Reflection on Habitat for Humanity Service Learning Experience

Habitat for Humanity has a mission, vision, and purpose which are inherently linked to sustainability.  The organization’s mission is to bring people together to “build homes, communities, and hope” (Habitat for Humanity, n.d., para. 1).  These actions can help the people involved develop a sense of place through community attachment (Cross, 2001, p. 8).  In particular, the people benefiting from the homes are likely to cherish these homes (and the associated land), fostering care for their surroundings.  Moreover, Habitat for Humanity’s vision is to create a world in which “everyone has a decent place to live” (Habitat for Humanity, n.d., para. 2).  This vision is sustainable in that it strives for social equity and improvement in the quality of life, which helps not only the current generation, but future ones as well (Robertson, 2014, p. 4).  Further evidence of the Habitat for Humanity’s sustainability initiatives can be seen in its commitment to the United Nations’ New Urban Agenda, which aims to secure affordable housing and land tenure, as well as encourage community development (Habitat for Humanity, 2016, para. 3).

My experience working with Habitat for Humanity certainly made me feel a sense of community.  Our group worked together to install insulation and siding for a house in downtown Fort Myers.  Moreover, the importance of volunteers to the work done by Habitat for Humanity made me feel that my contributions were meaningful.  While we had two supervisors who were much more experienced in building houses, they split up the work in a way that made each group member’s contribution valuable.  For instance, there was a period of time where one of our supervisors was on a ladder, installing panels of siding, and I stood at his side handing him nails.  I asked if he needed me to do anything more, but he was content with just having me hand him nails in a timely manner.  While I was a bit puzzled at the time, looking back on it I realize that even such a seemingly trivial action can help increase work efficiency by removing the need for multitasking.

Through this service learning project, I discovered that, while I am certainly not an expert at building houses, my academic focus in mathematics lent me some useful insight.  Geometric and spatial reasoning helped me determine nail placements, as well as suitable overlap of siding panels and dimensions for fiberglass sheets.  Of course, I checked my measurements to be sure, but having some intuition helped set me on the right track earlier than I anticipated.  I have no doubt that such skills will prove useful for me in the future, whether in a familiar or new context.

With that being said, I could see myself volunteering with Habitat for Humanity again in the future.  While the work was not easy, I felt it was meaningful, and this outweighs any short-lived personal discomfort I may have felt at the time.  Taking a closer look at what Habitat for Humanity does lends further support to my convictions; not only did I find the work to be ultimately satisfying on a personal level, but as a whole I find the organization to be quite commendable, which is an equally important factor, as I feel reassured knowing that my work is contributing to sustainable efforts.

______________________________________________________________________

References

Cross, J. E. (2001, November). What is sense of place? Paper presented at 12th

Headwaters Conference, Western State College. Retrieved from

http://western.edu/sites/default/files/documents/cross_headwatersXII.pdf

Habitat for Humanity. (2016, October 3). Habitat for Humanity's commitments to

reduce poverty and foster more sustainable cities. Retrieved from

https://www.habitat.org/newsroom/2016/habitat-humanitys-commitments-reduce-poverty-and-foster-more-sustainable-cities

Habitat for Humanity. (n.d.). Our mission, vision and principles. Retrieved from

https://www.habitat.org/about/mission-and-vision

Robertson, M. (2014). What is sustainability? In Sustainability principles and practice

(2^nd ed., pp. 3-9).

Reflection on Lee County Waste to Energy Facility Trip

About a week and a half ago, we visited the Waste to Energy Facility of Lee County.  During this trip we had the unique opportunity to observe and learn about the inner workings of this facility.  In particular, we saw what kinds of waste is dealt with (and the nuances in dealing with different types of waste), as well as the tools, mechanisms, and structures involved in the process of converting waste into energy.

Waste enters the facility after being deposited into a large room by dump trucks.  From there, a crane picks up large quantities of waste, which is then processed in a variety of ways.  A large, magnetic rod is used to retrieve certain metallic components from waste, while workers might retrieve specific items from a heap of trash flowing down a conveyor belt.  Some of the waste gets sent to a combustion chamber, which generates energy in the form of electricity.  This electricity is used to power the facility, as well as about 30,000 homes throughout Lee County.  The vaporous billows rising upward from the chimneys are actually just steam, rather than a toxic smog seen as a by-product from some other industrial facilities.

The room where waste is dropped off at the facility.

I was quite fascinated by the amount of forethought that went into the design of the building, particularly the pollution control components, which took up a sizeable portion of the building, but ensure sustainability of its operations.  Moreover, I was shocked to learn that, on average, one person produces 1,000 pounds of trash per year.  Although I do not track how much trash I throw away, this seems like a rather large amount – I suppose it adds up!

A scale model of the facility.

Follow-up: Footprint Challenge

Throughout the past week, I challenged myself to reduce my ecological footprint by lowering the amount of meat in my diet.  While I did not write a daily journal/food log for this endeavor, I can say that (as a meat-lover) it was not nearly as bad as I had anticipated.  Notably, I did not eliminate meat from my diet entirely, but I did limit it mostly to dinners (and 1 lunch).  Some of the alternatives were actually quite tasty as well!

For breakfasts, I generally made either a bagel (with cream cheese or peanut butter) or cereal (Kashi Cinnamon Harvest/Multigrain Squares/Blueberry Clusters are among my favorite) with some low-fat (1%) organic milk, as opposed to a breakfast consisting of eggs/bacon/etc.  Not only is the bagel/cereal easier to prepare, making it a great option when rushed in the morning, but it also did not upset my stomach later on like the egg/bacon breakfast would often do.

For lunch, I generally had a lighter meal, such as a parfait (with organic vanilla yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries), or a banana/apple with peanut butter, as opposed to a sandwich with various deli meats.  This, too, was a change I did not mind, at least in the short term.

For dinner, I did not actually have any meatless meals, but a few would be perfectly adequate meals if the meat were taken out: salad (with chicken), Mexican-style nachos (with beef), and black bean pasta (with chicken).  In each of these, the meat was more of a complementary part, rather than the main feature; the meals would be perfectly serviceable without it!

Overall, I found that this was a reasonable experience, and while I do not think I would become a vegetarian or vegan (at least not in the near future), I do plan to consistently have less meat than I did previously - particularly during breakfast and lunch.

For fun, here’s a black bean pasta recipe! (Spicy components optional, of course)