My Earliest Sustainability Memories...

Nora gave us something to think about.  What exactly are out earliest experiences with Sustainability.  How did we, in fact, get here in this program, in this part of our lives?

For me, the first thing that came into my head was my very good friend Kristen.

Kristen and I went to high school together and have been friends since.  We were both Catholic grade school ex-pats that met in our public high school.  We had similar upbringings in our small-ish towns, and grew up with the same values, similar family life.

Anyway, after college, Kristen was living in DC and working for a few non-profits, and I was working in NY as a designer.  On paper, we are polar opposites.  I remember visiting her one long weekend, and I remember us walking around one evening in DC ( I forget exactly what part of town) and I was carrying a bottle of water.  I went to throw away the top and Kristen practically leaped into the garbage can to retrieve it!  In fact, she did pull it out of there and scolded me about recycling!  I told her I would save the bottle, but the caps are not recyclable.  She said that she would take care of it.

Now Kristen became our most socially conscious friend by far after high school.  I suppose it was always in her, and just manifested itself in different ways, but it is truly who she is.  She is the one to keep us all in line.  But to me, this little episode with the bottle cap seemed out of line.  I did not like being called out and got my back up about it thinking she was making a mountain out of a mole hill.  I reported the occurrence back to our mutual pals and became the story to laugh about going forward, the one I always teased her about.  I just did not understand how one bottle cap made a difference.  It was her neurosis not mine, and I immaturely reacted negatively about it for years to come.

Kristen and I have traveled on very different journeys yet have remained friends.  We are very different, but I know that I have learned so much from her and from her example.  And here I am in the new SIE program at FIT, open to learn, ready to hear, excited to teach what I have taken in! I remember that day in DC vividly and it is always what I have gone back to on my own journey around the bend.  I feel silly when I think about how I reacted to her, but I cannot lie that I think it is what most people would do or say.

It is funny how now I have caught up to Kristen and how I understand the impact of a plastic bottle cap, or better yet, the impact of myself through a bottle cap.

Thanks...
Shannon:)