Telling Our Stories

Telling Our Stories: A Toolkit for Creating Green Communities

Online resources for Toolbox activities

are available at http://www.gogreenila.info under TOOLS/Tell a Green Story

Table of Contents

I. Introduction 1

II. Why Stories? 1

III. Tools and Activities for Collecting Stories 2

A. Tools for Collecting Individual Stories 3

Environmentally-friendly Practices List 3

Visual Collages 4

Energy Efficient Home Diagram 5

B. Activities for Collecting Stories in a Group 7

Where Do You Stand? 7

The Story Circle 8

Passing the Baton 10

Reminiscences 11

IV. Documenting & Analyzing Stories 13

Documenting: Keeping Track of What You Hear 13

Analyzing: Learning from What You’ve Got 14

V. From Stories to Action 14

VI. Conclusion 16

I. IntroductionThe Urban Anthropology Team of The Field Museum’s division of Environment, Culture, and Conservation (ECCo) is collecting stories from Chicagoans about their environmentally-friendly practices and actions. Recently, we embarked upon a collaboration with In the Spirit, a team of storytellers, to combine our ethnographic story collecting methods with their creative methods for helping people understand, share, and learn from personal stories. Through that process we created this toolkit.

Telling Our Stories: A Toolkit for Creating Green Communities provides you with a number of concrete and creative ethnographic, visual, and interactive tools and activities for collecting stories from your community. This is a method to discover what residents are doing to take care of the earth, themselves, and each other. These stories will provide you with starting points for developing a Go Green strategy tailored to your community’s strengths and aspirations.

The next few pages provide a description of each tool and activity, including instructions for how to use it and some examples of how The Field Museum’s community partners have used it to date. The tools themselves are downloadable from the Go Green @ Your Illinois Library website under TOOLS/Tell a Green Story.

II. Why Stories?Telling stories and listening to other people’s stories are essential steps towards creating green communities that sustain both people and the environment. Through stories, relationships are built, meaning is made, and communities are created.

Here are a few ways in which collecting stories can help strengthen your library’s work:

• Stories can be used to develop green action programs. Collecting stories will help your library identify what people are already doing and what they care about as a basis for then developing green projects. Think of this as a pleasurable way to do some basic research and to help you tailor your efforts to your specific community.

• Stories help strengthen social ties, which are the foundation for effective organizing. When asked about his approach to organizing, Cesar Chavez, founder of the United Farm Workers, replied: “I talk to one person, and then another.” Chavez and other leaders have understood the power of personal connections and of listening to people’s stories. These interactions are the fuel for everything from social movements to presidential campaigns.

• Stories provide an easy, natural way into going green. Everyone—even people who see themselves as opposed to environmental causes or think they can’t afford to implement green actions—is already engaged in some kind of environmentally-friendly practices. Focusing on stories helps people see that “green” is in fact embedded somewhere in their everyday lives and in the daily activities of their family members and friends. Understanding what we are all already doing can help neutralize the fear that going green is difficult or expensive.

• Stories can be key to identifying green projects that address social as well as environmental sustainability. Stories will reveal the ways in which going green can not only help the earth, but also improve residents’ quality of life. In addition, stories reveal the richness of social interactions and can highlight the social spaces where these interactions take place. Enhancing our relationships with each other will be key to creating a greener community.

If you decide to facilitate a number of the activities described in this toolkit, you will collect many stories from community residents about their past and present practices and values as well as about their aspirations for a sustainable future. You may wish to consider building an archive of community stories to house within your library collections.

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III. Tools and Activities for Collecting Stories This section offers you creative tools and activities for collecting stories from community residents and leaders. They can be used as a starting point to draw out stories about how people live in relationship to the environment as well as about green practices, barriers to going green, and visions for a sustainable future. These tools and activities can be used together or separately, depending on your needs, objectives, audience, and timeframe. Below is a description of each tool and activity along with instructions to help you use it successfully. We also include tips for drawing out more intricate stories—for helping participants progress from telling you a fact about their lives (e.g., I use energy-efficient light bulbs) to telling you a story about them (e.g., I fight with my husband about this all the time because he says they’re too expensive, but I insist on buying them because…). The tools and activities include:

A. Tools for Collecting Individual Stories:

• Environmentally-friendly Practices (EFP) List

• Visual Collages

• Energy Efficient Home Diagram

These are all easy to use for collecting stories through one-on-one conversations. However, they can also be used in groups and in conjunction with some of the group activities discussed further on in this toolkit.

B. Activities for Collecting Stories in a Group:

• Where Do You Stand?

• The Story Circle

• Pass the Baton

• Reminiscences

These are dynamic activities to collect stories from larger groups of participants. They can be facilitated using some of the tools listed above.

Which tools and activities should you use? To decide which of these tools and activities will best meet your needs and interests:

• Familiarize yourself with the tools and activities Review the description of all the tools and activities provided below. Pay attention to the guidelines re: audience and resources needed to use them successfully.

• Figure out who you want to collect stories from and how you can best access people Consider how best to engage the people you are interested in, and where to do this. If you want to start out collecting stories from a broad range of residents, maybe you can piggyback on another activity that the library is already committed to participating in, like a community festival where you will have a booth. There, you might use the Visual Collages since people will likely have time to hang out and engage in some extended conversations. If you are interested in a particular sector, like local businesses owners, maybe you can arrange to visit some of their workplaces and spend ten minutes talking about their interests. In this case, you might wish to use the EFP List or the Energy Efficient Home Diagram because these tools are designed to elicit quick responses in any setting. If you want to use these tools as part of a public program you are hosting at the library, you could do one of the group activities, like Where Do You Stand? which has an option for also using the EFP List.

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A. Tools for Collecting Individual Stories Environmentally-friendly Practices List Description

This is a written survey of environmentally-friendly activities, including modern technological practices (e.g., green roofs, solar panels) and traditional practices that are often embedded in people’s heritage traditions (e.g., gardening, re-purposing).

• Participants respond by putting a check next to each activity in the survey, indicating that they do it a lot, sometimes, or never.

• The list prompts participants to identify familiar practices—even those they’ve never associated with the environment—and also consider barriers to doing more.

• You follow up with questions based upon the responses and take notes on the back of the survey.

• Responses can be easily categorized and ranked to understand what people are doing the most or least.

• The list can be used with individuals or groups.

Instructions

Preparing to use the tool:

• Anticipate how many people you will do this activity with and make sure you have enough copies for every participant.

• Plan to spend 10 to 20 minutes per participant depending upon how many follow up questions you decide to ask.

Using the tool:

• Explain the purpose of your project to participants.

• Instruct participants to read through the list and mark down which of the practices they do A lot, Sometimes, or Never.

• Collect their completed list, review it, then ask a follow up question to draw out a story (see prompt questions on back of the EFP List and tips below).

• Use the back of the EFP List to take notes.

Tips

• To build your confidence as a story collector and facilitator… Practice administering the EFP List to fellow library staff before you use it with the public.

• To draw out more intricate stories… Make sure that the follow up questions are open-ended questions and not close-ended, which will provide a yes, no, or very short answer. For example, if a participant indicates that he never rides public transit, a follow-up close-ended question could be “Do you own a car?” Most likely the response will be yes or no. But an open-ended question might ask, “Is there a reason why you do not ride public transit?” or “What might make you more likely to ride it?”

• To use the EFP List in a group setting… Option 1: Hand out the list to everyone in the group and have them fill it in at the same time. When everyone is done,

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read some activities out loud and ask participants to raise their hands to indicate their response. For example, you could ask, “How many people carpool a lot (hands are raised), sometimes (hands are raised), and never (hands are raised)?” Then start a group discussion with questions like, “John, you indicated that you carpool a lot. Who do you carpool with? What do you like or don’t you like about it?” Or, “Maria, you said that you never carpool. Can you tell us why not?” Make sure you collect all the EFP Lists at the end of this activity so that you can use them during the analysis phase to help you identify common themes. Option 2: Enlarge the EFP List and hang it on a wall. Read out loud each activity in the list and ask participants to raise their hands to indicate their response. You will fill in each activity level with the number of participants who raised their hands (e.g., 9 a lot, 11 sometimes, 5 never). Then start a group discussion with questions like, “Can someone who indicated that they carpool a lot tell us who they carpool with and what they like or don’t like about it?” Or, “Can someone who indicated that they never carpool, tell us why they don’t ?” Make sure you keep this large EFP List so that you can use it during the analyis phase to help you identify common themes. Option 3: Use the EFP List with the Where Do You Stand? activity described below. For all of these options: to document what you are hearing in a group setting, plan to have someone take notes during the discussion so that you can focus on facilitating and drawing out stories from the group.

Visual Collages Description

These consist of six sets of photographs of environmentally-friendly practices taken in Chicago area neighborhoods and arranged in groups according to environmental themes. They are basically a visual version of the Environmentally-friendly Practices List.

• The photographs often help people understand the practices better. Participants might recognize or be reminded of some of the activities, innovations, or places depicted.

• Unlike with the EFP List, responses are not limited to whether participants do these activities. As a result, the responded tend to be more conversational and provoke more lengthy discussion—they more naturally become stories rather than facts.

• Reference the back of the collages for detailed descriptions of each photo and sample questions to prompt discussion.

Instructions


• Print one set of collages on 11 X 17 in color and laminate it if possible. You will only need one set of collages to collect stories from many people.

• Each time you are going to use this tool, decide which of the seven collages you want to use (use as few or as many as you wish) and familiarize yourself with the photo captions and prompt questions on the back.

• Bring a notepad to take notes.

• This activity should take approximately 10 minutes per participant per collage, depending upon how many follow up questions you decide to ask.

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Using the tool:


• Start by asking, “Do any of these images remind you of anything you do or have seen done?”

• Take notes on responses. Make sure to separate your notes by participant so that you can tell later how many people commented on different practices.

Tips

• To build your confidence as a story collector and facilitator… Practice using the Visual Collages with fellow library staff before you use it with the public.

• To draw out more intricate stories… Make sure to use the prompt questions on the back of each collage. These are open-ended questions and were designed specifically for each collage category.

• To use in a group setting… Option 1: Place some or all of the collages on a table or hang them on a wall and ask participants to select three images that remind them of anything that they do in their communities. Then begin to prompt discussion about these practices using the questions on the backs of the collages. Option 2: Break a large group into smaller groups and rotate the collages. Ask each table to discuss each collage and come up with three stories that they can share with the larger group. For either of these options: to document what you are hearing in a group setting, plan to have someone take notes during the discussion so that you can focus on facilitating and drawing out stories from the group. If you break participants into small groups, have each group designate a notetaker.

Energy Efficient Home DiagramDescription

This is a visual tool aimed specifically at drawing out stories about how people are saving energy at home. You can use it as a starting point for drawing out stories about a variety of environmentally-friendly practices that participants engage in at and around their homes, including but also beyond energy efficiency.

• Participants will undoubtedly recognize some of the practices illustrated in the diagram.

• You can ask them to point out practices that they are doing as well as what they would like to do and what they would definitely not do.

• You can reference the back of the diagram for information on home energy saving tips.

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Instructions


• Have several diagrams printed in color and laminated.

• Familiarize yourself with the corresponding tips on the back.

• Bring a notepad to take notes.

• This activity should take 10 to 15 minutes per participant depending upon how many follow up questions you decide to ask.

Using the tool:


• Start by asking: “Which of these energy saving activities do you do in your home?”

• Take notes on responses. Make sure to separate your notes by participant so that you can tell later how many people commented on different practices.

Tips

• To build your confidence as a story collector and facilitator… Practice using the Energy Efficient Home Diagram with fellow library staff before you use it with the public.

• To draw out more intricate stories… Ask participants if there are other ways they save energy at home that are not represented in the diagram. Expand the discussion beyond saving energy by asking them to tell you about other environmentally-friendly practices that they do in and around their homes or that their neighbors, relatives, or friends do in their homes.

• To use in a group setting… You can break a large group into smaller groups and distribute one copy of the diagram to each group. Ask each group to discuss the diagram and come up with three stories that they can share with the larger group. Plan to have someone take notes during the discussion so that you can focus on facilitating and drawing out stories from the group.

Additional Tips for Creating Green Conversations—for turning facts into stories…

• If someone tells you about a green practice,

ask them how they got into it, how they’ve

learned more about it,

and who else they know who takes

similar actions.

• When somebody gives a short answer, ask:

“Will you tell me more about that?”

• If someone is shy or hesitant to share,

help them relax by beginning a basic

conversation before starting to ask them

about their green practices.

• Not everyone knows what green means,

so it often helps to give examples from your

own life and community. Share

about your journey and speak openly about

influential moments and people

in your life.

• Be a patient listener. Often people’s best

stories do not come up until they have

already been talking for a while. While you

will have to manage your time collecting

stories, it may be helpful to allow people to

reminisce. Even stories that seem like they’re

not going to touch on “green” often times

do—and sometimes it’s up to us to make

those “green” connections.

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B. Activities for Collecting Stories in a GroupThis section describes four dynamic activities to collect stories from larger groups of participants. These activities can be facilitated using some of the tools described above. Each activity can be used to prompt participants to consider the environmentally-friendly impact of practices that they have likely observed or participated in.

Where Do You Stand? Purpose

This activity asks participants to share with the group “where they stand” on the environmentally-friendly practices in the EFP List. It creates an opportunity to have an open discussion about what they are doing to help the environment and the barriers that prevent them from taking additional environmental actions.

Group Size and Time Needed

• 5 to 15 participants, about 20 to 30 minutes.


• This includes 10 to 15 minutes for discussion after the activity.

Space Needed

You will need a room that is large enough to allow people to move to three separate designated areas labeled: A lot, Sometimes, and Never.

Materials Needed

• Environmentally-friendly Practices List (one copy for each participant)

• Pens

• Name tags

Facilitation Needs

One facilitator for every 30 participants. The facilitator should be comfortable giving instructions to and facilitating discussion among large groups of people.

A Note Taker

Someone who can take good notes throughout the activity. This will be important for later on when you are ready to identify common themes or issues that came out of the stories that you heard.

Instructions

As participants arrive, have them fill out a name tag. Begin the activity by explaining the purpose of Where Do You Stand? Then ask participants to take 5-7 minutes to complete the EFP List. When they are done, point out three distinct places in the room labeled: A lot, Sometimes, and Never. Explain that you are going to call out an activity from the list, and then each person should go stand in the appropriate section, based on how they responded to that activity when completing the list.

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Next, call out an activity from the list and ask everyone in the room to move to the area that corresponds with how often they indicated that they did this activity. For example, if you call out, “Hang your clothes on a clothes line,” people who noted that they do this “a lot” would go to the A lot area, people who hang their clothes “sometimes” would go to the Sometimes area, and people “never” do this would go to the Never area.

After each round of call outs, ask a few participants from each area to share why they responded that way. Identify opportunities to highlight the diversity of practices among participants and foster discussion of what support people need to go green. For example, a participant might say that growing up in the city, s/he used to use mass transportation more often than now living in the suburbs. You could then prompt further discussion about environmentally-friendly alternatives, for example, by asking if people have done or thought about carpooling, car sharing, biking, and walking.

The call out exercise and follow up discussion can be repeated several times, working through the list until the time allotment has been reached.

The Story CirclePurpose

This activity asks each participant to share and retell personal stories about objects or drawings that represents his/her relationship with the environment. Participants will make connections between stories based upon common themes and begin to recognize environmentally-friendly trends. They will also learn to identify closely with other people’s stories. The activity is intended for large groups. Everyone will need to actively participate in the storytelling activity.




• This includes 15 minutes for discussion.

• This activity requires an even number of participants for all to participate.

Space Needed

Sufficient space to form two concentric circles with chairs for all participants.

Materials Needed

• Every participant must be asked ahead of time to bring an object or photo that illustrates an environmentally-friendly practice, preferably one that they engage in and care about. Some examples that you can give in your promotional materials include: reusable bags or items, a transit card, a garden tool, walking shoes, a cooking utensil.

• A stopwatch to track time and a whistle, bell, or other instrument (e.g., a triangle) to signal change of partners.

• Paper and pencils, for participants who fail to bring an object or photo and need to draw their item.

• Table tents for people to write their names on.

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Facilitation Needs

It is essential that the facilitator be comfortable working with large groups of people and keeping strict control of time limits to allow all to participate.

Note Takers and a Photographer

• You need at least two note takers depending upon the size of the group, who can circulate around the room and capture the important points of the stories as they are being told in pairs.

• At the end of the activity, your note takers should submit to you one document that summarizes the stories that were shared.

• If you plan to do any kind of demonstration or exhibit or your Go Green work, whether online or in your library, it is a good idea to arrange for a photographer to document this event. S/he should take photos of the objects and drawings. It is ideal to have each participant pose with what s/he brought or drew.

Instructions

As participants arrive, have them write their names on a table tent. Begin by explaining the purpose of the activity and how it works (see below). Then, ask who brought an object or photo that illustrates an environmentally-friendly practice. Those who did not bring an object will need to draw an object or a scene. Give the group five minutes to draw and think about the important points that they want to share about their objects or drawings because they will only have 2 minutes to share this information. Every participant must have an object or a drawing that relates to the story that they intend to share.

Facilitating the Story Circle Activity: Arrange the chairs in two concentric circles: one facing in and the other facing out. Instruct participants to sit in the chairs so that each is facing someone else. Then explain how the circle will work and get started:

• The two participants facing each other are partners, and the partners change every 4 minutes. Each participant has 2 minutes to share with their partner the significance of her/his object or drawing—and the partner needs to listen carefully because s/he will have to tell the story next.

• You will use your whistle, bell, or instrument to signal participants to start, at which point the person sitting in the outside circle should tell her/his story. After 2 minutes have passed, when they hear the sound again, they should switch and the person sitting in the inside circle should tell his/her story.

• After 4 minutes have passed, both participants need to have learned the story of their partner. At this time, participants exchange objects/drawings with their partner. Once the exchange is made, the participant in the outside circle will rotate one chair over and new pairs are formed, and the sharing begins anew at the sound of the whistle, bell, or instrument. Note that participants in the inner circle never move—they just get new partners.

• After the new pairs are in place, participants will share the significance of the object/drawing that they just received from their partner as if it were their own. They should tell the story in the first person.

• As before, each participant has 2 minutes to share with their new partner the significance of the object or drawing. The facilitator will keep track of time and blow a whistle or ring a bell to signal participants when it is time for the second partner to begin to tell his/her story. After 4 minutes have passed, partners will again exchange objects. Then the participant in the outside circle will rotate one chair to the left.

• This process continues until the time for the activity has elapsed or the full circle has been completed. At this point, the facilitator will begin a discussion.

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Discussion

Make sure to leave enough time to have participants share and discuss at least 2 stories/themes. After the circle activity is completed, ask someone in either circle to present the object/drawing that they are now holding to the entire group—again in the first person. Then invite whoever originally brought the object/drawing to comment on the version of their story that they just heard. The differences between the stories are often amusing—and they also point out the various ways in which people understand and experience similar practices.

Next, ask if other participants have stories to share that somehow relate to the one just told. By doing this, the group will be able to identify common themes and make connections among the stories. For example, a participant might hold up a bird house and share a story about being an avid birdwatcher and building a birdhouse for a tree in his front yard, to attract songbirds. The person whose story this actually is might add that the birdhouse is a colorful addition to his garden—or else might correct something about the story that the person had gotten wrong! Someone else in the group might then share a story about the object she is holding—a garden pot—and explain that she learned to garden from her grandmother, but while her grandmother primarily grew vegetables, she now grows vegetables and flowers. This could prompt someone else to share a story about the vegetarian cookbook he is holding, about when and why he became a vegetarian. Remember: while these stories should all be told in the first person, they are actually stories about other people. No one is holding the object they brought in. In this way, the participants are learning to identify with different practices.

Make sure to leave enough time to change the direction of the topic at least once so that the group discusses at minimum two themes. To do this, ask someone to volunteer to share a story that touches on a completely different type of practice. Then follow the guidelines above to facilitate further story sharing and conversation.

Passing the Baton Purpose

This activity brings together participants of different generations to share stories of the past and discuss how they relate to the present. It explores green practices that have the potential to be re-invented today while creating awareness that the ways we live in the world are always changing.


• 5 to 15 participants of different generations, about 30 to 45 minutes.

• 16 to 30 participants of different generations, about 30 to 60 minutes.

• This includes 10 to 15 minutes for discussion.

Space Needed

A room that is large enough to seat all the participants in one circle.

Materials Needed

• Your own decorated baton. In track and field, the baton is passed from one runner to the next in relay races. The idea of how the Baton is used in this exercise is both practical and symbolic. It functions much like the Talking Stick used by Native Americans to keep order during group discussions. The person who is holding it commands the respect and attention of the group as s/he talks and is not interrupted. When that person is finished speaking, s/he passes it to the next person, conferring upon this person the authority to speak. When you make your own baton, it should be at least 24 inches long and distinctively decorated.

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• A pre-selected short story, excerpt, or poem that alludes to the relationship between people and the environment. It can be a classic or contemporary work that you think will be of interest to and appropriate for participants of various ages.


Facilitation Needs

A strong facilitator who is comfortable giving instructions to people of various ages.

A Note Taker

Someone who can take good notes throughout the activity. This will be important for later on when you are ready to identify common themes or issues that came out of the stories that you heard.

Instructions

Begin by explaining the purpose of the activity and the role of the baton. Explain that each person will share a story that connects to the previous one, thus they need to listen attentively. Ask someone to volunteer to read the pre-selected story, and hand the baton to that person. When s/he has finished reading, ask the group if anyone can relate to the story. Give the baton to whoever comes forward and ask her/him to tell a related story. When this person is done, have him/her give the baton to someone else in the group who will tell a related story to the one that was just told. The idea here is that the baton is passed on to everyone who will tell a story. For example: an older participant might have told a story about picking blueberries in Michigan as a child and how she enjoyed the time outdoor and eating fresh fruits. Another participant might link to this by saying that she loves going to the farmers’ market and buying fresh produce and supporting local farmers. Yet another participant might say that he shares with friends a weekly allotment of fresh produce from a local CSA (community supported agriculture) farm.

Discussion

When time is up or everyone has spoken, take the baton back and then lead a discussion about the connections made between past and present green practices. Some questions you could ask to get discussion going are:

1. What were some of the main themes or practices that came up in the stories shared today? Some of these might include eating healthy, walking, hanging clothes to dry, taking baths with a bucket, opening windows, reusing and repurposing, carpooling, etc.

2. How have some of these practices changed (or not) over time. For example: carpooling has changed in some communities from a group of neighbors riding to work together to sharing a Zip car.

3. What are some practices from the past that you’d like to see come back in style, and why?

Reminiscences This activity is modeled on a similar activity of the same name created by Nancy Brothers at the Morton Grove Public Library.

Purpose

This activity brings together senior citizens to share stories from their past about their communities and practices that might have been more environmentally friendly than today. The activity uses a variety of household or other daily life objects to spur discussion. Like Passing the Baton, the goal of the activity is to encourage innovative thinking about how to learn from the past to create greener lifestyles and communities today.

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15-20 participants, about 90 minutes

Space Needed

A room that is large enough to seat all participants in one circle, with a table to display objects in the middle of the circle.

Materials Needed

• Library staff provide all the objects used in this activity. Bring 6-10 objects used in daily life from past decades, such as but not limited to: wooden clothes pin, washboard, iron that heats up by stove, books, wooden spoon, chicken/ham bone for soup, fabric scrap (used to patch clothing), quilt, rag rug, old toys, umbrellas/rain gear, laundry basket, knitting needles. Include other objects that reflect the community’s particular history, such as a hard hat or safety goggles in an industrial or post-industrial area.


• Big post-it pad and markers.

• Microphone and digital recorder if you want to record the stories. It is especially important to capture stories from senior citizens about older lifeways, and you may want to archive them in your library or use them on a website or in presentations or exhibits.

Facilitation Needs

The facilitator should have experience working with senior citizens (and youth if you do an intergenerational activity that includes them—see this option below) and be comfortable encouraging participation from all members of the group, while graciously managing the sharing of the more vocal participants.

Note Taker and Photographer

• Someone who can take good notes throughout the activity. This will be important for later on when you are ready to identify common themes or issues that came out of the stories that you heard.

• If you plan to do any kind of demonstration or exhibit or your Go Green work, whether online or in your library, it is a good idea to arrange for a photographer to document this event. S/he should take photos of participants posing with the objects that they refer to in their stories.

Instructions

As participants arrive, have them write their names on a table tent. Then ask them to visit the objects on display and identify a few that prompt memories. Have the object viewing carry over into the first 5-10 minutes of the start of the activity.

When everyone is seated, welcome them, explain the purpose of the activity, and ask them to introduce themselves, sharing their name, where they grew up, and where they live now. Review the objects again and ask them to close their eyes and think of a story or memory, about themselves or others, directly or indirectly related to one of the objects. Prompt them to think back to a particular time—when they were XX age or when they had young families or were just starting out on their own or when they were children. Then ask them to open their eyes and ask for a volunteer to share her/his story. Continue asking people to share their stories until everyone has had a turn or time is up.

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In between stories:

• Keep up the momentum by turning the group’s attention to some of the lesser-discussed objects and asking who has stories related to those objects.

• Highlight themes that are emerging, such as repairing items that were damaged (e.g., darning socks), playing with neighbors in the streets, etc., and ask if anyone else has stories related to those themes. Write these themes down on the big post-it papers.

• Also listen for issues that may come up that are indirectly related to the environment, such as the sense of community that people had when they did more activities outside (from hanging clothes on a clothesline to walking with neighbors to church).

• Encourage participants to compare their past memories with their experiences today. What is similar and what has changed?

Leave the last 10-15 minutes to sum up some of the key themes you recognized and ask what recommendations the participants have for taking better care of the environment and their communities today by re-inventing some of their generation’s past practices.

Make it Intergenerational: “My grandma used it, my mom gave it away, and then I bought it.”

This activity would also lend itself nicely to an intergenerational group of participants, especially because so many past practices are now coming back in vogue (e.g., knitting). The activity can be facilitated as described above. The only changes you have to make are…

• Bring objects that juxtapose each other to facilitate comparing between generations, such as: a record and an iPod; glass jars and Ziploc bags; a clothes line, dryer sheets, and a dryer ball; vinegar, baking soda, and modern cleaning supplies; a mop and a Swiffer.

• Ask participants to think of stories or memories from their past, instead of specifying a particular age or time.

IV. Documenting & Analyzing Stories1. Documenting: Keeping Track of What You Hear… When you are collecting stories on a regular basis, it is vital that you keep good records and take time to analyze what you are hearing. This is key to using stories to develop an action plan for helping your community go green.

Taking notes and photographs are important elements of story collecting. You can summarize your notes using the Story Collecting Form downloadable from the Go Green website. This form offers a quick and easy way to keep track of the most powerful stories you are hearing. Eventually, the details included in the form will provide you with a record that you can analyze for story patterns. The photographs will help you to visualize elements of some of the stories that might otherwise be difficult to write down. Photographs are also a practical way of recording the story collecting activity or event.

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2. Analyzing: Learning from What You’ve Got… Once you have collected a number of stories, you will want to review them to identify common themes, green community resources, and concerns raised by participants. You can start by grouping the stories according to activities, people, organizations, and places that are frequently mentioned. The Analysis Worksheet downloadable from the website can help you to categorize the stories that you collect along these lines.

Analysis is a key step in transforming story collecting into action. Once you identify a popular theme or a common barrier, consider which of your community resources might be mobilized to address it through a project or activity that you initiate. For example, let’s say that through your analysis, you discover that a significant number of participants want to capture or divert rain water, but need more technical information or expertise to do this. You also find that a handful of participants have repurposed inexpensive, plastic trash cans into rain barrels, and have innovatively modified their downspouts to redirect storm water into rain gardens. You can use your analysis to articulate the need for a demonstration project that encourages dialogue and collaboration between these two groups.

V. From Stories to Action Now that you’ve collected community stories, what will you do with them? Once you know about the environmentally-friendly practices, traditions, values, barriers, and visions of community residents and leaders, it is time to take action.

The key is to build on what people are already doing: to find ways to support and scale up their green efforts and help them to do things they want to do. Here are a few examples of how our community partners in Chicago are turning stories into action. They show how you can use the stories you’ve collected to address community needs, build from local strengths, and connect organizational and community interests to green initiatives. The examples also demonstrate some of the different pathways from story to action. For instance, in the first example below, the organization’s green project resulted from analyzing story patterns, while the project discussed in the second example came about as the result of one workshop held as part of the organization’s story collecting endeavor.

1. Supporting Vegetarianism and Green Businesses in the South Asian Community The West Ridge neighborhood on Chicago’s Northwest Side is the hub of the city’s South Asian community. Known across the city for numerous businesses and restaurants along Devon Avenue, this area is home to dozens of Indian and Pakistani merchants. It is also home to service and cultural organizations like the Indo-American Center and the Indo-American Heritage Museum (IAHM), which help to meet the needs of thousands of South Asian people every year.

Through a storytelling project conducted with the IAHM, we found that the practice of vegetarianism is deeply rooted in the spiritual beliefs of certain parts of the South Asian community and is very popular in this neighborhood. As we collected stories in this community, we also identified popular restaurants along Devon Avenue that specialize in South Asian vegetarian cuisines. While many people within the South Asian community maintain a vegetarian diet for spiritual and/or cultural reasons, vegetarianism also has tremendous environmental benefits.1

Many community members who shared their stories expressed concern that families of Indian immigrants who move to the United States don’t always maintain the practice of eating vegetarian. As a result, they are also concerned that the cultural practice of vegetarianism will not be maintained by future generations of Indian-Americans, and businesses may suffer as a consequence. After thoughtfully analyzing the stories that we collected, the IAHM found that cost was a major factor in this change in behavior. Preparing healthy produce in Chicago can be just as expensive as preparing meat, whereas in India the vegetarian diet is much more affordable. As a result, South Asian immigrants can afford to eat more meat.

1. The production of meat on our planet takes a heavy toll on our climate. Some experts calculate that the livestock sector is responsible for roughly 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, an astounding number (Climate Change exhibit prepared by the American Museum of Natural History). 14

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In response to these realities and concerns, the IAHM is launching a poster campaign that promotes the environmental benefits of vegetarian eating and identifies restaurants featuring South-Asian vegetarian cuisine as “Green Businesses.” These colorful posters will be displayed in local restaurants along the Devon Avenue corridor. Leaders at the IAHM hope to encourage local residents, merchants, and the greater Chicago community to reap the environmental and economic benefits of eating vegetarian and to help Indian-Americans maintain their cultural heritage at the same time.

2. Organizing Workshops to Share People’s Skills in Pilsen In the late 20th Century, the Pilsen neighborhood became a hub for people moving to Chicago from Mexico. Having established itself as a port-of-entry neighborhood for immigrants, the neighborhood is now full of beautiful murals, delicious restaurants, and small businesses. It is also full of vibrant households who support each other by sharing food, work, and skills whenever they can.

Casa Michoacan is one of the neighborhood organizations dedicated to working with these families, a cultural center for migrants from the state of Michoacan and a service organization that caters to Mexicans and other Latinos in the Chicago region. In a focus group with mothers living near Casa Michoacan, Field Museum anthropologists heard many women talking about their desire to learn basic bicycling skills. The conversation began when one mother shared that she rides her bicycle around the neighborhood to run errands. This way she gets exercise and avoids driving her car. On the weekends two of her children ride their bikes with her.

Upon hearing this, other women in the group shared how they would also like to do this but are afraid to ride alone or simply do not know how. They talked about forming a club so they could ride their bikes together, and to show their children that bicycling is a viable option for getting around. As a result, Casa Michoacan is developing a project that includes a series of workshops to teach the basics of bike riding, safety, and repair. They are planning to partner with local day care centers and bicycle repair businesses to do this.

3. Bringing Fresh Foods to a Food Desert Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood is often sited as one of the city’s most notorious “food deserts,” places where residents have very limited access to fresh, healthy, affordable foods. For some residents, the nearest supermarket is almost three miles away. Long before the term “food desert” became popular, Reverend Al Sampson, senior pastor at Fernwood United Methodist Church, recognized the need to provide the community with better food options. He has established more that 10 south side locations where Chicagoans can purchase fresh “soul food” fruits and vegetables grown by African-American farmers from Pembroke, Illinois, Arkansas, and Mississippi—places where many African-Americans have deep personal connections.

In a storytelling focus group with young people who were involved with summer programs at Fernwood, several young men and women expressed disdain for the limited local food options available to them. They talked about the health risks of eating poorly that disproportionately affected African-Americans in their communities, as well as the environmental and economic benefits of the farmers’ markets. They expressed hope that more local residents would support the farmers and choose to eat healthier. They also came to the conclusion that many African Americans in the neighborhood likely associated farming with the shame of slavery, and probably did not know that there were black farmers who came from a farming tradition and were not sharecroppers. As a result, one young man decided to interview one of the farmers and his family and document his story in a short film that will be circulated to the farmers’ market sites and throughout the community.

4. Transforming the Library into a Green Community Incubator Staff at the Des Plaines Public Library are passionate about greening their community. The library runs a variety of green programs, from a music festival called Greenapalooza to a trivia game entitled Greenopoly. Since March, two library staff have participated in The Field Museum’s storytelling project, and they have used our tools in this toolkit, primarily the visual collages, to speak with residents about their green practices. As part of Taste of Des Plaines and on other occasions throughout the summer, they set up a booth to collect green stories.

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The project has helped the library personalize the meaning of “green.” Through storytelling they found many people who use clotheslines and spoke with others who would like help starting that practice. They also spoke with a surprising number of people who are a part of active carpool systems. A number of their respondents spoke about the desire to walk and bike more and expressed a desire for better infrastructure to support these activities.

Analyzing the stories also revealed an important pattern: people of different ages and ethnic groups engage in similar green practices. Des Plaines has some major dividing lines within it, and the librarians see community members’ shared concern for the earth as a vital unifying issue.

The insights that the Des Plaines Public Library is gaining through the storytelling project are influencing their strategic programming for the future. The library’s green goals are now to strengthen the library’s role as a green community leader; help town residents share their personal connections to the environment; and tap into the power of green to unify disparate groups within their town. Moving forward library staff hope to use their library as a meeting place for green leaders in the area, a space for them to come together to discuss ideas for enhancing cooperation. As this vision is carried forth, Des Plaines has the potential to become a catalyst for larger green transformations.

VI. ConclusionThis guide—Telling Our Stories: A Toolkit for Creating Green Communities—has provided you with some tools for collecting stories from your community’s residents and leaders. You can use these stories to identify community concerns, practices, and resources that can serve as springboards for Going Green. We encourage you to go to the Go Green website and download the different tools discussed in this guide, look them over, figure out which ones seem like the best fit for your library and staff, and try them out.

For inspiration, watch the video on the TOOLS/Tell a Green Story page, which features our professional storyteller partners from In the Spirit performing green stories that were collected by our Chicago partners using Field Museum tools.

For additional resources and ideas, also visit The Field Museum’s storytelling website, which provides more information on the projects we are doing with community partners in the Chicago area: http://chicagostories.wordpress.com/.

“Storytelling is important because it helps us to remember. Stories are like a bridge, like a glue, like a foundation. They are critical to allowing a people, a community, a culture to reinvent itself without forgetting its past.” — Emily Hooper-Lansana, In the Spirit

Watch a video that library staff made about the storytelling project on the Go Green website

http://chicagostories.wordpress.com/

Documents

Telling Our Stories