While I was writing my poem, I had Percy Shelley’s Ozymandias in my thoughts. I wanted to draw on the themes of man’s hubris and arrogance. So I created a narrative were mankind celebrates in their technological achievements and perceived mastery over the natural world yet now find themselves facing some serious ecological challenges and a disconnect from the natural world. I was a little surprised how few of the other poems and letters I listened to focused on the larger ecological issues. Rather, the focus or tones were more personal and sentimental in nature. Admittedly, I am not overly sentimental and it is reflected in the creativity of my poem (the hackneyed reflective line at the end made it in partly because it went with my rhyme scheme), but this allowed for the differences to contrast well.
My poem comes across as an indictment of our cultural values and focuses on what has been done; the other poems celebrate environmentalism and personal sacrifice. There is optimism from the other poems/letters and an expression of creating a healthier world. Derek’s poem exemplifies a desire for a better future as he waxes poetic about his son. Derek comes to understand ecoliteracy through his son and with it an inferred desire for sustainability. Sean’s letter is an example of the celebration of environmentalism and personal sacrifice in which he acknowledges the environmental example his mother provided for him through recycling and reusing.
Zane’s letter really was the only poem/letter that I heard which I could find some similarity. Zane mentioned all the damage caused to the landscape through the oil industry. The letter begins to differ from mine again though when Zane goes on to applaud his brother for getting involved in land reclamation and recognizing his position as a leverage point.
In braiding, I realized my thoughts on ecoliteracy focus on larger abstract issues. I tend to approach it more as an academic exercise of looking at cause and effect or trying to locate those leverage points “where a small shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything” (Meadows, 1999). While I believe that small actions like individual recycling, gardening and other environmentally friendly initiatives have their place in ecoliteracy and do help, I cannot help but feel this can be like the child from the 1950’s ducking under their desk to protect themselves from an atomic bomb (i.e. there just giving themselves false comfort). Further, one could argue ecoliterate individuals may recycle, but not all people who recycle are ecoliterate (maybe they are just doing it to get their deposit back). For me, at the core of ecoliteracy there must be an understanding of the interconnectedness of systems (i.e. systems analysis) fostered through experience with nature and study. Only with this understanding, one can begin to investigate sustainability and leverage points to affect change.
Works Cited
http://www.derekhall.com/mutual-learning
https://seanhooperblog.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/dear-mom-a-tribute-to-an-individual-who-represents-ecoliteracy
https://zanemaze.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/eco-literacy-love-letter
Meadows, D. (1999) Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System. Retrieved October 5, 2015, from http://www.donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system.
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