I came into this course thinking that environmental science was a sort of niche in the scientific community, that environmental politics was something for hippie activists. By no means did I not believe in climate change or think that endlessly burning fossil fuels was a good thing. I didn't fully understand the implications environmental issues had for me and my lifestyle. Similarly, I didn't realize the implications my lifestyle had on the environment.

This class has instilled in me a new way at looking at economic growth. I remember when Paul Wapner came in and talked about the Keystone Oil Pipeline. As we all expressed our fears of an oil spill, Wapner pressed the argument for economic growth. He was playing to the other side, just as stone-faced as Stephen Colbert does. "Jobs!" he repeated. "Jobs for the pipeline! Jobs to clean up the oil, jobs to save the dirty prairie dogs in Nebraska, jobs for lawyers of people who get poisoned, jobs for trucks to send in medical supplies, jobs for everyone!" Wapner's farce really made one of Bill McKibben's points resonate with me: we need to focus on the quality, not quantity of new jobs (Great Recession or otherwise); we need to focus on economic maturity, not economic growth.

As a corollary to economic growth, this class changed the way I've looked at consumer culture. I never really understood just how deeply embedded consumption is in our culture. But I guess that's the point. Americans have entirely too much stuff, and we are told that we need to go get more of the new stuff. Especially in the suburbs, shopping is a hobby. When you need something to do on a Friday night, you go to the mall with your friends and buy more stuff. Not because you specifically needed something, but because our society follows that self-defeating mantra of "more stuff now." And so much of this stuff we only use once! Just look at the purchase of a fountain soda: a cup, a lid, a straw, a cover for the straw, a napkin so that icky condensation doesn't get on your hands. And then after 5 minutes, you throw it all "away." In this class, I've learned that as a social construct, Consumerism can (maybe not just as easily) be deconstructed. I've learned that more (be it fossil fuels or consumer goods) isn't necessarily better.

I came into this class thinking I would learn about the environment and how it relates to international organizations. I'm pleasantly surprised that I've learned about the relationships we share as individuals, societies, and markets with our mother earth.

What Will I Take Away?

I've been thinking about this question since it was first posted and find myself completely unable to articulate what it is that I will take away. A more appropriate question would be: what won't I take away?

For starters, I'll be taking away a completely new lens on the world around me. I can't look at my food, my clothes, my belongings, my own living space anymore without thinking about how my decision have already affected the world we live in. I know this was probably not the intention of the course, but I also find myself unable to shake this sort of nagging feeling of dread that all of the mountains of information and different theories about climate change projections have plagued me with. I suppose that on some level though, the pervasive dread is good. Hopefully it will drive my decision-making for the rest of my life. But then I think to myself ... do my actions as an individual really matter? They don't really make a difference according to some of the opinions we've read. I suppose through political activism they do. Through motivating collective action they do. And maybe that's one of the most important things that I will take away from this class - that if creating change IS something that I want to do, I need to think a bit bigger than I have in the past.

Where to begin?

When I attempted to think about how to synthesize all of the information I have learned throughout the semester into one blog post, I had trouble deciding where to start. Very few other courses I have taken have presented information and concepts that affect every aspect of human life. Everything we think about and everything we do would not be possible without the environment simply because it is the place in which we exist. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the concepts put forth in this class are so unbelievably far-reaching that it is difficult to dictate exactly what I will be taking away.

In the end, I would say that no other class has made me seriously ponder the way that I live my life as much as this one has. I notice person after person driving by on the street, alone in their cars. I notice how it seems like EVERYTHING is wrapped in plastic inside of more plastic. I have come to terms with the fact that no matter how hard I try, I'll never be able to escape corn. These examples may sound trivial, but this class seriously has altered my outlook on and given me a new paradigm with which to view the world and the way it works. Most of all though, this class has given me an elevated sense of appreciation for the environment. I'm amazed by all of the natural services it provides and the rich biodiversity of life that it is comprised of. I also recognize however, that this could all go away and so in addition to an increased appreciation, I feel an increased sense of responsibility for it's well-being. I understand that both individually and together, we are responsible for determining whether or not this environment that we live in flourishes or fails.