action instead of theory

When it comes to climate change, we all have at least some knowledge about it. And all of us know at least a couple things we can do to lower its impacts: take public transport, buy local, switch to green energy, save water, don't overly consume things you don't necasserily need, cut especially beef and dairy out of our diets and so on...
Concerning that, RVA's permaculture teacher Luke mentioned, that if we only look at things we should not do to lower our footprint, that can be very depressing as we look at ourselves as a "disease" to the earth, but if we think about the things we can do that actually have a positive impact on the planet, this is the direction we should look into.
Learning how to grow your own food organically - even though RVA is not self-sufficient yet, getting your energy from the solar stations up on the roof and sharing a home with 60 other people gives you a pretty good idea what an ecological lifestyle should be like.
Apart from that, building homegardens out in the communities in St.Vincent was on one hand a quick start for local people to live more self-sustainably, but also a good way for us to experience a culture that is very different from our own.
In general, this program made me a lot more passionate about the topic of climate change, along with a lot of other social and political problems and even though sometimes you get a little tired of everything, in the end I am very glad I participated as there is a lot that I will take home.