Welcome to Our Blog!

In conjunction with the Center for Environment, Economy and Society of Columbia University and Ms. Kim Baker we are studying environmental issues regarding sustainability. We will be blogging to report our learning and observations. Keep an eye on our blog as we examine critical issues regarding our environmental future.

Sustainability Unit

I am in class 712 and in the past 2 months we have been learning about sustainability. We learned about making NYC waste, Energy, food, air, and water more sustainable. It helphey cas us know how important saving and providing energy helps the world.

When the world is more sustainable it will be more healthy for the environment. One thing we can do to make the world a more sustainable place is to buy organic food. Another thing we can do to make our world more sustainable is to turn off the sink when we brush our teeth until water is needed. We can create compost bins to help plants grow. Also we could turn off all of the lights when we are not using it.

If class 712 of Secondary School for Journalism can make the world better and more sustainable then so can the rest of the world. Class 712 did a series of experiments and tests so that can learn about food sustainability during our trip to the green market. At the Green market we learned about why sustainable food is good food. This experiment will help me in the long run because I will know how to get healthy but sustainable food and run a sustainable household.

Sustainability is essential in many ways. At the moment i think the most important way it matters is the way of global warming. If the world were more sustainable the theory would be impossible to prove. A more sustainable world would mean less pollution. Pollution makes sustainability important to your health.

Everyone in the world can make the world more sustainable and change all of the pollution. All they have to do is do things like unplug every thing in the house when they are not in use. Or the people in the world can recycle. You also can put timers on your televisions so they can cut off when your not using them. These are all things that people can do to make the world a more sustainable place.

Sustainability Unit

The topic on sustainability was all about this skill that we need in order to keep the human race surviving forever and ever. The skill to sustain is to conserve, maintain, and support all resources that we have and need to survive. We need to sustain our food supply, water, and air by reusing, recycling, and reducing. We could use wash cloths, reuse paper, and donate extra food to soup kitchens. We, the class of 712, made our own water filters and filled it with house hold appliances. We then poured into it very dirty and contaminated water so we tried to clean the water as much as we could. We saw that there was not to much of a difference but there was some improvement. We went on a trip to a farmer's market (greenmarket) and looked at all of the fresh produce and met with David who taught us about the greenmarket, what is sold, and where the food comes from.

Green Market

For our study of food in the class of 712 and 612 we went to a farmers market. We meet a man named David who was our guild. It was a day off and he came to teach us about the foods and the purpose for the green market. The green market is a market where farmers sell fresh produce for the people to eat healthy and for them to make money but not as a profit. David our tour guide told us about the seasonal foods. He even told us about where the produce is grown and how the farmers come from a 250 mile distance. During the tour guide David talked about produce and if it was a veggie or a fruit. We also got a chance to go around the market and buy some produce but most people went to buy food from a stand. The food they sell at the farmers market is non preserved food.

Green Market

On the 15th of Febuary classes 612 and 712 went to the farmers market at borrow hall. We then met our amazing host who came to work on his day off! He taught us about farmers markets and how farmers markets help citizens in local america. Something that I learned about from what David told us is that Farmers markets are a local non for profit business. Another thing that I learned was that some of the workers there were actual farmers. What I liked about farmers markets is that they get all of their foods from a 200 mile radius of Newyork. The food from green markets are fresh because they come from closer. Instead of getting onions from california they get it from newyork so that the travel that the onions would have been decreased and it would be less time for the apples to rot. I found it funny when David told us that one guy leaves dirt on his potatoes so that you can see that the potatoes came from the dirt. Last but not least i felt that going to the green market was an awesome and amazing aquaintance. Also the fact that we got the chance to learn out side instead of being in a classroom was great.

Green Market

On February 15, 2011 the classes of 6 and 712 went to Borrow Hall next to the Supreme Hall to the farmer's market. We then met up with our host David who came to teach us all about the green market on his day off. One thing I learned about at the greenmarket was that the food was local within a 250 mile radius. Another thing I learned at the green market was that the milk is pasteurized by boiling the milk. What I liked best about the greenmarket  was that the produce was freshly made and naturally sweetened, also the there was someone selling hot dogs. Overall, I thought that going to the green market was a good experience for all of us to learn outside. Also that it was peaceful and cold outside.

Water

Water is important in our lives because we use water all the time. We need to conserve water because most of the water in earth is slat water . About 90% is salt water , 6% is frozen water and about 3.4% is water we can drink . We cant drink salt water because we can die . Although we could filter the salt water it would cost more . It will cost more for the filters. For example we did an experiment in class we got really bad water with a lot of things in it . It smelled. So then we did are own filter we used :Sponge, charcoal, sand, coffee filter,cotton balls and more . The water looked better but it still was really dirty.So if we try to filter the water that is dirty in earth it would cost a lot . Mostly for the filter. We need to save water in earth. We couldn't live with out water . We also did a footprint to see how much water we use . It help us to know how we need to save our water in earth.