of the slides in which they are used. You may use the COD Library Sustainability Challenge Research Guide as a starting place to find resources.
• Connect your project to at least two specific biology concepts as follows:
  • Identify and explain the terms/concepts from the textbook.
  • Provide analysis and connections between the concept and your challenge.
• Discuss your takeaways from doing the challenge.
• If you were going to do this challenge again, discuss what you would change and explain why.

Connection to Sustainable Development Goals, Pathways of Public Service and Civic Engagement, and Paul Hawken essay (suggested number of slides: 6-8)

Include the following in these slides:

• Discuss two Sustainable Development Goals that your challenge addressed, and explain how they align with your challenge.
• Review the Pathways of Public Service and Civic Engagement and discuss what you learned about the 6 Pathways from this challenge, including:
  • Identify the civic engagement pathway(s) your sustainability challenge primarily aligned with and discuss the connection(s).
  • Discuss how your sustainability challenge could be extended into the other civic engagement pathways (i.e., the ones that were not a part of your challenge). Brainstorm at least one action to address your challenge along each of the six pathways.
  • Discuss how the sustainability challenge impacted your understanding of civic responsibility and working for the greater good.
• Your response to Paul Hawken’s speech “The Earth Is Hiring” based on your sustainability challenge.

Additional experiences you encountered (discuss at least 3) (suggested number of slides: 3-5)

Include the following in these slides:

• Describe the easiest and/or the most difficult aspects of your project.
• Describe the effects (positive, negative, or neutral) you experienced during the challenge.
• Discuss how the challenge changed you and/or others who were impacted by your challenge.
• Discuss whether or not you will continue this challenge and how you will engage with it going forward.
• Discuss new lifestyle habits you developed over the course of this sustainability challenge.

List sources you consulted over the course of your challenge in APA citation style or as directed by your professor. (minimum number of slides: 1)

The COD Library Sustainability Challenge Research Guide has links to APA citation style guides.

Make sure your slide presentation has sufficient text detail and visual elements to convey your sustainability challenge project and the insights you gained from completing it, given that the presentation needs to be self-explanatory.

Part 3: In-Class Discussion

Review your classmates’ presentations and bring your responses to the questions posted below to class on the day of the discussion:

1. Which challenge (other than your own) would you like to try? Explain why.
2. Robin Wall Kimmerer, a biologist and writer, says, “Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.” Reflect on her statement and offer her a response based on the sustainability challenges that you and your classmates engaged in this semester.
3. What common themes did you discover among the different projects presented?
4. How will this assignment inform your choices in the future?

References

Hawken, P. (2013). You Are Brilliant, and the Earth Is Hiring. NAMTA Journal, 38(1), 269–271. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1078017

Pathways of Public Service and Civic Engagement. (n.d.). Haas Center for Public Service, Stanford University & Campus Compact. Retrieved April 7, 2025, from https://haas.stanford.edu/about/our-approach/pathways-public-service-and-civic-engagement

Sustainable Development Goals. (n.d.) United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Retrieved April 19, 2025, from https://sdgs.un.org/goals