Right away my group and I knew what we wanted to come out of our action project, and that was to circulate strong emotions within our audience in response to information on global warming and its effects. We chose to use the bottom up approach and targeted our own community. Luckily, we have the city of Seattle right at our fingertips! My group took on a photo campaign website to showcase our information, and it turned out to be a fun and beneficial experience. The group dynamic was comical. We cared so much about the sort of impact we would make that we became wildly indecisive for a large portion of time. That being our most predominant flaw, it never held us back from succeeding as a group. The pictures turned out beautiful and we were able to do a lot with them. We found affirmation in people wanting to be a part of our project and the bigger picture as well. We’re hoping the photographs help to trigger a good emotional response from local readers because the people pictured are just like any regular citizen of Seattle.
My favorite part of the entire action project, besides the production of the photos, was writing the piece about the environment. I am continuously astounded at the lack of knowledge about global warming and the environment because the effects are terrifying realities of our futures, and “business as usual,” tends to win (Active Hope). I also enjoyed having individual control over a piece of the site because I had the advantage of morphing it to fit my own vision. When writing my piece about the environment on the website, I had in mind my father. He is a classic example of going about “business as usual,” and I am working hard to prevent this within my close circle of friends and family.
This website has given me a chance to take pieces of knowledge and spread them further than myself. I have always been too scared to talk about global warming and other big topic issues with people around me for the reason of feeling incompetent. Because I realize now that it is an issue bigger than myself, I know that the important part is talking about our part in global warming, consumerism, and the future, and then spread what I have learned.
Click on the link to our website to see more!
https://futureofseattle.weebly.com
Works Cited
Macy, Joanna, and Chris Johnstone. Active hope: how to face the mess we’re in without going crazy. New World Library, 2012.