Osher lifelong learning institute at OSU

It has been my privilege to teach Sustainable Prosperity to the OSU alumni this fall. It has been a challenge to condense a 16-week class down to a 4 hour buffet. The final session had a plethora of multi-media clips which are now assembled in one easy-to-access place. Enjoy!

The OLLI members asked the same questions as the college students. Where is our leadership?! Why isn't anybody doing anything?! Well.... they say when you point one finger in blame three others on your hand are pointing back at you.

Our conversations circle back around to education, citizenship, and ethics. Frankly all three involve a lot of work. Yet I am hopeful because sustainability is being universally demanded by multiple generations. Do you suppose it is instinctual? I know it is contagious. I propose the motto:

Sustainability: The Good Pandemic

The photo? My 10-year-old son rocking climbing Old Central. Hanging on to education is what OLLI is all about! Click on the links in green below to connect to a 1-3 minute video clip of the topic.

Latest News in Science (also bad news): CO2 levels have not been as high as they are now for 15 million years. 15,000,000 years. We are at 387 ppm now and 350 ppm is considered a stable desirable level. We increase 2-3 ppm every single year. Like compounding interest, we are compounding carbon.

Vanishing Ice Caps by CBS

"We Call It Life" commercial by the people who want you to believe CO2 is nothing to worry your pretty little head about.

Antarctic melting

BBC: Rate of Ice Melt in Greenland (great graphics that explain!)

Catlin Ice Survey Finds 6 ft. arctic not 12 ft.

Vulcan CO2 Map with Live Carbon Flares on the US Map. LOOK at Tulsa burn baby burn!

Walmart Commercial: Girls bragging that T-shirts are made from Soda Bottles

Walmart Commercial about CFL impact

Bill McDonough of Cradle-to-Cradle Fame speaks at Wal-mart (24 minutes)

Just like the Wal-Mart store, you could spend an entire afternoon on their sustainability site:

http://walmartstores.com/Sustainability/

Ray Anderson, Greenest CEO in America speaks for 15 minutes.

In summary, a 12-minute video from Patagonia with many thought leaders on achieving sustainability in organizations. Refreshingly honest.

Why I won't switch to CFLs with toxic mercury to save $10 per month on my lighting bill but instead employ natural daylighting and dimmer switches.

I hope you have enjoyed this free education brought to you courtesy of the Environmental Science Graduate Program at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Kiddie Urban planning

I love 2nd grade for many reasons. Mostly though because they let me teach city planning to 7 year olds. Second graders are indignant about ugly, thoughtless development. They demand beauty. They recognize form. They "get it" more than planning commissioners do. 

They also get the importance of protecting the pedestrian and providing safe bicycle transportation. They love parks. Hell, they even get the impact beauty has on economic development. 

Our town elected a 27 year old Mayor this year. I think he might be 20 years too old. Seven year olds are brilliant when it comes to urban planning. 

TELL JOE!

Oh how I love the enthusiasm of my classes! When they learn about climate change they become enlightened and then motivated to educate the world. "We should educate Joe the Plumber!" they screamed.

In Oklahoma we don't discuss the fact of climate change in polite conversation. It is a waste of breath. People either already know it and agree with you or they are totally closed to anything that challenges their world view. 

But consider this, the official high school graduate rate is 70%, but in reality those "transfers" are usually dropouts so it is closer to 50%. So 5 out of 10 people can't comprehend any scientific conversation you may want to have with them.  But 5 can, so you try. Of those 5 maybe 2 have a natural curiosity that would allow them to explore new ideas. You also have to get through the filters of politics, religion, denial, distractions, etc. 

So let's say you have ONE person out of 10 who is reachable, but did they ask you to educate them? At least students in my classes have paid for education so I can legally shower them but strangers on the street are less receptive. 

Pioneer Single Mom?

This statue was erected in Ponca City Oklahoma by the oil baron Mr. Marland in 1929 to honor the Pioneer Woman. As my 9 year old son leaned against it all kinds of thoughts flooded my mind. What would his life have been like if he grew up in Oklahoma in the 1890s?  Was the Pioneer Woman a single mom? Did her other children die? 

The story of the Pioneer Woman is interesting. Over 40,000 people came to her witness her unveiling and to hear humorist Will Rogers speak. Considering the population of Ponca City in 1929 I can only assume every living being within 50 miles came to this event. http://www.marlandmansion.com/Pages/pw.html

Life before fossil fuels. Hmmmm. They had a lower carbon footprint but only because of limited income I'm sure. Sustainable lifestyles are equated with lack; is there a type of rich, affluent modern lifestyle that is also sustainable? I suppose we'll have to find one, or die trying.

Some Bad News is too Good to keep secret

Weathercocks and signposts: The Environment Movement at a Crossroads is a critical re-examination of the assumptions underlying current approaches to motivating environmentally-friendly behaviour.
Simple and Painless? The limitations of spillover in environmental campaigning presents a critical examination of the evidence that urging people to switch to energy-efficient light bulbs encourages them adopt more ambitious changes.

Both these reports are readable, fascinating, and paralyzing. Download and despair with me! http://www.valuingnature.org/

Speaking as an average American energy glutton, I was able to cut my carbon emissions by about half through good choices, behavior modification, and a lot of insulation. When I think about what is necessary to cut emissions 90% I recoil at what that means for my lifestyle.

In the limbo game it is fun to sing "how low can you go?" But I'm not entirely sure I could sport a bikini and actually shimmy under a blazing limbo pole. And if I did....you can bet I would sell tickets to see that!

SPETH

Speth is someone who writes books I consider seminal. I stayed up until 2 am reading his latest book "Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, Environment and Crossing the Crisis to Sustainability." I like happy endings so I flipped to the back of the book for the answers.

Reading all these different sustainability perspectives was like looking at Michaelangelo's David sculpture in Florence. It never looses the beauty or intrigue for me. Sustainability, an art form?

Michaelango said he could look at a block from the quarry and "see" the figure that needed to be released from it. I think sustainability is like that. It is inside all of us waiting for the ignorance and apathy to be chipped away to reveal a beautiful world. At least, this is my hope.

All-You-Can-Learn Buffet

16 weeks of 16 gourmet dishes! That is how I see Sustainability curriculum. Not everyone is going to like every dish, but there are so many distinct flavors and ways to serve Sustainability that each semester becomes a buffet of topics.

I like to try new recipes and new ingredients in an effort to continuously improve. My students are like my tasters. From them I learn how to make the topics tasty. To them I am grateful.