Save the World Fridays

environmental week!

2012-02-06T15:37:00.000-08:00

hey guys, so just giving an update on last week's meeting!

We're pretty certain that ASB will grant us a full week dedicated to environmental awareness, and we'll be putting in a formal request for the use of the quad for lunchtime activities shortly. They won't be until April, but we wanted to figure it all out as soon as possible. By this Friday, we were hoping that everyone who took responsibility for one of the days of the week will give the entire club a brief presentation on their ideas for the activity (related to their theme, of course). The themes are as follows:

Meatless Monday — encouraging the incorporation of less meats and more sustainably farmed produce into our diets as a way of being conscious consumers (Lauren)
Trashy Tuesday — all about recycling and reducing waste (Jiem and Aliyah, I believe)
Water Conservation Wednesday — pretty much like it sounds, conserving that water, wooo (Katra)
Thrifty Thursday — encouraging reusing as well as the consumption of already used clothing as an alternative to new (Lorelay)
Save the World On Fridays — about the club, our mission, and helping out in small ways! (Nicola)

Of course, each person who took responsibility for the activities is likely to interpret these in slightly different ways. I just wanted to give the basic idea. Feel free to seek out club members that you saw volunteer for the theme days and offer to help and/or bounce ideas off of them. No one wants to or would be able to do it alone!

As an added note, we will also be selling water bottles at lunch all week and I'm sure a sign-up will circulate as we get closer to April.

Thanks everyone, and don't forget about your pitches on Friday!

Conserve energy!

2012-02-02T18:19:00.000-08:00

This showed up on my Facebook ticket thing and it caught my eye. This could be a fun art project--do you think we could get away with putting this up?

thank you Katra!

2012-01-30T17:44:00.000-08:00

All right, so I just wanted to take a second and thank our wonderful and fabulous member Katra for a couple recent contributions to the club.

Firstly, a friend mentioned today that she used to bring her lunch items in disposable packaging, but after the urging of our good friend Katra converted to tupperware. Three cheers for reducing waste! And I'm assuming that it was done very politely and pleasantly.

Secondly, Katra was responsible for ordering our new stainless steel water bottles, and we thank her for that contribution as well. They're still in Mr. Steussy's room as far as I know, so get them while they're hot! I know we'll be setting up and organising lunch sales soon.

Thirdly, we now have a new little poster that mentions the water bottles and the STWF t-shirts that Katra designed. Jimmy got clearance with ASB to post them wherever, so you should be seeing them multiply in the next few days.

I just thought it'd be nice to give a blog-five to a member that helped out a lot recently. Keep up the good work, everyone, and we'll see you on Friday!

Andy Rooney on Water Bottles

2012-01-28T23:37:00.000-08:00

"What people will remember about Andy Rooney are things like this: He’d open a can of mixed nuts on 60 Minutes and separate the various nuts by type, and then he’d count how many of each nut were in the can. What made this so interesting (at least to me) was not the metaphor this act represented; what was interesting was that there was no metaphor at all. It wasn’t a veiled sociological commentary or a criticism of advertising or a meditation on consumerism. It wasn’t about anything, except the contents of the can. This, I suspect, is why Rooney’s seemingly banal essays were so infuriating to a certain kind of person: We have come to assume that whenever a media personality talks about something basic, he or she is actually trying to explain something complex. The idea that someone on television would just sit at his desk and complain about mixed nuts and have it only be about the ostensive subject — without a larger meaning and without a defined purpose — seemed facile and ridiculous. But isn’t it equally ridiculous to assume trivial thoughts are only worth considering when we pretend they represent something else? As a self-defined atheist, Rooney would have never pretended that filtering peanuts could help us understand the nature of existence; he was wholly resigned to the fact that we couldn’t even understand the nature of peanuts."

-Chuck Klosterman

Andy Rooney 1919-2011

Cool video!

2012-01-25T23:28:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I hope the end of the semester hasn't been too brutal for anyone, and as you are all cramming for finals and putting finishing touches on papers/projects/what-have-you, here's a short video to take a break with:

CLICK

NASA apparently had some time on its hands and they produced the video to show modern global warming and how the temperatures have changed/risen from 1880 to 2010. It's a neat little thing. It'd be interesting to analyze the causes of the fluctuations between 1880 and 2010. If you have any ideas, feel free to toss them down in a comment. (I'm assuming there are a couple of Industrial Revolutions in there...)

Hope all is going well! Best of luck finishing up this fall semester.

JANUARY 13 MEETING

2012-01-16T23:01:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!

Sorry I haven't posted lately. My computer had to go for repairs and Senior year's been keeping me real busy. Just wanted to record and remind you of a couple things:

The bottles! They have come in, and we'll be selling them soon. We need to fill out a form first, but now we have the bottles to sell, it's super cool.
Speaking of bottles: the flyers you made. Remember them? You can post them up wherever. We don't need permission. So go for it.
T-Shirts! We still have a bunch! Buy one, they look (and feel) really neat. They're organic cotton! And, um, yeah. Oh: if you have one, make sure to wear it! I like the idea of wearing it on Fridays, as it creates more of a presence in the school.
Environmental week! We still need to figure it all out. I'll keep you updated on that.

So yeah. There's the stuff. Just part of my ongoing mission to provide transparency for student governments. Yeeeeeeeahppo.

composting!

2012-01-09T16:05:00.000-08:00

I am almost absolutely sure that somewhere on this blog is a post about composting. We're all tree-hugging hippies, right? It comes with the territory.

But I figure that sometimes redundancy doesn't hurt, especially when we've just been handed this new, shiny 2012 that's just begging for new projects and resolutions. If you've already thought about giving composting a go, here's some information that could help you along the way. If you haven't, then maybe this will cause you to consider it? Who knows.

Anyway, I got this information off of the conveniently-named howtocompost.org. I'm sure the website (and the internet in general, really) is full of helpful tips, but I thought their "top ten tips" would be a neat way to get us off the ground.

Gather all grass clippings and green yard waste but be sure to mix with the "brown" materials like leaves and shredded paper to add carbon. You will need both, but if you only add grass clippings your pile will compact and start to stink.

Do not compost meats or pet droppings. Stick with food scraps and yard waste only.

Avoid all pesticides and/or herbicide treated material.

If you add weeds to your pile make sure your pile is good and hot. It should be steaming hot, not just warm otherwise it may not kill the seeds.

Turn your pile as often as you can. Each time you turn it will speed up the process.

Keep your compost damp but not wet. As you add material to your pile make sure that each layer is moist as it is added. During the summer your pile will dry out and the composting process will slow down.

Got too much material to compost? Make a second or third pile. Stop adding material to a pile that is under way and start a new pile. This will ensure you get a chance to use the compost this season.

Add compost to your garden a few weeks before you plant. Let the compost have a chance to work into the soil. Try to mix it in and let it sit before you plant.

Worms and most bugs are okay. No need to go crazy trying to keep bugs out of your compost.

Since the compost process works best at temperature between 120 and 150 degrees composting in the warmer months is easier to do, if this is your first attempt at composting best to try in the summer.

And there we have it! Good luck to you if you're trying out this new endeavour!

Winter Break

2011-12-18T10:38:00.000-08:00

I hope you all have a good winter break. We spent our last meeting of 2011 making snow globes out of jars and knickknacks. Some people have been requesting the directions for making the snow globes, so here we are:

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/12/how-to-make-a-homemade-snow-globe/

It's a pretty good how-to, I'd say. In January we'll resume initiatives and important club work, but for now, get lots of sleep, be kind to others and the environment, and enjoy your break!

Snow globes!

2011-12-14T21:21:00.000-08:00

Don't forget to bring materials in to make snow globes this Friday. Also, t-shirts--buy 'em and wear 'em!

the holidays!

2011-12-12T18:43:00.000-08:00

I know that not everyone celebrates Christmas, but for those who do, there are some environmentally aligned decisions that everyone makes every year. For example, Mr. Steussy recently posed the question of artificial vs. fresh tree. That is, which one is more "green"? There are problems with each, and it's up to the individual to decide which option they are more comfortable with.

Our wonderful member Nicola mentioned at either last Friday's meeting or the one before that there was such a thing as a replantable Christmas tree. They're called "Real Christmas Trees". The link takes you to the National Christmas Tree Association's website, where you can find more information. This seems to solve at least part of the problem of cutting down live trees annually while not resorting to the production of plastic. I think it's pretty neat.

The other (and more creative) option is to build some kind of recyclable/renewable Christmas tree. The one above is made from books, which I kind of think is the coolest thing ever.

The Lorax - Dr. Seuss

2011-12-09T20:47:00.000-08:00

Do you know who this is?

This, my friends, is the Lorax.

If you didn't know who it is, GO TO THE NEAREST LIBRARY AND READ IT NOW.

The reason why I mention this odd little character is that it embodies a strong message concerning environmentalism: "Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing's going to change. It's not."

As a children's book, The Lorax is a great tool to show the need for working towards green goals and such. But if you think you're too cool for such juvenile pleasures (scoff), IT'S NOW A MOVIE! Click here for the trailer (on YouTube).

Have you read The Lorax? Would you be willing to watch the movie? Let's do this!

Remember everyone,

THE POWER IS YOURS!

PS: Sorry for not posting yesterday. Argh.

Just say no!

2011-12-07T16:56:00.000-08:00

As I'm a senior right now, college is on my mind a lot. One thing that occurred to me is that nowadays, you don't wait for a fat envelope anymore (although, I'm sure there are exceptions), but you refresh some random webpage to the point of exhaustion. One college kindly informed me "we will provide some admissions decisions only online, not via regular mail. You may request that a copy of your decision letter be mailed to you after you receive it online", which I think is fantastic. This college, in particular, I have no complaints about, but there are some others who are... much less committed to saving the world.

Ever since that fateful day when I took the PSAT as a sophomore and unwittingly said I'd be open to receiving mailings from Collegeboard and their partner colleges (or however the phrasing is that allows them to sell your names to colleges) I've been absolutely bombarded with mailings for colleges that I'm not interested in (seriously, Milwaukee Engineering? I'm looking to be an English major.) and pricey summer programs. So, I think the time may have passed for the PSAT-takers for this year, but if you ever have the choice of opting in for Collegeboard's mailings:

Unless, of course, you actually want your inbox and mailbox to be cluttered wastelands (or if you want to read the 100+ brochures of obscure colleges).

And, on a slightly-related side note, the same motto (JUST SAY NO!) can be applied to plastic. Be sure to write your letters!

seasonal cooking pt. deux

2011-12-05T18:16:00.000-08:00

well, okay, that's a bit of a misnomer. Baking and cooking are technically two different things. This is a recipe for some chewy ginger cookies that seem nice and appropriate for the holiday season.

There are three different "types" of ginger in this recipe, which, paired with the dark brown sugar, molasses, and other spices give these little cookies a lot more depth than they look like they'd have. They're delicious, trust me. The cookies that this recipe is for are vegan, but feel free to substitute dairy products if that's what you'd like (although the nice thing about these is that they don't have "bad" cholesterol).

ingredients (use organic/fair trade/sustainable wherever possible!):

2 1/2 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons of ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoons of freshly grated nutmeg
a few pinches of kosher salt (kosher does make a difference, promise)
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper (I know, weird, just trust me)
3/4 cup of firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup of canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons of Ener-G egg replacer
2 tablespoons of filtered water
1/2 cup of blackstrap molasses
2 teaspoons of peeled, freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped crystallised ginger
about 1/2 cup of raw (turbinado) sugar

directions:

"prep" all of the ingredients: grate the nutmeg, peel and grate the fresh ginger, chop the crystallised ginger, and mix the water with the egg replacer powder (again, this is the "vegan version") until it's smooth and creamy.

(the crystallised ginger, all nicely chopped by my lovely assistant James Curry)

after all of that is taken care of, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

now, mix the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, nutmeg, salt and pepper in a large bowl.

in a separate bowl, mix the canola oil and brown sugar until it's all nice and combined. Add the egg replacer mixture, vanilla, grated ginger and molasses to the wet mixture. Again, make it all nice and smooth.

add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until juuuuust combined. Don't overmix! It supposedly does bad things! Now, add the crystallised ginger and mix it around. It should be pretty thick, gooey, and dark.

the crystallised stuff gets you pretty sticky, as my lovely assistant found out.

all right, now you've got to take out a couple baking trays and get ready for the fun part. Put the turbinado sugar into a shallow bowl. Take little glops of the dough about 1 tablespoon in volume. Roll it gently in the sugar and place on the baking tray.

Do that until it's all used up.

Space them about 1 1/2 inches apart on the trays, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. You can tell when they're done if the edges are a bit firm and the centers are cracked.

let 'em cool for about five minutes until you transfer them to another plate or rack.

mae thought the dough was pretty tasty, at least.

don't worry, I sanitised afterwards.

well, that's it! happy ginger-ing!

DECEMBER 2 MEETING

2011-12-03T09:25:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone! I hope you had a good week back from break. Here's the stuff we talked about at yesterday's meeting:

Bottles! Katra is in charge of ordering the aluminum water bottles, and she should have it done by our next meeting. Also write your letters to Mrs. Roberson about the reduction of plastic water bottles. Her email is jroberson@sandi.net. We need those sent!
T-Shirts! They have been ordered, and they need to be sold! If you ordered one, go ahead and buy one, they're pretty neat.
ASB! There's a meeting coming up at the end of December, but I will speak to them before then about our concerns and requests.
Gardens? That's possibly our next initiative. We'll have to decide on the details, though: what kind of garden we want, where we want it, and what kind of plants we want to grow. My own two cents: I think that whatever it is we do, we need to take into consideration the environmental impact/benefits of such a garden.

So yes, that's it! Yesterday was a rather brisk meeting. Now that we have our goals for the water bottle initiative figured out, we must complete the process of actually achieving those goals. So, play your part, and have a great weekend!

Sustainability 101?

2011-12-01T21:40:00.000-08:00

This past Tuesday, Mr. Steussy brought to my attention the new major on sustainability launched at SDSU. Upon further research, I found out that sustainability is available in schools across that nation, notably Western New England University, Arizona State University and Columbia University (yeah, the one in the Ivy League).

Yep, this one.

I was rather intrigued by the type of classes offered along with this major. I mean, I always thought that sustainability and environmentalism couldn't be taught. Being green is a lifestyle choice, not an academic endeavor, right?

I found that choosing sustainability as a major requires one to choose from a list of classes including "Challenges of Social Development", "Climate Solutions" and "Survey of Legal and Policy Methods for Sustainable Development". For a more comprehensive list, click here.

So what do you guys think? Would you consider declaring sustainability as your major? How do you think programs like these affect our cause?

Remember guys,
THE POWER IS YOURS!

California: The Golden State's nature becoming as rare as it's name

2011-12-01T19:43:00.000-08:00

I came across a very concerning issue today, CA's nature is losing almost all of its natural spawning ground. Here is an excerpt from the article by sign-on San Diego journalist Mike Lee:

"The studies show that common trees are fading from their current ranges, premium wine grape varieties are under siege [...]the hub of the state’s water system faces increasing risks[...]"

The new changes in CA's climate and weather(most of which is believed to be cause global warming) is said to be causing the local wildlife change as well.

"[...]Marine creatures are shifting locales[...]and — surprisingly — birds in the state are getting bigger as the weather warms.

Coming across this article makes me think that we should further expand our efforts to get a ban on water bottles, along with a bicycle movement, at San Diego High.

If you you would like to read more into this please visit http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/nov/20/grapes-birds-trees-fish-respond-climate/

North Park Library's "Garden"

2011-11-29T17:46:00.000-08:00

Happy happy Tuesday!

I mentioned at a meeting maybe a month ago about how the library I volunteer at is starting to grow some vegetables indoors. I snagged a couple of pictures (see below) today in case anyone was wondering about the set-up and is possibly looking into doing something similar.

If anyone is in fact looking into doing this and wants more information, let me know and I can give you the contact information of the staff member who's behind this! She's quite friendly, and has an environmental non-profit organization.

passes!

2011-11-28T19:11:00.000-08:00

hey guys, I hope your break was the best it possibly could have been and your return to school at least somewhat painless!

I wanted to remind you to stop by Mr. Steussy's room at some point before Friday's meeting to pick up your pass to the 1100 building during lunch. I have absolutely no way of knowing how long this new policy will be in effect for, so please do your best to hand on to the passes, as they're meant to be reused every week.

Just a bit of housekeeping to (try to) keep us all on track. See you Friday, hopefully with a few more letters, research, or poster designs!

NOVEMBER 18 MEETING

2011-11-19T10:57:00.000-08:00

The most important thing for all club members to do is to write their letters to Mrs. Roberson! Her email is jroberson@sandi.net. Be very kind in your letters—she's our new principal and we want her help in being able to change the water bottle policy in our school. Very few letters have been written so far... so write, write, write!

We also discussed ASB issues. Primarily, we want an environmental week for our school (similar to "spirit weeks" and preferably around Earth Day). Just as importantly, we want to discuss the issue of unnecessary waste in school events—namely, the releasing of huge amounts of balloons into the air at various school functions. I will personally communicate with ASB about these issues. Again, we want their help in these issues, and I will mention alternatives for the balloons that we have discussed in our class.

Our T-Shirts are coming along, I suppose we're still waiting for our bike rack, and we're considering donating to wildlife organizations. I'll end this post with another detail about the water bottle initiative: we're ordering reusable water bottles to sell in school. It's possible to put designs on them. Do we want a SAVE THE WORLD FRIDAYS logo, or do we want something different? Do want Jiem's BOTTLENOSE SAYS "BOTTLES? NO!"? Do we want REFILL NOT LANDFILL? Do we want nothing at all? These are questions for the ages. What I want to know, is who will be responsible for ordering the bottles? Will it be our treasurer? is that how it usually works

Anyway, that was a good meeting. Have a good Thanksgiving break! I'll see you all in a week.

Putting it into action: Thanksgiving

2011-11-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

Boy, do I love Turkey Day. Just family, friends and FOOD. YUM! Right?

The pie guys. The pie.

Also, I just love that one week off from school. But just because we get a vacation doesn't mean you should take a break from being environmentally conscious! Here at STWF, we've been talking about ways to lead a green lifestyle, so why not put all those ideas in action? Here are links and ideas for being an Earth Defender during Thanksgiving:

Getting ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner? Let's go to a Farmers' Market!
Want some seasonal recipes? Here's an autumn bisque!
Don't be a cold turkey! Instead of cranking up that heater, why not go our for a game of football or just grab a fashionable sweater?

Have any more tips for surviving Thanksgiving and coming out green? Leave them in the comments below!

Remember guys,

THE POWER IS YOURS!

PS: Bring the posters ideas and the letters for the meeting tomorrow!

Winter is approaching!

2011-11-16T23:15:00.000-08:00

With the onset of winter near, I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to put on a sweater or wrap a blanket around before cranking up the heater!

If you're not one of those people who are excited to break out their sweaters and coats, then perhaps this will convince you:

Lowering the temperature 3-5 degrees Fahrenheit can save you up to 20% on heating costs!

If you're still not convinced enough to don a fashionable sweater this season, then consider some other alternatives to staying warm:

Increasing the insulation in the walls, ceilings, and between the floors
Making sure all the windows are tightly sealed and don't leak in air
Turning down the temperature of your water heater to the warm water setting, and the lowest one when you're away
Replacing your water heater (newer ones are significantly more energy efficient)

Anyone have any other alternatives? Leave a comment!

Water Bottle Initiative Update

2011-11-15T16:27:00.001-08:00

I talked to a friend of mine who goes to OLP where they have had great success with reducing the amount of plastic water bottles on campus. Here's a list of things they did, which you may consider suggesting as improvements in your letter to Mrs. Roberson:

Added 3 water filters in the area (for people to refill)
Removed water bottle vending machines
Sold $5 reusable water bottles (STWF is willing to do this!) during lunch
Posters to promote the change (don't forget to create yours!)

Recycling bins were also added in the case anyone continued to bring water bottles from home.

Anyway, don't forget to do your letters/posters/research!

I have searched high and low on the school website and Google for Mrs. Roberson's email address to no avail, but I'll be going down to the main office tomorrow so I'll post it soon!

Edit: Thanks to the anonymous comment below, we now know jroberson@sandi.net is her email address!

more baby steps!

2011-11-14T15:57:00.001-08:00

The wonderful and amazing Jiem made a post a bit ago with a few "baby steps" everyone can take to make your daily activities just a little more eco-friendly. I thought I'd just expand on that for a post today. Some of these were discussed in a previous meeting, but it seems a good idea to go through some things in either case.

Print back to back: We all print long essays and assignments and whatnot for school, right? Right. In order to save paper, it can be a good idea to print to odd pages first and then the even pages on the backs. Of course, this takes a second of brain power in order to figure out how to put the papers back in so it all works out, but I think that it's beneficial in the grand scheme o' things.

Use smaller margins: In the same vein, it can be good to make your margins smaller so you can fit more words on less pages. Now, when you need to do strict MLA or something of the sort and there are specifications this doesn't really work out. Most of the time, though, there's no problem. I usually go for 0.6 inches all around, because after that your printer starts to object.

Don't leave the lights on: This seems obvious, I know. BUT, it can be important to remember that, as far as energy goes, simple light switches are the type of device that don't take a whole lot of energy to get going. By that I mean that any extra second the light is on (when you don't need it) energy is being wasted. Like, if you were to leave a room for twenty minutes but were planning on coming back, turn the lights off. TVs and the like should be left on (up to a certain point) because turning them on and off needs a lot more energy. Make sense?

Stick a bucket in your shower: I noticed this at a friend's house, and I think it's a neat little idea. So, nobody wants to go into a shower before the water has warmed up, right? That's no fun. But while the water's warming, it's also running, which means there is some waste happenin' there. A good solution would be to get a bucket, name is Wonderfully Helpful Gorgeous Shower Bucket, and stick it under the faucet/head/whatever it's called. It'll fill up with the cold water that you don't want so that when you're ready, you can take it out and go about your business. Use that cold water for something like watering your plants!

So, maybe just pick one thing to try out and get used to and take on another if you're feeling up to it. But don't rush anything and then fall out of the habit. It's better to do a little than too much if that's going to happen!

Baby steps!

Farmers' Markets (a documentary)

2011-11-12T16:00:00.000-08:00

Natalie, Joanna and I all made this for Film class. Cool stuff about organic farming, EBT, and living local:

Also: after meeting members of some other school's environmental club, I was really enamored with the idea of developing a community garden on the campus of the school. I'll propose it at our next club meeting—I think it would be good to look at after we have established our bottle initiative.

Out of town!

2011-11-11T19:07:00.001-08:00

Hey guys. I'm on a trip right now, super busy. You're all great! Don't forget to write your bottle letters. See you next week!

BAD NEWS. BAD NEWS. BAD NEWS.

2011-11-10T18:22:00.000-08:00

Do you see this creature?! This majestic, beautiful, and magnificent creature?!

Well, it's called the Western Black Rhinoceros AND THEY'RE ALL GONE. EXTINCT. DEAD.

This news has been announced by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature just today. Further statements claim that more rhinoceroses are on the verge of extinction as well. There is hope, though. In the past, many animals that have been declared extinct have been "found" and, through efficient conservation programs, have gained numbers. Such animals include the White Rhino and Przewalski's horse.

Now, I'm not sure how to help out what's going on in Africa from all the way here from San Diego. Picketing? Yeah, raising awareness is nice but unless we do something big, no one's going to do anything. Fundraising? I guess sending money to conservation groups is a great way to help, but that's a little impersonal. I'm up for it. Have any suggestions? Leave them in the comments below!

Also, don't forget to bring letters or designs for posters to the next STWF meeting NEXT FRIDAY!

Remember guys,
THE POWER IS YOURS.

cooking seasonally!

2011-11-08T20:03:00.000-08:00

Most, if not all, of my posts so far have been about food. What can I say? Food is great.

Anyway, cooking seasonally is pretty important as far as the whole being-nice-to-our-planet thing is concerned. Our year is divided up into four neat little sections, each one bringing different weather and different crops. The more sustainable (and fun, really) thing to do is to buy what's in season. It usually tastes better, is cheaper, and is more easily available. To find out what foods grow/sell in what seasons, you can always Google it, but it also tends to reveal itself to you. Like, you know it's summer when there are massive amounts of corn at your local market for twenty-five cents a cob. I'd also recommend going to farmer's markets and trying to detect a common theme!

The common theme right about now seems to be squash. Squash and gourds and other silly-shaped produce. I can dig it. I figure it's one thing to tell you to buy and cook around the seasons, but it's quite another to help you out a bit. So, here's a recipe!

Autumn Bisque
(serves 4-6? about?)

ingredients:

1 large butternut squash
1/2 of an acorn squash
1 large potato (or two small ones)
1 medium yellow onion
2 carrots
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1 small pear (or apple, whatever you'd like)
somewhere around 4 cups of vegetable broth
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme
(I should have put rosemary and sage in it so I could make a Simon and Garfunkel joke)
1 teaspoon of ginger
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 cup of creamer (I used coconut creamer, normal people could use heavy cream)

preparation:

preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

before you start prepping the produce, gaze at the beauty of the vegetables. This is a crucial step.

all right, so when you're done with that, you need to peel and dice the squash, potatoes, pear, carrots, and onion. Don't dice the pear as fine as the others - just trust me on this one. The squash can be a bit tough to work with because, well, they're tough. I usually slice them into smaller sections and then just chop the peel off. If you do this, try not to loose much flesh. It's possible to peel a butternut squash, but pretty much impossible to try to do that with an acorn squash. It's kind of a trial and error thing. Be sure to leave out the fibers and seeds from the centers of the squash (you can always roast the seeds for a little snack, though!).

When you're done with all of that, the produce will not be as pretty as it once was. It's on its way to being tasty, though, so it kind of all evens out.

Okay, so transfer the squash, potatoes, onion, and carrot to a baking tray. Add the olive oil, salt, and pepper and toss it all around a bit so it's evenly coated.

Stick the tray in the oven and leave it there for ten minutes. After ten minutes, add the pear (or apple, I guess) and continue roasting for another fifteen minutes. You can use this roasting time to chop up your parsley and thyme.

When the vegetables, etc., are done, get out a pot. Put about two cups of vegetable broth in the pot and set the stove to a low heat setting. Now, stick all of the stuff you just roasted into a food processor or blender. Blend it until it's super super smooth. Sometimes it helps to throw a bit of broth in there.

So when that's done, scoop all of the blendy stuff into the pot. Mix it around. Add your herbs and spices and raise the heat level to medium. Add as much broth as you want to make it a texture that's good for you. Thick, but not too thick. I didn't measure everything exactly, but it's nice to just adjust it to your tastes.

So let it all heat there for ten minutes. Then you can add your creamer, reduce the heat, and let it simmer for about half and hour.

Lastly, you should mess with it a little. I added a bunch of cumin and didn't really measure how much. I just kept tasting it to see what it needed. I also stuck in a shake more of cinnamon and some salt. I added a little too much salt, so I put in some turbinado sugar. I think I put more black pepper, too. And a small shake of cayenne.

Serve with some toast or other tasty side!

It was delicious.

If people respond well to this post, I'd like to do more posts like this in the future, but it would be silly to put up a lot of recipes and the like if no one ever uses 'em.

Happy squash-ing!

NOVEMBER 4 MEETING - Water bottle initiative!

2011-11-04T20:47:00.000-07:00

Hey hey hey buds. Important, text-dense stuff this week!

We are now pursuing our water bottle initiative. Our main goal is to reduce the use of water bottles throughout the complex. We want everyone in the club to start writing letters for the complex principal. I believe her name is Mrs. Roberson? I couldn't find her email address, but I'll post again later with more information about the letter-writing campaign. A few ideas for what to include in your letter:

Your environmental concerns and reasons for supporting the club.
A link to or mention of videos, documentaries, or any other sources you find are helpful and informative, as the specific issues with water bottles.
A question on how feasible it would be to implement change in the school's relationship with water bottles—how do order vending machine products, who do we order them through, can we change what we order, who chooses what the other school vendors sell, etc. Don't deluge them with questions, but do express a curiosity for how we can affect change.
Mention past initiatives of this sort. I believe OLP, another San Diego school, already removed water bottles on their campus? That is something I heard in the meeting, but I'll need a confirmation on that.

These are all just suggestions for the letter—write it however you feel is best, and focus on the issue of water bottles.

Also part of our water bottle campaign will include informational PSA-style flyers warning against the use of water bottles and promoting the benefits of water bottle alternatives. I suppose there's an open invitation for the design of the flyers. Bring any designs in to the next meeting and we'll decide what to do with them.

We must additionally consider the question of where these flyers will be placed. The ideal would be in locations where water bottles are sold (vending machines, near food carts, etc.; they could also alternatively be placed near water fountains). Where we can place the flyers is a different question from where we should place the flyers—I would suppose this would be under the jurisdiction of ASB. I can go to them soon and discuss the guidelines for the initiative.

As part of this initiative, we're also considering purchasing reusable water bottles to resell on campus. This will allow for a more accessible transition to reusable water bottles and increase school awareness of our club. Also, depending on how much the bottles cost, we may even be able to raise some funds. The details for this aren't complete yet—we will discuss this more in our next meeting.

On that note, we don't have a meeting next week! So, in the next two weeks, everyone should start writing their letters for the principal and consider designing a flyer. Otherwise, good job on the recycling initiative and keep up the good work!

====================================

A couple questions for our presidents:

Is Mrs. Roberson in fact the name of the campus principal?
What is her email address? I tried to find it on the school website, but it wasn't available anywhere.
What are the details on OLP?

You can just leave your answers in the comments section, and I'll make a new blog post with the correct information.

Baby steps

2011-11-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

Yeah, it's difficult to just go green on a whim. As much as I'd like to get a hybrid, I'm not that rich. Cutting animal products cold turkey? I wish you luck. Even though I'm sure everyone wants to help, I'm sure a ton of people are overwhelmed by the great demand to change every single aspect of their lives just to promote a healthy earth.

So, I propose baby steps - small, easy ways to reduce waste and promote a healthy lifestyle.

Don't charge your electronics overnight. This is an easy one - just don't do it. Your phone really takes only one to three hours to fully charge. You don't need to waste six hours worth of electricity on your phone. Charge your electronics right when you get home from school or work. Take it out before you sleep. Done.
Time your showers. I had a friend who told me that they get their best ideas in the shower. This is also the same friend who took 30 minute showers every day. Please time your showers. You get wet, you lather soap, you rinse it off. I bet you can do that in under five minutes. For extra points, take a "navy shower": turn off the water while lathering, letting the water run only to get wet in the beginning or rinse off at the end.
Look for food in the pantry, not the fridge. Keeping your refrigerator door open uses a ton of energy and exhausts a ton of ozone killing toxins (think of it as a air conditioner for your food). Also, don't keep checking the fridge every two minutes hoping food will appear. It won't. Yeah, I understand that perishable items must stay cold. I'm just saying the next time you're craving an ice cream snack, why not have some chips instead? Or, for the health conscious, an apple and some peanut butter?

As long as you start, it'll be easy to do other things to help the environment - construct a compost pile, set up a community garden, maybe even sacrifice your Joe-joes to boycott palm oil.

Add your own baby steps below. Remember guys,
The power is YOURS!

Paper everywhere!

2011-11-02T23:57:00.000-07:00

I often feel like this gal:

And when I do, the thought always wonders into my head: Is the IB actually trying to kill trees?

Between the massive amounts of homework we get, the countless IAs, we have CAS and the EE, and it just seems like the deluge of paper NEVER ENDS. This probably won't be changing anytime soon, but there are a couple of things you can do to reduce your paper consumption:

Print double-sided! (Most printers will allow you to do this manually, where you print the odd pages first and then flip the pages for your printer to print the even pages in reverse)
Don't print! (Unless you have to, of course)
Recycle all those college letters you're getting! (I use them for scratch paper/homework)
Go paperless (pay your bills online, get newsletters online, etc.)

soy soy soy

2011-10-31T15:52:00.000-07:00

so I came home from school today and didn't know what to post about right away. Sorry I'm not always full of big plans and tiresome call-to-actions. Anyway, I was snacking away at some homemade granola and staring at my soy milk carton, and it gave me an idea.

I consume a lot of soy. Not too much -- I try to get 25 grams of soy protein a day out of my required 50 and not much more. I've heard too much soy is bad for you, but 25 grams is recommended for health reasons. But that's not what I'm supposed to be talking about right now. Our little club is/was founded on the notion of "small things you can do to help" (the environment, that is). So, I thought I'd give an example of my steady and imperfect evolution of environmentalism as it relates to a teeny tiny aspect of my life.

I will freely admit that I used to drink Silk. My parents aren't into the whole organic/sustainable/local thing, so when I first went vegan I was perfectly all right with whatever my mom would buy at the Albertson's up the street. I think I continued to purchase it until we saw Food, Inc. in Theory of Knowledge and I learned about the horrors of Monsanto soy beans.

After seeing the film, my entire perspective towards consumer responsibilities, organics, and sustainability were altered. As a result, I started buying organic soy milk (among other things). I tried Earth Balance and stuck with it for a while because, well, it was tasty. Slowly, though, I became more aware of local and generally sustainable products. Recently I have switched to Organic Valley, pictured above. I didn't take a picture of the back, but the little company calls itself a "family of farms" and is basically a co-op of small farming families who use sustainable methods to grow non-GMO soy.

Of course, this isn't perfect. It never will be and you shouldn't freak out about it. Rather, do the best you can. For the time being, I'll stay on the lookout for a kind of local version of Organic Valley to meet all of my little food goals.

This went on a lot longer than I meant, but you get the point, right? Small changes make a big difference, that kind of thing? Eh? Eh?

OCTOBER 28 CLUB MEETING

2011-10-29T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hey hey hey. Your lovable vice president here. Sorry I didn't post yesterday, I was busy with an event. A couple things that were brought up at the meeting:

Bike racks! We're getting a bike rack soon for the new building. An interesting tidbit: if we manage to fill it up, we'll be able to get another new bike rack. So this provides an incentive for those of us who like biking and want to promote it more at the school. I suppose it would be good to promote it schoolwide and build awareness. What you can do right now is bike to school as often as possible (or, a suggestion, if you know you can't bike everyday, maybe set up a schedule or somethin' so you're biking regularly). Don't forget that you can also take a bike onto public transportation if you live farther away.
Suzie's Farm! I'm not sure if going on a field trip to Suzie's Farm is really an explicit "goal" of the club, but it's definitely something we're going to try to do. In any case, Natalie and I are working with Joanna to make a documentary on farmer's markets that includes a possible interview with the farm. We'll let you know how things go.
Water bottles. They are still bad! We should formulate an initiative soon.
The continuing recycling initiative! It continues! Play your part!

That's pretty much it. Here's a cool advertisement for solar panels from an old National Geographic. I think it's maybe from the sixties?

Update Today

2011-10-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

Going over today, we gained three-four new members: Say hello to Tori, Victoria, Robert, and Sabastian(maybe). New goals were working on finding an easy way to get a Club field trip to Suzie's Farm. I brought up the idea of getting a farmers market to supply the school with fruits and vegies, not positive its going to happen. Shirts will be here soon, but we'll be waiting.

Environmentalism ... and higher education?

2011-10-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks to co-president Rebecca Chhay for the inspiration.

So if you're a high school senior like me, you're probably worried about the next big step - college. Juniors, start searching. Lucky for you underclassmen, you've still got some time, but that shouldn't stop you from researching now.

Most people have a certain agenda when looking up certain colleges - academic reputation, financial aid opportunities, how awesome their a cappella groups are - but DON'T FORGET ABOUT ENVIRONMENTALISM. Seriously, so many high school teachers require us students to use so much paper (no voy a decir nombres). At least in university, you can find ways to reduce the waste of resources and completely avoid schools that don't have a green agenda.

A great site to check out is this one - The Green Report Card. They do have rankings and comparison charts, but most importantly look over their criteria to assess sustainability - things such as the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, accessibility to locally grown food and active student organizations for environmentalism. I'm not going to look up universities for you; It's worth the time to research universities that fit your preferences. With that, I wish you good tidings.

Remember everyone,
The power is YOURS!

Is there a Farmers' Market near you?

2011-10-26T17:12:00.000-07:00

(Hint: The answer is very likely YES.)

Going off of Lauren's post. . .Farmers' Markets!

Hopefully you've been to a Farmers' Market before, but if not, you should definitely check one out as soon as possible, even if you don't think you'll buy anything because you should see what's out there (beyond Vons, Albertsons, Ralphs, etc.).

If you haven't been to one, another super nice thing is that most vendors have samples readily available, and if you're thinking about buying something but you're not sure if you really want to, they're pretty willing to accommodate you if you just ask for a sample.

So, make it your goal to check one out if you haven't been already. There's a list of locations HERE.

Also, Lauren's post alludes to this, but the vendors at the Farmers' Markets tend to be the same ones at other locations, so there's no need to go to every single one.

I also think that my fellow co-President Natalie and our lovely VP and blog writer Jimmy are working on a documentary about Farmers' Markets, so hopefully we'll be able to seen that soon!

And, lastly, a couple of reminders:

Mr. Steussy will have t-shirts available at our club meeting this Friday; bring $15 if you'd like to buy one!
Think about goals for our club, and how to implement them! (see Jimmy's post about the last meeting if you forgot what was discussed)

suzie's farm!

2011-10-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

this is a happy post!

Suzie's farm is super cool. It's local, organic, and named after the sweetest looking dog in the history of the world forever, but I'm a sucker for dogs and pretty much cried when I read the little intro paragraph. ANYWAY, what's important is that Suzie's Farm sounds really neat, and while I'm far from the authority on these things, I'm not aware of too many organic farms so close to us.

On the "farmer's markets" tab, there's a list of the markets that they vend their produce and things at, and it looks like most if not all of the farmer's markets in the immediate San Diego area. The Mission Hills one is new and pretty dinky, and they've even got it there.

I just thought that this was neat because as much as buying organic is important, we should also make our best efforts to get our food as locally as possible. This is a bit harder, but still very worth it. So hooray for Suzie's Farm and places like it!

I'll end this post with another dog:

OCTOBER 21 MEETING and The Story of Bottled Water

2011-10-21T22:06:00.001-07:00

WHAT'S UP

Important things brought up in today's meeting! Here we go:

Continued the recycling initiative. Signs have been doled out to place on all the recycling bins we'll be responsible for. Also, it has been suggested that we place a large recycling bin out in the courtyard, with a bigger sign, to further encourage recycling.
In terms of long-term goals, I suggested we do something to encourage ecologically-friendly forms of transportation in the school. Part of that initiative could include partnering with ASB to increase awareness throughout the entire campus.
Bottles. Mr. Steussy brought up Tapped, a documentary about bottled water. Bottled water is bad, real real bad. I have not seen Tapped, but I have seen this great video called The Story of Bottled Water. It's real short, mostly animated, and very clearly lays its arguments out. Check it out by clicking through the picture below:

Mr. Steussy suggested pushing for awareness of the issue and perhaps even trying to ban bottled water from our school. Anyhow, this topic is certainly worthy of your time and research. The easiest thing you can do now is to stop purchasing bottled water and look for alternative means to fulfill your water needs. It'll save you money and be better for the environment—a win-win!

Environmental "Rankings"

2011-10-19T22:22:00.000-07:00

I was poking around the New York Times website earlier, and apparently there are efficiency rankings. I google searched environmental rankings to see what would come up, and apparently it's kind of a thing. Surprisingly, even though California is supposed to be failing at everything it's doing, we're not failing (completely) at being environmentally friendly!

To check out the New York Times map on who's who in the environmentally-friendly world, click here.

Although, according to the Huffington Post, California is leading the nation in environmentalism (we're 2nd according to the New York Times). So go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back for being a Californian, but don't forget that we're not done saving the world.

If you'd like to check out the article, it's here)

Anyway, my point is that we need to step it up (according to the NY Times) if we really want to be saving the environment. Come to this week's meeting with suggestions for long-term programs that we can implement, or goals (e.g. Lauren proposed the recycling program) that we can set for this year!

See you Friday!

starbucks really isn't that cool, guys

2011-10-17T16:42:00.000-07:00

CAUTION: TIRADE AHEAD

I work at a local, independent coffee shop and have been for close to two years, so I will openly admit that I do not like and never have liked Starbucks Coffee. However, this isn't for reasons of "competition" or what-have-you, but more so because of their ecologically insensitive business practices.

I get it: Starbucks is cool. They play your favorite indie songs and all the stores are furnished just right and make you feel super nice. Or whatever. I just think we should all keep in mind certain things about the company that, at the very least, cause you pause or make you more aware in one way or another.

There's this neat article on ecosalon that gives nine reasons why you should avoid Starbucks. I'll admit that some of them are a little trite, but I agree with the overall sentiment. Aside from already being wary of McDonaldized corporations and ideas that have managed to permeate throughout today's society, I just am not okay with the decisions that the company has made and the way they seem to view the world.

From the article:

"4. Then there was the Ethiopian coffee debacle. In 2006, the Ethiopian government attempted to trademark regional coffees such as Sidamo and Harar because these specialty brews sell for up to $26 a pound, with only about $1 getting back to the Ethiopian coffee farmers. Starbucks, working through the National Coffee Association, blocked Ethiopia’s trademark bid, helping ensure the continuation of poverty in an already impoverished region."

Read that, and then read it again. I can't be the only one who's completely appalled. As much as Starbucks tries to give off the vibe of being "hip" and "green, there are big decisions being made in the company that are, well, selfish and mean.

Also stolen from ecosalon:

"7. Starbucks has decided to increase their purchases of Fair Trade coffee – but that’s only after years of pressure from Fair Trade groups. Considering that the worldwide coffee trade is a huge source of oppression and poverty in third world countries, buying Fair Trade goes far to support better wages and working conditions for coffee farmers. So far, only a small percentage of Starbucks coffee will actually be Fair Trade Certified, but they’ve still created a marketing campaign around it. I’d expect better from a large corporation; since Starbucks is large enough for the world to pay attention to its products, they could push some powerful change by using their influence for the greater good.

8. No matter what they do to be a little more green, if Starbucks won’t pour coffee into a reusable mug, they’ll never win my heart. My husband informed me of his own infuriating Starbucks experience where they refused to fill his travel mug, instead handing him his latte in a disposable paper cup and telling him he could fill his travel mug himself. He’s not the only one who’s had eco efforts thwarted like this at Starbucks."

If you keep up on issues of food and the environment in America (and other places, of course), you're aware that we're told it's best to buy organic, sustainable, and local. There are benefits in terms of the economy when you choose to support your local shops rather than a chain, but there are direct environmental ones as well. A San Diego run coffee roastery that a lot of shops stock is called Cafe Moto, who make it a point to use Fair Trade and organic beans. A favorite of mine is Cafe Virtuoso, which is all organic, mostly Fair Trade, and donates a portion of its proceeds to places like the Rainforest Alliance.

That second reason (#8) is there just as a kind of "really??".

Finally, places like Moto and Virtuoso just straight up make delicious coffee. And isn't that what we're all after anyway? Starbucks is overly acidic, sugared up, and just kind of icky. It just seems like considering switching where you go for your caffeine fix is a "win" in a bunch of different ways.

Anyway, I'm sorry that both of my posts have been heated and essentially claiming "THIS STUFF IS EVIL", but I really do think it's important to consider everything you purchase to be a decision on what you think is good and should be supported. "Every dollar is a vote" kind of thing.

new officers!

2011-10-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

hey, I just thought it would be nice to give a quick shout-out to our new officers! Rebecca and Natalie were elected last year, but we recently chose new members to be our Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer! So . . .

VP - James Curry
Secretary - Nadia Florman
Treasurer - Natalia Semararo

They've been added to the sidebar (with the exception of Jimmy, but hopefully we can get that sorted out), but I thought I should just say something anyway.

Congrats and here's to a new year!

OCTOBER 14 MEETING

2011-10-14T23:11:00.001-07:00

HELLO.

We had another meeting today. The recycling initiative is continuing: all the IS teachers have been notified of our plans, and Mr. Ankeney has suggested somehow expanding the recycling effort to Arts. I am not certain if that would involve current members taking out recycling from Arts classes or if it would involve getting Arts students involved in the effort and in our club. Either way, kudos to the members currently involved in making sure recyclables get recycled.

We have also begun an initiative for getting a bicycle rack in the 1100 building. So far we have simply contacted the school—this initiative is still in its early stages.

Also, T-Shirts! We planned to order some new T-Shirts for the club and to sell on Earth Day. They are all organic, I believe, and they have a great design, created by Benjamin Rehm from last year. I'd post the design but I do not have it on my computer, so here is a picture of a tree:

The actual design is of a tree and some roots that look like a bunch of bikes, so like, it's not that different from the picture. Ben's design is much cooler, though.

Those are the main points from the meeting today! If you have any questions, ideas, or if you just want to say hello, feel free to post a comment underneath this post.

On a completely different note, I'm currently idly listening to Björk's new album/expansive multimedia project, Biophilia. Seems appropriate, considering that the "biophilia hypothesis", as defined by Wikipedia, "suggests that there is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems...In other words, our natural love for life helps sustain life". I suppose most of us here are biophiliacs in some way. Be kind to nature and have a great weekend!

The World is NOT Our Canvas!!!

2011-10-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

New Blogger, Hey Everyone I'm Taylor! Another oil spill occurred this week near New Zealand. It is said, by New Zealand authorities, to be the worst maritime disaster in New Zealand. There are reported to be up to 350 tonnes of oil leaking into the Pacific Ocean, and up to 1,000 birds and animals dead from over exposure. Authorities are warning people who live near affected coasts to stay away from shore.

How people are helping

Currently the New Zealand Department of Conservation are searching the oil slicked coast for any sign of animal life. More than 3,000 people have been working day and night to clean up the oil covered shore and area's in the water near the beach. Over 220 tonnes of oil, including debris from the ship, have been cleaned up and disposed of.

If you would like more information about the clean up of New Zealand's oil spill visit: http://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/

Whatever Happened to Captain Planet?

2011-10-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

I grew up watching Captain Planet and the Planeteers. Yeah, this show:

It may seem insignificant, a little kid watching a cartoon, but Captain Planet made me conscious of the dangers to our environment. I wanted to be a Planeteer. I wanted to help the environment.

Nowadays, educating the public about being environmentally conscious has become severely linked to commercial interests (think about those water filter systems whose angle is to reduce the use of water bottles). I say "severely" because beyond trying to sell products and promote some sort of message with short little thirty-second spots, there is little being done to actually teach the next generation. Sure, there are those pamphlets they give to elementary school students that show the proper way to recycle, but does anyone actually remember to follow those pieces of paper? I had it easy - Captain Planet engraved the importance of being green into my mind. Yeah, I was brainwashed by television, but I say it taught me right.

I'm not advocating the return of Captain Planet or the establishment of some similar TV show. People watch enough television as it is. I'm just saying that it's much more difficult nowadays to preach this message of being green than it was ten years ago. Things change, I get that. However, the passing of time cannot justify neglecting our environment.

What do you guys think? Has educating the importance of being green been forgotten? Is the media an effective means to teach the environmental movement? What did you guys think of Captain Planet?

Remember everyone,

The power is YOURS!

Anyone remember the BP oil spill?

2011-10-12T16:24:00.000-07:00

So, one of the things that seems to happen in terms of environmental awareness is that whenever a major tragedy or disaster strikes, being environmentally conscious is all the rage. The BP oil spill of 2010, anyone? Has anyone really been keeping tabs on it?

Well, I'll admit that I've probably been neglecting the poor Gulf of Mexico in its time of need, however, I did some research it about it the other day and I came across this nifty website that the federal government maintains: http://www.restorethegulf.gov/

As it states in the top left hand corner, it's "An Official Website of the United States Government" and they are still, nearly a year and a half after the day, working on cleaning up the Gulf. The latest press release they have up is from about a week ago, October 6, 2011. It's called: Gulf Coast Task Force Releases Ecosystem Restoration Strategy For Public Review and you can check it out here

It's a long-term strategy to maintain the environment, and it is actually, truly open to public review, so why don't you take some time now to read it, and if you think you can come up with a better strategy or you just want to comment on it, then submit a comment (there's a link at the bottom of the press release in the above link)! The comments are only being accepted up until October 26 (a mere two weeks from now), so if you're interested in submitting a comment please do so immediately!

boycott palm oil!

2011-10-10T21:01:00.000-07:00

hey guys! This is really important! I implore your attention!

So, palm oil is an immense ecological and humanitarian concern that everyone should be made aware of, but it never seems to catch on. I don't know if it's because it's too easy to just shrug off or because not enough awareness is out there, but in either case not much seems to be getting done and we should really all be making our best efforts to combat the problem.

Aside from being absolutely terrible for you, palm oil is ruining the rainforests and the lives of the indigenous people who live there. Essentially, palm oil companies go to places like Indonesia where there crops can grow best. But, apparently buying land the honest way is just no fun, so they often promise the natives a share of the profits or a flat playment in exchange for farming in their part of the forest. When interviewed, these men and women claim that they would be all right with the entire ordeal, if not for the fact that they are very rarely given what is owed and are thrust into the terrors of poverty.

I feel like that's upsetting enough, but it goes on: palm oil companies, as you might guess, aren't really into that whole "sustainable farming" thing. All of the problems that we usually encounter with mass production of produce and genetic engineering can apply to palm oil crops. Except, of course, it all happens within out wonderful and diminishing rainforests.

I know everyone likes things like Girl Scout Cookies, Skippy Peanut Butter and Mission Tortilla Chips (that's right, I'm name-dropping like there's no tomorrow), but I really think we need to consider the effects of everything that we're doing. By purchasing these products, you are directly supporting the companies responsible for incredible amounts of damage.

boycott palm oil! tell all yo' friends!

Solar Subsidies

2011-10-08T14:26:00.001-07:00

I've wondered more and more about the viability of solar power after seeing car companies finally begin producing 100% electric vehicles. So what about that other oft-promised Utopian technology, the solar panel?

Here's an infographic that's been circling around the internet for a while now. Seems like as good a place as any to start a discussion on solar energy:

hey dudes

2011-10-07T18:42:00.001-07:00

Jimmy here. Excited for the new year and for starting up again at Save the World Fridays. Hope you are too. We're going to have a fun and productive year, informing people about environmental issues and trying to affect change in any way we can.

This year's first initiative, spearheaded by the fantastic Lauren Nelson, was the establishment of a task force in charge of ensuring that items placed in recycling bins throughout the school actually end up in the recycling dumpster. Lauren has made a sign-up list for students interested in volunteering to take out the recycling for any teacher with which they happen to have an IB Support class, TA Service Learning period, or any other sort of free period. Most teachers have already been accounted for, but if you want to sign up, ask Lauren and she will put you down. In any case, Lauren will soon post up the list in Mr. Steussy's room to serve as a reminder of who has which teacher.

We're doing this because our school's custodians have not been taking out the recycling (due to budgetary concerns) since last year. Lauren will be communicating with some school people who are responsible for making custodial decisions—I suppose they mentioned that the custodians were going to recycle this year, and so this communication will let us know what the situation on that is. Either way, we will be happy to help keep our school clean and efficient.

Happy saving!

Honey bees

2011-03-28T00:05:00.000-07:00

If you've ever had honey before, you'll know that it'll be a sad day on this earth when there isn't any more. Unfortunately, in some countries, that sad day has already arrived. In China, workers have to hand pollinate pear trees due to the lack of honey bees.

In the United States, this sad day is also arriving soon. Take a stand for the honey bees and sign this petition by Credo:

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/bees/?r=6802&id=18483-2478446-tTNZGvx

Check out this page for Credo's other current campagins:

http://www.credoaction.com/

EarthFair

2011-03-28T00:02:00.000-07:00

Please plan on visiting Save the World Fridays' booth at EarthFair! We will be selling t-shirts and bags that are environmentally-friendly.

Where: Balboa Park (in front of the museums)
When: April 17, 2011 from 10 AM-5PM

For more information: http://www.earthdayweb.org/EarthFair.html

Please carpool (with a full car; it's EarthFair for crying out loud!) because the parking will be ridiculous after noon, take public transportation, or hike! If you do plan on carpooling, I would also personally recommend parking at Roosevelt Middle School, or risk getting stuck in traffic.

Snow in 49 states?

2011-01-14T09:37:00.000-08:00

You read the title correctly, according to a report by enn.com 49 states out are partially covered in snow. The only state not covered is Flordia. The National Weather Service estimates that 70.9% of the country is currently covered in snow, normally it's about 30%. What a winter!

Real trees vs fake trees

2010-12-17T19:15:00.000-08:00

Fake Tree Pro's:
Reusable
Easy to use
Allergy safe

Fake Tree Con's:
Made of PVC. The production of PVC creates a lot of pollution.
Lead is commonly found in the PVC, witch is a health hazard.
Not bio degradable.
85% comes from China.
Have to store for most of the year.

Real Tree Pro's:
Renewable
Recyclable
Absorbs carbon dioxide

Real Tree Con's:
Not easy to recycle
Watering during raising
Pesticides

So STWFer's, real tree or fake tree?

native plants of Southern California

2010-11-05T22:16:00.000-07:00

General Characteristics of Dudleyas—Approximately 40 species native to California and Mexico
Members of stonecrop family (Crassulaceae)
Can survive 20 or 50 years with little care.
Some are summer deciduous, (actually disappearing in summer) and die if watered in summer.
Others are evergreen, or will remain evergreen in foggy climate or with light occasional irrigation.
Most like to go dry in late summer.
Some species resent any summer irrigation.
Plants attract birds who collect and disperse the fine seeds.
Seeds are also spread by wind, may sprout on bare banks in the region thus helping spread these beautiful and non-weedy native plants.
When dudleyas fail in cultivation it is usually from root rot from over-watering.
All can survive without summer irrigation, though leaves may shrivel.

The following dudleyas that are available in the trade and worth trying on this green roof.

Fingertips, Ladies Fingers—(Dudleya edulis)

Attractive, low (1 foot tall and wide) evergreen plant. Native to San Diego coastal region. Grayish green foliage is edible, a source of food of Native Americans. Can take light, occasional summer irrigation. Needs some summer irrigation for survival if grown in full sun in sandy soil. I have observed it growing in pine needle debris on a north-facing, tile roof at the top of the Del Mar hill where it survived at least 45 years that I know of and stayed green year round with no summer irrigation other than drips of moisture on foggy days from overhanging foliage. Can take summer water. Its “fingers” will stay more plumped up through summer if occasionally watered very lightly overhead (like a light summer rain) or by drip. Plants are available at Las Pilatas Native Plant Nursery.

Catalina Island dudleya,—(D. virens ssp. hassei)

Evergreen plant endemic to Catalina Island, makes an excellent ground cover. Plants spread in profusely-branched mounds 6 to 8 inches high and wide. Tolerant of heavy soil.

Frank Reinelt dudleya, Anacapa dudleya (D. ‘Frank Reinelt’, D. ‘Anacapa’)

Improved selection with tight low mounds, 6 to 8 inches tall and 12 inches wide with profuse yellow flowers in spring. Silvery leaves flush rosey-purple in winter. Available from Native Sons Nursery, others.

Candleholder dudleya—(D. candelabrum)

Among many island endemic dudleyas this one from Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel islands is adapted to rocky soil. Rosettes of leaves are not finger-shaped, but measure 6 to 10 inches across. The leaves are chunky, green, flattened, and send up tight clusters of pale yellow flowers in spring, hence the name.

Britton dudleya—(D. brittonii)

Most popular of dudleyas, prized for its stunningly large (6 to 12-inch) rosette of luminous, whitish or silvery leaves. In spring sends up a tall (1 to 2 1/2 foot) flower stalk which turns red when it bears its yellow flowers. Makes a good pot plant since must have good drainage. Worth trying on the roof but may die from root rot and unlike other varieties named here, might need some brown leaves removed.

General Characteristics of Native AgavesMost agave’s are too large for use on a roof or are native to hot interior regions and do not do well along the coast. However, the following agave is native to the coast and small enough for a roof. It can be seen growing wild in Torrey Pines Park and on coastal bluffs throughout southern California.

Shaw agave—(Agave shawii)

Bold-looking, architectural rosettes (3-foot tall and 2 feet wide) of succulent, sharply-spined, leaves are handsome year round and can be used as an effective barrier against foot traffic. Individual plants eventually create large colonies forming strong, sculptural accents. Can be used in drifts for good effect. Once an individual has matured it will send up a 7 or rarely even to 12 foot tall flower stalk with attractive rounded yellow bloom clusters that are irresistible to hummingbirds. A negative factor to this plant is that after bloom the entire rosette dies (though not the clump.) In nature the plants remain highly attractive despite the dead rosette and browning flower stalk bearing seed pods after blooms fade, but in a garden or perhaps on a roof, people may feel that the one dead rosette should be removed from the clump of new plants that by now has grown up around it. Also the flower stems may be too tall for harmonious appearance on a roof.

Shaw agave can adapt to irrigation and occasional water may improve its appearance in dry weather especially in shallow soil.

GRASSES

The main reason for any objection to grasses on this roof is the possible need for occasional mowing for safety and appearance, which might be difficult on a roof. A second reason is the problem with seedlings sprouting in the lagoon area. Nonetheless, here are two native grasses that don’t not seem to be particularly invasive and might be a good choices, providing an excellent appearance year round, and also might do well on this roof with little or no mowing:

Red Fescue—(Festuca rubra ‘Slopesaver’)

Red fescue is native to moist climates in California and is widely grown as an ornamentalgrass to provide an informal greensward or bank cover in sun or shade. It is available as sod or seed in as many as 40 named cultivars, the best known of which is given above. Given regular irrigation it maintains a beautiful green appearance year round. Tufted drifts 3 to 12 inches high spread by rhizomes. This grass is disease and pest free. It can be grown without mowing or can be mowed with a weed wacker if desired. Gray selections are drought-resistant. Red fescue would provide an extremely attractive sod roof and has been successfully used for this purpose.

Blue grama—(B. gracilis)

A tough, very drought-resistant, bunch grass that forms slowly spreading tufts, 4 to 16 inches tall, of wiry grass. It must have full sun and will die if over-watered. Allowing it to dry out completely between summer irrigations may be the best way to keep it happy. Best adapted to the hot, dry interior where it goes brown in winter, this grass may stay partially green in winter in this coastal zone, but it may not do as well as red fescue in a foggy coastal zone.

*This information was taken from http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/blog/california-natives/native-plants-suitable-for-a-green-roof/ and STWF does NOT assume any credit for this article, it is the sole content of patwelsh.com*

Attention: Seniors!

2010-10-31T13:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a scholarship contest:
The Castle Ink- Paperless Scholarship is available to students who demonstrate a commitment to recycling and the environment. You must be a U.S. resident currently enrolled in college or planning to attend college in 2010 or 2011 to qualify for this award. Applicants must submit an essay explaining how they "reduce, reuse, and recycle."

Go to their website for more details: Click here!

The Environment & Politics

2010-10-30T17:32:00.000-07:00

The topic on yesterday's agenda was the environmental propositions that Californians will be voting on this coming Tuesday. We looked at the Sierra Club's voter's election endorsements which can be found on their website.

Here's some background information on each of the propositions that the Sierra Club has taken a stance on:

Prop 20 (NO): Prop 20 would tilt the rules for drawing U.S. House districts in ways which would systematically decrease the number of environmental champions in the California Congressional delegation, and also systematically decrease the ethnic diversity of that delegation. (Gerrymandering)

Prop 21 (YES):Proposition 21 would ensure a dedicated and reliable funding stream for state parks through an $18 annual State Park Access Pass surcharge and, in return, would provide vehicles subject to the surcharge free, year-round admission to state parks.

For more information on Proposition 21, please visit www.yesforstateparks.com.

Prop 23 (NO): Big Texas oil companies are trying to buy their way out of cleaning up their California refineries and fuels. Companies like Valero and Tesoro recently announced that they plan on fully funding a November ballot initiative that would halt clean energy efforts and pollution control standards aimed at cleaning up our air and atmosphere for our kids and future generations.

Prop 25 (YES):Sierra Club supports Proposition 25, which would allow state budgets to be passed by a simple majority of each house of the Legislature. The anti-democratic two-thirds requirement for passing budgets has created opportunities for anti-environmental mischief. One of the most egregious examples came in 2007, when 14 Senate Republicans held the budget hostage to their demand for non-fiscal legislation weakening the California Environmental Quality Act’s application to global warming.

Prop 25 would move us closer to fiscal sanity and remove one avenue for anti-environmental legislative schemes.

Prop 26 (NO): The core question raised by Prop 26 is: who pays? Who pays to clean up air pollution, oil spills and toxic waste? Who pays for the health consequences of tobacco and alcohol addiction, of lead poisoning and diesel exhaust? Exxon, Phillip Morris and the other special interests behind Prop 26 want you, the taxpayers, to pay. They want to get off the hook for mitigating the damage they do.

(source: Sierra Club CA's November Election Endorsements)

Committees!

2010-10-30T17:27:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
Here's an update about what's going on with the club...

We've formed committees (see the breakdown below) so that we'll begin planning more events and selling more goodies (t-shirts, bags, etc.) soon! Nataliya K. (our secretary) will be making a flier for the art contest for a new logo.

Activities Committee
Autumn
Nicola
Nataliya K.
Katra

Fundraising Committee
Nadia
Natalia S.
Clare

Volunteering Committee (will collaborate with the Activities Committee)
Rebecca
Jiem
Kamala

Also, we'll be meeting in the IS Garden the first Friday of the month (that we're in school) so please join us for our meeting next week in the IS Garden! Bring tools to work in the garden.

IS Garden

2010-10-18T17:31:00.001-07:00

Last Friday we held our meeting at the IS Garden up by the bungalows and had a great time cleaning it up. For those of you who don't know, the IS Garden has a bench and tree in memory of Jim Rudolph, and the garden also holds the ashes of Jon Strebler's father. It was a shame to find it in such disrepair. Anyway, here are some pictures from the cleanup:

Alan attacking the pile of brush we gathered in front of Mrs. James' car. We love you, Mrs. James!

Alan carrying the brush along. He was just rockin' it that day. Also, I don't know why the picture turned out weird like that. I think it adds character.

People cleanin' up.

Mr. Steussy brought us some snacks from Henry's. They were tasty.

Some signs we found on the ground and gathered up. It was pretty sad. We couldn't match them up to their corresponding plants, because we didn't really know what the plants were. I think someone's going to help us out with that, I forgot exactly who.

Kamala and Jiem hard at work, rummaging through the little orange tree in the middle of the garden.

Yeah, you pick up that trash.

So thus concludes our experience in the IS Garden. Even with the cleanup required, it was a very nice place to hold a meeting. It also brought up the usefulness that a school compost pile could provide. We should look in to that. In any case, I hope we can continue to fix the garden and give it the attention it deserves.

Are fireworks bad for the environment?

2010-10-15T23:36:00.000-07:00

Although firework shows are infrequent, we do see an effect on the environment. They spray out a toxic concoction of chemicals that do not break down. Instead they find themselves in lakes, rivers, and bays. Because of this we see mercury in fish, and back in the 70's fireworks played a roll in the thinning of the bald eagle eggs. We also see an effect on human health too, although its hard to prove. For more information please visit: http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/translating-uncle-sam/stories/are-fireworks-bad-for-the-environment

Plans for the Club

2010-10-08T13:31:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone,
This is Rebecca and today's meeting focused on what we want to do this year, so to keep everyone in the loop here's what's going on with Save the World Fridays:

1. We'll be working in the IS garden (meeting there next Friday, actually). If you haven't been there in a while, be sure to stop by and check it out because there's some interesting behind it...

Things you might not know about the IS garden:
a) There's a bench and tree in memory of Jim Rudolph, a much loved math teacher who died December 5, 2006
b) Mr. Strebler's dad's ashes are there

2. We're going to be promoting bike riding and carpooling a lot more this year and we're hoping to either start a carpool network or, if the district has one, to use that.

3. We are encouraging students to empty the recycling bins (over by where the old bungalows used to be) of their classes, especially if you are TA-ing for a class.

4. We are planning on doing clean-ups (at beaches, rivers, etc.) during the year. Let me know if you are interested in that or show up at the meetings!

5. A new t-shirt design is in the making, if you have any ideas please let us know! We'll let you know when they're ready so you can buy one and (as always) they will be printed on organic material.

Many thanks to Clare Moran and Mr. Steussy who brought in baked goods today for the meeting! Also, kudos to Geoff and Ben who rode their bikes in today!

Be sure to come to our meeting next Friday on the 15th in the IS GARDEN!

The 2010-2011 year is here(:

2010-09-24T22:18:00.000-07:00

This year we have many new additions including a new blog writer! Our positions for this year are as follows:
President- Emmy Phillips (second term)
Vice president- Rebecca Chhay
Secretary- Nataliya Kotlova
Treasurer- Sienna Crespin
Blog writers- Emmy, Rebecca, and Brenda Marques

We are currently working on our goals for this year, and are open to ideas! Also, if anyone knows someone who can print our t-shirts for a reasonable low price in San Diego, please let us know, we need a new vendor. Can't wait for the year ahead(:

STWF

2010-09-23T20:13:00.000-07:00

We're very exited for this year's Save the World on Friday's group. We had our first meeting last Friday and I was pretty amazed at the amount of people that decided to join us. Remember, STWF is about you making a difference on Fridays by riding your bike, taking the city bus, carpool or anything to help our environment, we really appreciated.

Mission Valley Fire & Wildfire tips

2010-07-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

This afternoon around 2:19, a fire on a canyon on the south side of I-8 below University Heights, near Camino Del Rio South struck up. The fire was contained by fire fighters and two helicopters. However, around 4 PM the fire struck again, and quickly rose up the hill side. Thirty home owners and many hotel guests from the La Quinta and Hilton Inn were evacuated. Several backyards were almost touched by the fire. The fire has since been contained. Four acres were lost, no one was hurt, and the cause of the fire is still unknown. An investigation is under way. Many of my fellow Californian's say that "while other states have snow days, we have fire days." It is true, in the last five years students in San Diego and neighboring counties got a total of two weeks off due to wildfires. Although some fires are natural, which may be the case in the recent fire, some can be prevented. Here are some tips on how to prevent wild fires from your friend Smokey Bear at smokeybear.com
Campfire safety: http://www.smokeybear.com/campfire-safety.asp
Burning debris: http://www.smokeybear.com/debris-burning.asp
Equipment maintenance: http://www.smokeybear.com/equipment-maintenance.asp
House safety: http://www.smokeybear.com/house-safety.asp
If you start a wild fire, call 911, don't get scared and run. The sooner you call the sooner the fire can be contained and less will be destroyed. If you see a wildfire, don't assume someone else has already called 911, call and describe the location of the fire, answer all questions, and speak slowly and clearly. If you are asked to evacuate because of a wildfire, visit the FEMA website for tips. http://www.fema.gov/hazard/wildfire/wf_before.shtm

Moms! You'll love this!

2010-05-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

I've always had an interest in children, what keeps them healthy and happy, what toys they need and what toys they can live without. As I babysit, I have observed different parenting styles; cloth diapering, dispoasables, forumla, breast fed, barbies, and dolls with no expressions. In a way, I've come up with a parenting style of my own, one that increases brain function and creativity, one that keeps my children healthy and safe, and one that is not only good for the environment, but my household too. There are toys out there that talk and move, there are toys that cry and laugh, even toys that read to you. In my opinion, those toys tell you how to play with them. What I want, is the old fashioned, wooden trains, and dolls soft and cuddly made out of cloth. Now a days, it seems impossible, or two expensive to get those "origional" toys. However it's not, toys from http://www.ecotoytown.com/ are worth their buck, and are environmentally friendly! I believe that cloth diapering is not for everyone and everyone has their reasons for using disposables or not. However, there are a lot of misconceptions about cloth diapering that may swing you from disposables. Check out these top five misconceptions here: http://www.theecochicbaby.com/content.php?content_id=1030 So, as you journey on the great adventure known as motherhood, remember that earth is a part of you, like a sister, and your gift to your child, is the earth. "The earth is a gift from our parents that we pass on to our children." Let's make sure you can give your child, the cleanest earth you possibly can, by using eco friendly toys and diapers!

Stainless steal, BPA free, reusable water bottles for sale!

2010-05-14T16:59:00.000-07:00

STWF is selling BPA free reusable water bottles for only ten dollars! (They retail for about twenty to thirty dollars) They come with two different, inter-changeable caps, and are very stylish! Come pick one up from B3 or any member!

EARTH DAY 2010

2010-05-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

Earth Day 2010 photos are (finally) here! Check these out and more at photobucket.com/stwf_photos

The ECO ATM

2010-05-03T21:33:00.000-07:00

Have an old phone lying around? Two year contract ending soon? Think about donating it to the ECO
ATM! What happens at the ECO ATM? "[The] ecoATM provides self-serve electronic eCycling stations which quickly inspects and assigns real-time secondary market value, collects/bins portable devices, provides payment to the consumer, and administrates any additional trade-in promotions / discounts loaded by the OEM and/or retailer." It's Easy at 1-2-3
Step 1) Insert portable CE device or handsetStep 2) Used device automatically valued
Step 3) Portables automatically binned inside. User receives trade-up coupon, gift card, cash, and/or charitable contribution

For more information visit: http://www.ecoatm.com

And for a ATM near you visit: http://www.ecoatm.com/about-locations.htm

It's time to get proactive!

2010-04-30T14:19:00.000-07:00

It's one thing to talk about the environment but it's another to do something for it! Got a resuable bag? Take it to the grocery store! Has your coffee tumblr been sitting at home while your at Starbucks? Take it to a local coffee shop! Car broke down? Take the bus not a costly rental car! Do all this already? Think it's just another daily activity and isn't really doing anything for the environment? Think again! The average driver goes about 70 MPH on the highway and gets about 18.3 MPG. Their carbon footprint from Jan. 2009- today is 0.03. However those who bused from Chula Vista (where a lot of SDHS kids live) over the same course of time had no carbon footprint acorrding to http://www.carbonfootprint.com/ Even though you do something everyday doesn't mean it isn't a good thing for the enviornment. STWF loves it went saving the enviornment is a daily routine, but try something new once a week such as meatless Monday or shower less Saturday.What new thing will you do?

World Faire is rapidly approaching!

2010-04-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

Come visit us next Friday May 7th, 2010 in the quad for yummy orangic and vegan baked goods! World Faire starts at 12:47 and ends at 2:24. What kinds of treats would you like to see?

Protecting the Bay

2010-04-16T23:01:00.000-07:00

The Port of San Diego's environmental fund is helping to reduce pollution and keep hazardous wastes out of San Diego Bay. Two oil recycling centers have been installed as well as marine trash skimmers running from Shelter Island to National City. The skimmers were installed in December of 2009, and work like a pool skimmer running 24 hours a day seven days a week. They filter 500 gallons of water per minute. Trash is caught inside and sorted into debris, recycling, and trash. The Marina managers are impressed. As for the oil recycling centers, this is what general manager Bowman had to say, "The presence of the used oil center provides convenient recycling for boaters, prevents the marinas from having to dispose of costly hazardous waste, prevents oil from being dumped into the bay and encourages boaters and marina staff to use other best management practices. "We just had 300 gallons of oil collected and hauled away, cleanly, as opposed to being left behind for the marina to clean up."

For more information please visit: http://www.portofsandiego.org/environment/1962-eco-friendly-systems-at-work-in-port-of-san-diego-marinas.html?from=port-carousel

How to host a "whats mine is yours" party

2010-04-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

Many college clubs have started a trend thats good for the enviornment and saves you money! They are called "whats mine is yours" or "swap parties" where everyone brings one book, article of clothing, cook ware, whatever the designated item is. Then, people trade. Now you have something like new, and have gotten rid of something you no longer want! The cost to host the party is 0, unless you want to provide food and drinks. However, you can ask people to bring some food as well. Spread the word, the more people who come the better! (lots of people use facebook events) Have the party large enough to accomidate how many people are coming and thats all you have to do! Having a swap party? Let us know when and where (even if its not in san diego) in the comment section or on our facebook page. We can help spread the word(:
Check out: http://recyclingweek.planetark.org/documents/doc-92-swap-party-guide-final.pdf for more information.

Earth Day 2010

2010-04-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

We will be going to Earth Day 2010 Balboa Park special thanks to our sponser http://www.gogreenreade.com/
We need volunteers from set up 8:00 AM to clean up at 5:00 PM. Shifts are in 1 and 1/2 hour incrimints. Sign up in B3 or contact Emmy Phillips, Yi Qiu Hu, Maeve Sullivan or Rebecca Chay, or sign up on our facebook page!
We will be selling shirts, bags, shoes, and pens!
I'm not sure where we will be located so check a map when you get there!

STWF news

2010-01-29T20:10:00.000-08:00

A lot has been going on with STWF and heres the latest and greatest news!
We are partnering with the Science Scholars club to create tee-shirts (with both our logos on them). We might also do future things with them as well.
We are ordering more of our tee-shirts (same design for bags and shirts, new colors), we still have recycled shoes for 20$ men sizes only.
Each member was asked to bring a design for a new STWF logo for next meeting. If you make one remember it must NOT be copyrighted. Remember that some websites, like Nasa will let you use their images if you credit their work somewhere on your design.
Max James mother of gogreenreade.com is sponsoring us again this year for Earth Fair in Balboa Park.
Our latest idea is to have an environmental week. (kind of like spirit week) Where one day you might take a two minute shower and the next you might plant a tree ect. Those who provide proof that they did the activity every day will be entered in a drawing to win some sort of prize.
Our next meeting will be in Ms Bermans room 1029, because we are doing something with Science Scholars.
Feedback?

Rain! & Other News

2010-01-22T23:33:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone,
If you're receiving rain, and you probably are, please remember to turn off your sprinklers and any other unnecessary appliances. Also, instead of cranking up the heater, remember basic tips and just put on another layer.

In other news, our club wants to begin donating a portion of the profit we make to some sort of environmental/activist group. The organizations we're considering are either the American Red Cross or UNICEF; we would also specify that we want the funds to go to Haitian relief.

We're hoping to be able to donate half of the profit to whichever organization we do pick, and in the meantime, please begin thinking about what color bag/shirt you would like to purchase from our club.

The prices aren't changing, it's just that the proceeds are now going to bigger cause.

Reminder:
Bags - $10
Shirts - $12
We still have a couple in stock. Visit Mr. Steussy's room (B3) to purchase your items.

The Little Composter that Could

2010-01-08T09:12:00.000-08:00

A local resident Gianna Salazar of North Park California has been saving the world daily at the ripe age of six. What started out as a purchace of a composter from a closing store, is now helping Giannas garden florish. Lisa Pugliese, Giannas mother, puts un used vegetables, amoung other foods, in a bag. Afterwards Gianna sticks the food into the composter and turns the wheel. Not long after the compost is ready. "I really like turning the wheel its fun and looking at the food inside. I like how it helps the garden and mother earth" boasts Gianna. For more information on how to compost please visit http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/rrr/composting/index.htm

Recycling Electronics

2009-12-25T21:10:00.000-08:00

As the holiday season is coming and going, you may have received new electronics of some sort. Now, you could just toss the old ones, but there may be a greener (and more profitable!) way to dispose of old electronics.

STWF, our organization, is looking into collecting electronics (in particular, cell phones, but we'll take anything you need to recycle!) for a fundraiser. The organization that we're looking to work with is Gazelle.

Now, we need your feedback. Would you be willing to donate your old electronics to us in order to recycle them through Gazelle? Do you think Gazelle is a good organization, or have you recycled your cell phone through another organization?

Please view the website (http://www.gazelle.com/) and tell us what you think about recycling electronics!

Live Christmas trees vs fake Christmas trees

2009-12-20T22:48:00.000-08:00

**Excuse this for being two days late, I'm a horrible blogger at the moment**
In the last STWF meeting, we touched on this subject briefly. Is it more environmentally friendly to buy a live tree or a fake one? Lets weight out the pros and cons.
Pros(live tree):
* buying a tree can become a family tradition
*the trees are renewable resources
* compostable
*smell great
Cons(live tree):
*fire hazard
* more work
* allergies
* non re plantable (if you buy it without the bulb)
* less trees in the environment
Pros(fake tree):
*last for years
* easy to set up
*almost no effort into up keep
Cons(fake tree):
*made from non renewable petroleum
*cannot be recycled
* the environmental effects that go into making the tree
Many people have their own ideas. So decide, real or fake? Leave us a comment!

Work cited: http://www.thelaboroflove.com/articles/the-pros-cons-of-artificial-versus-real-christmas-trees/

Cheap Fun

2009-12-05T13:44:00.000-08:00

If you're reading this, you're probably on a computer. Well, depending on how long you've been on the computer, it may be time to turn it off and do something else (and I don't mean go watch television).

As we become more dependent on technology, we forget to value the simple things that we had before. Some of these things are actually low-cost and low-energy:

1. Hiking (If you're in San Diego, Florida Canyon is amazing!)
2. Camping
3. Walking
4. Enjoying old photo albums
5. Reading

What are some things that you do that require no electricity/energy consumption? Leave a comment below!

The holidays are here(:

2009-11-27T22:49:00.000-08:00

Now that Thanksgiving is over, everyone is starting to shop for the people on their gift lists without breaking the budget. Why not splurge a little bit on the ones you love by not buying wrapping paper this year. Instead use newspaper to wrap up gifts or old shopping bags. Why not try an STWF reusable tote? You'll save money, and the environment. Merry Christmas, mother earth.

Going Vegetarian One Day at a Time

2009-11-20T23:18:00.000-08:00

As many of us are looking forward to the holiday season where we will be stuffed with turkey, ham, sausage and all other kinds of delicious meat; it might be the time to consider cutting back (or completely eliminating) on meat.

How, you may ask, does cutting back on meat help the environment?

1. Forests are cut down in order to make room for all the grassland needed to support cattle;
2. and not only do those cattle take up tons of room, we need to produce more food to feed them! For every one pound of meat, at least 5 times that (5lbs.) of food was consumed.
3. Less water is needed to sustain a vegetarian diet than a diet that includes meat (although, you can help out just by reducing the amount of meat eaten).
4. Saves the environment, as cattle produce 130 times more waste than the human population which would save a lot of rivers from pollution!
5. The amount of energy used to produce and transport meat amounts to roughly the 1/3 of the U.S.'s energy consumption.

Lastly, going vegetarian is usually a healthier alternative (unless you have some sort of health condition) and it will make you feel better! If you're not ready to commit to a vegetarian lifestyle, please try to go meatless for one day a week (Fridays, anyone?) and add additional days if you begin to enjoy your vegetarian days!

Alternative sources of protein:

-Kidney beans
-Chickpeas
-Soy
-Oatmeal
-Tofu
-Peanut butter
-Yogurt
-Milk

Ten easy ways to save the world(:

2009-11-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

1. While waiting for the shower to warm up, catch it in a bucket and use it to water your plants.
2. When you don't need the lights on turn them off or if you're not in a room turn off the lights.
3. By local, organic grown food such as meats, eggs, dairy, fruits, and vegetables.
4. Borrow books and DVDs from the library. It saves ink and paper, and leaves your wallet full!
5. Keep your electronics for as long as possible and then recycle them or give them to a friend.
6. Hike/bike, trolley/bus/ or carpool (our motto) to school or work. It may take longer but it saves gas and fuel emissions and boosts your health!
7. Instead of being mailed bills or bank statements sign up to receive them by email.
8. Winters around the corner but don't go turning up the thermostat, bundle up instead!
9. Compost your food, its good nutrients for your plants.
10. Spread the word about saving the world(:

STWF News!

2009-11-13T13:20:00.000-08:00

Next Friday, November 20th, STWF will hold a fundraising bake sale in front of the International Studies office (where we have sign ups each Friday morning) at lunch. We will also be selling bags, organic tee shirts, and post consumer recycled shoes (in mens' sizes 9 1/2-13). Shirts are $12, bags are $10, and shoes are $20.
Also, STWF is ordering more shirts and bags with our original design (which make great gifts). We are still open for new designs, though.

Balloons & the Environment

2009-11-06T22:41:00.000-08:00

Maybe you went to the Homecoming game this night, or you've been to football games and rallies and the whatnot where balloons are absolutely everywhere. They're around all the rails on the side, in those pretty-looking balloon arches... and flying off into the sky.

Let's take things back to physics here: what goes up must come down. Those balloons which become tiny dots in the sky before blinking out of view are going to eventually burst into small fragments that will spread all over our world. Releasing balloons is littering, and the dangerous effects of it can be seen in the deaths of wild, domestic, and farm animals, along with all the creatures of the sea who are unfortunate enough to think that a balloon fragment is a tasty morsel.

Maybe you've heard that latex balloons decompose at the same rate as an oak leaf; which is true. However, the decomposition of an oak leaf is approximately six months (varies under different conditions). Would you leave a piece of trash lying in the same place for six months? Would you toss your trash on the floor?

Releasing balloons into the environment, whether in small or large quantities, is harmful to the world; the world that we need to take better care of. Do your part, and be sure to keep those balloons out of the sky!

Tissue Paper

2009-10-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

The names Kleenex, Puffs, Charmin, Cottonelle, and Bounty all have one thing in common. No, it isn't the fact that they're all disposable paper products, but rather that they all use "virgin fiber" in their products. Basically, that means that entire forests are being cut down just so someone can blow their nose into it.

That's certainly unnecessary, considering the amount of alternatives there are. Companies can use post-consumer fiber in their products instead of virgin fiber! We, as consumers, have been naive enough to purchase these name-brand products, but it is time for us to stop. Stay away from those companies until they begin using post-consumer fiber in their products, and wipe your nose with a different brand.

For a list of eco-friendly brands go to: http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/gtissue.asp

NOTE: STWF is planning on hosting a bake sale on Friday the 13th of this month. Please check back soon for more information.

EDIT: The bake sale has been moved to the 20th. Please come to the meeting on the 13th in order to sign up to bring baked goods!

Bike Riding

2009-10-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

Recently, I got my permit. As I've started to drive around, I've noticed the abundance of bikers. The more I see, my day seems to get a bit better. However, only about half of them follow the law. Biker saftey is very important to keep the biker from getting hurt, and even getting a ticket. The safest place for a biker is in the bike lane, if they choose to act like a driver (following traffic lights and stop signs). When on the side walk the biker must act like pedestrian. The law states that anyone under 18 must wear a helmet but it is in the best interest of the biker to wear one, whatever his or her age. Hand signals, seem to be the biggest problem for bikers. When changing lanes or turning you must signal which way you are going(left or right). At night, reflective gear and lights should be used to be seen in the dark. If you aren't already riding your bike to work, go ahead and do so now that you know the rules. For those still hesitant, many bike shops offer a road 101 course. Information provided by: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/about/bicycle.htm

Potential Designs

2009-10-18T20:30:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard, STWF is looking for a new design. So far, four potential designs have been submitted by Sienna Crespin. To submit designs, either post a comment with a web URL to your design, or email stwfatsdhs@gmail.com!

Carbon Offsets

2009-10-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

It is unavoidable to consume energy, and for a while there hasn't been a way to avoid that. However, since 2003 Carbonfund.org has been working to change that by selling carbon offsets. Their motto: Reduce what you can, offset what you can't.

Carbon offsets is money donated to a company (in this case http://www.carbonfund.org/) which is then used to fund third-party offset projects. The company promises that a certain amount of carbon will be offset by your donation, which of course also depends on how much you donate. For every dollar you donate, a tenth of a ton of a carbon is offset.

Try something new this year during the holidays, and ask for carbon offsets! Let's do our best to keep our world green.

Is saving the world too expensive?

2009-10-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

Many people attribute their not becoming environmentally friendly to the cost. I agree, to become more environmentally friendly you do have to give a little, but you will get so much back. For instance, a regular bottle of water costs about two dollars. If you buy one a day, estimated to spend forty dollars a month on water alone! Water from the tap costs about a penny. Investing in a kleankanteen (kleankanteen.com) or something similar is well worth it.

San Diego River Clean Up

2009-07-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

Two members of STWF, Emmy Phillips and Rosie Kloh, spent half a day of their summer cleaning the SD river in partnership with the San Diego River Park Foundation. Thanks guys!

Emmy Phillips (left) Rosie Kloh (right)

Other photos viewable at: http://www.photobucket.com/stwf_photos