Final Thoughts

Sitting here a week after leaving the Adirondacks, thinking about the experience and what I learned from it. What a great opportunity it was to have conversations with so many individuals who are already teaching. I am really thankful for the opportunity to have met them and have them share a little bit of their knowledge with me.
I've noticed this week that after living up at the camp for a week, It is as if I'm looking at the world with a different set of eyes. Because of the things I learned over the week, I notice things that previously would not have caught my attention. I've been having lots of conversations with my family and friends sharing the things that I learned about Adirondack history, as well as the environmental issues that are affecting that area.
I've been giving a lot of thought to my future and how I can live a life that impacts the environment less. I've been coming up with things that I can change about the way I do daily life that will make people notice and give me the opportunity to share with them the reasons why I live differently. There are tons of little things ( and big things) that can be done to make a change. One of the biggest things that I took from the resources we viewed was one of the videos that talked about where and how we spend our money. Every time we spend a dollar, it's really casting a vote in support of that company. I'm really planning to consider this more when I buy things. I think that the only way we'll see real substantial change and a movement toward more eco-friendly products is if there is a market and profit for businesses. If there is money to be made, businesses will take note.
Finally, I've been doing more research and looking into building my wind turbine presentation. I've been working with my dad to plan the best way to put one together that will generate electricity, and it is definitely a possibility. It isn't finished yet, but the plans are coming together and we think it can be done relatively inexpensively. I'm excited about this project and excited to use it to teach about wind energy in the future.
I will look back on this experience very fondly, it was a great time and it allowed me the opportunity to think about what really matters and to find something that I feel passionately about. It let me come up with a way that I can make a difference for the environment.