Think Globally Act Locally | The Power Of R

The grade 6-7 students at Queneesh Elementary are an active and technologically savvy bunch. Every time I visit Jaki Braidwood's class there are a rotating handful of students that use ipods to tweet mental connections they make during my presentations. All of her students utilize technology in everything that they do and, to be honest, it makes me jealous of my own elementary education. I also get to play/fumble on their SmartBoard and the kids all look at me funny because I haven't used one very often. We taught each other and from that relationship, built on solid waste, water issues, pixels,  and personal exploration, we started a very complex video production task together.  The Eco-Movie Preview Project.

The most powerful way to retain a concept of anything you learn is to apply it and then teach it.  Teaching a concept you have just learned, moves that information into a different part of your brain and this shift makes that idea more memorable. The kids were inspired and excited about a video project that I did together with students from Mark R. Isfeld and Lost Boys Visual Effects School called Disposable - The Billion Cup Blood Bath, and they wanted to make their own movie previews in groups of four to apply the knowledge about the environment they've acquired during the year. I think these students now have a better appreciation and respect for film-making and storytelling because as this task unfolded it got bigger and bigger and bigger.

These project was big because before you make a movie preview, it's a good idea to have a movie and before you have a movie you need storyboards and a script and before you have those you need a story, a message, a concept, and most importantly, you need to have facts and a firm grip on what you're talking about. In short, making a movie preview, or "pre-production," is a huge and vital task before the camera even gets switched on.

"When do we get to use the cameras," a kid shouted out as groups filled in a plot summary graphs with action scenes, apocalyptic devastation, person meets person scenarios and  car chases? "What are you going to shoot," I asked? "I don't know, something I guess." "Sounds interesting," I replied, "but probably not a movie I'd want to watch." "Oh yeah, I guess not." There were a few exchanges like this and they were really important to me. I've never tried working with students in this age group on such a conceptual project before. It was challenging and frustrating but also rewarding to see kids laughing their heads off about people picking up garbage and being chased by monsters at the same time. I can't help but to think of the hundreds of issues those monsters symbolize and the kids, unknowingly, tell the story idea to me with huge smiles, big eyes and the excitement that only validated connections can bring. It's a beautiful thing - this storytelling business, on so many levels.

The whole project was about learning to connect imagination with knowledge of the environment and communicating with peers diplomatically. Nothing has ever been achieved peacefully without these skills and collectively the students worked out their creative differences, merged their concepts and eventually produced an idea to create a movie from. Every group dynamic was  unique and moved at different speeds. Some excelled at communicating and got flustered by creative sections, while others had ideas spilling over and no organization. One thing was for certain though, everyone had a skill to contribute and everyone was critically important in the process.

After a quick introduction to lighting, camera angles, composition and audio techniques for their ipods, the students were set lose to film their storyboards.  Chaos, lots of laughs and growth overwhelmed the students and their projects. After that point I left and the groups shot, edited and posted their concepts to YouTube (see them below). Who knew learning about solid waste and water issues could be so transformational, rewarding and fun?  Thanks for the great term Queneesh. ACTION!

The Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD)’s water rebate programs are a good fit with the goals of March 22’s World Water Day, which encourages people to protect and preserve our precious lakes, rivers, wetlands and oceans so that we can leave a legacy of clean water for future generations.

“One of the best ways to celebrate World Water Day is by thinking globally and acting locally,” said Marc Rutten, the CVRD’s senior manager of engineering services. “You can act locally by valuing our water and understanding how to use it more sustainably. A great way to do that is by participating in the CVRD’s water rebate programs.”

Operating on a first-come, first-served basis while funds are available, the rebate program entitles owners of property connected to the Comox Valley water system a $75 rebate for installing high-efficiency (4.8 litre flush) or dual flush (usually three and six litre flush) CSA (Canadian Standards Association) approved toilets. There is a maximum of two toilet rebates per installation address; this includes any toilet rebates received under the 2009 and 2010 programs. Residents are also eligible for one rain barrel or cistern rebate under the 2011 program. A rebate of up to $50 will apply to the purchase of a rain barrel or cistern between 150 and 499 litres, and up to a $150 rebate for those equal to or greater than 500 litres. The cut-off for rebates for toilets and rain barrels/cisterns purchased under the 2010 program is March 31, 2011, after which 2010 rebates will no longer be honored.

Residents on water systems in the City of Courtenay, the Town of Comox and the Arden, Comox Valley, England Road, Marsden/Camco, and Greaves Crescent water local service areas are eligible for these rebates. For further details on eligibility requirements including frequently asked questions about the program visit www.comoxvalleyrd.ca/rebates. For more information about World Water Day 2011 visit www.unwater.org/worldwaterday. The Comox Valley Regional District is a federation of three electoral areas and three municipalities providing sustainable services for residents and visitors to the area. The members of the regional district work collaboratively on services for the benefit of the diverse urban and rural areas of the Comox Valley.

Media contact:
Marc Rutten
Senior Manager of Engineering Services
Comox Valley Regional District
Tel: 250-334-6080

January is always a fantastic month to make positive change a reality in our day-to-day activities. Once again this year I had the honour of teaching a full week of classes at Mark R. Isfeld school. The curriculum for the environment unit is huge and there was a lot of information to jam into a short time, but it was awesome.

In the first day we discussed consumerism and its effects on the planet and people on it. The curriculum worked beautifully with my "Defining Your Own Success" presentation because the bulk of the terms I introduced revolved around defining levels of prosperity and poverty. The UN Human Development Index measures the quality of life on a scale from 1-165. Ranking at the top of the HDI is Norway. Canada is currently eighth on the list so we broke into what the differences between Norway and Canada are to discover and understand the systems we measure state success by. Then we analyzed countries at the bottom of the list like Zimbabwe and The Democratic Republic of Congo to compare the disparities between the developed world and developing states. After laying the foundation for some mental building, things got very exciting.

Many of the students started to make insightful connections that generated some great discussion about human impacts on the environment. Much of the focus was on resource extraction, that inevitably forms solid waste, and fresh water in the midst of issues involving climate change, population growth, economic morals and ethics, and our personal stake in the future of the earth's environmental and social well-being.

On day two I focused on water in the Comox Valley, provincially, nationally and globally. After surveying the big issues, we discussed how those issues impact us in the long-term. If 1.5 billion people do not have access to clean fresh water now than what will happen in the future with larger populations, more urbanization and growing contamination of the biosphere? How can we guarantee human flourishing under these difficult limitations? These were tough questions but the kids were on it and did incredibly well putting logical arguments together using several different approaches. Critical thinking skills are going to help us get a handle on these issues - and the class was applying there skills well that week.

Over the next few days the class and I debated possible solutions to the issues that involved working at different levels politically, economically and socially to direct change. I was really happy to hear after the week that everyone felt positive and found empowerment through understanding. To top it all off, I mean seriously the biggest bonus ever, one of the core sets of questions on the Provincial Exam that the kids all wrote, one week after our time together, revolved around water. Everyone crushed it because they had a good understanding of water rights and privatization, the issues around keeping water clean and available, environmental refugees and population growth, policy and lifestyle clashes - total - "you just got EDJA-MA-CATED and crushed it" - success.

Without a doubt I get so pumped working with classes on a long-term basis. The relationships, the connections, energy and the learning on all sides of the environment unit are so inspiring that it's impossible to deny that humanity is heading in the right direction. Thanks for the amazing time Isfeld and thank you very much Jouska Laquell for inviting me again to spend a powerful week with your students.

I've recently had the good fortune to produce a video about the Comox Valley Regional District's water system. The video personifies a rain drop as an average guy watering his lawn. The average guy just happens to be "The Murph" or as many people know him, Mr. Murphy from School District 71. Murph actually taught me way back when Courtenay Junior was in downtown Courtenay. We chose Celtic shirts for his wardrobe to represent (that's good luck) and my father in law donated his uber sleezy blue housecoat to complete the look. It was about 40lbs when it got wet so it really was like another character in the piece.

When I was writing the script and casting characters in my head Murph seemed like an obvious choice. My friend Kurt actually suggested him. I'm a big fan of Murph and so is everyone I know. He is a self proclaimed lawn freak, which makes him the perfect candidate for a rugged education in fresh water efficiency. Murph gets absolutely abused in this video but if it's any consolation we had a great time making it. I am really thankful for his help and his athletic ability.  He is the true Aquaman.

In the video Murph travels through the hydrological cycle from sky to sea in the Comox Valley visiting all the infrastructure that makes our fresh water possible.  I really pushed the envelope to get the shots I wanted and Murph was game the whole way. He didn't complain at all even after swimming multiple times in freezing cold water, nearly drowning after loosing his inner tube in the river and he even bordered on frostbite after losing his shoes in the snow. "I couldn't feel two of my toes for two weeks," he commented after with a smile on his face. What a guy. For the record this is my favorite kind of television production, right in the trench.

Zac - What was your favorite part of this experience?
Murph - the scene at Comox Lake - the long walk in and swimming over the camera - like Jaws - was 'cool' really cooooooool.

Zac- What did you learn about our water, yourself, etc.?
Murph - Lot's of things go on before we can get water. It is quite a process. Perhaps I'll think twice before watering my grass... Acting is fun - Zac you're a real pro!

Zac - What was the scariest part of this production and why?
Murph - When I lost the tube (inner tube) in the river. I thought about trying to get it back - but no way. I jumped off instead of riding it to the beach. I guess I was a chicken. hahaha

Zac - Has this project changed your perspective on how you use water - why or why not?
Murph - I will think twice about long showers, washing the car and truck... As well, I'll mentor kids and friends about the importance of water efficiency. This is an awesome experience - making a funny film about water efficiency. Thanks for including me.