The Benefits of Being a Glam Hippie

The top twenty reasons are:

1) Sparkles are never out of the question and thrift store carry an abundance.

2) Eco-friendly makeup. There aint nothing wrong with eyeliner while rocking flowers in your hair.

3) Fair Trade Foodie: so much unique delicious gourmet sustainable food! Coffee, chocolate, gogi berries, blood oranges, kombucha!

4) Second hand chic.

5) Face painting.

6) Flowy anything.

7) Backpacking in a dress makes peeing much easier. You also look much cuter.

8) Confusing conservative men.

9) Special Brownies.

10) Swagg hippie boys, surfers, farmers, mountain men.

11) Being a mellow mountain maiden and handling my business when in the outdoors.

12) Gardening in a skirt. No need to bust out the carharts, it's going to be okay.

13) Sleeping in hammocks. When. Ever. Possible.

14) Giant turquoise jewelry.

15) Collecting Navajo rugs.

16) Bringing your own cup to a kegger.

17) Mountain Cocktail attire.

18) Getting props for not showering.

19) Skinny dipping instead.

20) Getting to that whole other level mannnnnnnnnnnnnnnn......

Community Sustaining Schools

As a Teach For America Alumni, I have spent many hours discussing strategies, making phone calls, and getting out in the neighborhood to encourage community engagement in my school. We were very successful, during an inservice, when we walked the community in teams of three and talked to a minimum of two families. The following week at back to school night we had record parent attendance.   This was amazing, but, I feel that this discussion of community involvement in schools does not go deep enough. This is only scratching the surface of potential interconnectedness of schools and a community.

Schools are a major support of the local economy. I say the more community members we have that are economically tied to the school or district in a positive way the more likely we are to have positive family involvement. Educational establishments hire both high and low skilled workers to complete their mission. Instead of outsourcing our needs to large companies from out-of-town, educational establishments should strive to look within the community to meet their needs. Let me give you an example:

The school I worked at had in-house prepared lunches, which gave the institution a homelike feel to add to our rich sense of family. These meals lovingly created by the cafeteria staff, in some schools, has been replaced by microwave "prison" food. In fact, many school cafeterias use the same food distributers as correctional facilitates. Perhaps this is another joint in the school to jail pipeline, but I digress. 

Why not have community members be the food distributors? 

My students had goats in their yards, they went hunting, and I know some even had gardens. We could greatly increase the sustainability of the entire community by eating local. It could start as a gardening experiment, after-school program, or simply tell already involved parents that they can earn, say, $2 per pound for radishes. Potential benefits would include a reduced carbon foot print, increasing the number of local jobs, providing fresh and (hopefully) organic vegetables, creating investment in healthy eating, and making the school system truly sustainable. 

Sustainability is composed of three components; Economic, environmental, and social sustainability. When we consider institutions, such as a school, they are truly the backbone of the community and thus should be leading by example. By being equitable economically, being responsible environmentally and socially accountable.

The economic sustainability of the school system, most basically, lies in providing equitable wages and high rates of return (a good education). It is the economic responsability of a school to provide community memebers which are well informed, able to balance a check book, and be productive members of society. Those who are providing the educational services, from administration to general labor, should be compensated fairly to do their job well.

This is social accountability; treat your employees fairly and provide a great service to your local community. Being socially sustainable means schools should invest in teachers who will provide an excellent education. This is not just test scores, but cultivation of the habit of life-long learning. Teachers who instill, what Duncan Andrade calls, The Pedagogy of Hope in their students. An education which includes analyzing the world and society will create ideas and leaders to make it an even better place. 

Environmental responsibility in school is lacking. Schools should be leading the way, setting the example of green building practices. Not because they're "green" per say but because it's economically viable. It is time that all schools were fitted with solar panels, making them energy independent. In fact, connect the school to the neighborhood street lights and let it pay a service to the community it serves. School roofs should supply the water that keeps the football field green, compost from the cafeteria should enrich the student garden, the recycling of bottles, cans and paper could fund the investment in more resource saving technology, like low flow toilets. Schools should lead by example.

Lets deeply ingrain the education of our children into our livelihoods, make it the center of the village where together we rear the next generation of our community. When we can accomplish that, for the greater good, then we will have truly sustainable schools. Listen, I don't care if you're not a "breeder". The kids in your community are you're responsibility too, invest in the people who're going to inherit this crazy place!

GMO's betches!

I love that tingling sensation sensation when I take my biweekly shower. It's not only because I'm grimy, slightly hairy, and smell weird. The real reason for this is my devoted use of Dr. Bronners peppermint bar soap. This 'magic' family owned company has been crafting soaps for three generations.  Radical from the beginning, Dr. Bronner has now moved into politics. Bronner has donated almost two million dollars to Washington states Initiative 522. This initiative will require labeling of genetically modified foods. 

Genetically modified foods conjure images of ending world wide hunger and franken-foods causing cancer and birth defects. Organic labeling standards mandate that foods must not be genetically modified, along with more well known regulations such as the use of pesticides. If you are concerned about the consumption of genetically modified organisms why not just eat organic? It would solve problem of potentially 'killer' food as well reduce reliance on the petro-chemical companies to supply fertilizers and pesticides to farms. 

Dr. Bronner's has done great work in the continued support and creation of organic markets. When palm oil could not be organically obtained, they developed a farm in Africa. Bronner's is not the only company which has set for themselves and lived by high standards, but their work is well publicized and, at times, radical. Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap is a true activist. 

I cannot help but question the radical existence. At times I could be accused of being radical and indeed I may be. But, I proceed with caution. The president of Dr. Bronner's on the other hand has been arrested twice for acts of defiance involving the legalization of hemp products. Bronner prevailed when the bill was overturned by the supreme court. No doubt that his work was influential and powerful in this ruling. 

Radical activism has it's place in our country but I also believe that we, as environmentalists, are missing a majority of americans. I advocate conservative environmentalism. This is based with firm roots in the term conservative. Because, we cannot erase the fact that our large human population must persist on a planet with finite resources thus we conserve. I question wether the work of Bronner will reach this audience. 

I believe that to reach a broader audience, and to have a positive impact, the approach needs to be altered. If we cast the role of the environmentalist as the Shepard of a flock, recycling numbers will skyrocket! If line drying and farmers markets became the new victory garden, we could have a grassroots revolution to a simpler and more sustainable way of life. I envision, 4-H classes in New York, vacant lots converted into homesteads and employment for the local economy. You bring your mess-kit to a party because, well, it's your fancy mess kit and you feel fancy eating off of it. 

If you're like me you don't shower because you love to wear perfume. And by doing so, I conserve a great amount of water. So, I dare you. Don't flush your toilet and put the paper in the trash. See how long you can handle it? 

For more on Brother Bronner see: 

Mother Jones

Film: Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox

my purpose

My name is Megan and I am figuring out my purpose in life. I might as well document for the semi public viewer. This blog was originally created to document my time as a teacher in deep south Texas. Two and half year have passed; I successfully completed two years of service with Teach for America and am living in the capital of California. The city of trees, Sacramento.

I hope to share my thoughts on life, environment, and social issues. There will likely be a heathy dose of art as well. So, thanks for joining me on this journey!