Background

When I found out the fashion industry does the most harm to the earth, I was left in shock. I was never much into sustainability, nor learning more about it if I’m being honest. I always believed in things such as recycling, but I didn’t think it was too important to look into it more, or being more aware should I say. My family has always taught me to recycle and taking care of the planet, though I never learned much about it, I just did it.

Week 1

A wicked problem is a problem that is almost impossible to solve due to contradictory requirements that are often unrecognizable. For example, there are six characteristics to a wicked problem: vague problem definitions, variable solutions, no endpoint, irreversible, unique approaches, and finally, urgency.

We had an article to read about Easter Island and how settlers decided to live life upon arrival. They had little resources, chickens, plants, and others. They lived life normally and didn’t take advantage of the resources they had as far as trying to reproduce and making it last. They soon enough ran out of the little they had and were stuck on the island. This to me opened my eyes about the world and how we live life today. We the people seem to live as though we will always have everything we need. Many people may argue that, though everything we have is being injected by chemicals and is becoming more and more artificial. Food is becoming poison with all the chemicals involved in producing it now, and soon enough we will no longer have organic food. Even now, people argue there is no such thing as organic food, due to soil degradation.

The first week in Wicked Problems, we began watching the 11th Hour in class, and it was interesting learning about all of the effects different occasions have, such as the industrial revolution and all the killing of animals they caused. There were many topics within sustainability covered that left me in awe, such as climate change. Climate change is something that many people argue, though I find that crazy to believe. It isn’t about believing or not, if not something that has living proof and is covered in facts. There are deserts growing where there were once rainforests, oceans are becoming unable to swim in because of all the trash and bacteria being dragged into it, and food is becoming poison and we have less of it. Simply learning all of this the first week of class, I was ready to take the first steps in living a more sustainable life.

The last thing we read was about mindfulness. It stated, “…being mindful means being aware, taking note of what is going on within ourselves and outside of the world…” I believe this is important with things going on within yourself such as personal problems one may be facing, as well as the impact you have on the world.

The last step to my first step was calculating my carbon footprint. I did it based off of my household with my parents which is 57 tons of CO2 per year. This is typically what others with similar households have, which is no better, nor worse. I am excited to see what else this class has to offer and living a better life, that will help this beautiful place we call home.