The basic principle at the heart of both of these "exercises" is sustainability. As important as the principle is (given a variety of definitions of sustainability which we examine), it remains at the level of rationality and abstraction. The thrust of the course involves an examination of the "worldviews" or "religions" currently supporting non- or un-sustainability. A new "worldview" is needed which will provide meaning and motivation to engage in a sustainable ethic, in practices which support the Earth's flourishing, the flourishing of the "Mother" as students begin to call the Earth.

The garbage collection project calls students not only to examine their own practices but to examine how various institutions, such as their school, and institutional structures, such as school and city garbage separation and pick up, support or hinder these efforts.

The brief meditation period at the beginning of each class is meant to open students to an awareness of how much "clutter," and "garbage" they collect in their spirits on a daily basis; the emptying moments of meditation invites them to clean and clear their minds, at least on a small scale.

The "garbage collection project" invites students to understand their contribution to the environmental crises we face by literally collecting their garbage for two- four day periods two or three weeks apart, measure/weigh the garbage, then note the differences. Each student shares the results with classmates through PowerPoint or poster, providing an oral and visual account of "best practices" in relation to one aspect of sustainability. The project arose in conversation with the university's sustainability manager.

The project arose in conversation with the university's sustainability manager. We were looking at projects on campus which students could develop and execute in order to direct their theoretical learning in the classroom to the institution with which they are most engaged. Originally the garbage collection project was one project among others, such as an examination of bottled water on campus, composting, etc. The results of the project were so striking in terms of student engagement and learning, that I decided to make it a project for all students.

In this age of fragmentation, virtual realities, information technology and information overload, 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year news events, most people, at least those in "developed" nations with access to computers and e-mail, twittering, iPods, Blackberries, headphones, and other technological extensions, spend a great deal of their time, their visual contacts, and auditory impacts far removed from a natural environment, whether within a rural or urban context. Relationships with the natural world may take place on weekends or vacations but are generally absent from daily contact. Even those concerned with the deterioration of the environment can meet their concerns with contributions to an environmental cause and organization or with videos taken and edited by others. The sense of the sacred, or in some traditions the sacramental, dimensions of nature are lost; no longer does the natural reveal or "point to" a divine force within or a creator of the gigantic cosmos of which earth is such a small part.

In every religious tradition to varying degrees, meditation/reflection is used to focus the practitioner's attention on that tradition's major truths. In this manner, a non-threatening, and in one sense non-establishment religious practice provides the basis for a more engaging and receptive set of practices which reflect a clearer mind and motivate students to see how their daily life can incorporate more sustainable practices. The garbage collection project calls students not only to examine their own practices but to examine how various institutions, such as their school, and institutional structures, such as school and city garbage separation and pick up, support or hinder these efforts.

At the beginning of the quarter students answer a questionnaire to understand their environmental footprint. Students begin collecting their garbage during the fourth week of class, compute the weight, think of ways to reduce the amount, and then collect again for another four days noting the differences. Each student shares the results with classmates through PowerPoint or poster, providing an oral and visual account of "best practices" in relation to one aspect of sustainability.

The brief meditation period at the beginning of each class is meant to open students to an awareness of how much "clutter," and "garbage" they collect in their spirits on a daily basis; the emptying moments of meditation invites them to clean and clear their minds, at least on a small scale.

The Learning Activities

At the beginning of each class, I regularly engage students in five minutes of guided meditation. Students understand that if they arrive late for class, they are to wait outside until the class has finished the exercise before entering the classroom; this is "sacred" time. Students are asked to sit up straight, hands on their knees, back straight and not leaning against the chair, eyes closed. After a few seconds of relaxing the neck, arms, and legs, the meditation begins. The meditations take two forms. On the one hand, I utilize the forces of the natural world through an audio tape of sounds-spotted owls hooting in the woods of the Olympic Peninsula, a gurgling stream in the Cascades, waves of the Pacific Ocean crashing against the shore, birds in flight calling to one another, birds flitting from bush to bush, tree to tree and musing to one another, grasshoppers in the prairie grass, and a gentle rain. I invite the students to put themselves into the scene and then listen carefully to the sounds. In this way I hope to help them engage in a new way with the outer natural world.

I have made a choice usually not to "construct" a setting for the students, e.g., imagine yourself at the seashore, at a mountain retreat, etc. While that method has its merits in that every student begins with the same construct, it seems more important to allow students to develop their own constructions around sounds and images. In debriefing the exercise, students report very different responses to the same sounds and locate the places in very different settings.

The second form involves a simple breathing exercise: students are invited to sit as mentioned above. Now with their eyes closed, they focus on the tip of their nose and gently breathe in and out. As they breathe out, they count each exhalation focusing on their breath leaving their nose. When they encounter a noise, e.g., a passing car, a cough, etc., they are told to simply identify it as "a sound" and set it aside. When distracted by a thought, they label that also as "a thought" and set it aside. Each time they are distracted, they begin the counting over.

I have several goals in using these exercises. First and foremost, perhaps, I want them to clear their minds of the clutter which they bring to the classroom. Set aside a past event or a future possibility; enter the now. Only a "clean and clear" mind can accept the "clean" and "clear" thoughts needed to work out a sustainable present-future. This exercise can help sift through the "debris" of too much information. Secondly, in education we focus a great deal on integration of ideas, materials, etc. For example, in a senior synthesis we ask students to "integrate" their learning from their university career over four or more years. Yet, we do not invite them to integrate their minds from within before bringing the "materials" from outside. In the meditations I am trying to have the students clear their mindset to sift well.

The sustainability crisis stems from our efforts to fill an inner void, to find a missing sense of meaning, through reaching for external satisfactions: new cars, bigger television screens, huge houses. In reaching outwards, we grab what we can without thought for the consequences for those elsewhere: elsewhere on the planet and elsewhere in time (future generations of humans and other living creatures). The distraction of all this "stuff," this "garbage" keeps us from recognizing that need for meaning and from being attentive to healing it.

In our classrooms, correspondingly, we often stuff our students full of information, knowledge, skills, and techniques, out of desperation to feel like we're doing something useful for our planet and its future. But what we typically don't do is pause to reflect on all this, to consider sources of wisdom and insight that may provide the deep grounding from which we can design a truly sustainable future. Although our goal in sustainability education may be more noble than the consumerist goals of our unsustainable society, we are still substituting action and acquisition for reflection and peacefulness. Of course, we need action: but not at the cost of thoughtful reflection on why and how we are acting.

Garbage Tally: One Example of a Student's Garbage Analysis (PowerPoint 4MB Nov7 11)

I believe the meditation process can be used at the beginning of many classes, not just those working on issues of sustainability. However, it also seems to fit in here very well. At a recent discussion of how to motivate people to become more responsible in their actions toward the environment, toward the Mother as my students began calling the Earth, one person argued for intergenerational self-interest: appeal to their concern for their children and grandchildren. What kind of a home would we be leaving them? A practitioner of eco-sangha meditation replied that you can't rely on a "dirty" mind, polluted with consumerism, to envision the new perspectives needed to change the dominant patterns of thinking.

The garbage collection project could be done in a more formal manner, asking students to take certain products of their consumption, trace the product to its making and evaluate how many resources and how much energy were used to bring the product to the student's presence from beginning to end. I have used that as a possible assignment for the final paper/project for the course, but I have not made it a part of the collection project. In addition, the garbage collection could be done three times in the course: beginning, middle, and end. It could also be done in groups; that way, students could evaluate each other in deciding what materials to eliminate, what practices to undertake, etc.

At the end of the course, I use an evaluation tool tailored to the course and its learning outcomes in addition to the general evaluation form which the university uses. I ask the students to rate readings, classroom work groups, films used, etc. on a scale of one (poor, not helpful) to five (excellent, very helpful). Consistently, the meditation time emerges at a four to five rating. Anecdotally when the agenda for the class is very full and I ask whether we should take the time to meditate, students universally ask for the meditation; I also recognize that they could be using the meditation to get away from lecture or class exercise times.

I have only used the garbage collection exercise in one previous class, and it was very well received. Student evaluations rated it highly. Both in class and later in comments outside class, students mention that the garbage exercise was the first time they had concrete evidence of their own waste habits. Almost every student in reporting on the changes they made between the two times in which they collected garbage mentioned how the exercise helped them find ways to engage in more sustainable practices and to understand more clearly the impact of their class readings and discussions about a new framework for human involvement in the environment.

In designing the garbage project I have worked with the sustainability manager in the university's facilities department. She had seen the project developed at another university.