Smith EVS 300 - Wellness and developing Environmentally Conscious Behavior

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Wellness and Developing Environmentally Conscious Behavior Sonja Halterman May 4, 2005 EVS 300- 1 - ABSTRACT: A sense of connection between individuals and the environment is essential in order for people to be willing to make environmentally sustainable decisions. Yet connection to the environment is difficult to establish within a society that demands busyness: the stress people experience due to the busyness of this culture prevents people from connecting with nature, and thus prevents many from making responsible decisions regarding the environment. Extreme consequences of stress, mental imbalance and illness further alienate individuals from the environment. Investigating the ‘culture of stress’1 at Smith College, my objectives included: determining whether a majority of students experience stress due to Smith; assessing whether the effects of stress on Smith students deepen their disconnection with the environment and shape irresponsible behaviors that affect the environment; and investigating what is being done at Smith College to promote wellness of students. INTRODUCTION: In his book, The Nature of Design, David Orr says that “the greatest impediment to an ecological design revolution is… human” (Orr, 2002). He states that human connectedness to the environment is crucial in order to compel people to make ecological decisions: The success of ecological design will depend on our ability to cultivate a deeper sense of connection and obligation without which few people will be willing to make even obvious and rational changes in time to make much difference (Orr, 2002). Along similar lines, deep ecologists believe that to work towards long-term environmental sustainability, human interactions with the environment must change and people must act as if nature mattered (Zimmerman, 1998). Yet this disconnect between nature and man has come to be part of our culture and will not be easy to overcome; because we are so disconnected from the 1 Term used by Hayat Nancy Abuza and Dean Mahoney.- 2 -natural world (Orr, 2002), it seems unlikely that we will simply come to an understanding of our dependency and relationship with the environment.. Reconnecting people to the environment will be a difficult task, partly because modern-day life is so frenzied and demanding. Living in this fast-paced society, people are often consumed and stressed by the busyness of life: we hardly have time to reconnect with ourselves, let alone the natural world. Not only does busyness often keep us from connecting with the environment, it can also create a state of mental disarray that can work to reinforce our disconnection with the natural world. This ‘mental scattered-ness’, caused by a stressful life, acts as yet another impediment to feeling connected to one’s environment: constantly thinking about future obligations and past events, many people are so consumed by their thoughts that they cannot consider their surrounding world, their place in it, or how they affect it (communication with Professor Apffel-Marglin ). As college life is a notoriously busy and stressful time, it is likely that students are especially affected by the problems of busyness and disconnect. Faced with the pressures of college and consumed by their own problems, some students may completely disregard how their actions affect the environment. Additionally, it is plausible that deeper mental problems caused by stress can strengthen the disconnection with the environment: if individuals lack their own sense of well-being and balance, it is unrealistic to assume that they will promote the balance and well-being of the natural world. Therefore, it is important to help students learn to cope with these new pressures in order to prevent breakdowns and to foster an awareness of the natural world. As students develop habits in college that they will take with them throughout life, it is important to help students develop coping skills while they are in college in order to ensure that- 3 -they can maintain balanced lives later on. Therefore, promoting the long-term wellness of students is the first step in promoting the well-being of the natural world. This project was approached with an understanding that there is a fundamental need to reconnect people with the environment in order to foster positive human intentions. Because busyness and stress can prevent people from connecting with the environment, the overall objective of this study was to assess whether the ‘culture of stress’ at Smith College contributes to the prevention of sustainability. This was assessed by determining whether Smith College students are generally stressed and whether this prevents them from appreciating the natural environment; and by investigating what is being done at Smith College to promote the wellness of students. Special attention was given to programs at Smith College that promoted students’ wellness, while also connecting them with the natural world. METHODOLOGY: • Interviews: I met with the following people to inquire about the Wellness Initiative at Smith College, to determine whether wellness is considered an important issue at Smith College, and to find out what the administration is doing or planning on doing to promote wellness at Smith. 1. Hayat Nancy Abuza: the Interfaith Coordinator at Smith and leads the Wellness Initiative (W.I.) and Festival. 2. Michele Turin Wick: a Psychology professor at Smith. 3. Frederique Apffel-Marglin: an Anthropology professor at Smith. 4. Maureen Mahoney: Ms. Mahoney is the Dean of the College.- 4 -• Classes attended: I attended a ‘Wellness Zone’ class, which is offered as part of the Wellness Initiative and taught by Hayat Nancy Abuza. The class is designed to help students “find respite from everyday stresses and learn to develop inner resources of peace and calm”2. • Other Research: More research was conducted via the internet, books, academic journals, and magazines. Research primarily focused on the following subjects: deep-ecology, ecopsychology, and stress-reduction. • Surveys: The survey was made with the intention of assessing the following: whether students’ feel stressed; how stress may affect different aspects of students’ lives; whether students perceive Smith to be supportive of their well-being; and whether students know about the Wellness Initiative (W.I.) and have attended W.I. programs. The survey was reviewed by L.


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Smith EVS 300 - Wellness and developing Environmentally Conscious Behavior

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