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.