My group’s action project was tabling on Red Square and raising awareness about water usage and water footprint, and specifically the difference between the two. An idea we wanted to highlight through this project was targeting a community similar to us, which is why chose our audience to be people who walk through Red Square. Though we did not have a ton of people come to talk to us, I believe that the discussions we did have were meaningful. For example, two guys talked to Brian and I when we were at the table for about five minutes, and their interests seemed to peak especially when we started to talk about water footprint. To see the surprise on some of our fellow students’ faces shows that water, an essential part of life, is not thought about. For this reason, I do feel that our project was meaningful, even to just a few people.
I was inspired by the work I did because it allowed me to be creative and artistic, which is an opportunity that does not come along often in academic settings. Luckily, my job involved in making posters, graphics and being creative on media, so I was able to use something I’ve used in the professional field in my classes.
I have a tendency to want everything to be absolutely perfect, but I know it is an unrealistic expectation. Something that I have always known but explored further through this class is that nature exists in harmony, and when there is a disruption, the perfect system is cracked. It is the same with our lives – our lives have been disrupted in many ways through human actions, through natural disasters, through historical events. No earthly action goes unnoticed by some species, human or animal. Systems theory fueled our project in the way that water connects us all: we all need it, we all use it. Some of us use too much, others don’t have enough. Our campus connects all students, we all need it and we all use it, which is why we chose to have our project in the central area of Red Square. The mutual connection of all being students and the mutual connection of us all needing water puts life into a smaller perspective. 
Response 3
It definitely is surprising how much water goes into the things that we buy on a daily basis, even after being exposed to that fact in this class and others; simple day to day items like jeans can take thousands of gallons a pair to manufacture. It sounds like your tabling was a success, even if only small amount of people actually ended up stopping and talking; others who didn’t have time to stop still might have had some of the ideas on your poster bounce around their head for the rest of the day.
It’s also interesting to see different companies taking part in reducing water waste; I’ve appended a link to Levis, who have pledged to use techniques called “Water<Less to "save up to 96% of the water in the denim finishing process" in 80% of their products by 2020. This seems to be an initiative taken in good faith; I'd love to see the actual amount of water used in the production of jeans in this way in comparison to the 3,781 liters they claim is used in the life cycle of a pair of their jeans, to see how much the "up to 96%" saved actually ends up taking off the required water usage.
http://www.levistrauss.com/sustainability/planet/water/
Response 3
Elizabeth,
Your action project stood out to me as I also did an action project regarding water. I love how you used Red Square as the central point that connects all of UW-I had never thought of that in relationship to water connecting all of life. This reminded me of Gaian and systems theory with the idea that everything is interconnected. To go even further, it would be interesting to me if you did the same project but in the “heart” of Seattle, let’s say for example the Space Needle. I particularly enjoyed how you placed such an emphasis on harmony with and throughout nature. It’s true that humans have turned the environment into something exploitable, but you brought the importance of harmonizing human systems with ecological systems back into the spotlight. There is an unspoken connection between all of UW students, and by tabling in Red Square I think you nudged some people to break out of their comfort zone of isolation and talk about topics that matter. Like water usage and water footprint, for example. Some people do not realize how much water they use on a daily basis (from meat consumption or virtual water trades, etc.). If you were to take this action project and implement it throughout campus, I can envision you sparking a lot of thought in many people.
Lastly, your group seemed cohesive and able to turn ideas into realities. I encourage you to explore your ideas and questions even further. Like noticing how our “perfect” world system is actually quite flawed and cracked. Do you think it’s possible to return to a “perfect” world system? Great job with your action project as a whole, I can see that you successfully took a huge global perspective and modified it to be approachable to every student on campus!