Deforstation

Individual Inquiry #1:

Although there are many things that need changing in this world, there is only so much one person can do.  The change one person can make can start in your community/community around you.  That is truly the best place to start with such a big subject of change.  If you believe you can do one thing to make this world better start where you live and let it grow. In the video this guy has built a whole forest, bigger then Central Park, mostly by himself and with his passion.  Passion is a key thing to anything you want to do, especially if you are striving to make a change.  Find something that you are passionate about and go after it.  If you love recycling then start a recycling program.  Recycling is a great place to start.  You can recycle the plastic bags that you get from the grocery store and reuse them, or even donate them back to those grocery stores that will take them back.  Get the reusable bags and start using those.  Follow the three R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle.  Another great way to start is to just talk to the people around you and start spreading the word about your project.  Make flyers, hold activities, put booths up at schools, along with other things you could do around your community.  Just remember passion and spreading the word can make the biggest difference in the world.

Blog post #1: Deforestation and Our Behavior

Why is deforestation such a big issue?  Why do we care so much about it?  Deforestation is an issue that is going to pretty much dictate our world in the near future, at least in my opinion.  Trees are the ones that let us breath and live, they keep us going.  “I speak for the trees,” Dr. Seuss wrote in The Lorax, which is going to be me here.  About 60,000 square kilometers of forests are being cut down each year.  That is due to many reasons.  We need trees for paper at schools, offices, etc. also for wood.  You can find wood in almost everything that you touch and see.  It is in the furniture you sit on, the things you write with, the things you eat out of and use to make meals with, and it is even what you live in.  Trees are a major part of our life, not just because of wood and paper but also because of the air we breath.  They provide us with oxygen and if we continue to cut them down at the rate that we are we will not be living as long as we should. 

            Cultural ecology is a good example on how the environment we live in and the ones we don’t know about.  The first step is when technology effects the environment.   For example when we come up with new lawnmower or car, you go and test it outside.  So you would take this lawnmower out and test it on your yard and see if it cuts well or if you like the way it works.  Or if you have a new model of a car that you really like, so you take it out for a spin and you are out for a good thirty minutes you are polluting the air because of just driving around for fun. These are both examples on how technology is effecting the environment.  This same technology affects our behavior because we become curious when we see something new that we want to just try it out.  When you see that a new iPhone or computer comes out you want to go and test it out or see if you want to buy it.  That is what we are best at, buying and relying on technology.  Finally, our behavior can affect the rest of the world.  If we are buying things like crazy then the producers of those things are going to take that into account and keep producing more of the things that will sell the most.  Also the fact that we want to keep building houses, offices, and just buildings everywhere doesn’t help the fact that we are destroying someone else’s home when we find the land for these future buildings. 

            On the other hand ethno ecology comes in handy when you are going out and teaching or even just talking to people about what Deforestation and our behavior towards it is.  You have to be interested in people’s point of view to that subject and then their known knowledge but also the knowledge that they still do not have.  Not a lot of people know the hard facts about this issue.  They just know that yeah, we have been cutting down a lot of trees lately wonder why? Or they know very minimal on the affects that cutting down all these rainforests can have on the environment on that part of the world.  There are so many factors that go along with deforestation.  You have to keep in mind the animals that live in those rainforests and then the oxygen sources that you are cutting off by killing that many trees at once.

            I think that this destroying rainforests and habitats of other animals and sometimes even humans will take a turn soon enough and will lead us all down a path to where we will look and just think, why did we ever think this was a good idea.  I do not believe our world will be over ruled with technology before we will run out of fresh air to breath.  There is only so much you can do to try and help this issue.  Try and not use so much paper for anything you do.  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, the three R’s that you should always follow.  So what, maybe it won’t get you so far right now but just think in the long run you will be thankful because you would have created a better life for those after you.  Just keep that in mind.

Number Two:

Hello, and welcome back!  So glad you could join us on this wonderful snowy day.  Today we’ll be talking about political ecology along with cultural ecology and their effects along with some possible solutions that go right along with those issues.  Also the chain of explanation in political ecology might be mentioned as well.  This is a very good representation on how it all goes down and who we could target to help us with our goal.  Speaking of goals, ours today is to spread the word and to become more informed about the little things going on right now.  Okay enough talk, lets go dig some dirt on all these things and let us go and help save the little things in life!

Political Ecology, environmental destruction and construction.  Why Destruction?  Why environmental destruction?  Why not just construction?  So many questions but I sure do not have the answers to all of these questions.  Political power plays a very powerful part in this issue.  Most people, when thinking about political ecology, deforestation is not the first issue that comes to mind.  There are so many other things going on in the world today that deforestation seems like a minor one to be talking about, but that is why you are reading this.  To learn more about the little things, the things that do not have a voice.  Remember, we speak for the trees. 

So now what can we do to help prevent political ecology to take over the little things.  Spread the word! Go to those who are in politics and talk to them.  Give them an idea of what we are against here and try to convince them to help us out.  The more people know about it the easier it will get, eventually.  Make videos, flyers, put it in a newspaper, go and host lectures about the issue even.  Anything that you would think could help right now.  Even the littlest thing can turnout to be the greatest help. 

Now on to cultural ecology.  Cultural ecology is defined as, studies that dimensions of culture that interacts more closely with economy and the environment.  When I read this I think of The Forest Man.  For those of you that have not heard or seen this, it is a mini documentary about a man and how he has built a forest on this island off in Asia.  This forest in now bigger then central park and he has taken care of it all on his own.  This is his creation, his baby and he has watched it and helped it grow to become something beautiful and something he could be proud of.  Now some might ask how does this story fit with cultural ecology, well this is what I think.  These two tie together because, in my mind, is it kind like his culture and his personality is interacting with the environment.  He was told to protect the forest and so he has, and has let it grow and expand as well.  He is a perfect roe model for this situation.  He can teach us so much if we set forth to go and save the earth. 

The chain of explanation in political ecology, what is this you may ask?  Well I am here to tell you.  It’s a list of steps showing how political ecology travels and works in its own way.  From the top down, the first one is Landscape/ecological systems.  This is more like just the environment and the trees or the grass, plants flowers, etc.  Everything to do with that which leads to producers/communities.  Here is where we get to the people that go and destroy or protect everything from above.  This is an important step because here is where you spread the word and from here is where if more people and communities know the better the outcome will be.  The third level is local/regional institutions.  This is also important because this is one where you still don’t have a big group but its beneficial for people to know what is going on and have them all informed.  Next is the state, where politics comes into play and where we meet those who are in charge of the country and what it stands for.  The last level is transnational firms/finance; these is where we go and help the others in the world and get to know what is going on globally and what we could do to help those who need it.  All these levels tie in with history and have a little part of history and how it will affect it and relate to it in some way. 

Well this is all for now.  Until next time friends.

Blog #3:  What is the Anthropocene?

And we are back with the Anthropecene.  What is the Anthropecene, you ask?  And how do we affect it?  How can we help?  How can it change? Well these are good questions you may have over a topic that is very interesting and it was also what we have talked about this last week.  All these points are great starts to this issue that we call our home.  And how does that fit with deforestation you ask?  Well we will explore that in a little.  Right now lets just take it one step at a time.  Let us venture onto this topic together now, shall we?

Anthropecene: an informal geologic chronological term for the proposed epoch that began when human activities had a significant global impact on the Earth's ecosystems.

So pretty much when humans started destroying the world that we live in and started cutting everything down to build things for us and all that kind of stuff is when everything started to go down hill. 

There are three stages on how everything went down, according to some people.  Stage one: regular growth.  That is when everything was normal and we were advancing at a regular pace and everything still wasn’t that bad.  Then we moved onto stage two which was right after World War 2, The Great Acceleration.  This is when things started to get edgy.  Everything went up really fast and we started doing all kinds of things to the environment and industrial revolution hit hard here too.  This started causing the downfall of the environment and the rise of population, industries, and deforestation.  The last stage is where we currently stand, 2015.  We have three options in this last stage.  Business-as-usual, with this we would just keep going as we were, not really change anything too much.  Keep living life as we are.  Or we could start mitigation, which is the futuristic flying cars, teleporting kind of stuff.  Or lastly, geo-engineering.  This sounds fancy but its not.  If this happens then we will start fixing everything that we have messed up and the things we can but it eventually will not do anything.  This is a baby step that will help us move along but not at a fast pace, which sometimes that is what we need, baby steps to keep us going. 

In my opinion, I have a feeling we are going to keep inventing new things when maybe we need to slow that down a little and think about the old things we can fix and make better and think a little bit about the world we live in and the environments around us and help fix those before we keep inventing things for the future.  That is the thing, things will break but the environment is always here for us no matter how much we mess with it and try and break it.  That is our true home and we need to start realizing it so we can take care of it and help it live longer.  For example, trees.  They help us breath and if we keep cutting them down and using them for other things then soon we will not have anything providing us oxygen so therefore we will not need to keep inventing things because we will probably not be here anymore.  With how many people that are on Earth, we need all the oxygen we can get. 

I think that we will keep doing what we are doing (business-as-usual) and then it will come to a point where we will need to start fixing things even if it does not make that big of a difference (geo-engineering) because it is the thought that counts and if we are thinking about helping the world then maybe we can get other people to do the same thing so everyone can do it.  Then lastly I am thinking that mitigation is going to happen.  It will also happen throughout the other two but it will sky rocket here for sure.  We have some brilliant people on our planet and they will keep inventing incredible things because they have the drive to.  They will keep exceeding everyone’s expectations in a matter of time, so just sit back and wait for it to happen. 

Well, the last of it has come to a conclusion about the Anthropecene.  It is an incredible place to live and to watch grow, but just remember about those trees that help us live and what all we can do to help them live.

Individual Inquiry #2

            After watching a video over democracy and mega-dam construction in Brazil and Turkey I have tried to come up with four different scenarios in a way to help. 

Scenario one:

            If the indigenous people keep fighting and they end up wining so the dams are therefore not built but the flooding could still be a possibility in the near future.  This could be a bad thing but also a good thing.  The downside to this situation would be that the fight they were fighting was just there so that their home wouldn’t get flooded or destroyed by the river its self.  Rivers are rapidly rising because of global warming so I wouldn’t be surprised if in a couple years islands start disappearing because of the sea level rising.  The bright side would be that they won and they don’t have to deal with anyone destroying their rivers.

Scenario two:

            On the other had if the people lost and they continued to go and build dams on their rivers no one would be too happy.  Although they might be saving the islands and their homes it is not what “clean energy” is about.  It will just make the water dirtier and destroy their water source.  Also if the indigenous people still are not on board about this idea once they are up they might be prone to do whatever they can think of to destroy the dam its self.

Scenario three:

            If they were to not build the dams and still need a ”clean energy source”, the government could put that money towards solar panels or even wind turbines.  Those are both reasonable energy sources that could do the same as a dam but without ruining their water source that is very important to them.  They are saving the water but at the same time they are creating energy that could be better for them and their situation.  There are so many ways for clean energy to be made it’s just finding the right way that is the hard part.

Scenario four:

            If the dam is built and the people are not happy.  This is when you should start to worry.  Think of a time you didn’t get your way, would you go back and do everything possible to ruin and hurt the other person?  The indigenous people might see this in a terrible way and then go and fight the government or even start and destroy the dam that was just built.  Which could cause the river to get destroyed because of all the pollution that would be put into it because of the destruction of the dam.  This is a loose-loose situation, no matter what they try it will still end up for the worst.

Blog #6: Carbon Democracy, Energy, Diversity and Deforestation

            Welcome back kids!  This week in class we have been talking about carbon democracy and energy flows.  So how does energy have to do with deforestation you ask?  Well you are here to find out I’m sure!  Anyways lets get to work, shall we.

            So how does energy and democracy have to do with deforestation?  Well, energy can be defined as multiple things:

 1. The strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity. 

2. A person's physical and mental powers, typically as applied to a particular task or activity. 

3. Power derived from the utilization of physical or chemical resources, especially to provide light and heat or to work machines. 

In this case we will be using the third definition for the most part. 

            Energy is an important part in our society.  We use it to pretty much to do anything, power our houses, our cars, our phones, pretty much anything you can think of.  Without energy we would probably still be cavemen.  Just think what it would be like if energy was never invented, where the world would be.  It’s crazy to think something that little could mean so much to our world now.  Trees were a huge part of energy in the late 1800s.  Wood was one of the big sources that powered industries back then.  Shortly after people thought that it would be a good idea to start cutting down trees for everything that is when deforestation started going down hill.  Probably even before that if we were using wood as energy.

            Carbon democracy, is more of the oil and mining fields that have changed throughout the past years.  For example we use coal mining for electricity production, factory work, trains, etc.  Both of these are examples of sustaining the anthropocene that we talked about last week.  Coal mining and oil fields are the new scene of the anthropocene in the modern world that we live in. 

            If there wasn’t any trees then the CO2 that was in the air would just stay in the air and no oxygen would be produced because the trees cannot convert the CO2 into O2.  Trees are sort of an essential thing in our lives at the moment and we need then to breath and survive.  We need to start thinking about a solution for the issue of deforestation so that we can all live a longer life and pollution levels will go down and the people after us will enjoy nature and be outdoors more then we are now.

Democracy is a big subject to the world and our own different communities.  It’s kind of crazy to think how much of a difference it can make in our lives.  It can decide where we go to school, what we learn, what we eat/can eat, what we do with our environment and everything around us.  You don’t think about it having such a great impact over everything but it usually does.  They make all the rules and laws that we follow so in a way they are in charge of us. 

Another topic that got brought up in class was the topic of diversity and why it is so important.  Diversity is a great thing sometimes.  When you are trying to decide something important and you want opinions on things and advice on what to do, it is good to have some diversity in certain situations.  It can call for different ideas and points of views on different situations. Also if you are taking a poll of something and you want different points of views and different solutions or something it would be a good idea to get a little diversity and different options.  Life without diversity would be very rough.  I feel like we would have problems and fights breaking out all over.  That is the upside of having such a great diversity in our world.  Although there are fights that break out every once in a while it probably wouldn’t be ask much if we didn’t have diversity.  Diversity vs. the trees.  With different people and their different opinions on deforestation there could be a great opportunity to help fix the situation. 

Democracy, energy, diversity and deforestation can all go together in different ways.  Hope you didn’t get too lost in this blog post and hope you learned at least one thing or made you think about something that you don’t really think about all the time.  Until next week readers!

Blog Number Seven:   Ideology

Welcome back friends.  Today we are going to talk about ideology and what it means.  Figuring out your ideology and then using that to go on and talk about the environment and how it could help you figure out ways to help save it.  Join me in exploring through this thought.

What is ideology?  But more importantly what is your ideology? 

Ideology: a system of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.  It also is, the science of ideas; the study of their origin and nature. 

We are going to form our ideas of the environment and deforestation. 

The anthropocene that we live in has many ways that we look at it.  If you just go and think about where you live and the areas around you that you always go to you see a wonderful place called home.  For me being a student at Kansas State University I think of campus and call it home.  That is my home and the place I am always at.  The dorms are home because it is where I live.  Those are my thoughts over my anthropocene.  Although being in college the place you live is so closely related to the place that I go to school at (its cause it is the same place pretty much).  School and home can be the same two places because if it is what you are always around then you cannot help but call it the same place.  Even when I do go back to Kansas City (the place I grew up) that is still home to me as well.  Nothing wrong with have two homes.  So what is your ideology on your home? 

Now onto deforestation.  What’s your ideology on deforestation?  A tough question for people to answer sometimes.  I’ll tell you mine and maybe that’ll help.  Deforestation, I am not fully on bored with it but then again I use paper all the time.  I hate the fact that we have to cut down almost every tree we see in order to make paper, furniture, houses, books, anything you can think of.  It is a tricky thing to realize everytime I print something off I feel like I am killing a tree.  I love writing but I hate the fact that in order to write you have to kill the things that help us breath and survive.  Without trees we would have an overload of CO2 in the air because there are no trees there to take that and turn it into oxygen for us to breath in.  I feel like I always say this but it is the truth, WE HAVE TO SAVE THE TREES.  Recycle, don’t print everything out all the time.  It is the little things that we have to think about so that they can help us get the big picture and help us realize that the big things are the things that will help us stay here longer, the ones that will help us learn and go and share that knowledge with generations to come. 

So in a way my ideology on deforesetation is my blog over it all not just this post but the whole thing.  Throughout the semester because every week there is something new that I mention, or try to at least, that shows us studying different things and then relate it back to our topic, our project.  So think about your ideology over something you are passionate about and explain that.  That’s your project for next time!  So until then and thanks for reading fellow friends.

Blog Number Eight:  Climate vs. Trees
 

And we are back!  This time we are just going to talk about the climate and how that can affect the trees and us humans very much.  What is climate, the actually definition would be: 1. The weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period.  2. A region with particular prevailing weather conditions.  3. The prevailing trend of public opinion or of another aspect of public life.  So pretty much the weather, and how it feels outside in the area you are in. If I were to look up the weather for today it would currently be 36 degrees and the high is 63 with a low of 39.  That is the weather forecast for today but what will it be in lets say ten years?  With global warming and all the other things in the world that can affect the weather forecast who knows what the weather will be like then?  It could be warmer or colder or perhaps there could be a tornado or a thunderstorm.  So many options but we wont ever know until that time comes. 

Global warming and how it might affect deforestation.  Well, in my mind at least, when I think about these two issues I think that they do not go along well together.  Lets say that we are talking about the amazons and we know that it already gets really hot down there but if global warming gets worst then it is just going to get hotter and hotter and then all the water will evaporate and then where will the trees get the water that they need?  Or if there is a pretty big forest up by a coast and the glaciers melt so that there is more water in the oceans then there should be the forest will get flooded and then the trees would get flooded and they might die because of all the water.  Two extremes and how they might kill a bunch of trees.  It isn’t quite deforestation but it is one way of getting rid of trees.  We have to try and save them and try and stop global warming to prevent these situations from happening. 

The climate is a big issue now a days and I have a feeling it is just going to get worse.  We need to figure out a way to really help and try to fix this issue so that we can all have a longer and better life.  Also so that it will not ruin our environments and our homes.  Those are two important factors that should give us an incentive to go out and do something so that we can stop and look around us to see the place that we want to save.  If that means stop using paper and start typing everything and saving trees that way.  Or if it means carpooling everywhere or maybe it even means watch what you throw away and make sure that if you can recycle it that you do.  Start with the little things and then go from there.  Spread the word and make people aware of what is happening to the world around them then maybe they will change their minds and go and help you change the world.  You just have to make sure that they are passionate about it as much as you are.  That is probably the most important thing.  You can do it just gotta believe!  Anyways that for reading this week, talk to you guys soon, have a great spring break!

Blog #10:  How we can make a difference

            Welcome back friends!  So lately I’ve been thinking about a couple ways that we could spread the word.  After what we have talked about in class the past few days and about the consumers and how we act on the environment doesn’t help it got me to thinking.  And again when I went to print something the other day and how paper and wood and trees are used everywhere.  Anyways, we need to take a step back and look at life and realize what is important and how we can change things that are currently hurting the environment we live in.  Here are a couple ideas (some might have been mentioned before so beware).

1.  Recycle: I know that my dorm just started this recycling program this year and by the looks of it, it seems pretty successful!  It is twice a week and all you have to do is put all your stuff outside your door.  A lot of people participate in it and it is such a great thing for our world!  Saves so many things, and if you think about it there are so many things that we use that can be recycled instead of thrown away.  This was all possible because of one person and how much they cared about our world and recycling.  Just proves you can do anything if you’re passionate about it!

2.  Pick up after yourself: This goes for everyone everywhere.  There is a time in everyone’s life where you have had to litter at least once.  I know I’m guilty for it and I think you guys are too.  Just think if no one littered how clean everything would be.  If you didn’t throw your gum on the ground or out the window instead of throwing it away, no one would ever step on gum.  If when you drop papers and they go flying if you picked them all up there wouldn’t be things all over the streets.  It’s really simple, we do it at home all the time so why not do it outside too!  Just think about it next time you want to throw that gum out the window or you drop something.

3. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX: I know we are all capable of thinking outside the box.  We do it all the time!  We do it for homework, when we go on adventures, just thinking about what to do to eat or anything.  It is a lot simpler then we think it to be.  Be creative with things.  You can think about a million different things to do with a piece of paper to reuse it.  Or even like water bottles or plastic.  There are so many things out there that we can do with almost anything.  The possibilities are endless you just have to be creative.

            So I challenge you guys to go out try some new things and help the world we live in while you’re at it.  Take shorter showers, reuse the materials that you use, and don’t throw gum out the window and who knows maybe you’ll see a difference in our world.  Have fun doing it and let me know if there’s anything new that could help others.  Till next time!

Blog 11: Can you really turn into a tree when you die?

            Welcome back readers!  So today at our Easter dinner I was talking to one of our family friend and we somehow got on the topic of death, which lead to someone saying that there was like a pod type thing that you can put yourself into after you die and then plant it and you will turn into a tree.  I thought that was the craziest thing but it got me thinking about this blog and I figured that it could be a great topic to talk about and a little different.  I did looked it up when I got home and I found this website: 

https://urnabios.com/shop/

They are called “Bio Urns”, you can buy them for $145 and there are about 5/6 trees you can choose to be.  They can either be used for humans or pets!  The way I imagine they work is that you will be cremated and then placed in these urns and then buried in the ground where you will eventually turn into a tree and be remembered for whom you were and the life you have lived.  You can even get your whole family in it and maybe even some close family friends in it with you and then it will be like a big family forest and that would be really cool.  Perhaps you could even dedicate the location where all these people will be put and protect it.  Or perhaps even if there was a big area, like a cemetery, but instead of gravestones we could have “grave yards” but instead “tree yards”.

            In my opinion when I die I don’t want to be rotting in the ground or cremated and just put in a box.  After hearing this idea I think it is a brilliant idea and I would definitely rather do this then the other two ideas.  I think it is a great way to repay the earth with all the trees that we cut down and burn up all the time.

            This is a great alternate way in helping the trees and the whole deforestation issue.  When we talked about ideas about things to do to for helping the trees last week, well add it to the list!  It is a very interesting way to think about things and death because who knows maybe if you believe in the after life and that you can be something more after you die you literally be something after you die.  And you will even get to pick what kind of tree to be.  It is a great idea and I think that more people should be aware of it, not only because of the benefits that it will give our environment but because it is a pretty cool idea!  It is an adventure and an experiment almost.  It is a pretty cool thing and I hope this post could help you to explore new possibilities and maybe think about something outside of the box on a situation so serious.

-Enjoy!

Blog 12: The lives that are effected

            Welcome back readers.  Tonight we are going to be touch on the subjects that are being effected because of all the trees that we are taking away.  Animals have homes in some trees and forests.  The trees are there to protect them and guard them from the world around them.  They are a huge part in their lives.  I know that if someone were to come by and just take my home away from me and destroy it I would be pretty shaken up about it and I would not like it at all.  The same goes for you guys too I would imagine. 

            If you really think about it there are so many different types of animals that loose their homes because they live in trees.  You have birds, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, probably some snakes or frogs, and all the insects along with many more not mentioned.  It is not just animals that loose something when we cut down these trees.  Up to 28,000 species are expected to become extinct by the next quarter of the century due to deforestation.  That’s 28,000 types of possibly really cool animals that the world will stop knowing about and just not even care about.  So many lives that will be lost within a very short amount of time.  That is the scary part of it al, well for me it is.  The world is so big and we probably haven’t even started seeing any of it and then you hear facts like that and you see it happening everyday that it makes you wonder what the next generations are going to do about it and how everything will be effected from that.  It is mid blowing to think about animals or even people getting extinct and how we have such a huge part in it and how we don’t really do anything to stop it from happening.

Did you know that there are more than 121 natural remedies in rainforests that can be used as medicine?  That is 121 options to get better and help those that are sick.  Also that are NATURAL and probably not found anywhere else.  Those are chances that people have that could help save them.  Just something to think about the next time you think about recycling but don’t or the next time you go a print something and use all that paper.  It’s the little things that can make the big difference in the long run! 

Until next week readers!

Individual Inquiry #3: The Precautionary Principle

            I think that the precautionary principle is a good thing and could benefit us if we have enough people on board with it and helping everything/everyone out in carrying it forward.  When I think of climate change it worries me and kind of scares me thinking of the future so it is the perfect time to let people know about this principle.  We have proven that we are harming the environment with all the big companies and industries that we have now so since the precautionary principle says that “when an activity raises threats or harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically”.  If we think something is harming us or our home then we have the right to help it and fix it.  That is why I think it is necessary now in days so that we don’t make things worst and hopefully start reversing the damage we have done.  Or at least start to if anything. 

            Even though there might be risks for the outcome of this principle and things might go wrong it is still worth a try.  There are risks for everything that we do and yet we still do them.  Same thing here its just us helping the things we really care about. 

            Its worth a try so why not just see if it works and go from there!

Blog #13: Why do emotions matter
 

Walking through the amazons

            We’re back with yet another topic to discus, so get ready!  This past week we have been talking about emotions and how we feel about climate change as well as other issues that we live with daily. So tonight we are going to talk about how those emotions play a huge part in what we can do in our environment today to help those issues and hopefully try and stop them sooner rather then later. 

            When you hear the term deforestation what emotions do you feel right away?  I know for me I feel sad because when you think of it and how many trees we cut down on the daily and how much of all the rainforests we are destroying.  It is a sad thing when you realize how many homes we are tearing down every minute.  It makes you wonder what we would do if something like that were to happen to us and our homes how would we feel.  I also feel worried because of the fact that trees make oxygen and if we keep going at the rate that we are then how are we going to have enough oxygen to survive for centuries to come.  Just thinking about the next generation after us and how they are going to do it and if they will even have rainforests to go look at.  I’ve been to the amazons and it is just beautiful and everyone should have to opportunity to go look and one of the natural wonders that this world has to offer us.  There will be people that will not have that opportunity because of everything that we are doing now and what we have been doing. 

            Emotions can cause you to feel many things towards an issue and they might even help you realize things that you could do differently to help the issue.  It’s one of the little things that will help you realize how to live your life and how to be the best you can be! 

            Hopefully this made you think about how you feel towards deforestation and other issues.  Till next time readers.  

Blog #14- How tiny is too tiny?

            This week we watched a really cool and motivating film called Tiny.  It is on Netflix but it was sure a movie I had not heard about before taking this class.  It is about people that build their own little house on a trailer pretty much.  Their house is only 100-200 square feet and some are even smaller then that.  They do this because they want to live in a smaller place and enjoy the environment more then the inside of their own home.  It forces them to go outside more and spend more time outdoors since inside is much smaller then a normal house.  There are probably more then just that reason too.  I think that whoever came up with this idea is really cool because although you are living in a box pretty much it makes you think about all the things you buy the things you bring home and how to use things that you would use everyday.  Also the layout of these houses are pretty coll.  I’m one of those people that goes house hunting for fun and goes and looks at model houses because they are bored.  You get so many ideas from these and after watching this movie I got so many ideas on how to use things and how to store them so that they are not in the way and they are hidden. 

The other thing that was pretty cool is how they build it.  They have to get a trailer and then build a house on top of it.  Oh, and they have to make sure that it won’t move in the middle of the night, or during a thunderstorm.  Also they have to make sure that it is sturdy enough to hold everything and that they outside won’t get ruined if there’s a huge snow storm or earthquake even.  It will probably be hard but if you are up for it then I support you no matter what!  It is a great thing and a pretty cool one at that.

This is at rue story about living small but exploring big.  It is a whole new world when you watch it and it kind of makes you wonder how they do it and how they make it work.  It can amaze you to just think about how people are okay with it; I know it amazed me when I watched this.

Blog #15: The Final Goodbye

            We’re back and maybe for the last time.  So this is where the end begins.  From the first day of class when our teach told us about this project to the day he told us that it was finally over there were mixed feelings all around.  I know that I was kind of dreading it but now I really don’t know what I’m going to do with my Sunday nights.  Even though this semester is over this blog is still going to be up, the real question is if we will keep writing. 

Some of the big parts that have really opened my eyes throughout this semester through the readings we have done, the discussions we have had and all the other blogs that we have read.  One thing that I really enjoyed was when we had to watch Forest Man.  That short film was eye opening and crazy to think that this man made a forest from a desert pretty much.  He had an idea and decided to do something about it.  He did everything he could to make this beautiful forest out of nothing but he kept with it no matter what.  That is showing true dedication and it makes me wonder what if everyone cared about something that big, who knows maybe the world would be changing in a better way a little bit faster.  Another piece that I can still remember was How to die in the Anthropocene.  This reading felt more like a story being told rather then a reading throwing all this information to you.  It was also interesting to see how the author described his views on dying in the Anthropocene.  Emotions are also a big part in this class and talking about those were big in trying to understand everything and in listening and figuring out other peoples views on certain things.  Not only the reading on emotions but the discussion that we had in class that day over the reading was also one of the big things that I enjoyed and found very interesting.  I honestly didn’t really thing much about emotion and how that all played a part of this class, but after that day it certainly made me thing a little more on how I felt on certain issues.  That was probably one of my favorite days because I didn’t realize how everyone felt about one issue and how maybe people agreed with them.  It opened my eyes in helping me realize it is okay to feel more then one thing on a subject, even if they are total opposites.

            I think I have learned a lot about blogging, more then I thought I would.  Looking back to the first post to the last I have realized that even though I may not be a great writer I have learned a lot from reading other people’s blogs and researching random topics that come up during a family dinner.  You would be amazed on all the things you could find if you actually look up half the things people talk about.  I know I was when I looked up the idea of a bio urn.  That was probably one of my favorite parts of this project was finding things that could relate to your topic and still be very interesting to read and write about.  The bio urn was also one of my favorite posts because it was so unique (to me at least) and it was in idea that came up in an everyday setting and something I didn’t really believe until I actually looked it up when I got home.  Who knew you could actually become useful to the environment when you die.  Also it is still something my family talks about at random dinner conversations today.  Just earlier today my mom mentioned it to my grandma and she was amazed and didn’t think it could actually happen.  Another interesting thing I thought that was really cool was watching that movie on the “Tiny houses”.  I told my mom about that and she actually really liked the idea.  Yesterday while we were walking around Ikea we saw all these things that could be put into her “Tiny house”.  It was lots of fun kind of joking around with her about it all. 

            This blog has brought to me, and I’m sure everyone else too, an eventful semester.  I can’t believe how much everyone has grown through writing this blog and through exploring new projects. 

So this is the final farewell, maybe.  Until the next time I write or someone writes.  Thank you for all the support and reading even if you hated it.