No Impact Man

I heard No Impact Man on WNYC this morning. He's doing an experiment of living in Manhattan with no impact on the environment for one year. He explains the parameters on his blog.

The show got me thinking about two things:

1. Judgement -- bear with me for a moment.

The other day my assistant was looking at our weekly plans and said, "You didn't write anything for guided reading." I instantly assumed she was criticizing/judging me and went on the defensive. "Oh yeah," I said, "I was going to do that."

A moment later I realized she was actually asking me a question. "Oh!" I said, "You're asking if we're having it! Yes, I'd like to start the new groups on Wednesday and Thursday at the usual time."

I think there are a lot of circumstances under which people feel judged. And I think that they often react with criticism or defensiveness in return. For example, it's easier to criticize Al Gore for flying around the world a lot in a jet plane with carbon emissions than to look at oneself and find ways to make a difference. The No Impact guy said that if someone criticizes Gore and tells Gore to look at how his own actions affect the world, Gore should then turn around and ask the same thing. Thsi shouldn't just be banter, but a sincerely self-relection. The speaker today said again and again he's trying not to judge others and certainly isn't trying to get others to do replicate his pesronal experiment. Yet people want to say he's being unrealistic.

2. I decided that I would use the opportunity of hearing him to look at myself again, and I found that I still haven't done anything much about the fact that the school where I work doesn't recycle. It so happens that yesterday I had the courage to ask the relevant person about it, and he explained that there isn't enough room for containers etc. I don't quite buy it. If it was a priority, I suspect they'd find a way. He did say that next year, once further renovations are complete, he'd be more willing to tackle it. I volunteered my assistance to make it happen.

But as of today I'm thinking, why not try again to at least do it in my own classroom? All I need is a container and to find out where to take the stuff. (I'm talking about paper only here.) Unfortunately, that last part is quite difficult. I would take it home to my own recycling and pay whatever I had to get it schlepped away except that I'm in an apartment and the entire building just has one small container by the mailboxes downstairs. Maybe I should tackle THAT first. I think I need more information.

3. But I also thought of one more thing. I wish we did more science in our second grade team and I've been pushing for us to create a relevant and integrated science unit. So my goal is to push for creating a unit next year about conservation that will integrate all the subjects. I don't think it will be hard and I think it will pay off tremendously.

I hope I'm not just talking and forgetting to act. I do that a lot on here.