Earth Talk is encouraging environmental conversations

Earth Talk, an environmental communication workshop hosted by the USUSA Dialogues Society on Oct. 28, aims to teach how to have difficult discussions about the environment.

For Adam Wiyom, when it comes to trying to talk about environmental issues, he thinks the topic is manipulated too much in today’s world. 

“I think it’s a hard topic because of the way people manipulate it for one’s benefit. One moment it’s used out of context for some political use, then for another group it’s used to make people fear something, and it doesn’t allow people to talk about it freely,” Wiyom said. 

The workshop was open to everyone, and the Dialogues Society had pastries and tea for students to enjoy while attending the event. 

For Anna Bexter, the workshop gave her exposure to a topic she doesn’t have much experience with. “To be honest, I don’t really talk about environmental issues at all, neither at home nor in my old schools, but here in college it is starting to be common. In my opinion, it gets political fast, and I’d like to talk about the environment politics-free,” Bexter said. 

The workshop was organized into four workstations for students to participate in. The panel members included professors Jennifer Peeples, Matthew Whitaker, Mollie Murphy and Kirsten Vinyeta. 

Students were free to join any table and switch as they pleased through the four stations. Conversations were mostly student-led as attendees shared their opinions or experiences. The panel members each gave their views and helped lead the conversations. No conversations were the same. 

For the students, it gave them different learning opportunities and more opportunities to discuss their opinions with others.

“For me, I like this event mostly because we’re able to talk about issues that affect us all here at home. Like the water shortages and uses, that is plagued with politics, and it makes it hard to talk about it with others unless you have someone who is non-judgmental, like a close friend,” Wiyom said.

To Bexter, the most important environmental issue is water usage. “For me, in my opinion, it’s water usage and conservation that is going to be the most important point for us all in the future. We will be voting on it probably for the rest of our lives, and if we can’t get politics out of it, we will never have a solution to the crisis,” Bexter said. 

The workshop allowed students to express their own opinions to other people who have similar concerns and thoughts. For Wiyom, he believes this is important for others to participate in. 

“I think communication is the most valuable skill we can have,” Wiyom said. “I think if we as people can communicate more clearly, we will be able to work together better on environmental topics. When I go on the news or look at things online, I feel like we forgot how to be people.”

Meanwhile, Ashley Turley hopes the idea of these conferences can be expanded on.

“I think if we could expand this statewide or even nationwide, people would have an easier time talking about environmental issues without putting out fear or guilt to people and maybe our government on both levels can have more success with passing policies,” Turley said.

As time began to run out, the event ended with final remarks from the panel of professors and students’ last comments at their respective tables.

For Bexter, the workshop was meaningful to her personally.

“This event showed me that we don’t all have to agree on everything to start listening to each other. Being in a room where we all can share concerns without throwing blame or judgments makes you realize humanity again, in a way,” Bexter said.