For those who may be visiting to see my official response as to not take up bloginpaul�s entire comment area, welcome.
Paul put a link to this website called The Story of Stuff
I highly encourage you to please take the 20 minutes and 40 seconds out of your day and watch this. Even if you think you already know about it.
I am devoting my life to hopefully be part of the solutions to these problems that Annie has presented. This is why I am in graduate school.
Have I ever talked about this on my blog? I know I get out the soap box sometimes.
I will check the archives�.
Lets see, I told you I was applying here, and that I got in here but I never told you why or even what I was going for. I briefly mention it in passing when during this entry where I also briefly discuss Freegans (people who live entirely off of the waste of others). There is a brief mention of the 4 R�s [Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rethink] here, I talk about garbage and landfills here, and I give some good quotes about some of the stuff I am learning here but that is really about it for the last 18 months or so.
Sorry for being so vague y�all.
I am in graduate school at the University of Alaska Fairbanks working on my MA in Rural Development. I am also pursuing the Peace Corps Masters International Program. I have been nominated but there is no guarantee I will make it through my medical clearance to an actual invitation. If things work out I would leave in this August or September 2008 [this is something I pray about constantly since nothing is definite and I am a planner and I can�t plan. Ahh!].
As an environmental geographer, I believe strongly in the balance of respect between the people and the Earth. I am studying Rural Development because it is important that the future development of our country and the world is done in a more sustainable way. People in rural areas are generally under-represented and are often treated unfairly when it comes to development decisions. I hope to help development of their areas be more community based as well as earth-friendly.
I volunteered in rural Appalachia in Athens, Ohio for four years during my undergraduate study at Ohio University. During this time, I developed a passion for people who live in rural areas and a desire to make their lives better. I have studied environmental issues affecting rural areas, such as slash and burn agriculture, deforestation, invasive species, and mountain top removal mining. These and other issues inspire me to pursue a career where I can make a difference, facilitating development that is helpful to the community, earth-friendly and sustainable.
As for Annie and her story of stuff, I agree with mostly everything she is talking about.
Designed obsolescence or as Annie calls it �planned obsolescence� has been one of my biggest pet peeves since I found out about it sometime in high school, I think in 2000 during 10th grade.
She also mentions the loss of community and leisure time, which I also feel is leading to the erosion of culture. The loss of strong communities and culture is very scary to me.
I hope to help with what Annie calls the disposal stage. I have a feeling my life will be devoted to garbage. Which sounds gross and I am sure it will be gross from time to time. I hope to help people make less trash(RETHINK, REDUCE, then REUSE), help the trash we do make get recycled or composted, and create sustainable jobs for people and communities along the way.
My thesis is temporarily named Recycling, A Sustainable Industry for Alaska? Hopefully the Peace Corps assigns me to a waste management project (if you are the praying sort, put a good word in for me with God about this being part if His will being totally awesome). Then I can incorporate waste management in another country into my research and proposals, God willing.
So this is my very long response to Paul. Paul and everyone else please feel free to leave comments or questions. I welcome discussion and if people want I have much more to say about all of this.
byeness
