1. Results The project offers a change of pace from traditional classroom assignments and facilitates learning for students with a variety of learning styles. Even students who are high achievers in traditional assignments often appreciate the original format. “Overall, this has been the most interesting assignment I have had this entire year. Even though I loved learning about the natural world this project puts it right in my home, and in the forefront.” It has a lasting impact. In a survey given to students 1–3 years after the Lifestyle Project at Skidmore College, 81% of the students reported that they had made permanent changes to their lifestyles as a result of the project. “This whole new routine, by the way, was a major accomplishment for me, and after it happened I was psyched!” The project helps bring students and their teacher closer together. Because they are sharing aspects of their own actions and decisions, there is a personal element to this type of learning. This has been especially helpful in distance learning courses. “Our family is about to begin our third week using the same thirteen-gallon garbage bag.” The project is being used as several universities and has been adapted for pre-service teachers and in a distance learning format. The Lifestyle Project The Lifestyle Project by Karin Kirk, Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/enviroprojects/lifestyle.html The Rules of the Project The idea of this project is for students to make changes in their lifestyles that will have a beneficial effect on the environment. The changes aren't difficult, but they are significant. Mostly, they require that students plan ahead and think about their actions. Students increase the degree or frequency of the changes, week by week, for a total period of three weeks. Students can pick which days will count as their "project days." They can spread out project days any way it works best for them. For example, the days they opt out of driving a car do not have to be the same days they eat a vegetarian diet. The Project Categories Students choose three different ways in which they are interested in changing their habits. For each category the rules are clearly defined, such as turning down the heat three degrees or eliminating the use of the car. Each week the project becomes more rigorous, because students will have to meet the requirements more frequently. Introduction This three-week project challenges students to learn about environmental alternatives by modifying their own lifestyles. Students experiment with reducing their impact on the environment by changing the way they live from day to day. The project has fairly rigid parameters, allowing students to achieve a gradual but definitive change in their everyday habits. They write about their experiences in journals, which are incredibly insightful and illustrate just how profoundly the project affects them. 5. EAT EFFICIENTLY For each project day students adopt a vegetarian diet. Students who are already vegetarians or nearly so can take it a step further and eat locally-produced, organic, or vegan foods. 4. LEAVE THE CAR AT HOME Students must not drive their cars on each of their project days. Instead they discover other options like riding the bus, walking, riding their bikes, or simply planning ahead to reduce the need to drive daily. 3. CONSERVE ELECTRICITY AND WATER Try to reduce electricity and water consumption by 50%. You may find yourself amazed by the lavish energy use of your students prior to the project. 2. NO GARBAGE Spend each project day producing no waste that would end up in a landfill. Students quickly find themselves analyzing every move they make, which is simultaneously frustrating and enlightening. They begin to realize that many everyday tasks result in waste being produced and they need to find alternatives. 6. CREATE YOUR OWN CATEGORY This category allows students to be creative and come up with their own way of making a difference. Some ideas include writing letters to their senators, volunteering with the Sierra Club or Nature Conservancy, spending time cleaning up the campus, local woods or stream banks, setting up a carpooling system or recycling system in their dorm or workplace, finding ways to educate others about the importance of conservation, or changing their lifestyle in a way not described in the categories above. 1. TURN DOWN THE HEAT Lower the thermostats by 3 degrees each week. This option is limited to those who have control over their own thermostats and who have cooperative housemates! “My thermostat is usually set at 85 degrees because I am from Florida.” “My truck is my life. In two years I put seventy thousand miles on it.” This morning I went into the kitchen and my husband was sitting in the dark bent over. I asked him what he was doing and he said that he was tying his shoes. I said, “In the dark?” And, unbelievably, he said, “Yeah, so I don’t use electricity.” I couldn’t believe it, so I said, “Oh my God, you’re conserving!” Then he turned back into the man I married when he said, “I’ll do anything you want to make you stop nagging me.” Ah, amore. “It seems impossible to not produce garbage for even one day. At first it didn’t sound like a big deal, but after trying it for just this first day I realized just how much garbage I normally produce! It’s embarrassing!” “Between walking to class and not eating hamburgers, I’ve lost 11 pounds during this project. My girlfriend is psyched!” “When I went home for break I went around the house turning off the lights and my Dad just about fell over. He said he’s been yelling at me all my life to stop leaving lights on and now I was reminding him to turn them off!” “I am so aware now that I cringe when I see lights on that shouldn’t be, and when people take more napkins than they need. Will I always be like this?” “I find it painfully ironic that a class I took only to fulfill the science requirement will have a stronger impact on how I actually live my life, day to day, than any other class I’ve taken.” “I love long, hot showers, and I listen to my stereo and watch TV constantly. I leave Christmas lights on in my room most of the time because I don’t like coming home to a dark room.” Assessment via Journaling Students keep track of their activities by keeping a journal, which becomes the basis for assessing their performance in the project. Students make one entry for or each day they participate in project activities, keeping track of what they do in each of their three categories. Weekly “embedded” homework questions can be assigned and the students put the answers into their journal for that week. “Oh my God I ate a veggie-burger! If my housemates saw me do this, I would never hear the end of it.” “I usually take two 20 minute showers a day” “Today is my first day on the project. I was unprepared for the immediate affect on my daily routine, but it had a big impact. Each time I went to do something, I had to think of how my actions would affect the environment.”