Earth Camp Commitment

     Before we first came to this camp, we were all asked to take a quiz. This quiz tells us what size our carbon footprint is and what we can do to change it. My  foortprint is 23.3 acres, although it seems rather large, when compared to others it is relatively average. Even though it is average, my footprint is still quite large. In fact, if everyone were to live like me, it would take four Earths to give everyone what they need! This brings me to my commitment. I decided that I wanted to lower the size of my footprint to 21.5 acres. That way, I have less impact on the environment. Also, by doing this my friends and family will want to follow my example.

There are many people, places, and things that inspired me to make this my commitment. Almost everthing we did and everyone we saw were a great influence on my commitment. Although, if I had to pick one person who inspired me the most, it would be Brad Lancaster. We met him on Bike Day. He is someone who had decided many years before today that he would have less of an impact on the environment by changing the way he lives. He doesn't waste any water at all and he does it in a pretty cool way. He uses a water harvesting system that catches the water into an area with plants that has been lowered to create a basin. That way, no water is wasted and washed into the streets. Also, he has buckets with a small hole in the bottom that catches rain water and acts as a rain system for his plants. His house is also designed specifically to cool down and warm up when you need it to. It does this with its roof shading. In the summer, the house is shaded completely by the roof according to the sun's positions. In the winter, the house is unshaded so that it can be warm. Because of this, he doesn't need to use a thermostat and  waste energy. He is the most influential person for my camp commitment because his footprint is just so low because of what he does.

To accomplish my commitment, I have decided to eat less red meat and dariy products, watch less television, ride my bike to certain places, and conserve water and energy whenever possible.  Most of these things are small lifestyle changes, but a few of them such as watching less television, will be very hard. For many kids my age, television has become and absolute neccessity. Many often watch over five hours a day. This is a very large energy waster.  If instead we could all try to read more books and play outside more often, the world would have so much more energy to power the things we actually need.

Because of my Earth Camp commitment, the Earth will have more resources and more energy. I will not use as much water as I did before, which will enable the Earth to have more of its most precious resource. By watching less television and remembering to turn my lights off when I am not using them, I can save energy and the world will be able to use it for other things. Also through my example, my friends and other relatives may want to do the same thing as I am. This will cause a ripple effect that will cause more people to want to save our resources. Therefore, the Earth will be changed.

The object that I want to use to remind me of my Earth Camp Commitment will be the t-shirt that we made at the Gloo Factory. It displays the Earth Camp's logo on it. By putting this somewhere visible in my room, I will be reminded of the commitment that I made for Earth Camp.

Questions & Answers

What did you think camp would be like and did it turn out that way or differently?

When I first heard about Earth Camp from my mom, I thought that it would teach me about the environment and what we can do to help it. This was partially right, but not only did we learn about this, but other things as well. In addition to the environment, we learned about astronomy, light pollution, climatology, and zoology.  Learning about all these sciences was unexpected, but really exciting.

What was your favorite activity and why?

My favorite activity was during the second Bus Day. What I liked about it was that we got the chance to pick out our own bus routes to get around town.  We had several destinations we needed to get to, but it was up to the campers to choose the correct routes.  Some of the destinations we needed to get to were the Gloo Factory, the Transit Center, Originate, and Las Cuatas.

What did we do at camp that impressed you the most and why?

The thing that we did at camp that impressed me the most was when we went to certain places in the Biosphere 2.  We did the tour, but we got to go places that no one else gets to see. It was pretty cool to go further into the areas and to see what all of the scientists get to do everyday.

Who inspired you the most during camp?

The person who inspired me the most was Brad Lancaster. He is one of those people that's had very little impact on the environment and plans to continue a low impact lifestyle for a very long time. He is a really cool guy that inspired me to make the commitment that I did.

Tell me about a time at camp when you saw someone else demonstrate great leadership qualities. What did they do?

When we were going to Originate, an eco-friendly store, we couldn't figure out how to get back. Sabina spent some time trying to figure out what bus we needed to catch and when. This is good because we were lost and she was able to help lead us in the right direction.

What did you do during camp that demonstrated your own leadership qualities?

At the end of Bike Day, we went to the farmers' market near the Santa Cruz River. My group was assigned to find the most locally grown product in the market. No one really wanted to ask any of the vendors how far away their products came from, so I stepped out of my comfort zone and asked them. This to me showed my leadership qualities because I am mostly shy towards those people I don't know and  have a hard time talking to them.

In what ways did Earth Camp help you think about your future, e.g. careers or higher education?

When I applied for Earth Camp, my goal was to figure out if a job in biology would be right for me. I figured that that kind of job would definitely be a great career for me because of this camp.

Now that you have experienced Earth camp, how do you view water in Tucson and how will that affect your future actions and choices?

     After Earth Camp, I now realize that the amount of water that we can use to drink is very little. In the world, only 0.003% of all of Earth's water is potable. This makes the amount that we can use in Tucson even smaller. I will try to use "navy showers" to make my water use smaller.  Using less potable water for my needs is what I will be doing after camp.