Bioregional Awareness Quiz

Do you know your place?

A lot of bioregional sensibility is about understanding where we are—how we are situated within a larger web of life. But the modern world has dislocated many of us to the point we feel more like visitors than true inhabitants of a place. How much do we really know about the various flows—natural and human—that make our lives possible?

Here’s a quiz that offers a chance to ponder our place in the wider web. Each part can be answered superficially or in greater detail, depending on what you think is relevant to your own life and values. And as you go, you might want to ask, “What are my choices?” and “Why does it matter, anyway?” And sorry, this is not the kind of quiz where Cascadia Spoke supplies all the answers at the end. That’s all up to you.

It can be sobering to realize how little we know right now.  The intention of the quiz is not to make us feel bad about how disconnected we are, but instead to gain awareness of the multi-layered things yet to discover about the richness of our home place.

Bioregionalism is a call to become knowledgeable residents and guardians of the places where we live. Although we are seldom aware of it, we live in naturally unique physical, ecological, historical, and cultural areas whose boundaries are more often ridgetops than county lines and state borders.

This is a call to get to know our local land and water; our local weather and sky; our local plants and animals; our local neighbors and communities. It is a call to join our hearts, hands, and minds with what has been, what is, and what could be, in this place.

Getting to know the place where we live is important for both our well-being and the well-being of our home. Becoming aware of our “sense of place” helps us to see it as a unique part of the living earth, deserving of respect, gratitude, and careful treatment. We, humans, can then begin to shift how we live more towards balance and harmony with the wider life community. Security begins by acting responsibly at home.

Making Connections

1. Where does the water in your house come from? Trace the water you drink from rainfall to the tap. Where did the cloud gather its moisture?
2. Where does the water go that drains from your sink? What about the water (& other stuff) leaving your toilet? How is it filtered?
3. How many watersheds exist in your county or city? Can you name them?
4. Pick three (or more) foods that are essential to your diet. What is involved in producing each food and bringing it to your table? What considerations are relevant to you?
5. Where does the money go that you spend on food? How much stays in your community? For each dollar you spend, which people in what parts of the process get what portion of it?Choose a favorite meal and trace the ingredients back through the store…the processing plant…all the way to the soil. How many people, states, or even countries helped produce this meal? What went into the packaging and transportation of its ingredients? How many of the ingredients could you (did you?) get locally or even grow yourself?
6. What kind of energy do you primarily use? Where does it come from? Trace the path of energy that powers your home from its sources to you.
7. When your garbage is thrown away, where does it go? Does it go to a landfill, or is it sent somewhere else? How about your recycling?
8. How much garbage do you generate in a month?
9. What are the primary sources of pollution in your area?
10. What are the major natural sounds you are aware of in a particular season?
11. What are the major human-made sounds you are aware of outside your home?
12. What modes of transportation do you use? Where do the materials come from? Where does the energy come from?
13. List three critical environmental issues in your area. What can you do to help?
14. Draw a map of your territory and the areas you travel to regularly – without using human markers like buildings or street names.
15. If you look out your window, how many different types of trees, birds, or bushes can you see? How many can you name?
16. What materials are your clothes made of? Where do these materials come from? Think about an article of clothing: How and where is it manufactured? Who does the work and under what conditions? How far does it travel from the point of origin to your closet?
17. What materials were used in the construction of your dwelling? Where did they come from? Who owns your dwelling? Where does the money go that you spend on your dwelling?
18. What was the land like before your dwelling was built on it? What was it like 300 years ago?
19. What plant species are native to your area? What role do they play in your local ecosystem? What plants are invasive and how do they affect your local ecosystem?
20. What animals are native and non-native and how do they affect your local ecosystem?
21. Who were the people who lived where you live more than two centuries ago? How did they live? What foods did they eat? When did the first non-native people begin to occupy this land? How did they relate to the people who were already here?