ScrAPES #2 Plastic In The Ocean

ScrAPES #2 Plastic In The Ocean
Podcasts:

World Sailors Call For Plastic-free Oceans : http://loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=15-P13-00023&segmentID=3

Testing Boston Harbor for Plastic : http://loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=15-P13-00023&segmentID=4

Meeting the Challenge of Plastic Marine Debris : http://loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=15-P13-00023&segmentID=5

Topic: Plastic Waste

June 5th 2015 

      The podcast is about plastic being wasted through out the world and especially in the ocean. There is waste everywhere through schools, playgrounds, and everywhere else! 80 percent of the plastic comes from the land. 20 percent of plastic is from sea based human acts (boats, fishing gears). 50 percent of the waste comes from 5 countries in Asia. The U.S. is #20 on the list because we generate a large amount of waste regularly, there are a lot of people living on the coastal area, and 13% of that waste is made of plastic. Tyler O'Brien went to the Boston Harbor to explore more about the micro plastic. Micro plastics can come into the water from land-point sources, rivers, streams, and rain events. They can be bags, bottles, or wrappings. Micro plastics can have bad effects for the environment and human health. She then used 2 metal sieves to collect some micro plastic. On one metal sieve it has 300 micrometers and the other 63 micro meters. Micro plastic is not good for animals because the animals eat the micro plastic and they die and then WE eat those animals and then it moves on through the food web. Animals usually mistake micro plastic to plankton because its that small. 

     The reason why I chose this podcast was because it seemed very interesting and I new nothing about micro plastics before I heard the podcast. I can never imagine something very small can just pile and pile up and become this big huge bad thing for the environment. The amount of plastic just being thrown in the water is unbelievable. What was very interesting was that Sweden doesn't produce that much plastic waste to the environment.  

     This podcast is important to environmental science because it shows us how micro beads, micro plastic, and trash in general is affecting our life style. If we keep producing more and more trash into these oceans/lakes we will soon be swimming with the plastic! We can cut off on buying so much plastic, we can start recycling more plastic. We can also make a change on the type of products we use and to be sure when its necessary to use them. 

ScrAPES #1 She hasn't made any trash in 2 years

ScrAPES #1 She hasn't made any trash in 2 years
Published:November 23 2014
By: Joe Martino
Article: http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/11/23/she-hasnt-made-any-trash-in-2-years-this-is-what-her-life-is-like/

Topic: Eliminating Trash

      This article talks about Lauren Singer's journey onto how she hasn't made any trash in 2 years. Lauren Singer is a is taking Environmental Studies at NYU. She is currently against big oil and wanted to help the environment in a positive way. How her journey started into not making any trash in 2 years was that she opened her refrigerate and realized that almost all of her items was wrapped in a disposable bag. Lauren also decided to bring her own bags wherever she went shopping. She also stopped asking for receipts and is no longer using personal are products. Her final thoughts into her journey on "zero waste" was that she saves money, she eats better and she lives a better life.

    The reason why I chose this article was that the title seamed appealing to me "Hasn't made any trash in 2 years" that sounded very crazy to me. No one can ever go 2 years without making waste in his/her life. A connection that I can make it when I tried to put myself into the habit on putting things correctly in the recycling bins. I used to put all the paper and plastic in the garbage cans not caring about the environment. But as years go on I realize that we only have 1 world to live in and that I should start recycling.

    This article is important to environmental science because it shows that 1 person can make a difference into the environment regardless on when you start. This article proves that anyone can make a change in the environment even if its "zero waste" What is very significant about this article is that she took her time and effort into changing herself on not wasting any trash. She went overboard and took the next step. Lauren brought her own bags, didn't ask for receipts. She even stopped wearing makeup! This article shows that anyone can do it and that it doesn't mater where you start its about how you are going to make a change in the environment.

My Connection To Nature

                      Connection To Nature 

What I think nature is that it's all about the environment. I see nature in many different types of forms but the most interesting thing about nature is the plants. The plants always seize to amaze me they are interesting in many ways. The color, the shape, and sizes and identifying what type of plant it is. What I wish to do to connect with nature is to help people plant trees or just start a garden in there backyard. To me gardening and planting is the best way to interact with nature. I help my dad with the garden and we are planting all sorts of stuff. Why I think its important to connect with nature is that without re planting plants and without taking care of the environment we wouldn't be living at all. Nature is just a part of me that will help me in many different way. But people take advantage and they tend to be very mean to nature.