Bake sale success!

I'm really proud. We've raised 350$ to adopt burrowing owls from the Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Interpretive Center. I just can't wait to give it away. Which is something new for me, I usually would want to keep that all to myself. But now, I want to help.

Here is a peek at the cake we sold today :)

The Buried Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yepOuaV1khY

Here is a link to a girl discussing The Buried Life and what they did with the IN campaign.

In this reality show, four guys have a list of things they want to do before they die, and for everything that they cross off that list, they help someone in need cross off something off of their list. In the episode I am thinking of, they decide to help a girl from British Columbia, Canada. The girl wants to save the forests of British Columbia. An architectural company bought the land within the forest and began to cut down all of the trees so they could build condos, apartment complexes or mega-mansions. The girl had grown up in the forest. The tall trees felt like her home. But this company was only concerned with making money. The guys from “The Buried Life” flew her to Toronto, which was where the company’s headquarters was. They sent out a message to all of their fans on Facebook, asking for Toronto citizens to come to the headquarters dressed as Avatars. They had a great turn out. However, as soon as the girl went to go inside to talk to the CEO, the security guards turned her away. They would not even let her talk to anyone in the building. So, yes, her being on the show raised awareness. But did the company even listen to the messages that this girl had for them? Probably not. My journaling always ends up depressing me because I know that I do not have the means to help the environment.

Here is the link to the Facebook page as well:
https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=36624062712#!/group.php?gid=36624062712&v=wall

Later days,

Shelby

Journal 3

I've been trying to hold back on this entry, but I can't any longer. I feel really negative. This whole "being-environmentally-friendly" thing has me at a stand still. I guess I am one of those people that says, "Hey, I'm only one person. How can I do this alone?". Yes, I'm one of those. I wonder if I can change my tune? I wonder if I'll always view this issue as a glass-half-empty issue?

I just don't want to waste my time helping the world if no one else cares. I know that some people care; but are they enough? The people who don't care overshadow the people who do, so what's the point? Am I the only one who feels like this?

Maybe I think it's naive to believe that we can save this sinking ship that we call Earth. Maybe I think that I'm such a small, tiny person on this planet that will never do anything significant. Maybe I'm just bitter and negative.

Or maybe, I want my children, and their children, and their children to grow up in the place I've loved for my entire life. Maybe I want them to breathe clean air, and know what forests are and be able to see the stars at night. Maybe I want people to change just one thing about their daily lives so that they can help the environment.

Maybe I want everything.

Reflecting always,

Shelby

Winter Wonderland?

I hate winter. We were asked to reflect on what the cold feels like and what it looks like, but I find myself just waiting for it to melt away into warmth. It seems like I'm willing to love the environment and do anything I can for it: but there's a catch. Only when it's warm out, or only when it's pretty out, or only when I'm having fun outside. But it shouldn't be like that. I should accept the environment for everything that it is: ever-changing, beautiful at all times, surrounding, and giving. When we were outside "being still", I really just wanted to be inside and all I could think was "cold, cold, cold, cold" and "hate, hate, hate, hate". I took a few pictures of my backyard, and I think it's really cool how the snow piles up. Billions upon billions of snowflakes just pile into a drift. It's so pretty (until you get out into the -40 weather).

Here is what I wrote down on a piece of paper during class that day after we were asked to reflect on our time being still:
"Cold. Cold. Cold. So cold. Cold. Cold. Cold. COLD. So very cold.

I started to think about home, and how much I wanted to be there. I tried the whole: 'You're on a hot beach laying in the sun' thing, but my mind kept going to 'I AM SO COLD, this is worst class in the world!'.

I thought about how the snow is the Earth and the snowflakes are the people. We cover the Earth. But unlike snowflakes, we are not just still and calm. We are menacing.

Cold. Cold. Cold. Cold."

Always reflecting,

Shelby.

Journal 1

When I think about the environment the most, I think about being at camp. I work at Lumsden Beach Camp and it is one of my favorite places in the world. It's not one of those camps that has water skiing and trampolines. It doesn't have any of that stuff. It just has the outdoors, really. It has nature. We spend the majority of our time outside, rain or shine. And that's why I love it. I get to spend my time outside doing activities that I love and being with people that I love. So why wouldn't I want this?!

I think I spend most of my time outside when I work at camp. In the winter, it isn't the same, and I just think about how much I wish I could be outside in the sunshine and the green grass. The environment is so much more than the place that we live in. It's the space we enjoy our time in.

Bye for now,

Shelby