Eco footprint reduction

Over the past week or two I have been working on reducing my eco footprint as part of a clas project. I have found out that it is harder than I first thought, trying to change the way you live is a real challenge. The hardest thing I have found is remembering to do the things you have told yourself you are going to do.Maybe I am making a difference but I am unsure I hope this work is paying off.

Why do we need to be sustainable?

Sustainability is a key factor in the world growth, life and future. We all need to be looking towards greener futures and planning ahead to help reduce our impact on the Earth. Three big reasons why we need to be sustainable are:

• Many Animals will become extinct and suffer from their habitats changing as a result of the Global Warming.


• Sea Levels will rise and cities like New York could be in danger of getting flooded.


• We will not be able to live the way we are used to as the resourses will be gone and with constant waste being created more and more landfills will have to created.

Eco-Footprint Reduction

In class we have been studying our eco-footprints and are finding alternatives and changes to help reduce our eco-footprints. In case you are wondering "What is an eco-footprint", an eco-footprint is how much you effect the earth in the time you are alive e.g. how many litres of fuel you use, trees you have indirectly cut down for your house.

We had to come up with three things we would do to help reduce our eco-footprint. Here are mine:

• Turn off all electrical appliances at the wall when they are not in use.
• Make sure all recyclable items are put in the recycle box.
• Have shorter showers and use water from the bath to water the garden.
  

Eco-footprint

At school we have been studying our impact on the environment and our carbon footprint I am ashamed to say if everyone lived like me we would need 2.3 Earths and throughout my life I will release 7.2 tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere.

Here is the link for the website: http://www.earthday.net/footprint/
Find out what your footprint is and comment.

Three things I am going to do from now on to help reduce my carbon footprint are:

1. turn off all electrical appliances at the wall when they are not in use.
2. Reuse water e.g. water gardens with dirty bathwater and water from the De-humidifier.
3. Make sure all recyclable objects are put in the recycle box and use food scraps in a compost bin or feed them to the Guinea Pig.
   

Kris Wilson lecture

On the 3rd June 2009 Kris Wilson came to our class to talk to us about Sustainable Architecture. He explained that everything requires energy and waste to make eg.

Wood+ energy= chopped tree+ Energy= log+ Energy for transport= house frame.

He named some key factors for designing buildings ( Energy Efficiency, Building Materials, Waste Management) and told us people are always coming up with new ideas for sustainable products some obvious and some out of the ordinary here are some: Solar Modelling (using windows for light and heat), Transportable homes (save energy of building new house), Roof overhang (to monitor heat levels).

Product choice local=less transport=better economy Vs Forein=lots transport=more waste. Renewable energy and recycle while building too.

Jo and Clement sustainability lecture

On Tuesday 2nd June our class was fortunate enough to have two students studying sustainability from the University of Waikato to talk to us about what it really is all about.

They started talking about how we can be sustainable at home and used apples to demonstrate how much of the earth we have left for farming and growing crops to feed the growing population, turns out we only have 1/32 left . They explained that "sustainability is all about preparing for the future and being able to have enough resourses for the future generation."

Next they explained that somewhere in China they are growing plants on rooftops, if everyone did this we could reduce pollution and grow more food. There are many more things we could do at home like growing our own vegies and fruit and save water while having a shower or brushing our teeth. FACT: There are 1000 closed land fills on New Zealand and only 60 open ones.

They went outside and rummaged through our classes rubbish bin we found out that 75% of our classes waste was recyclable. We learned a lot that day and I am sure everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.
"What is the point of having future leaders if we have no future to lead?"

Matai Islands Jobs

We have been studying our jobs on the Matai islands I am hydro electricity generator I chose this job as it is a sustainable way of creating electricity for the island. We have been given the opportunity to take 5 items on the island. I have recently finished a topic in science class on electricity so I understand the fundamentals of it all.

I have copied and pasted this article from:
http://environmental-engineering.suite101.com/article.cfm/hydroelectric_power_generation
so I give them full credit for the next two paragraphs:

Hydroelectric Power from Dams

Today, most hydroelectric power is generated from dams. Dams build up reservoirs behind them and allow for large potential energy to be developed. The reservoir water is sent through the turbines at the bottom of the dam, maximizing the energy that can be harvested from the water.

The potential power from a dam is based on the formula P = hrk, where P is the theoretical power generation, h is the maximum water height behind the dam, r is the flow rate of water into the turbines, and k is a conversion factor that takes into account system efficiency, acceleration due to gravity, and the density of the water.

I was thinking and I thought when my hydro electric plant is finished I will have barely any work so I have chosen to be a fruit farmer. This will include Growing oranges, lemons, apples and pears I could also make juice out of these. I think I will be a big part of sustainability on the island and growing food and creating electricity is going to be hard work but worthwhile.

Supply and demand on the Matai Islands

People Supply and People Demand. It is how we manage this that makes markets grow and shrink, this is called Economics. When consumers (demanders) want something more than usual the suppliers have to increase their output to match what thy anticipate they will be able to sell. Companies raise and lower the prices of a product depending on how much consumers are willing to pay for it this is how companies make a profit. Producers have to monitor the "want" of the consumers when output meets input companies can make a good business, this point (shown on the graph) is called the Equilibrium point.

The Matai Islands and sustainability

In class we have been studying sustainability, we have just discovered a new series of Islands called the Matai Islands we are planning to live on these islands and basically live off the land. We have also brainstormed and thought we also need to start businesses to help bring money to the island. Sprint gas racing wants to open a carting business for transport as we would not use cars because they pollute the atmosphere, but we need something to pull them so Mousewheel is going to become our international negotiator and head of trade to bring wanted items to the island and develop alliances with other nations.

These are just some of the things we plan to do but we also want Eco houses. Eco houses support themselves by having independent and sustainable power sources like wind turbines and solar panels. I have found a great idea on the Internet it requires digging into the side of a hill and building a house within the ground (pictured) and a little like the hobbits on Lord of the Rings. This would also create insulation. We would also put wind turbines around the coast of the island where it is most windy and connect them to our houses to power them. Solar panels are also part of my plans they would heat our water so we would not have to waste electricity on powering our water heater. Solar panels would be fitted on every roof of every house, I have also thought about putting a tidal power generator in the sea ( we are on an island why not ) yet I am concerned about the cost.

Anyway we will have to make a lot of money to do all that but it is all possible and in the name of sustainability. DID YOU KNOW? If everyone lived like that we would be able to live on earth for centuries longer that we are going to be able to at the rate we are going.

Sustainibility Around The World

In class we have been learning about sustainability around the world and I was so surprised to find out that at our current rate we will not be able to live the way we are used to in 100 years!!!
This is so bad because I love doing everything I do and I wouldn't have it any other way. I guess we all will have to make sacrafices until we find a way to live independently.

Everyone can help and here are some ways:

1. Recycle everything you can
2. Go to work on a train or bus or even take your friends to work.
3. install solar panels or hook your house up to a sustainable power source
4. grow your own vegies or even farm your own animals

PS: check out the colour of my blog ... it is green just like how we want the world to be HOORAY!!!