kimberly

Getting started 12-05-2008 06:00

Today marks the first day of this little experiment. I'm actually pretty proud of what I bought today. -Train ticket to Redfern -3 blocks of fair trade chocolate from the OXFAM shop in Broadway. I must admit that I don't usually buy fair trade chocolate because it's hard to find in my supermarket. It's for a group tutorial presentation we have to give this thurday on fair trade. The train ticket is pretty normal. I also usually buy my lunch but today we had heaps in the fridge, so I brought lunch from home. So it's not a bad start to the week. I'm writing all my entries in a little notebook so there will be no more boring daily updates on this blog. However if anything strikes me as interesting I'll put it up here.

28-04-2008 09:42

Hey Kimberly!  I can't wait to read about your purchases over the next few weeks--what a great idea!!!  I think we'll all probablly learn a lot from that experiment!

it would help if i posted what each step was. 27-04-2008 10:12

Step 1 – Think from the End

Forget for a moment what is or isn’t achievable and instead tell us about a change you would like to see ‘one day’. It could even be something that takes years or decades to achieve.

Step 2 – Get Creative

Tell us what it will look like, feel like and be like when the change has taken place? Imagine it! Describe it! Visualize it as much as possible!

Step 3 – Get Real

Okay, now it’s time to think about what’s required to make this change happen? It's a good idea to work backwards, from the endpoint to the beginning so you can figure out the key steps. Tell us the major actions that need to occur.

Step 4 – Get Specific

Tell us which of these actions is possible to get going within the next 5 weeks? (by Week 6 of the Incubator you need to have started taking action!). Just choose one. Keep it really simple, specific and definitely achievable.

Step 5 – Get It Down

Now write down your action as a positive ‘I’ statement, eg. “I am going to meet with my local MP and encourage them to support the …… campaign.”

Step 6 – Test the Vision

One of the best ways to test if you are on the right track is to seek feedback from others e.g friends and family. Ask them, “Is this realistic in five weeks?” If they say, “No way, it’s just NOT POSSIBLE!” ask them, “Okay, what would be possible? ”Then go back to Step 5! Let us know what they said!

voila my action visioning project.. 27-04-2008 10:07

Step 1

One day I would like to see more sustainable consumer practices in developed countries. At the moment the gap between the rich and the poor is widening and this is partly fueled by an insatiable desire to want what everyone else has; the latest mobile phone, ipod, car, designer handbag… And after we’ve spent a good proportion of our earnings on material things, we’re still not satisfied with how much we have. This has detrimental effects on the environment, and there is also the lost potential for these spent earnings to be used for socially beneficial projects.



Step 2

I think there would be less advertising and therefore people would look a lot less like each other. Without feeling a constant need to buy into the latest fashions and have the newest accessories everyone would stress less, work a little bit less (in the absence of this added pressure for higher incomes) and be more comfortable in their own skins. There would be a much greater awareness of the environmental costs that entail mass production and excess consumption and therefore people would try to consume less. All the money that would be saved on slim consumption would be put to good use as finance for better schools, hospitals and other public services or to help lift people out of poverty. Large companies would hate the idea, but would eventually be forced to adjust their production to match this decrease in demand. They would advertise less and direct more of their efforts towards corporate social responsibility.

Step 3

Consumers would have to change their spending patterns and start differentiating what they need from what they want.
Everyone would be made aware of what went into the making of a particular product. For example, how many trees were cut down, the amount of water used, the number of people employed at every stage, how long it takes to decompose after it is thrown away etc. This information would be easily accessible; if it can’t fit on a label then a shop assistant should be able to look it up when asked.
Advertisements would be used sparingly. Companies would be able to advertise new products but this would be done in a way which informs rather than incites yearning for the product.

Step 4

The first action is achievable on an individual level. For this to work, everyone would have to look at their own spending behaviours and analyse how much of it this driven by envy, or an imagined necessity for something.

Step 5
I am going to document everything I purchase for 4 weeks.

For every purchase I am going to write down how I was made aware that such a product existed, for example, advertising, word of mouth, habit etc

For every purchase I will allocate a rank from 1 -5 of my need for the product.

1 = Can’t live without it
2 = Life would be very difficult without it
3 = I could do without it, but life wouldn’t be as fulfilling
4 = I didn’t really need it, but wanted it
5 = I haven’t used it yet/ can’t see myself using it for a while, if ever/ threw it away

I will add together the total amount of money I spent on things that fell between the categories 3-5 over the 4 weeks.

Actnow Incubator program 26-04-2008 11:05

Incubators are in our 3rd week of the program which culminates with the May weekend in Sydney. So far I've been..

a) working with a small group to come up with a digital media story about the Beijing Olympics/ human rights abuse in Tibet issue

b) thinking about a change that I would like to see in the world and then devising a project based on the first step towards achieving this change

I'll be posting up my action vision project soon. I'm just waiting on a bit of feedback...