The Lifestyle Project

Steven Earle Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, Canada

Karin Kirk Carleton College and Empire State College, USA

Paul Wright Southampton Solent University, Southampton, UK

“We are human because, at a very early stage in the history of the species, our ancestors discovered a way of

preserving and disseminating the results of experience.”

Aldous Huxley, 1956, Knowledge & Understanding Part 1, Vedanta & the West, Vedanta Soc. of S. California

“But we understand only when, by liberating ourselves from the tyranny of words, conditioned reflexes, and social

conventions, we establish direct, unmediated contact with experience.”

Learning through experience

We all know that we need to do something to decrease our impact on the environment,

however most of us think that:

• our individual contribution to environmental degradation and climate change is small

• even if we do change, it won’t make much difference, because others won’t

• it would be difficult to change our habits and still maintain our lifestyles

In the Lifestyle Project* students are asked to break this deadlockto discover that they can change the way they live.

We challenge them to make some significant changes to their lifestyles, and to keep a journal describing how well they met their targets and how they and those around them were affected

by the changes.

*Kirk, K and Thomas, J, 2003, The Lifestyle Project, J. of Geoscience Education, V.,51, p. 496-99

Students are asked to do the following:

electricity turn off lights and appliances when they aren’t needed

heating dress warmly and turn down the heat

water use use water efficiently: shorter showers, less laundry, less toilet flushing

waste create no landfill waste and recycle whatever is possible

transportation ditch the car and walk, bike, bus, or carpool

diet avoid resource-intensive foods and foods that have been shipped a long way

Students choose three topics.

The project lasts for three weeks, and becomes more stringent each week.

Students write about their experiences in a journal and submit their journal for instructor-

feedback at the end of each week.

The Lifestyle Project at:

Empire State College: The project is used in a distance learning course in Geology and the Environment. The students are typically

adults with jobs and families, who come from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Southampton Solent University: The project is used part way through a first- level undergraduate unit in Global Environmental

Issues. It ties in with future units looking at community involvement in environmental issues, and sustainable development

Malaspina University-College: The project is used in two courses with the theme of Energy and the Environment, one a face-to-face course for future teachers, the other an on-line course open to all students.

Malaspina University-College

Participation in the project is voluntary. The alternative is a term paper

(Approximately 90% of students take part!)

The project can be started at any time within the 13-week term

The most popular topic choices are water and diet, followed by electricity and waste.

Since relatively few choose to give up the use of their car, we have now made the transportation topic mandatory for all

students who drive to campus.

We ask them to reduce their driving by at least 30% in week 1, 40% in week 2 and 50% in week 3.

We’ve also asked students choosing the diet option to make a concerted effort to restrict themselves to

locally-produced foods.

“It was fun, trying and eye-opening. An experience that I will take with me for many, many years and incorporate into my teaching in the future.”

“… I am amazed how fast it has gone … I have been able to influence my landlord, family, friends and most importantly myself.”

“I really like walking home. I feel better after I do it.”

“I am now used to all the free time in the mornings that I save from not doing my hair; this I thought I could never change!”

Student comments

Many students have commented that the changes were not as difficult as they had anticipated, and that they felt that they could maintain most of them without a

significant impact on their quality of life.

Student comments

End of term survey on the lifestyle project:

• 31/34 said that it increased their awareness of the environment

• 34/34 thought that it was a useful education experience

• 32/34 said that they would consider adapting this project to their own classrooms

Southampton

Participation is required of all students

There is no official assessment, but there is a formative reflective writing exercise

As this is only part of a unit, the exercise is used for one week only, early in the unit, to introduce issue of

personal responsibility

Many of our students are local, or rent locally, therefore, driving to the university is rare.

Most chose the energy and water saving options, with some claiming they recycle already.

No one took the diet option!

What the students said

“It was more difficult than we thought.”

“In a shared house, getting others to allow you to turn thermostats down is difficult.”

“I managed to have shorter showers for three days, then I kind of forgot.”

Empire State College

The project is offered as one of two options in the final portion of the course. (The other option is a research paper about

conservation, using the same topics as the project.)

Typically about 2/3 of the students elect to do the project.

Project begins with the ecological footprint quiz (www.myfootprint.org)

and a series of energy calculations so that students can gain an awareness of how their actions add up.

The project runs for three weeks.

Journals are submitted electronically at the end of each week.

Instructor comments are added to the journal and they are returned electronically within a few days.

Students use a discussion board to share suggestions and anecdotes from the project.

The instructor posts her project journals to the discussion board, which always seems to generate student interest.

Because many of these students are older, and have households to run, the impact of the lifestyle project is very

different than it is for young students living on campus.

The changes are more difficult because they may need to convince their spouse or children to cooperate.

Many are holding down a full-time job while doing the project.

On the other hand, the project may affect these students more profoundly because it impacts their entire household.

Examples of outcomes:

Trying to convince teenage kids to eat vegetables and take shorter showers

Setting up carpooling with co-workers

Convincing spouse to stop letting the water run when he does the dishes!

Bringing lunch or coffee to work in reusable containers

Encouraging the boss to allow recycling bins at work

Setting up a compost pile

Rethinking the grocery shopping experience (packaging, processing, imported foods, meat) Setting foot in a health food store

Examples of pedagogic outcomes:

Creates a closer community in a distance learning environment

Creates teamwork among students

Allows for a personal connection between instructor and students

Ends the course on a practical note that they can relate to their “real lives”

Summary of outcomes for students: discovering that ‘talk is cheap’ and that action is far more

challenging

a shift in awareness—recognizing the need to think about their environmental impact before they act.

realizing that lifestyle changes have time and convenience costs, but that some changes can save both time and money, and improve quality of life

becoming aware that small changes early in the project are easy, but substantial changes, made towards the end, can be more difficult

most students welcome the break from yet another term paper

the Lifestyle Project created a strong sense of community and teamwork in an on-line course (the same can be seen in a face-to-face course)

the “take-home” nature of the Lifestyle Project means that its effects commonly extend into the community, to family, friends and beyond

we discovered that the reflective (and especially reflective writing) capabilities of our students were poorer than we thought, and that more training is necessary here

student feedback supports the concept that learning through experience is more effective than many other forms of learning,

Other outcomes:

http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/enviroprojects/lifestyle.html

Thank you

For more information:

http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/enviroprojects/lifestyle.html

The Lifestyle Project is featured in the December 2007 issue of Geotimes

“It has made my lifestyle one that I can be proud of.”“Some are desperate for clean drinking water, yet I have so

much that I have to think about not wasting it.”“I really dislike having short showers.”

“I guess I never really do need to wash it every day!”“I really like walking home.  I feel better after I do it. ”

“It gives me hope to see what a difference a small change can make.”“Transportation is a big thing in my life…I drive

everywhere.”

“Each time I went to do something, I had to think of how my actions would affect the environment.”

“I am so aware now that I cringe when I see lights on that shouldn’t be, and when people take more napkins

than they need.”

“Our family is about to begin our third week using the same thirteen-gallon garbage bag. ”

“Will I always be like this?”