September 4, 2007 - 8:49am — vistajames
Your Egological Footprint
Last summer I spent five months working in the woods building trail with the Montana Conservation Corps. It was another americorps job, although it didn't feel like any job I had ever had. There you are for nine days out, traipsing through mountainsides, sleeping in a tent that eventually becomes too much like home, bathing in the rivers, and working, working, working. By the time you return, you are running down the trail at full speed like dharma, excited to be back into society, and yet somehow never more a real part of it. You have lived for so long without the real comforts our modernity provides. (For a good example, read Norman Maclean's short story "1919: The Rancher, the Cook, and the Hole in the Sky.")
The MCC, like most NPOs was also focused on our personal growth. How little they realized being out there was growth enough! But to have a more tangible "growth" we managed small workshops, one for each time we were in the wood (or "on hitch"). Usually it was focused on environmental issues. One I recall with great relish was entitled "Your Egological Footprint." It was like an action plan budget for a venture, estimating the amount of gas you used in a month, the average price of eating out, what your electric bill turned out to be, and it counted many things against you to give you the final answer - just how much do you personally effect the environment. There were also ways in which you could decrease this "footprint," such as recycling, eating at home, bicycling, etc.
I have found a link for an online quiz if you too would like to see your ecological footprint, and talk about the results, etc. Here is is: http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.asp