Letter to the editor

Dear, Editor

I am Pedro Bernardino, a junior at Early College High School, and I am writing to express my concern that many people in our community are ignoring, or perhaps simply unaware, of the environmental problems plaguing our costal community. Our beloved community is home to a plethora of wildlife, but many of these are put at risk by the draconian pollution. The legacy we are leaving behind for future generation is one full of pollution and a poisoned earth. There is still time to veer off of the trial that we are leading future generations towards.

I have begun to recycle papers and plastic bottle around school. While the Early College Recycle Team strives to inform our peers about way to help protect the environment. The ways people can recycle their plastic and glass, try to replace disposable things with more permanent options. If you want to help a little more you can also do small things like turning off the water when brushing your teeth or looking for biodegradable material. If you are feeling up to the challenge you could even participate in beach and river sweeps. If everyone chips in maybe we can still reverse the damage and make Myrtle Beach beautiful again

Sincerely

Pedro Bernardino

Reflection

During my time volunteering, I kept asking myself one question, “Am I making a difference,” and to be honest, I think I did. During the whole year, the Recycle Team and I had planned out a recycled fashion show. Parit Patel and I wrote a letter to Mrs. Grimmett asking for her permission to host a third Recycle Fashion Show; we also wrote a letter to the student council asking for their cooperation during the event. I also helped design and maintain a game during the event.  On top of helping planning the Recycle Fashion Show, I was also on a committee commissioned to create a music video for the recycling team.  The recycle team also noticed that the custodial staff of the college was simply throwing the recyclables into the trash with all the other non-recyclables; this lead to the unanimous decision that we would take over, and on Thursday afternoons, we would collect all the recyclables from the Early College classrooms. This expanded into placing recycle bins in the café so that people would recycle cans and plastic, which Justin Cummings would then take to the recycle center.

I personally believe that the school has become more ecofriendly this year. The campaign we ran this year focused on reaching out to the community and educating them. During the lunches we setup a booth so that people could come and hear us in exchange for a cupcake. The amount of  people who came out was overwhelming. I believe that we have made a difference in this school’s understanding of the importance of protecting the environment.

Next year, I will continue to participate in the recycle team. I will have more time to dedicate to the issues and hope that we will come back stronger and better.

The recycle team could have run a tighter ship. We did a good job, but the organization could have been a little more precise. Next year, we hope to run the team on a tighter time format; that was are biggest flaw this time around.

Problem Solution Paper

Pedro Bernardino

Mrs. Atkinson

English IV

            The world is unique in the fact that it is inhabited by humans. The destruction of earth would lead to our very own destruction; the human race has only one earth, and no second chances. The problem is that the environment is being destroyed even on a local level. The problem is that not many people care or are informed about environmental protection. The problem is slowly destroying the environment, and the solution is informing the people. The solution involves a fair amount of prep in order to reach the final phase.

The problem has many levels but at its core it is the fact that not many people are informed about environmental protection. The problem is that peoples focus often is not exposed to the problem. As a cause of this, people just sit idly by and watch the world. The world if the world continues on its set course it will consume itself.

One solution used around campus is the use of recycle centers. This method is one of the more popular methods of protection (Arnold). The Pros of these stations is that it makes easily accessible to the masses. This means that people do not have to go out of their way in order to recycle. The problem is that people will often ignore these, as I have noticed during my extensive participation in the Early College Recycle Team. Although this is by far the simplest method,  it is not without its flaws.

Another policy is government involvement. The Obama Presidency has been involved in the creation of many   environmental protection agencies (HERTSGAARD). They include the EPC (Environmental Protection Committee) which in turn passed the clean air act.  The act sets standards for the industry. The problem with that is it takes a long time to get passed from a bill into a law. That is the fault of this plan.

The policy I believe will work is one based on the education. In a study conducted in Canada there was a study that showed higher death rates when the environment is in poor shape (Boyd).  The study connected the fact that in the recent decline of environmental protection (Boyd). The problem can be solved by educating the people about how the environment affects their daily lives. The knowledge of how it affects  them will cause people to care for their home, earth, more.

The environment is a delicate and important part of everyone’s lives. After participating in the ECHS Recycling Team I have gained an appreciation of the world I live in. The protection of the environment is crucial to the human races survival and expansion. All of the options listed are valid. A blend of all the plans is required to create a successful environment. 

interview with Mrs. Carter the sponsor of The Environmental club at HCS Early College High School.

1.      Could you tell us about your back ground in recycling. 
 I have experience in studying the effects of pollution on habitats and local communities.  I have worked with organizations to bring awareness to the pollution problem

2.      What is the ECHS recycle teams goals. 
 The environmental club's goals are to clean up area wildlife reserves by trash pick  up and creating signs that will alert visitors of the dangers of pollution

3.      What have you accomplished. 
 We created a nature trail and trail guide with native plants and we have done several major clean ups and the waccamaw wildlife refuge.

4.      What are some of your plans. 
 My plans are to work with a new group of students next year on continuing our mission to reduce pollution

5.      How has pollution affected the local area.
 Pollution ends up in our water systems through run off.  Also, when people litter, wildlife is affected because they often will eat the trash making them sick. 

6.      What do you think is a solution to the problem.  
People need to dispose of waste properly and try to use recycling for things like plastics, tires, medicines, and batteries.

7.      What are some of the major environmental problems  in SC .
 I would say that along the coastal areas, that run off is a major problem to our aquatic systems.  Our bacteria numbers swell in the summer in the oceans which can affect our local economy.

Reflection

Over the duration of this project I have gained a new understanding of the problem and possible solutions. I have learned that encouraging children to take an interest in the environment at a young age will cause the children to care for the environment. I already volunteer at the Early College Recycle team and Mrs. Carter’s recycle team. I have already have contacted both Clubs and am a member of both. I participate in campus clean ups\, beach sweeps, I also maintain trails. I have obtained a deep love for the earth. I believe I could attempt to raise more awareness. 

works cited

"Beach sweep/ river Sweep." SC Grant . SC Dept. of Natural resources, 25 September 2012. Web. 29 Jan 2013. <http://www.scseagrant.org/content/?cid=49

Boss, S. "Recycling as a focus." NY Times. 23 jan 2013: n. page. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. <http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/guest-lesson-recycling-as-a-focus-for-project-based-learning/>.

Volunteers pick up 4,080 pounds of litter." State . (2008): n. page. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. <http://www.thestate.com/2008/09/23/533291/volunteers-

proposal

Conserving Life

Imagine a world where the air outside is toxic is now a lush green forest has been turned into a desolate wasteland. Pollution has already taken its toll on our planet devastating cities around the world, for example Beijing, the air has gotten so bad as to pose a menace to the population. This problem not only affects far off places but also affects people right here in South Carolina volunteers picked up 4,080 lbs. of litter by the Saluda River all in the course of one river sweep (Volunteers Pick up 4,080 Pounds of Litter, 1). Bringing the problem of pollution even closer to home, this year’s beach sweep surprisingly collected 1645 pounds of trash in Horry County alone (Beach Sweep, 3). The problem is something all students will have to deal with eventually (Boss, 1).

The purpose of the plan is to inform and educate people. I already participate the recycle club and am seeing if Mrs. Carters Club is still active. We will attempt to accomplish this by an educational commercial. Also, in the recycling club we will conduct regular campuses clean ups and bring back the recycle fashion show. Showing people the ease of recycling and the benefits of recycling will make it more alluring. The idea is to inform and also help clean the environment, leading by example.

I have already contacted Mrs. Carter for more organization that we could help. I am an active member of the ECHS Recycling team and we have organized a second recycle fashion show.  I have launched a campaign that would create campus clean ups. I will be working with Cali, Maxx, Ethan, and Kenny. Together we have already performed one trail clean up and are in the process of producing a short video

The work we will be doing is going to provide an educational experience for the community. This will educate the community about the dangers and consequences of pollution. The video will also show the ease of recycling that would encourage people to which care of the environment. Hopefully we can encourage more people to visit the park  once they see what they are working to save.

I will measure the outcome of my project by the numbers of views that the video receives and the amount of trash we collect at the trash pickup. The more views the video gets the more people who have at least heard our message. If the number of bags  of trash should begin to decrease this will show that less people are littering. I will keep a record of all the work we have done.

We will need various things in order to complete this project. We will need transportation. This need is already taken care of by meeting at one place and ride together to the location in one car. We already have trash bags for picking up trash. The last thing we need is the equipment to film the videos which was provided for up by an agreement made with CCU