Individual Inquiries

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.

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.

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!