Green Shoes

Planning out the shape was very difficult and took many random discussions through classes to incorporate the price of soil and plants of the size of garden we were creating, and how to shape it around the focal point which is the rock and tree. After many random discussions in class we decided on the shape and went out and started creating the garden. The first thing we did outside was laying a rope around the area we wanted and moved the rope around until we had the shape correct then we spray painted over the rope. Once the spray paint was down we started taking square nose shovels around the edges around the spray painted area and lifted up the sod in medium sized pieces and piled them around the school. After a few days of lifting sod, getting dirty, hurting our feet on the shovels and all that fun stuff we were finally done with the sod lifting process and we made the decision that we wouldn’t waste the sod so we used the rototiller on the soil in the dead grass area and placed sod down there. Once we completed rototilling the dead grass area then we rototilled the future garden place. Throughout the creation days we looked up different species of ferns, bushes and trees giving Mr. Robison and a good guess of what we enjoyed and what would hopefully live well in the garden. The next day after finishing lying the sod down in the dead grass area the soil was already placed in the garden area and we had to even out the soil in the garden area. Then kids went on the NY trip so we didn’t do anything for awhile and then once they were back Mr. Robison brought plants in his van, in which we planted the plants in places he wanted them, he demonstrated how the plants needed to be placed in the garden and how one they were buried in that we had to lightly laugh around the pants to make sure its pated down properly. Now it is completed, and looks great.

As we all know, Eco-Friendly products are being more and more popular these days. We see the “Biodegradable” term on many products, in case your unsure Biodegradable definition is “Capable of decaying through the action of living organisms”. The misconception we are finding there to be is that people believe these biodegradable products can be thrown away where ever and it will biodegrade. The proper way to handle these biodegradable products is to place them in commercial composting systems instead of the trash since local composting outlets have high-heat facilities that promote aerobic conditions. The problem as to why biodegradable products won’t biodegrade in regular landfills is since landfills are lined on the bottom with clay and plastic to help prevent the waste escaping into the soil, also they are covered daily with layer of earth to help reduce door. Thus this causes the biodegradable products to get little water, air, and sunlight so products are more likely to “mummify” than decompose like the unrecompensed hot dogs, corn starch, and lettuce dating back to the 1960s that researchers found along with 2,425 newspapers that are readable dated back to the 1960s.

http://earth911.com/news/2010/05/17/oops-eco-intentions-gone-wrong/

Today, I kept on hearing about people bring up the topic of earth day which takes place April 22 which made me curious as to where and why Earth Day was created and what actually happens on earth day around the world if everyone took part in it even. It turns out that Earth Day first took place in 1970, founded by former U.S Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin. “To shake up the political establishment and force the issue onto the national agenda” was what was originally intended as a collective environmental protest. I was absolutely surprised that it started so long ago, but now Earth Day is aimed at raising awareness and encouraging citizens of the world to do their part, like recycling or trying to reduce ones carbon footprint to help preserve the world. Once I read all thoughts interesting facts I knew this was day was bigger than I was lead on to believe, there are actually events that take place in every county, now I see the beauty of this holiday :D. For example General Motors are releasing a revolutionary electric car the Chevy Volt. The Chevy Volt is very unique it even uses blue jeans in it cars doors to buffer noise and recycled cardboard in its roof to improve acoustics, it only uses 2, 520 kilowatts per hour of energy (which is actually less than central air!) the Chevy Volt is designed to have a battery power of up to 40 miles without using gasoline. Other examples is an artist exploring global warming in the arctic, who is going to journey into the Arctic and photograph the effect that global warming has had on the poles. London is also hosting the Green I.T. awards which are to reward the efforts of green distributors, suppliers and companies. Jane Goodall Institute will be teaching students in China of carbon footprints. An artist highlights ‘What is Missing’ on Earth and I’m going to end this post with a quote from the website I read this article on ” Can you imagine that every 20 minutes a living plant or animal species disappears forever from the face of the Earth? Or that at this rate, as much as 30 percent of all the Earth’s living flora and fauna will be headed for extinction in just a century’s time?”.. Think about it.

http://earth911.com/news/2010/04/12/the-best-earth-day-events/

In Palo Alto, Calif they are banning take out containers starting April 22, 2010 and prohibitions are growing around California of the use of polystyrene takeout containers. This ban also includes clam shells, bowls, plates, cartons and cups. We all know Styrofoam is very useful is it used to be used to package our meet, our unfinished food to take home from restaurants, packaged in with our new item being shipped preventing them from getting all beaten up and the trip. So, yes we have learnt to depend on Styrofoam more than need be in our lives, Styrofoam is very lightweight, though it’s the volume of the product and that it isn’t biogradable. There are high hopes that other cities will look at the sustainability aspect of the situation and its potential for recycling, the thing that will make it difficult to help influence others to follow in their footsteps is that it has shown that the polystyrene ban has the equal increase in litter since the void was filled with an increase in coated paperboard. My personal feelings towards the Styrofoam ban is that, it’s a great idea and people should keep going along with it despite the fact of the lack of Styrofoam use was filled with using coated paperboard, there are many companies out there determined to make a kind of environmentally friendly “Styrofoam” and the first step is getting out of the habit of using Styrofoam.

http://earth911.com/news/2009/05/18/california-towns-outlaw-polystyrene-take-out-containers/

This article has a great topic… Green Roofs, I personally hear about them a lot but I never really knew much about them until I read this article. The idea of green houses is very convenient, once  it’s all set up its stable, and all these people whining about worrying about risks of putting plants onto a roof is ridiculous and people need to suck up the idea that change could be for the best. The price of the green roof is about 12 dollars per square foot and is still dropping over time, and the estimated cost of comparable conventional roof is 8-9 dollars per square foot. I think we need to start following in Germanys footsteps considering green roofs have been successful for decades.

Around Christmas we all see artificial Christmas tress in stores, the real question today is that are these artificial Christmas trees any better for the environment in comparison to real pine or fir Christmas tree?

Artificial trees have a bright side for many reasons, it saves families from having to put money out for a tree each year and they are easier to take care of and are the safer option. Even though, is that worth the fact that experts believe these trees actually are a larger negative environmental impact. This is because artificial trees are usually made of NON- BIOGRADABLE materials and are non- recyclable! So therefore these trees will sit in a landfill for centuries after we throw them away.

The real “Christmas Tree” has the option of what is known as “Treecycling”, they can be recycled into landscaping and gardening stuff, or even used for playgrounds. But also have a major downside due to the fact that these trees are farmed as agricultural products meaning pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers would be used on them. Overall real Christmas trees are healthier for the environment, especially are great when they are treecyled.

So now you may be thinking, both options pretty much suck and if it means a lot to you there is always a living potted tree option, where living trees are brought into the home for roughly 10 days and then replanted after Christmas and local parks department will likely accept your tree for planting after the holidays if you don’t have land for replanting.

http://earth911.com/news/2009/11/25/real-vs-artificial-christmas-trees

Welcome to my blog! This is a part of my green industries class, so I’m just going to start promoting green stuff now, since i have no idea what else to say to welcome you all.