PreIntensive Post About My Blog Beat

Whenever a task demands that out of all the infinite and wonderful possibilities out there in the world, we have to choose just one, I freeze. I want to focus, but my resistance to setting a boundary is powerful.

My rational self understands that a good boundary is a path toward depth, and it will help me avoid going down too many rabbit holes. But my emotional self wants it all, and understands the word "boundary" as "limitation". What if there is a better variation or a more interesting topic? If I do Topic A, what happens to all my interest in Topics B -Z?

I suspect that this ambivalence is one of the issues at the heart of my personal resistance to creating an online identity or brand. Stuck right out of the gate with a desire not to be limited to a single area or aspect of who I am, I end up not doing anything at all.

That said, my first response to the beat assignment was to step up and claim my expertise in the policy and operational issues surrounding garbage. I would cover waste prevention, toxics reduction, recycling, composting, and disposal (landfill, incineration, and energy recovery). With over 17 years in the field, I can happily bring depth and quality to the general discussion. Plus it sounded easy because I wouldn't have to do much background research to be able to offer something of depth and intelligence.

The thing is, that while my existing knowledge is strongest in trash, most of my interest and passion is around energy efficiency in the way we live and work. Why am I drawn to this topic? Heck, why not? I can't think of a subject that does a better job of touching every single aspect of our lives, or one that is richer in terms of people, planet and economics.

We know that every ton of trash or recyclable we do not create is the best ton. But the honest truth is that even those public agencies and companies who include waste prevention or Zero Waste in their missions do not give it their best effort because of the simple fact that every ton prevented is a ton of revenue lost.

This raises a huge red flag for me. It tells me that one key to success at slowing climate change or really addressing the 3P impact of mining, pumping, damming, and burning resources in order to squeeze the energy out of them is designing a system that rewards companies, countries, and people for using less.

For my blog beat, I hope to post a little bit about my own journey to lower my impact, and also some of the exciting examples of transforming our buildings and transportation systems, and the gobs of money companies are saving by going efficient. I ask for and welcome ideas and suggestions about a name for the blog, stories about other people's experiences, discoveries, and insights, and ideas about the kind of stories you would like to see.

Hi, I', Tamara, and I'd like to introduce myself.  Since the purpose of this particular blog/learning journal is to document learning and complete assignments for BGI's Social Media for Social Change class (BGIMGT566sx), I'll focus on that aspect of myself.

I'm a newbie.  There, I said it.  Yes I am an avid user of email and Facebook.  I watch videos online. I enjoy online researching though am often suspicious that I could be doing it better if I knew more of the tools that are available.  But the truth is that I have been more of a consumer of online content than a creator.

Other than my normal sense of shyness and desire to maintain personal privacy, I suppose the other reasons for my quietude come as a combination of things.  I am unfamiliar with the tools and I possess a general queasiness about the concept of "personal branding". I'm also aware that there are guidelines and mores and that I do not know what they are, and have some doubt about whether I have anything interesting enough, new enough, or fascinating enough to warrant making a personal contribution to the overall chatter.  Knowing folks who are such good writers and publicists can be intimidating.

Clearly I'll just have to get over it in order to get the most out of this class.  That's a good thing.

Through class, I am having the pleasure of discovering Delicious.  Heard the name for years, but never knew what it was or why someone would want it.  Now I see loads of potential. It seems useful as a collaborative tool and also as a way to organize research results.  As a newbie, I also find it a bit gawky to get around.  Wish I could bring up my tag list when I go to save something, so that my tags will be more consistent and complete. Wish the BGI video could be updated to whatever version I am looking at as it is slightly and annoyingly different than the one that is covered. 

No doubt the class will figure this stuff out together, so no worries.  Learning Delicious is pretty fun even with a few little glitches.