Amity Environmental Club

Hey everyone!

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 21:19:00 +0000

We're changing the club's website to amityenvironmental.weebly.com. Come check it out!

A New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 22:07:00 +0000

We're starting off the new 2012-2013 school year with new leaders since the great Abigayel Phillips and Sharon Lin graduated this past year and are heading off to college! Jackie Goodwin, Sara & Katie Beland, and Ella Halpine are the new co-presidents of Amity Environmental Club! We hope to be active in our community and encourage others to do so as well! We're willing to volunteer as much as we can, as well as create projects to better our environment! Stay tuned for a brand new year for the club! Cheers!

Stop Chicken of the Sea!

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:07:00 +0000

Chicken of the Sea is a tuna brand. However, tuna doesn't stop there. This company not only hunts for tuna, but along the way captures and KILLS sharks, dolphins, sea turtles, sting rays, and many other sea creatures. Please help Greenpeace get Chicken of the Sea to "Stop Rippin' up the Sea" by sending Chicken of the Sea a complaint letter

To see the harmful effects caused by Chicken of the Sea and other harmful companies, watch these videos (warning- may be graphic):

Sponge Absorbs 180 Times Its Own Weight in Toxic Sludge

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 02:28:00 +0000

Chinese researchers have used adapted nanotechnology into carbon nano tubules which yield promising possibilities in the environmental sector. Designed as 99% porous, . these tubules are also hydrophobic; they will absorb anything but water. According to professor Anyuan Cao at Peking University, one of China's largest institutions, the nanotubules can also be used

"as filters, membranes, or absorbents to remove bacteria or contaminants from liquid or gas. They could also be used as noise-absorption layers in houses, and soldiers might benefit by using these sponges in impact energy absorbing components while adding little weight. Thermally insulated clothing is also possible."

Read the full story here or here

Grand Canyon Ntl. Park bends to Coca Cola

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:12:00 +0000

Weary of plastic litter, Grand Canyon National Park officials were in the final stages of imposing a ban on the sale of disposable water bottles in the Grand Canyon late last year when the nation’s parks chief abruptly blocked the plan after conversations with Coca-Cola, a major donor to the National Park Foundation.

- New York Times

Stephen P. Martin, the architect of the plan and the top parks official at the Grand Canyon, said his superiors told him two weeks before its Jan. 1 start date that Coca-Cola, which distributes water under the Dasani brand and has donated more than $13 million to the parks, had registered its concerns about the bottle ban through the foundation, and that the project was being tabled. His account was confirmed by park, foundation and company officials.

An online petition has been created from this process, aiming to receive 50,000 signatures to protest Coca Cola's influence on the natural parks. Already reaching 39,199 signatures as of Tuesday, November 22, PLEASE SIGN HERE

Read the NYTimes article.

PLASTIC BOTTLES: 20 TIMES STRONGER THAN BRICKS

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 20:32:00 +0000

Life in Africa has many challenges: from disease to poverty and war. The continent also has a reputation for extreme difficulties that are fixable, but a lack of resources often prevents the problems from being solved.This is where resourcefulness comes into play: if you don’t have what you need make do with what you already have. A surplus of empty plastic bottles is something that not only affects Africa, but the entire planet.

(Read More)

Africa's Western Black Rhino declared extinct

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 20:30:00 +0000

According to the world's conservation records, Africa's Western Black Rhino has been declared extinct. Other animals in Africa, such as gazelles, cheetahs, and African elephants are also endangered and on the verge of extinction. Check out wwf.org to see what you can do to help these innocent creatures.

Read more about the extinction of the Western Black Rhino HERE or HERE

Science behind new developments in free energy!

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:05:00 +0000

The Future of Nano-Electric Power Generation

Justin Hall-Tipping CEO of "Nanoholdings" Explains how nanotechnology is set to change the future of energy and replace fossil and nuclear fuels

Air Pollution: Bad For Health, But Good For Planet? (NPR)

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 02:54:00 +0000

LISTEN to the whole story here

Emerging studies on a very pressing issue today: global warming. As NPR reports,

"Cleaning up the air, while good for our lungs, could make global warming worse. That conclusion is underscored by a new study, which looks at the pollutants that go up smokestacks along with carbon dioxide."

There are new studies which show that reducing pollutants may actually hurt efforts in reducing global warming. Specifically, aerosols, which although make humans sick, also add nutrients to the environment and cool the atmosphere by increasing the CO2 absorbed by Earth.

Listen to the full story HERE

Starting Off on the Right Foot...

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:56:00 +0000

The Amity Environmental Club has taken off with the new school year with five projects.
The first is to create a sculpture out of trash, old metal, and/or scraps of wood. The "art" section of the club will be collecting these materials and creating the sculpture in the courtyard of Amity. Any ideas on what the sculpture should be of?

The next project is a garden/compost. We're planning on having a small patch of land dedicated to a garden with a compost. They can be used along with science classes in environmental studies or ecosystems.

Another project is reading environment-related books to children ages 3-10 to inform them on ways they can be more Eco-efficient. What are some good books that have to do with the environment?

The Amity Environmental Club is also attempting to make the cafeteria even more "green". We've made progress in the past by eliminating Styrofoam trays and this year we plan on changing the plastic utensils to more environmentally-friendly options (perhaps sporks?).

Lastly, we're having a recycling campaign to promote recycling at Amity. We're hoping to add more recycling bins, put up posters, and maybe have presentations? We'll see.

Stay tuned with updates on these projects and more info on the Environment!

Solar panels on the Earth?

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 15:33:00 +0000

"As Japan continues to struggle with the fallout of its Fukushima nuclear disaster, its government is steering the country's energy policy toward solar and other renewable sources. Some Japanese firms are being very aggressive in their application of that vision. Researchers at Shimizu Corp., a construction powerhouse, are proposing to build a 6,800-mile-long, 248-mile-wide ribbon of solar panels around the light side of the moon. The panels would beam enough energy back to Earth to power much of the globe. Is this a serious plan, and could it work?"

Japan is hoping to place a large ribbon of solar panels built from materials indigenous to the Moon as to absorb energy from the sun and send it back to Earth. Right now, this initiative is set to launch 2035, built by robots on the moon.

If I had it my way

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:48:00 +0000

Hey check out this"If I had it my way" vid. Its pretty interesting- makes one think that in this country with such a seemingly endangered population of environmentalists, there is still hope.

Get your own valid XHTML YouTube embed code

Less oil- less of a problem?

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 03:09:00 +0000

It might be hard to decipher still what the heck state of function Louisiana is in after the BP oil spill- a lot of sources just say the situation looks better. As environmentalists, its hard to see someone saying that the damage is actually being remediated- our first reaction seems to be to just think of the headhunters of BP as men with devil horns with grins on their faces. Obviously, they aren't... but this whole oily mess has stirred outcrys from BP sympathizers, environmentalists, and people on the middle ground alike. Truly what is the situation now? Even when the reps from BP spoke to the world about the situation when it happened, it was hard to hear a clear answer- now that the oil is somewhat less visible, its easier to fantasize that the situation's all clear.

Check out these videos, they give a couple of different P.O.Vs on what state the coastline is in now: http://www.takepart.com/newstagthe-bp-oil-spill-one-year-later

"Oil and wildlife don't mix"

Pic: http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/06/02/alg_bp_aquaman_horz.jpg

OUR LETTER TO THE BUSINESS MANAGER, SUPERINTENDENT, HEAD OF CAFETERIA

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 20:05:00 +0000

SEND US YOUR FEEDBACK AT AMITYENVIRONMENTAL@GMAIL.COM, we will be sending this out soon!

To whom this may concern,
We are writing on behalf of the Environmental Club at Amity High School. This winter, we conducted a campaign promoting the use of environmentally friendly materials in our school cafeteria. Our purpose was to minimize plastic waste and increase awareness about the negative effects of disposable plastics.

To make "Green Lunch Week" possible, we partnered with Principal Charles Britton and Cafeteria Head Joan Conant. With sponsorship from Amity’s administration, we were able to purchase two weeks’ worth of environmentally friendly products for our cafeteria. These products included biodegradable sporks, trays, and knives, as well as recycled napkins, compostable salad containers, and paper boats.

Following GLW we surveyed the student body to gauge support for change. Although we did not survey everyone in the school, we received 956 responses, which we believe is an accurate representation of the student body as a whole.
§ 67% of those surveyed buy lunch from the school cafeteria.
§ 69% of those who buy lunch do so on a weekly to daily basis.
§ 52% of voters responded that they had no opinion on GLW, 33% responded that GLW as satisfactory and 15% of voters responded that GLW as dissatisfactory.

Students then responded on their willingness to pay extra for the green materials. From the results we gathered, slightly more than half of all voters who buy lunch are willing to pay extra.

Within all voters who buy lunch, 52% were willing to pay at least 10 cents while 48% were against paying any extra.
§ 40% of buyers willing to pay extra buy lunch on an everyday basis
§ 26% of buyers willing to pay extra buy at least every week
§ Remaining 34% of buyers willing to pay extra buy once per month.

The willingness of students to pay extra may be disputed over different causes during GLW.

We link this to several factors, one of which was the issue of sporks. As a rail splitting idea to reduce costs and plastic, the spork incited many students to vote against any extra costs solely based on the inconvenience of the spork.

This brings us to the point that while the survey does reflect the student opinion, Project Green Lunch is still in its trial stages. If implemented, experience with the utensils can shift costs so that for example, less napkins can be bought in place of separate forks and spoons. Switching the cafeteria to the materials from GLW is subject to changes for improvement.

When a new policy is introduced to students, the student body's first reaction is to reject change. This phenomenon is reflected in last year’s 8-period schedule proposal. As our data collected immediately after the change reflects dissatisfaction among students, we expect the number of actively opposed students to decrease as time goes on.
Therefore, as Amity Environmental Club, we encourage the switch to eco-friendly materials in the cafeteria.

We believe that not only is the change a better move for the environment, but by implementing the utensils we can raise awareness in the student body of their impacts on the environment. Students may seem to have lukewarm interest in the project but if implemented the project will benefit the Amity environment.

We have attached a copy of our GLW survey.
Sincerely,
Amity Environmental Club

The Geoengineering Debate

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 13:51:00 +0000

I was reading the news this morning and found this article about Geoengineering, the idea of altering nature to try to save Earth. It's a really interesting article and you should all read it!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110403/ap_on_hi_te/eu_the_sunshade_option

Debate: MAJOR REDUCTIONS IN CARBON EMISSIONS ARE NOT WORTH THE MONEY

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 02:33:00 +0000

Hi guys, check out this link to a debate questioning our efforts to reduce carbon emissions (alternative energy, measuring footprints) has any value on helping the environment. The actual debate is part of a series by a legit debate show "intelligence squared" which gathers world famous leaders to speak before the audience. Although it is two years old, it still brings many good arguments.

Link: http://intelligencesquaredus.org/index.php/past-debates/major-reductions-in-carbon-emissions-are-not-worth-the-money/

The debate is rather long, and after all introductions actually begins at 6:45, so just scrub there.

"Intelligence squared" does a very good job when it chooses its speakers by picking those who may seem biased on one side to argue another. In this debate, one of the speakers is an environmental writer from environmental capital Copenhagen, Denmark who argues AGAINST reducing carbon emissions because he believes the efforts overweigh the effects.

The speakers are very interesting. The audience is surveyed before and after the debate, with the winning debate team being the one that has convinced the most people in the audience to change their minds.

If you look at the results for this debate:

Pre-Debate Poll Results
16% For | 50% Against | 35%

Post Debate Poll Results
42% For | 48% Against | 10%

Note that "For" is the agreement that MAJOR REDUCTIONS IN CARBON EMISSIONS ARE NOT WORTH THE MONEY, while "Against" is that major reductions are worth the money.

Treehugger debate: ON THE GRID OR OFF?

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 01:17:00 +0000

Because reducing waste is still such a hazy science, there is a lot of skepticism around whether or not anything we do reduces our impact on the environment. Or, on the contrary, does the effort used to produce these environmental changes create more waste? We bring you a piece of such debates from www.treehugger.com, where a debate was broadcast over their radio on whether or not more waste is created when living in the city or living in rural area. Thus the question is it better to live on the grid or off?

To listen to the podcast, listen to the link -> CLICK HERE <- According to some arguments as in the diagram below,city life decreases waste by using less transportation. The flipside argument holds that while traveling less, city dwellers are larger consumers creating a larger demand for items, thus wasting more oil, packaging, resources etc.

The root article can be found here: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/11/treehugger-radio-podcast-in-the-city-or-off-the-grid-lloyd-alter-nick-rosen-debate.php

The debate is held between two speakers, treehugger.com's Lloyd Alter and editor of offgrid.com, Nick Rosen

LISTEN TO THE RAINFOREST

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 04:29:00 +0000

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/09/the-sounds-of-v/

Hi guys! This is very interesting, a link about a guy who recorded sounds from disappearing land in the rainforest. Click on the link to hear sounds from forests in Brazil, Belize, Costa Rica, etc. that are disappearing as habitats! There is actually a specific field for this work, called acoustic ecology. :D

GLW LETTER, (draft)

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 19:36:00 +0000

Accomplished 3/21/11, TO BE CONTINUED

To whom this may concern,
We are writing on behalf of the Environmental Club at Amity High School. *This winter, we conducted a campaign promoting the use of environmentally friendly materials in our school cafeteria. Our purpose was to minimize plastic waste and increase awareness about the negative effects of disposable plastics. *To make “Green Lunch Week” possible, we partnered with Amity Principal Charles Britton and head of cafeteria Joan Conant.
With sponsorship from the Amity administration, we were able to purchase two weeks worth of environmentally friendly products for our cafeteria. These products included: biodegradable sporks, trays, and knives, as well as recycled napkins, paper boats, and compostable salad containers.

- Of more than nine hundred students…………..
After Green Lunch Week concluded, we surveyed the student population on its response to our campaign. A random sampling of more than nine hundred students was taken to gauge student support for the cause. Of these 956 students who responded, 67% buy lunch from the school cafeteria. 69% of lunch buyers buy on a weekly to daily basis. Although we did not survey everyone in the school, the responses which we received serve as an accurate representation of the student body as a whole.
For many students, the central argument against environmentally friendly products concerned the sporks, which students found inconvenient and inefficient.

Dont' be bought by frauds: Greenwashing

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:17:00 +0000

Hello, here is an interesting radio program by Canada's CBC (like our NPR.) In a part of their series "The Age of Persuasion," it gives an overview over the use of false 'green' advertising to sell products. e.g. GREENWASHING

http://www.cbc.ca/video/news/audioplayer.html?clipid=1705775233

Check this out!

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 20:20:00 +0000

This show is very interesting. I saw first saw it on Netflix, because it's available to watch for free online or on Roku, Xbox, etc. There is one episode where he visits a school, too.

http://www.lazyenvironmentalist.com/

Some important dates for Amity Environmental Club Members

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 19:53:00 +0000

Hey! Here are some important dates coming up!

March 8th- meeting after school
March 22nd- world water day, raise awareness on the importance of water and how it is limited/being polluted
March 26th- Earth hour, from 8:30-9:30 turn off all electricity!
April 22nd, lets see how much green awareness we can spread!

A New Perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 03:07:00 +0000

Hello! We know we've asked the Amity Environmental Club members to check this out this week so here starts the blog!

Viewers, check out this video to get another perspective on how humans should see the environment in order to truly understand the prosperous mutualistic relationship we can have with our surroundings:

http://www.worldwildlife.org/sites/videos/nature-worth.html?intcmp=HPPolaroid-whatisnatureworth

World Wildlife's website, Worldwildlife.org, is an amazing website. World Wildlife may seem like it's geared towards the protection of endangered animals, and it certainly is turned in that direction, but by doing so, it promotes the protection of millions of acres of land that those animals need to thrive. In essence, it advocates for the beautiful environment that makes up the environment!!

Heres something funny....

Go World Wildlife!

Welcome!

noreply@blogger.com (Green CT Schools) — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 23:29:00 +0000

Welcome to the Amity Environmental Club's blog!

By creating a blog, we hope to keep our fellow active environmentalists updated on what the Amity Environmental Club and Connecticut Green Alliance is doing to promote a healthy environmental lifestyle. On this blog we will post:

video clips
relevant environmental petitions
tips on how to become more eco-friendly
updates on what is happening with the club and with the Green Alliance
and most of all, what is happening to the environment on the global scale

Here we hope you will find the facts, ideas and material you need to keep up-to date with us, and to pass on to family and friends.

We encourage all to speak up about the environment. Everything starts small; one voice paired with others has the power to create big change. We can all become Eco-Spartans.

So Greenies, have a great day!

-The Amity Environmental Club