Cities 07

I believe that the first and most important step towards a more sustainable Twin
Cities is public education and awareness; which would be related towards
Wheeler's assertion of community involvement being an integral aspect of
sustainability. Affecting change on a large scale should be the focus of a move
towards more environmentally friendly living in urban life. Individuals can make
small changes, such as recycling as many materials as possible, and switching
to more reusuable products. Also, it takes individuals to band together to build
momentum to work towards positive change on a larger scale. Educating people
on the reasons why it is important to be aware of how our lifestyles impact the
environment is important because, as Wheeler acknowledges, so much of the
necessary changes will require major adjustments to how people have grown
to view life, progress, and prosperity. To begin to make change wholeheartedly,
there must be firm commitment to new modes of thinking which embrace
sustainability in all ways possible. People in living in urban areas today have
developed what could be seen as an addiction to non-sustainable and
un-environmentally sound modes of living. People are hooked on sustenance
practices that expend a lot of energy and create a lot of waste, not only is this
hedionistic and environmentally un-concious lifestyle damaging to the Earth,
it is damaging to our physical, spiritual and mental bodies. Public education is
essential in aiding the sort of "Point of No Return" mentality which I think can
plague people's response to learning about how humans are destroying the
Earth. If ways to change are not encouraged in ways that are easy to
understand and easy to implement, then they will surely fail. Promoting
education of ways to reduce our individual "ecological footprint" successfully
will require ensuring people feel that those changes are simple and within their
grasp. Much of Wheeler's piece made me think of the changes I have experienced
in my own thinking in the past few years as a result of learning about my Ojibwe
heritage. Through a personal search for cultural and spirtual guidance I have
learned to look at my life as a city dweller in a way that is not completely
disconnected from the natural environment, as I have learned to take on a more
humble view of my existence as a human, being the most pitiful of all animals
in that my survival depends on so many other forms of life on this planet. Many
Dakota and Ojibwe people living in reservation communities here in Minnesota
still practice traditional sustenance activities such as harvesting wild rice in the
fall, hunting and trapping during the winter, and making maple sugar in the spring.
In addition to producing food, these practices work to maintain a sense of
connectivity of people with the environment. Thus, I think that Wheeler's
assertion that "Preservation of local culture and wisdom" supports sustainability
could be implemented in the Twin Cities by embracing the knowledge of
the lifeways of both Dakota and Ojibwe aboriginal cultures indigenous to the land of
Minnesota.