My Impact

In our class we have been focusing on try to make the earth a better place to live. We've taken a few steps. We have created a "green team" and a "collaborative consumption" team. The "green team" is as simple as it sounds. We are trying to make more people recycle and become more "green". We've talked about how being "green" also saves you some "green". Usually in neighborhoods recycling is picked up for free, so it saves the earth and your money. The collaborative consumption team is trying to get people to reduce and reuse, more importantly reuse. We have been concerned about our earth and we are trying to learn more about it.

In class a few weeks ago we had a challenge. The challenge was to see if we could compile a list that was allowed a max of 100 things to keep in our lives. The point was to try and see how small our numbers could be. My list of what I thought I could live with was 67 things. I thought this sounded reasonable when I listed everything out. Then our homework was to go home and count how many things you had in your room. Everyone was shocked by their answers. I estimated about 250-300 things. I never realized how many things I have in my room that I don't use or didn't even know I had. For example, I had 15 cami’s that I don't wear. I really don't need a lot of these things. It inspired to me to go through all of my clothes and donate the things that I didn't use anymore. This task that I was going to would actually help the earth. I never thought of it before but after we watched a video in class things started hitting me harder. If people could reuse my clothes that I never really worn other than a few times then I'd be saving the earth. Well for one it would save money, two it saved resources, and it didn't have to be transported here. Now when I think I need new clothes I wonder if i actually need it or not.

Then in class we did the "Mapping the Impact" project reflection. In this little project we chose an item and researched what was in it. Then we mapped where those smaller items came from and how it was assembled. My group chose something as easy as pizza. We didn't realize how much was actually put into each pizza. All the different vegetables and spices came from many different places. Then they had to be extracted from the earth, and shipped to the US. This probably wasn't the best item to choose. It didn't really hit me as hard as the other groups items did. One group did a ballpoint pen, and one did an Iphone 3GS. It was amazing to see all the things put into these products and to see where all the items came from. To make one item it requires materials from all over the world. We're extracting all these things from our earth, then putting them in factories to put them together which puts toxins in the air, then we transport it to stores, which puts more bad things in the air, and then people come and buy them. When you look at a pen what do you see? You don't realize that the "pigments and dyes probably came from India; the plastic to hold the ink was made from petroleum which is drilled in Saudi Arabia; the tungsten caride balls are made in India and China; the brass for the outer layer of the pen is made from zinc which comes from Australia and copper which is mined in Chile; and it was probably all assembled and manufactured in a factory in China and shipped to the U.S. for sale". This was Damini's group’s project. This was crazy to me. I realized how many people use pens every day. That is a lot of harm to our earth. We ONLY have ONE.

We had an assignment to take an online test that showed us our ecological footprint. It was crazy to me when the words popped up saying “If everyone lived like you do, we would need 5.79 earths". That was pretty harsh. It made me think of how everyone is ruining our earth even though we think we are helping. We might be helping a little but not as much as we think we are. I wonder if anyone would get the answer of 1 earth. I feel like my answer was really high for a few reasons. One reason being that I live on base so electricity, gas, and water are all free. If we lived off base and had to pay for that stuff my family would be more conscience to save us money. Also, we drive a lot of places because my sister and I each do three sports. We are always driving somewhere. This test left an impact on me. Now at home I'm better at turning off lights and not wasting water. The big thing that I do now is unplug appliances that aren't being used. Take the test and see what you get!

Green Team

We split our class up into two groups, the Green Team and the Collaborative Consumption group. I am part of the green team. We are trying to make our school “greener”, but it's not so simple. Since we've embarked on our mission I've actually changed a lot. I did talk my family into recycling more. My family is rather lazy and throws all of their cans and plastic bottles in the trash. So we've actually started recycling. Also, in the lunchroom I tell people to make sure they recycle their cans. I did go out and buy a reusable water bottle so I don't buy as many water bottles as before. I've learned that the littlest bit can go a long way. If we all reduce, reuse, and recycle we can help so much. I have the picture of all the water bottles lying in a lake of some sort burned in my brain. I don't want to contribute to that. I've also learned that some companies are going eco-friendly with their water bottles like Dasani.

In our group we decided to try to get the school together on the same page. We're going to host a "flick tournament". We will collect aluminum cans for two weeks (with the tabs still on them). Then we will have the kids in the tournament flick the can tabs off and whoever flicks it off wins (it's a game the high school kids actually do in their free time). We're basically doing this to see how many cans we collect. We will be putting up posters with information on them about where to recycle the cans. We will also recycle other materials as well to see how much we can get. So as my part in my group I wrote the letter to our vice principal, Mr. Newman asking for permission.
I honestly see myself recycling a lot more in the future. I will continue to do it as I get older. I'll also use the two others R's, reduce and reuse. I'll try to be less lazy and not buy more "convenient" things because they hurt the earth. I feel like that is the main reason a lot of people buy water bottles, because they are too lazy to buy one reusable one and fill it up all the time. Everyone needs to just be a little less lazy and help the earth!