Green Options » high school

Green Grad Advice: An Ecopreneur Promotes Detours at High School Alma Matter Commencement

Lisa Kivirist — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:35:59 +0000

That once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that both warms one’s heart and instills a swarm of nervous stomach butterflies came about for me last week: giving a commencement address at my old high school, Glenbrook South in Glenview, Illinois.

While it ranked an honor to receive the distinguished alum award, the five-minute speech proffering advice for the 2009 graduating class proved to be a unique challenge for me, requiring me to think about and process the “Lisa Kivirist” from 1985 when I graduated, when the only “green” I knew was the one in the padded paychecks I aspired to earn, to the green rolling hills of our Wisconsin farm and B&B today, Inn Serendipity and helping others launch green businesses through my book, ECOpreneuring.

Detours with a dose of serendipity quickly arose as the theme song for my last twenty years, a refrain that I wanted to leave with the graduating class. Life may take unexpected turns, but remember, as I learned, to keep connected to the core values, your earth mission, figuring out ways to craft a life and livelihood based on your passions.

Here are some excerpts from my speech:

From Inspiration to Action: 18+

Lee Welles — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:45:22 +0000

A month ago I wrote about a great organization, Roots & Shoots, started by the eminent Jane Goodall. Dr. Goodall understands the need to give children an outlet - to turn their concerns for animals, the environment and other people (social issues) into action that can positively affect our world. So where can our ‘older-youngsters’ turn their inspiration into action?

For 50 years, the Student Conservation Association has given high school and college students the opportunity to participate in conservation efforts from A-Z, “archeology to zoology!” Through 3-12 month Internships and Community Programs surrounding major metropolitan areas, SCA gives individuals 18-years of age and older the opportunity to help preserve America’s natural and cultural heritage.

When I was in high school, my guidance counselor (and I use that term loosely) suggested that I move to Sarasota, FL and join the circus. He couldn’t fathom that a gal might be interested in animals, but not want to be a Veterinarian!

My First Day: How Many Planets Do You Use?

Kelli Best-Oliver — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:26:05 +0000

School started yesterday, and with it came a whole new crop of students in my environmental sustainability class. Although I wish the summer was longer, and getting back into the routine is hard (falling…asleep…now), I love the first few days of the semester, when I first start to see kids reaction to the idea of sustainability.

Teens, by nature, don’t have a ton of impulse control. Parents of teens are thinking to themselves, "Well, duh." But seriously, many lack the frontal lobe development to fully consider how their actions impact others. It’s why many make stupid choices.

However, this doesn’t prevent them from grasping the notion that how most Americans live might not be the best way to live. I started our first full day by having the class go through the Earth Day Foundation’s online eco-footprint calculator. This simple test asks participants questions involving such subjects as the size of their home, their eating habits, and their transportation habits. Though far from comprehensive, it’s quick enough that I can get a whole class through, working in small groups, in enough time to tabulate the class average, and the results, though probably not 100% precise, give students a rough idea of the magnitude of how they live.

Not only does the quiz give students a score of approximately how many acres of resources they use, but it roughly calculates "how many planets" it would take to sustain humanity if everyone lived like them. After each student finished the quiz, they came up to the SmartBoard, where I had an Excel file with everyone’s name, and entered their scores, then calculated a class average. On average, if everyone lived like my class, we would need 3.5 planets to sustain us. When I explained what this number meant, the class guiltily looked at each other, particularly those who had high numbers.

"Why is that number a big deal?" I asked.

"There aren’t 3.5 planets," a student volunteered. "Well, there are, but we can only use one. So…" he sheepishly trailed off. The class laughed.

I asked the kids what questions from the quiz surprised them. Remember, most of them are coming in with little prior knowledge of sustainability other than "recycling=good; global warming=bad." The number one concept they didn’t expect was questions about their diet. Why does it matter how much meat I eat? Why does it matter where my food comes from? I explained the them that a lot of resources go into food production, like water and fossil fuels.

"Wait, so it basically takes gas to make our food?" one student asked cautiously. I smiled slyly because I love watching the synapses fire!

"If it’s Twinkies, there might be actual petroleum in your food itself," I countered.

"So what are we gonna do?" another student asked panickedly.

"Well, that’s what this class is about. Getting the number down to one," I said Like a television show, the bell rang.