A Beggar

He tries to get back up
But the system beats him down
He’s society’s hiccup
If he can’t swim then he’ll drown

The world is changing fast
He wishes this wasn’t true
He always finishes last
He doesn’t know what to do

As forests are destroyed
And cities built
He feels the void
He also feels that burning guilt

Which consumes him at times
But why should he feel pain
For the “rich” people’s crimes?
Which contribute to their gain

In power and wealth
While he lives on the streets
And their actions affect his health
He’ll never be offered a seat

High up in the world
Hat seat is for the ones born there
Knowing this his misery unfurls
This life isn’t fair

Yet he has to live it
He’s stuck in a hole
Down there he’s been made to sit
He used to have goals

But they’ve been taken away
Worn down over the years
He never had a say
He thinks through the tears

There’d be no rich
Without poor
They’ve dug a ditch
By opening up a door

Using the less fortunate
As support
They created this festering hate
Which has begun to thwart

Everyone’s way of life
All this development
Is causing a global strife
And he hasn’t

Done anything to start this
He just never made it
Now he is dismissed
As one without value

With nothing to offer
He is empty handed
And so he remains what he is,
A beggar

Quote

“What do we think about when we say "the earth" nowadays? Many people think of the earth as a horn of plenty, a resource to be plundered by all who "own" a piece of the earth. Most of us, it seems, think that the earth belongs to us, humans.
Does anyone ever wonder why we think that? To indigenous peoples everywhere the earth was Mother Earth, the source of our being. We belong to the earth, we come from the earth and to the earth we return. All our molecules are earth molecules, the same molecules that make plants and animals and rocks and water and air. We are completely, utterly, part of all that is on this planet. We are of the planet.” (“The Rights of the Earth”)

This was a quote I found online that I really enjoyed and thought portrayed the message of this project. We are part of this planet, we make of the ecosystems, yet we consider ourselves owners of the world. We are not above any one creature on the planet, we are merely among them. "We come from the earth..." the earth doesn't come from us. We depend on this planet, but the Earth doesn't need us. We are only part of the Earth, we have not created it, we do not own this planet.

Carbon Footprint

Article from http://science.howstuffworks.com/carbon-footprint.htm
"Footprints offer clues about where we came from and where we're headed. Their impressions tell us something about the animals that leave them. But while actual footprints offer details on size, weight and speed, carbon footprints measure how much carbon dioxide (CO2) we produce just by going about our daily lives. A drive to work, a flip of a light switch and a flight out of town all rely on the combustion of fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas. When fossil fuels burn, they emit greenhouse gases like CO2 that contribute to global warming. Ninety-eight percent of atmospheric CO2 comes from the combustion of fossil fuels [source: Energy Information Administration].

People concerned with the environment and global warming usually try to reduce their carbon output by increasing their home's energy efficiency and driving less. Some start by calculating their carbon footprint to set a benchmark -- like a weigh-in before a diet. A carbon footprint is simply a figure -- usually a monthly or annual total of CO2 output measured in tons. Web sites with carbon calculators turn easy-to-supply information like annual mileage and monthly power usage into a measurable tonnage of carbon. Most people try to reduce their carbon footprint, but others aim to erase it completely. When people attempt carbon neutrality, they cut their emissions as much as possible and offset the rest. Carbon offsets let you pay to reduce the global greenhouse gas total instead of making radical reductions of your own. When you buy an offset, you fund projects that reduce emissions by restoring forests, updating power plants and factories or increasing the energy efficiency of buildings and transportation.

Some companies have started to include footprints on their labeling. Carbon labels appeal to consumers who understand and monitor their own carbon footprints and want to support products that do the same. The labels estimate the emissions created by producing, packaging, transporting and disposing of a product. The concept is similar to life cycle analyses, the more intricate forerunner of carbon footprints. Life cycle analyses or assessments evaluate all of the potential environmental impacts that a product can have during its existence -- they're a more focused version of a carbon footprint.

But life cycle analyses require teams of researchers who plot and compile data from every aspect of production, transportation and disposal. Personal carbon footprints are less precise but still give a quick, general idea of CO2 output. Best of all, they take about five minutes to calculate."

This article gives a great explanation as to exactly what a carbon footprint is, how it affects the environment and how you can calculate your own carbon footprint. It also teaches you how to reduce your carbon footprint and how some companies who are aware of their own and have started putting carbon labels on their products.

Question #2: Final Task

Environmental Overdraft or Ecological Debt

An ecological debt and environmental overdraft are both terms used to describe a situation where the rate of consumption of resources is greater than the rate at which the resources are produced. In today’s world society has already over consumed the available natural resources. The first Ecological Debt Day was observed on December 19, 1987. This day signifies the time, as mentioned earlier, when humanity consumes a greater amount of non renewable resources than the Earth can produce. The definition also explains the terms mentioned at the beginning. Once this day has passed society is in debt to the ecology. Overdraft means “excessive drawing off something” (“Overdraft”) which suggests that that we’ve been drawing on Earths resources in unnecessary amounts, hence the name.
This dreaded debt day has gotten earlier and earlier every year, In 2009, the day was observed on September 25, a whole two months before the first Ecological Debt Day! We’ve been gifted with an extraordinary number of resources,, but this doesn’t mean we can abuse them. Without these resources we would not have achieved all that we have. How would we go on without the resources which shape our very existence? But these resources are a package deal, they come with the Earth. Using up the resources given to us and making our Earth sick will ultimately lead to our own destruction.
We were provided with this beautiful planet, the only one in the solar system on which life can survive but we continue to exploit it. Using more than we were given was not part of the deal. We cannot begin to comprehend this amazing thing we call life, and our Earth allows us live it. What happens if the Earth disappeared? If it no longer existed then neither would we. We have so much going for us right now and I think that we all understand that by killing the Earth we are killing ourselves. So why do we keep doing it?

How does it Help to Use Economic Terms when Dealing with Environmental Issues?

We continue to destroy our planet because of our insatiability. “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed” said Mahatma Gandhi in his time and he is still right today. The Earth gives us enough to survive but not so much that we can live extravagantly, wasting resources through unnecessary trade, over production ,and construction of needless buildings, homes and malls. We live like there is no limit, but there is one. We just don’t want to see it before it is too late.
We use economic terms when dealing with environmental issues because they are both interconnected. We depend on the planet to maintain our economy as it provides the resources which our economy is based upon. When we think about the value of a product, you think ‘how much money is this worth?’ Money is backed up by gold or silver, resources of our Earth. They are worth something to all of us, and they form the way we live our lives. We are always going through monetary transactions which allow us to purchase food, clothing, shelter, water, and other basic necessities. These necessities have been created by the resources on this planet.
When resources are limited the value of these resources increases resulting in less products being made and provided to the public. This means that there is less money in circulation as people do not consume as much and those who produce don’t make as much money. This goes in a cycle until something changes and the economy picks back up again. The Great Depression is an example of an economy which crashed. During the depression the value of the dollar dropped dramatically as people started buying gold and the demand for natural resources increased.

These natural resources have made mankind rich. The two concepts are very closely related; as we develop we earn more, providing more jobs and products, but at the same time we destroy our environment. To move forward we’ve been tearing down the very thing which has given us the ability and resources to begin the process of development. Through industrialization we produce more and put more money into circulation, as mentioned above. We cut down rainforests to make way for factories, we breed and then kill, we wring the Earth dry in search of oil, and so much more. All of this contributes positively to the development of our world but negatively to the health of our world. So now we must ask ourselves, is development a new beginning or the end?

You Don't Deserve Me

I’m hurting within
From your evil sins

I’m blinking back tears
But you don’t appear

To notice at all
Would you notice when you fall?

When you’re the one hurt
When you’re lying in the dirt

You continue to live
Because of what I give

But no ‘thank yous’ are said
Only my massive tears are shed

They hit you as warnings
As you begin mourning

The loss of your own
For those who had never grown

And now they never will
But my tears cannot stop until

You change your ways
You do not have endless days

I gave you a gift
But you’ve begun to drift

Away from the innocence you once held
I don’t think my cries can be yelled

Any louder than they are
I’ve already been scarred

You’ve abused all that I gave
Now not even I can save

You and your destruction
It happens to be the reason

For the pollution of my rivers
The fact that only a sliver

Of my ice caps are left
This wasn’t a theft

All of this was bestowed upon you
But you knew what to do

And now it’s too late
This is your fate

Because I’ve been cut up and ploughed
This exploitation is no longer allowed

My gift has been misused
I’ve been deeply bruised

I won’t stand for what’s going on
You just wait for dawn
That’s when I’ll be gone.

IOU

Being Green II

The website I visited mentioned that I could send any eco friendly tips I myself had and that's what I decided to do. I sent them in email to feedback@ecologyfund.com and if anyone would like to do the same please click on the email I've just provided. I also sent an email to the entire secondary school regarding this website and asking them to send any ideas they have to being green. I also sent the website along with the email so people will be able to check it out. I believe that this will not only spread the word on being eco friendly but it will also motivate people to try and be eco friendly. Here are some of my own ideas:

• Use reusable batteries so that you don't have to continue throwing batteries away, which end up in landfills and cause pollution.
• Don't buy packages of juice, cookies etc. If you buy bigger cartons of things the surface area is less and the waste of resources in order to package is less as well.
• Turn the AC off when you leave the room!
• Use energy efficient light bulbs
• Use Blackle.com instead of Google or your usual search engine. It saves energy because the screen is black. It requires more energy to display a white screen than it does a black.
• Buy a stainless steel water bottle. Not only is it good for the environment as you don't have to continue throwing away a water bottle but it also keeps your water the cleanest.
• Turn off the TV and computer at night! Even when your computer or TV is on standby mode together the can use as much energy as a 75-watt light bulb that's left on all night. When left on they can also disrupt your sleep patterns so turning them off is good for you and the environment.

From these ideas one I think that is very easy and would change our school is using blackle.com instead of Google. I think that this is very doable and if everyone changed to blackle.com we could have great impact on the environment. To try and do this I have sent an email to the secondary school to inform people about blackle.com and its benefits. As you can see I've also changed the screen of my blog to a black screen to save energy.