January Post

       This month we are planning to have progress in our project and put effort in it. Hopefully we are going to complete it before it's too late. My role in this project is the recorder who  writes down  the process that we do and the results. We are planning on having an another meeting with our mentor this week to discuss when's the best time we can start picking up trash on the campus.
       After talking to our mentor again, she informed us that doing the project outside of the campus wasn't a good a idea because there are not going to be any volunteers. Mrs. Freiden suggested to talk to the principal about our plan on the campus. She also said that the principle can't force students to pick up trash, so they have to volunteer. We are planning to ask him if he can give out community service hours to people that helps us, maybe that way we can get people to help us.

Big Ideas Project Proposal

Link to Google Docs.

https://docs.google.com/a/fusdk12.net/document/d/1C1axVGKy77knUBN--ZrZKr-kx7Y1AWUlvWwu3dk1-jM/edit?usp=sharing

Mentor Report

For our mentor report Mohammad Asadullah, Von Funa, Hazim Dibian, Melissa Reynante, and Ernesto pedraza interviewed Mrs. Frieden, who is the leader of the environmental club at Washington high school. She already has experience in the recycling scene. After school around 3 pm on December 9th we met with Mrs. Friedan at her classroom to talk about our big ideas project and get a little bit more information about her. We asked how their club works and what important things they do to help improve the environment. She told us,” This club is for students to come and organize their own projects, what I see them doing now is buying energy-saving light bulbs, and cleaning up certain places in the community”. We asked what would be a good idea for our recycling project. She gave us tips on how we can get started in our project and start recycling in the school campus. The most important thing as she said was making an outline for what we wanted to clean up and how often. We should rotate between different departments each week (like science or the art block) to maintain a good cleaning schedule. We were advised to write up a proposal for our project and we can have her edit and revise it to make it seem more professional.  After we complete our proposal we should take it to Mr. Moran so he can approve it if possible so that we can have an efficient trash pickup and recycling program on our campus.

Article and the rhetorical précis

Precis   

       Journalist, Kivi Leroux in his essay “Tips for winning the recycling race”, claims that recycling is important, but it has its own environmental costs, as well as economic costs. He supports his claim by first implying that the cost of making a new product is greenhouse gases emitted in its creation as well as a use, and pollutants that cause acid rain, smog, and fouled waterways, then he suggests that recycling not only conserves natural resources and reduces the amount of waste that must be burned or buried, it also reduces pollution and the demand for energy. Leroux’s purpose is to convince people to recycle more as he describes its benefits. He creates a thoughtful tone for the readers of the article.



Link to Google Docs

Research 4

To improve recycling in your community try wherever possible to prevent waste occurring. Avoid buying more than you need. Try only printing documents and emails that have to be legally stored in paper form, for example, contract documents and building designs. Try not to print emails or other documents unless absolutely necessary. If the information is essential, make use of removable electronic storage such as a memory stick or copy important information onto CD (you should always back up electronic storage). Wherever possible avoid the use of paper communications, if your group is organising a meeting, send out the invites by email along with attached agenda and minutes. Try wherever possible to reduce the amount of waste you create. Ensuring that when the production of waste is inevitable it is kept to a minimum. If something must be printed ensure that it is double sided. Avoid wasting food by only purchasing what is required.


http://www.brighterfuturestogether.co.uk/brighter-futures-together-toolkit/encourage-recycling-in-your-community/


This article tells me that i shouldn't waste materials if I don't have to. I should try to reduce the materials i waste. Because that's a very important step for increasing the recycling rate in my community, and also to encourage other people to recycle too.

On this research I learned that you have to take some steps то improve starting to recycle.

  1.  Set a Recycling Goal.

A national survey of 264 communities found that those who set a recycling goal were more successful. Why? Goals give residents a target to aim for; they let residents see the peak of the summit rather than hiking blindly up into the clouds. Make sure your initial goal is attainable. If your recycling rate is 6% and has been 6% for the last 10 years, instead of shooting immediately for 10% consider setting the goal initially at 8%.

  2.  Focus on Schools.

Considering how we manage our resources and waste today will affect our children’s future, it makes perfect sense to include children in your recycling efforts. Also, if the children recycle on their school campus, they will always remember that it is very important to recycle. So they will continue doing it in the future.

  3.  Know what you can and can't recycle.

Read up on the recycling rules for your area and make sure you don't send anything in that can't be processed. Each city has its own specifics, so try to follow those guidelines as best you can.

4. Buy recycled.

The essence of recycling is the cyclical movement of materials through the system, eliminating waste and the need to extract more virgin materials. Supporting recycling means feeding this loop by not only recycling, but also supporting recycled products.

http://www.treehugger.com/htgg/how-to-go-green-recycling.html

http://www.hamiltoncountyrecycles.org/index.php?page=increase-your-community-recycling-rate

      This research tells that recycling is not just throwing things in the recycle bin, it can be more complicated and take more steps or time. But at the end of the day you'll be successful at improving recycling in your community. But to reach your goal you have to work hard. You also have to make other people realize that recycling saves a lot of energy and production time.

     Recycling saves energy because the manufacturer doesn’t have to produce something new from raw natural resources. By using recycled materials we save on energy consumption, which keeps production costs down. Recycling reduces the need for more landfills. No one wants to live next to a landfill. By recycling, we reduce the need to destroy habitats for animals. Paper recycling alone saves millions of trees. Recycling and purchasing recycled products creates a greater demand for more recycled goods. Goods made from recycled materials use less water, creates less pollution and uses less energy. Recycling produces considerably less carbon, which reduces the amount of unhealthy greenhouse gas omissions.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/5-reasons-why-people-dont-recycle-and-5-reasons-they-should.html


     This article proves how important it is to recycle, not only for the good of people, but also for the good of animals. "By recycling, we reduce the need to destroy habitats for animals." It keeps production costs down which saves money that we can use on other things, while if we didn't recycle we wouldn't have enough financials to do something else than manufacturing.