On Tuesday, we spent the class debriefing our first weekend overnight camping trip. We weren’t quite sure we were going to have a trip, because my co-instructor who usually comes on the overnight trips could not join us due to a medical issue. I wanted to thank my friend Janelle Weissman, who works for Social Venture Partners Boulder County, for coming to the rescue and joining us at the last minute. For many of the students it was their first winter overnight camping trip and I was really proud of everyone on the trip. Please review the CAP Trip Log (TLOG) for all the details about the trip.

After defining our Action Project issue last week, we spent Wednesday morning in the computer lab conducting research to find more information about our topic and to challenge some of the assumptions we made when we were defining the issue. Dan Mills and Gwenna Horne were nominated by the class as Project Managers to oversee the project and the rest of the class split up to research specific topics. We began to define the scope of our project by focusing on educating potential SUV buyers about the current state of our environment and how they can purchase environmentally friendly and sustainable vehicles instead of purchasing traditional SUVs. We are thinking of putting together a resource guide that highlights the pros and cons of Biodiesel, Hybrid, and hydrogen fuel-source vehicles.

On Wednesday afternoon, our ecology hike was once again postponed because more than half the class was absent and the weather was looking bleak. Instead, we learned about the importance of being able to make natural cordage in a long-term survival situation, different local plant sources available to process and make cordage, and then we practice making reverse-wrap cordage using Jute. We then watched the movie, Into Thin Air, about a tragic expedition to Everest in the mid 1990’s. After the movie, we discussed the hubris of the guides, how they let money and corruption influence their decision-making skills, and how mountains such as Everest are not necessarily meant to be “conquered.”

During our class on Friday, we had the honor and pleasure of meeting John Bush from Boulder Biodiesel and Josh Sperling from CU Biodiesel. John and Josh came in to speak to our class about the organizations they work with, information about Biodiesel, the pros and cons of using the fuel, as well as some ideas we could take on for our Action Project. I want to acknowledge John and Josh for taking time out of their busy day to share their wisdom with us!