Reflecting on Make Your Green Mark

“In order to do something big, to think globally and act globally, one starts with something small and starts where it counts. Practice, then, is about making the ordinary special and the special more widely accessible-expanding the boundaries of understanding and possibility with vision and common sense. “ Lydon, M. & Garcia, A. (2015)

Make your Green Mark

The issue of waste is relevant to us all. We hear it all the time: reduce, reuse and recycle. "Look after our planet, we only have one!" Waste matters because we share this Earth that we all call Home. The digitalisation of this Century immersed in technology is the go-to place for sharing and informing issues to others. Blogging provides an excellent vehicle of communication in reaching to people about a topic relevant to us all, which is waste. Its medium offers dialogic or conversational exchange, which can acquire for a broader audience and reach (Douglas, 2016) The relationship of blogging and waste is in its ability to access to, modify public culture and the nature of publicness apprehended within the context (Douglas, 2016).

In its most basic form, a blog is simply a Web-based journal in reverse chronological order. It allows the writer to post ideas and thoughts quickly using conversational language for many to read (Flatley,2005). In response to the urban waste issue, ‘Make your green mark’ is a blogging documentation of my personal experiences, research, community involvement and explorations of ways that I have contributed to gaining an understanding of the issue.It aims to educate and draw inspirations to readers in how they could implement changes to their everyday life, by showing them one persons’ journey. This blog is intended for young adults of 18-25 year old who are already interested in sustainability and making greener choices, but who are not yet sure how to get involved. Communicating to them would be most efficient through the digital medium of blogging for its aspect of connectedness with social media, the conversational tone of language, the tools for image, audio and community sharing; all which speaks best to young adults. In the blog posts of ‘Make your green mark,’ it is structured through a variation of engagement: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation (Kolb, A. Y., & Kolb, D. A. (2005) In particular, the method of engagement through abstract conceptualisation helped me elaborate better in understanding the connection between a urban situation (waste) and the digital media form (blog) . Such as in the blog entries, ‘Ways to engage in public space,’ ‘Integrating Imagination into Space’ and ‘Modes of Hosting in Inorganic Waste,’ I used ideas drawn from lectures and readings to recreate the uses of ‘abandoned’ and ‘wasted’ public space into new resurgences from imagination. To elaborate, in Andrew Douglas’s lecture ‘Curation Expanded' he mentions discursive space, an public sphere where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion, influence political action (Hauser, Gerard A. (1999). The idea of curation in discursive spaces is inside both the classroom and the blogging, where viewers can comment and share their views of the topic. In ‘Integrating Imagination into Space, I used abstract conceptualisation by drawing in Andrew’s idea of Discursive space to create new uses of the abandoned space of Wynyard Quarter. The recreation of new uses for the space is developed through imagination, tying in the idea of regenerating, renewing and developing waste. What the play-space entails inside would be an outdoor playground, brought indoor. Inside the play-space, it will be split with a division of half a digital experience of interactive art installations inside the space and the other half of a Café/ hang out area. Like the concept of discursive space, the play-space invites the public to interact and engage conversations with the community acredited to public space. The same concept of imagination and discursive space can be applied to the system of blogging. Blogging holds as a social ground and space which enables communication to evolve; its features of interactive play in audio, video, polls and streaming mirrors to my play-space both activates play through imagination and reality. It is true to say that we often find ourselves imagining another spectacle of life outside our own reality. We create regimes of spectacle based on our experiences, knowledge and understanding of society to fulfil our needs, desires and ideas of escapism or freedom. The unconscious drive of our imagination sets as fighting mechanisms within us to solve displacements in society.

Furthermore, the ability of blogging enables the reader to transport them in many places while staying at one place. With that experience, we are connecting to layers of their thinking, reflecting their practices and expanding our learning by implementing it as inspirations. We borrow from their experiences and regenerate or imitate what we liked about their personal encounter. To write and share experiences within the mode of blogging is like writing a online diary or personal journal. But why do we want to share our personal diaries that we keep so secret? We lock our diaries with a key to keep people away from our intimate thoughts, expressions, confessions, reflections and stories. Truth is, people want to be listened to. We often feel safe and accepted by fitting into the crowd, hence, by conforming to the set standards, we survive by not being labelled or ridiculed as ‘social-outcasts.’ Our tendency to be liked and listened to, can resort to us reaching out to connect with others for companionship. Thus, the online platform of blogging even allows us to be heard while being anonymous. Being anonymous doesn't always necessarily mean the person is afraid of being judged or is hiding in fear, the anonymity goes back to the idea that diaries are an intimate and personal documentation. That staying anonymous gives an equality of focusing on the issue topic without someone else probing on their personal information. Diaries often always use personal pronouns and if we were to pick up any diary, we want to understand and listen to their story without making presumptions. Blogging ultimately gives us a voice, we choose to participate in discussions and connect in a medium that enables us to be as complex or simple as we want. Thus, the issue of waste is ideal to be heard through blogging. The personal encountering of my journey reveals my ethics and value structure because of its intention to shift people’s perceptions or actions. My ethics of benevolence: the disposition to do good and to promote the welfare of others ("Home - Josephson Institute of Ethics: Training, Consulting, Keynote Speaking", 2016) is demonstrated through the urban waste blog. It involves to seek the common good or the well being of the entire community. Lastly, I have constantly been asking myself: If my motive is to implement environmental change, then how do I measure the success of my Urban Waste project? How do I know people are involved and engaging to my practices? Are they doing their bit? I made the initiative to ask many people and the majority have suggested online media is the most efficient way to reach your message to people. Another suggestion was to give out a pamphlet information or create a reward chart where they could tick off a task which involves them contributing to waste reduction in a way. Blogging is the best fit in communicating the issue, the blog site offers a 'Traffic count' for tracking how many people has visited my site. The future of my project could look into expanding digital further by using image-rich social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, for those who want to read shortened texts regarding the issue.