Science
Sustainable Living
★ All About Sustainable Living ★
by: Tangerine Chen
What is sustainable living? Sustainable living is instead of creating extra waste people use renewable resources and more. Living a
sustainable will help develop resources for the future generations. Some ways you can live sustainably is to stop using a lot of plastic. In a way, you can stop using plastic bags and instead can use a reusable bag. Using a reusable can be used for many uses. If you forget your reusable bag don’t use a plastic bag opt for a paper bag. 10 out of the 17 people that took the survey do not have a fruit/ vegetable garden. Having a fruit/ vegetable garden can teach you about gardening and help you eat more vegetables. It also can help save you some grocery money. Using cars that run on gas can cause air pollution. Instead of using a car for a short distance you should walk or bike. You don’t have to become vegan or vegetarian but eating less meat will help with the environment. It can also help with using less land that grows the animals. Most people who took my survey eat meat but 4 people's eat meat sometimes which is better. Saving water is a huge part of sustainable living. Here's some ways you can say water: Turn off the faucet when brushing your teeth,take shorter showers, fill up the dishwasher, don’t run the sprinklers for a long time, or use leftover cooking water to water your plants. Saving water helps you also save money. Most importantly if we don’t we will run out of water and won’t be able to stay hydrated. And also there will be now water for the farmers to water their crops and we won’t have any food. You will also not be able to take showers or brush your teeth. So do you now understand a little about sustainable living? If you can live more sustainably and teach more people about sustainable living it can help save resources for future generations. Without trying to save water the planet's ecosystems would collapse if we run out of water. So if you can teach people to live more sustainably it can help the earth and for everyone.
8 Question Interview
★A Interview of My mother About Sustainable Living★
by: Tangerine Chen
T oday I interviewed my mother and I asked her 8 questions about sustainable living Q1:Do you try to save water? A: Yes I try my best to save water. I minimize my shower time and I try not to water my plants so much.Q2:Do you compost?A:Yes I do Q3:When did you start to compost? A: Before 2008 I did not but in 2008 they started to encourage people to compost.Q4:Do you eat a lot of meat? A: Yes I do. Q5: Do you use a car that runs on gas? A: Yes I do but I have an eclectic car that I use more. Q6:Do you think using an electric car is better for the environment? A: I do think it is better for the environment but owning an electric car is not convenient. It is not convenient because you have to charge it and it takes a long time. Q7:Do you think your garden is better than buying vegetables from the store? A:Yes I can save a little bit of money.But sometimes you get bored eating the same vegetables.Q8: Will you try to live more sustainably? A:Yes I will. So do you now understand a little about sustainable living? If you can live more sustainably and teach more people about sustainable living it can help save resources for future generations. Without trying to save water the planet's ecosystems would collapse if we run out of water. So if you can teach people to live more sustainably it can help the earth and for everyone.
Sustainable transportation
by: Kaylee Louie
When people think of Sustainable transportation, they’re confused, because cars, trains, and other vehicles are stable sources of transportation. Only when you explain that those sources of transportation are harmful to the planet, only then will the people get it. When we’re talking about sustainable transportation, we’re referring to low carbon transportation. Carbon dioxide can be extremely harmful to the Earth if there are abundant amounts of it, that’s why it’s recommended to start using low carbon transport. Electric cars, bikes, walking and such are the ideal thing needed to help reduce low carbon transport. We have a few people interviewed at Taylor middle school, featuring school staff.
Biking is a great alternative to travel short distances, if it’s local, you can grab quick snacks or go grocery shopping. You may be asking, “Oh that’ll be great, but where do I put my groceries?”. You can use a backpack and carefully put groceries in your backpack. Overall, biking is beneficial to the environment and your health. Don’t be shy and start biking to get to local places.
If you’re feeling lazy, no money, in college, well guess what? I have the perfect thing for you. I introduce you to the electric bike, it can change from a regular bike to a motor like bike. You also don’t have to worry about a license plate, you can go as fast as the bike can go, without even putting in work. You can easily get this and maintain it cheaper than a car, of course it’s still recommended to get a car for long distances. But for short distances, your electrical bike is going to be your best buddy. Still, you shouldn’t really slack off, get a man powered bike. This is only if you’re feeling extra fancy and rich, you should just get a normal bike.
The standard electrical bike, you can purchase a cargo bike if you’re buying groceries in bulk.
The picture above showcases a cargo electric bike, it was designed precisely for carrying bulks of supplies.
Mr. Pineda, Taylor staff
Mr. Pineda is a 6th grade math and science teacher, his classroom can be found in A hall, A-4. He rides his road bike to school every day, you can spot him in the entrance of the A hall section. Usually at 8:20-8:30, you should see Mr. Pineda walking his bike to his classroom. Today, we interviewed him, when asked, “How is it like biking to school every morning?”. Mr. Pineda enthusiastically responded, Fun and easy, and wakes me up. When inquired of another question, “Do you encourage biking?” Mr.Pineda said happily,’ All the time, if they ever need help with their bikes, I’ll help them’. Well folks, with context clues, you can probably picture how Mr. Pineda deals with grumpy students early in the morning.
Mrs. Mauro, Taylor staff
Mrs. Mauro is an English teacher that teaches 8th graders in B hall. She’s fairly new to Taylor middle school, only arriving last year, third trimester. She was a previous High school English Teacher, and studied at Taylor middle school in her youth. We interviewed Mrs. Mauro about how she feels about low carbon transportation. When asked, “How do you feel about low carbon transportation?”, she answered in a neutral tone, well it’s probably a good thing if it reduces pollutants in the air. When inquired further of the subject, she told us, ‘I feel like it’s time or begin to reverse the effects of the carbon pollution’. Mrs. Mauro is an excellent teacher, and person, you should be like her.
The statistics from Taylor students and Taylor staff are already great, with 50% of people walking a lot. This already helps benefit the environment, low carbon emissions and transport by foot. Now if you were to apply the 14% of people to walking, joining the 50% of people, that would greatly help the environment with lower carbon footprints. I would say walking every other day is the best solution, well, for most people. Walking to school is a good thing, however if it’s too far, you can use public transport or an electric car.
Speaking of electric cars, your family should buy them if their financial status can afford it. With gas prices ever so rising, electric cars seem better for the long term. 7 dollars per gallon, yikes, seems pricey. Trust me buddy, you’re better off buying an electric car, electric bike, or just plain old walking. Consider taking a break off trips if you’re using an oil running car, your wallet will be bankrupted pretty soon, unless you have a stable financial status. Even so, it’s still recommended to walk or use low carbon transport.
Low carbon transport is another great way to help let out less carbon dioxide. By putting people in
a singular train, and not their own individual cars, you’re saving tons of carbon dioxide being
exhausted out of car pipes. Also, a great way to save money, get in shape and much more. By
buying an annual train ticket or pass, you’re walking more to your destination. By that you are
staying fit and helping Earth, what’s more beneficial than that?
In a short summary, if you can help let out less pollution in the air, it would be extremely helpful
for the surrounding environment, along with earth. Low carbon transport is a great contributor to
global warming, now with recent plants growing in Antarctica. At this time, we should take action
in our hands and try our best to reverse the damage to what the previous generation has done to our
planet. What’s listed out is one of the few ways to help save the planet, right now you have a
fragment of power in your hands. Together, as a society, we can try to reverse the damage inflicted
on our planet.
Land and Nature
by: Tyler Huang
What might occur if we completely got rid of nature? We have asked an 8th-grade science teacher at Taylor Middle School to answer some of our questions. The teacher's name is Mahvish Karim. When we asked this exact question her response was, “There would be no life on the earth if there was no nature. That's why we should try our best to preserve our nature and not destroy it.”
Another question we asked was, “How can we lower the amount of pollution on earth?” Her informative response was, “We need to lower our carbon footprint. We need to reuse and recycle, take public transportation, use less electricity at home and work, compost leaves and yard waste.” We also created a survey asking other staff in Taylor Middle School whether they volunteer to help clean up the earth. Some responses were, “No, not really. Maybe once in a while. But, I never litter, I always pick up all my trash.” Other replies were, “I wish I could but I have never had the opportunity to do so.”
One last question we asked Mrs. Karim was, “Can individual people make a difference in the grand scheme of things?” and her response to this question was, “Absolutely! We need to do our best to save our planet. We need to encourage our friends and family to reduce their carbon pollution. We need to talk to our government regarding the climate change issue and pressure them to take the necessary steps to save the future generation. We can walk to school or work or carpool. We need to shop locally and buy sustainable items.”
While looking through the state of California we took some pictures. We found some litter on the ground but we also found a park filled with wildlife.
When we saw this we thought of two questions, “Why is it important to preserve nature and land?” and “What are the benefits of acting on climate change now?” When we asked Mrs. Karim's two replies were, “It is important to preserve our land and nature because that's not only our home but also home to many other species. If we do not take care of ourplanet, nobody else will and then we humans will go extinct just like so many other species. We are already in the middle of the 6th mass extinction and new species are disappearing every day thanks to us.” “We can get health, food, and climate benefits if we take action now against climate change.”
So from our interview with Mrs. Karim and our survey. We learned that there are many ways we can cause pollution but also many ways that we can solve pollution through community, family, and even single individuals.
Source of Info:
Mahvish Karim teacher at Taylor middle school 8th grade
Other teachers in Taylor middle school via Survey