student assignments
Environmental Problem in my community
to solve that problem i would of write a letter to the government so that they could hired more people to clean there more often as possible especialy in the fall.
MY ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
My ecological footprint is 3.1 because i eat meat very often and i usually take the train to go to school and to go around the city. mostly when i get around i dont use much energy.
CATEGORY ACRES
FOOD 5.4
MOBILITY 1.5
SHELTER 3
GOODS/SERVICES 4
TOTAL FOOTPRINT 14
IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON.
WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON.
IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE ME, WE WOULD NEED 3.1 PLANETS.
My food's ecological footprint
Our delicious Honey Nut Cheerios are shipped from Minneapolis. The cardboard that the cereal is in comes from Jordan. The milk on the other hand is shipped form New Jersey. The plastic container from the milk is brought here from china. The juicy orange is from Florida, the pomegranate arrives from California and lastly the eggplant is a product of Mexico. Here we see that five simple food items come from five different states and three different countries.
Sometimes my family also eats fruits that are out of season, meaning that the fruit may have to come from the other part of the world. Can limiting the food we eat to only seasonal food decrease the amount of acres people use everyday for one simple meal? It may, but buying foods from local Farmers' shops can be more beneficial to our environment.
The problem in my community.
In my building floods aren't uncommon. I get a devastaing flood running through my house about 4 times a year on average. Thats about an olympic size pool of water just being wasted yearly just because people aren't doing their jobs. And with this water comes the sewer essentials.
Yeah you know it, feces, dead things and other body liquids..plus some unknowns.
The summer just has to be the biggest example of water waste..first off, as I said before WE ARE SURROUNDED BY WATER. But yet people think its a good idea to leave a sprinkler on on every block from morning to sunrise even if noone is in the water. Not only is that wasteful its kind of stupid. Water is our life source, when that becomes unattainable for some reason thats the end of us. Some people just don't think that way, water is water to them, its just some natural gift from the earth that will always be here. People need to wake up and smell the h20 and respect our enviroment.
So what can I do to change this sad situation? Alot, I can write letters to my officials, set up harsher fines and other deterrents for messing with my enviroment, my ecology, my life.
My Ecology
FOOD 6.9
MOBILITY 0
SHELTER 2
GOODS/SERVICES 1.7
TOTAL FOOTPRINT 11 Acres
IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON.
WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON.
IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 2.4 PLANETS.
Woah, thats it? My footprint only takes up 11 acres? I could have sworn I would have took up more space. I mean come on, I live on everything around me. Right now I'm sitting on a computer that was made in Asia somewhere, I'm chompin on chips from Nj in a metallic bag probably made at least a hundred miles from Nj. The clothes I'm wearing right now are from Europe somewhere and I'm pretty sure my TV was not made in America. America is an immigrant country and I' m pretty sure all my items are immigrants too.
Let's Change!
So in this case I just would like my area to be safer and less drug abuse in my area for me, an the future of others. Maybe if we all pitched in and stop giving the spot light to the thug life and more to the more educated or wiser. Maybe then something can get done. Maybe places like my community can be looked at in more positive then negative ways some day.
THE DIEING BAY
In the past 2 years the mercury levels of water have increased by 20%. Why? Pollution! Every time I pass by the bay i see trash being tossed. Every time i pass by the bay i see waste being spilled. As human it is our responsibility to be concerned with our environments. Although we do not see the effects of pollution on the bay does not mean that they do not exist. The boats which are used to go out fishing pollute the water so much that soon enough species of fish will begin to disintegrate from the bay.
The long term effects are tremendous to our "water". As citizens of the Sheepshead Bay community we have a duty to rectify the situation presented to us. We have the responsibility to make a healthier environment for the fish. If we join as a community we can clean up the bay and protect it from gradual destruction.
A Surpassed Factor of New York's Nature
My introduction to the ginkgo tree was not first on our classes’ trip to Inwood Park. But it happens to be in front of my aunt house there happens to be a ginkgo tree and it was when my aunt researched the tree to find out why it dropped so much fruit was when I received my first info on ginkgo trees and their purposes.
The form of the ginkgo is large and shady. The ginkgo tree grows to be about 80’ tall and 60’ wide. This tree is highly adaptable to the urban conditions of our city, which may be a reason for the several numbers of the tree. The atmosphere best for this tree is most to partial sun, moist deep, sandy soils but is very adaptable to poor soil, compacted soils, heat, drought, winter salt spray and various soil pHs.
The leaves of the ginkgo trees are unusually fan shape, up to 3” long and flutter in the slightest breeze. The fall colors of the leaves are golden- yellow and green. The ginkgo trees scientific name is ginkgo biloba.The female ginkgo tree produces tan-orange oval fruits from the spur shoots, in great abundance and becoming an extremely mushy mess.
My Ecological Footprint
FOOD 4.7
MOBILITY 1.7
SHELTER 3.5
GOODS/SERVICES 4.7
TOTAL FOOTPRINT 15
This is my ecological footprint, if everyone lived like the way I do, we would need 3.3 planets. This is not a lot because most of the people I know get and ecological footprint of over 20 Acres. I live with a comparison of a modern life and a common life which I brought over from Pakistan. Most of the people that I know were either born here or have been here since they were kidds, so they are used to the life style in the U.S. since childhood. On the other hand i have been here for only 5 and a half years so most of my life styles come from what I have learned as a child which was a simple life in a village. As time passed and I got used to the life in New York my ecological footprint got bigger and bigger because in Pakistan we don't use as much electricity, we never traveled on a plane, and we spent most of the day outside the house; so we weren't inside playing Playstation.
Water Pollution - Its More Then Just Ugly
Photos: Top Left - Sheepshead Bay, Top Right - Polluted Water, Bottom Left - The Bay (the bridge that connects Sheepshead Bay to Manhattan Beach) Bottom Right - Swans On The Water
Safe, Clean,.......But to an extent
DUMPSTERS FOR RENT!!:THE CONDITIONS WE LIVE IN AND THE GOVERMENT TO BLAME FOR
Me , Myself and Ecology !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 1.9 PLANETS. |
ESPECIALLY WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY BUILT
I take the bus every morning to go to school and unfortunately my diet isn't what a vegetarian would eat. My ecology is being born a city girl. Just being use to the life of the city. The quote "we depend on the kindness of a stranger" very much applies to me. However, it didn't affect me much as you can see. However, we know most of the best jobs are in Manhattan, I know this would so much effect me traveling wise. Due to the fact that I live in the city , it's harder to find fresh food and unpolluted transportation. So every single day is a day of pollution.
"The Gangsta Approach"
We have a problem in my community and it's called litter. Now you maybe saying that litter is a problem in every community but when the roaches and mice are not scare to fight you and the rats say hi to you then it becomes a major problem. In my neighborhood at times the kids as well as adults come outside to hang, however, while having fun with each other they seem to drop food on the floor. This increases water bugs and other bugs who will end up in your house having coffee with you.
These problems have also come about because in the building I live in , we have a incinerator. Everyone empties their garbage in the incinerator. Ironically, the garbage goes to the basement. (IN THE BUILDING!!!!) We all know that means more rodents and problems, since they will soon crawl up to apartments in the building. Not to mention, sometimes people do not properly empty the garbage in the incinerator which attracts more rodents for that floor.
Furthermore, as a community we have to put other garbage out on the streets. This is a huge problem because the garbage truck only comes on certain days. I could bet that animals love our block. In fact I wouldn't be surprise if a bear came on our block or even for that matter a whale.
What I am proposing is that we start recycling, If we wish for our kids to grow up in a better environment and for crying out loud NO MORE GARBAGE IN THE BUILDING !!!!!!!! I mean It's 2006, I think it's time for an upgrade! So what do you think? Demote It? Or promote it?
Money isn't the only thing that makes our world go round
Imagine a diverse neighborhood that is crawling with school children all hours of the day. As soon as the elementary school bell rings at 2:30pm, all the children flock to my block like pigeons over a bag of Doritos. Another thing that inhabits most of my connected back yard is a diverse selection of animals. Immature kids plus defenseless animals equals a bad omen.
The main problem that I can’t tolerate in my neighborhood is the disrespect for animals. My neighborhood has a lot of children living here, so when they get their grubby hands on an animal: they will a) capture it, b) maim it and c) leave it for dead somewhere. For example, near the local junior high school, a mother cat gave birth to a litter of kittens. Unfortunately, a boy about 11 years old found her nest underneath a bush and stole a tom kitten that was only 2 weeks old. The boy then proceeds to light it on fire with a can of hair spray and a disposable lighter, just for “fun”. The next day I was able to bait the kitten with a can of tuna fish and give him a nice home with a friend. This problem is also evident in the marine biology lab at our school. The lab has a wide array of animals, and to the students, this might as well be Toys R’ Us. As quoted by Ricky: “They treat them like they are not living things, more like a toy for their amusement, not thinking about its feelings and its safety. Ask your self this question: "What if someone pulled my arms off, just to watch me squirm around defensely."
Animals are living organisms too. They play a vital role in the circle of life in our ecology. For example the lady bug helps our gardens from being over populated by aphids, therefore yielding us more crops and flowers. Kids obviously don’t understand this concept and try to destroy them. Although they have a foul tasting toxin in defense against predators, they have no defense against a curious 10 year old. In trying to help my community to be aware of the organisms inhabiting our backyard, I have created feeding stations for all different species and shelter also. I also give scientific facts to those who will listen.
"Would you hurt me?"
Problems In My Community
There are many cars near where I live. The pollution from the two major roads causes a lot of fumes. The road normally contains new cars so the pollution is less. More pollution is added into the air by the police cars. Most of the time the pollution is added into the air by the factory next door.
Because of the roads and cars, there is lots of fuel exhausts near my house. Most of it comes from the factory next door. Some of it comes from the police station and some from the two major road ways. The police station has a fueling station that also exhausts lots of carbon dioxide. In my community there are lots of problems.
The only way that I think that I can help my community is by supporting of trading in your old cars for new cars and make the car company have shorter hours of more days off. There are many cars on the two roads because it is a major road way. I can’t stop it because it is a state road. Altering it by any means means that I go to jail. Since the newer cars produce less pollution then the only thing I think that I can do is to persuade people to trade in your old cars and trucks for money to buy newer ones.
The factory next door is privately owned. It is also a very big auto industry, changing it would be a big problem for me and the owner. The only thing I can do is to sign a petition that states that the warehouse should open less hours and not so many cars to be repaired or use less machines during the process. In my community, it is hard to change anything if the causes of the problems are a police station, two major state/ city roads and a verrry big auto industry is in your community.
The Asian ecology of a Brooklynite
Although I am a true “Brooklynite”, my mom is from
My mom’s family emigrated from
The unique twist about my noticeably Asian family is that my mom and dad (and almost every single person in my family) speak fluent English, which shocked my friends to no end. I am extremely thankful that my mom graduated from Hunter and didn’t give my sister and me a noticebaly Asian name.
Its been 8 years since we moved into our current house and we aren't exactly the most eco - friendly family. I can tell by our bills that we do indeed waste alot of water and electricity. Although we do try to save our resources, my family hasn't made much of an improvement in saving the ecosystem. According to www.myfootprint.org, I would have used up:
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American Dream or Environmental Nightmare?
My family is originally from
When my family finally moved to American, we moved into my uncle’s house, from my father’s side of the family. They had kicked us out because they did not want to deal with an extra six people to care for. Our first real apartment was on
Later on we moved to an apartment on
Now we bought a house and live really far from everyone. Our daily commute most of the time does not involve walking. At this time we live in
Since coming to
My Urban Ecology- It's Not all about what we use!
Everything has an ecology, living or non-living. I even have my own, ecology. My life started when I was born in Jamaica queens on July 12, 1989. where I stayed for a month an half for medical difficultly due to early birds. Then arrived home to the urban community in Brooklyn, NY. where I was raised in a 2 bed room apartment. Where I had inhibited my home with 2 older sisters, my mother, and my father. My mother and father are born in Puerto Rico. My mother was born in Camuy and my dad was born in Rinsed. My mother moved out to Brooklyn, in Coney Land when she was less the 6 months old. With my grandmother who was a single mother of 3 at the time. The reason that she moved out to Brooklyn. Was to give here children and better life and education. Cause education was at a greater rise here then in Calumny. She also moved cause work was hard to find, and too far of a distance from her local home. My father in the other hand lived in Rinsed all his life. There, is where he lived in a two room home. which you can consider as those shack like home. With No electric, no running water, and a small farm in the back. But As he got older, he meets my mother. Where she went at the time to visit family. Then soon later had my older sister which, then moved back to Puerto Rico. But when my fathers contract had ended form a local construction business, they both decide to move to Brooklyn to get better benefits. Cause the benefits in Puerto Rico were very low. People were lucky if they got a $15 a day job. A jobs like that there, was like a $35 a day job here. So, after having my two sister, the moved in to a apartment building in of the local projects in Brooklyn. Where I was then raised my whole life. I was bought up with a lot of opportunities in my life. My culture wasn't fill embrace until my later years. I mean we spoke our native language and ate our native cultural food. But it didn't always embrace our lives. Everything in my life, I had embrace and grow a relationship with. wether if its my family, friends, animals, people, and just mostly everything in general. My way of life and everything that surrounded me. Has effected me and made me become dependent on some resources. But also had opened my eyes to may thing. Some times when people think of ecology or understand it for the first time they think that, it automatically has to deal with resources and things like that. But not always, it has to also deal with the effect of the environments. Which is placed on a person or an organism. Like its reaction to things, its way of life, it way of survival and most of all the way it develops. Weather its emotionally, physically, or mentally. Ecology doesn't always have to deal with birds, food, or how much recourses someone can use with in a year or a life time. But it tells us our history of development, during our lives.
I built a relationships, of a need for knowledge, threw my eyes.