Interpreting in the Real World, Guiding Principles
Ethic… the guiding principles that govern my behavior as to what I think is right and wrong. I often ponder about greed in the world and to live without greed is often one guiding principle I live by throughout my life and hope to bring with me in nature interpretation. I believe that everyone has the chance to make small changes which will compound to make a large difference, we just need to start! This will be hard to accomplish because even with individuals making small changes, a few big corporations often have all/most of the control. We can try to change what we consume and who we buy from, but affordability and convenience is very important to today’s consumers. For groceries, with rising food insecurity, it is very impractical to choose sustainable options (more expensive) or choose to shop locally. I often feel that the solution is out of my reach and far larger than myself, but if you can live greedless and afford to put the planet before convenience and affordability, I encourage you to do so! I often see greed in other places, especially when I see how grocery prices and taxes rise for consumers while large corporations are making record breaking profits. It is frustrating to see these profits going into a greedy person’s pocket instead of perhaps into conservation efforts. Just recently carbon taxes have gone up, gas prices went up to reflect this and the tax is being absorbed by the consumer. I ask what is this tax going towards, their reason for taxing gas is because it is ‘dirty’ so are they using this tax to clean up the ‘filth’ we must use in today’s society? There seems to be no transparency of where the extra money is going when prices rise for consumers, is anyone asking this question too? Yet we continue to exploit the planet without restoration.
I feel responsible to be the generation that actually does something about the world’s state, because after all, humans are the reason everything is happening. By acting, educating, carrying out plans I want to make the difference! Conservation plans are always made but failed to be carried out. For example, the UN Decade of Biodiversity (2011-2020) had a strategic plan, 20 biodiversity targets across 5 strategic goals but zero were successfully completed and only 6 were partially completed… Did I know about this? No. Once I knew, did I feel as though I could individually make a difference? Also no. I have grown up with older generations consistently passing the responsibility to younger people, or making plans and strategies but putting other selfish goals as their priority. I don’t want to be a part of the next generation that has a chance to conserve the beauty in nature that doesn't! Therefore another goal I have as I continue as a nature interpreter is educating others on what they can do individually and help them see that value of nature as something of beauty and solace instead of something we can exploit to make money.Perhaps another goal/responsibility I have as an interpreter is to inspire people to necessary small changes and encourage others to ask necessary questions large businesses don’t want us asking like the recent annihilation of plastic bags, then charging more for reusable bags. Are they using the profits made by selling bags for the environment or are they filling their pockets and continuing to act unsustainably (CTV Vancouver, 2018)?
Subscribe now: https://www.youtube.com/c/funnyordie?sub_confirmation=1See more: http://bit.ly/FODLatestScrew it. They don’t care about clima
Another guiding principle I would use as an interpreter is emphasizing the quality of information I use in interpretation. I have the responsibility to listen to many points of view and obtain the highest quality of information for interpretations. I also must adapt when new information is found as soon as possible as having accurate information I think is the most important when trying to convey the message in nature. This would lead me to be up to date with information by always learning! It has been mentioned in our textbook that an interpreter always has the desire to continue to learn beyond the classroom which is why I would use this to guide me in Interpretation!
As for approaches…
As I develop as a nature interpreter, I want to bring these questions, solutions, inspirations to be selfless and quit exploiting nature. I do not want to see nature degrade but want to share my love for nature with others! This is my place where I feel at peace, especially the places where I share fond memories of family and I hope that we can conserve nature for many generations to come to have the chance to experience what I have been lucky to have done so.
I want to start my responsibility now… educating you on something called the Willow Project that is proposed to start in the next month or so. I know that this is happening in the US, but it impacts us all worldwide! It is the largest oil extraction proposed on federal lands in Alaska, and is estimated to add more than 250 million tons of CO2 to the atmosphere over the next 30 years (POW). Research at Stanford by Josie Carthwaite estimates that plants and soils together currently absorb an estimated 30% of the CO2 emitted by human activities each year (2021)! With this additional release by the Willow project, it's hard to imagine coming back from such a catastrophe and perhaps will push global warming to an all time high! No only does this impact us as we will likely see a short lived boom of the economy for immediate benefits, but soon after, it is likely that our earth will have no more to give after ecosystems are gone, global warming unstoppable, animals wiped out at an uncontrollable pace will all have long term impacts. Don’t let our immediate greed for money and energy jeopardize our earth, ecosystems, and other generations' chance to have nature, experience the joys I feel when in nature.
People are already speaking out, signing petitions, making videos, researching, trying to get the Willow Project to stop! Everyone joining together is making NOISE and not sitting back and letting people motivated by greed to do this to our planet! We all can make the difference!
There is just too much information and tools I have learned in this course to name everything in just a short blog! Thank you everyone for the incredible information you shared and conversations and replies!
What was your most memorable blog you remember using nature interpretation?
Resources:
Beck, L., Cable, T.T., & Knudson, D.M (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage for a Better World (1st ed). Sagamore Venture
Carthwaite, J. (2021). Soils or plants will absorb more CO2 as carbon levels rise- but not both, Stanford study finds. Stanford- News Service.https://news.stanford.edu/press/view/38728#:~:text=Plants%20and%20soils%20together%20currently,there%20for%20a%20long%20time.
POW. (2022) The Willow Project. Date accessed: 2023, March 15. https://protectourwinters.org/campaign/willow/
Unknown. (2018) Plastic bag fees: Helping the environment or big profit for retailers?. CTV Vancouver. https://bc.ctvnews.ca/plastic-bag-fees-helping-the-environment-or-big-profit-for-retailers-1.4208398
