'Gasland."

In class we watched a documentary called "Gasland." Josh Fox, a filmmaker, travels around the Delaware property and interviews families after he was offered $100,000 for gas rights on his property. He interviewed people because he was curious about the effects of drilling and fracking. From interviewing families he was surprised by their responses. He was surprised because they said that fracking was bad because after they drilled, their drinking water was undrinkable. They also talked about the symptoms they had after they drank the water, which were feeling dizzy and having a severe headache. After drilling, the water even became flammable. Fox was so amazed by this that he recorded families putting a lighter to the sink water and flames would shoot out. The documentary also included interviews with the fracking business' and they tried to make it seem like fracking was a good thing. I was amazed by the film because I had no idea what fracking was and how dangerous it could be to the environment and to families in and around the communities.

"The Cove."

In class we watched a documentary called “The Cove.” The movie is about a team going on a mission in a cove in Japan called Taiji. The team would hide microphones and cameras in rocks, so they could observe what was going on in the cove. The team ends up finding out some deep secrets and crimes that are happening under water. They find out that dolphins are being killed and they want to put a stop to it. It is said that the amount of dolphins that are being killed in the Taiji cove is a much greater amount than the whales that are being killed in the Antarctic. The number of dolphins being killed every year was close to 23,000. When Dr. Maluso put the documentary on I did not expect to watch such a disturbing film. Through the cameras the team witnessed the dolphins being lured into the cove and killed them with spears and knives. Even though the film was difficult to watch without getting upset, I still liked it because it was interesting. I would have never known about those dolphins being killed until I watched the film in class. I also gained respect for the team for putting this “investigation” together. The film was made to prove a point, which was that killing the dolphins was unnecessary.

Flow: For Love of Water

For class we had to watch a documentary on Irena Salinas’ thoughts about the water supply in the world. The film explains that if we continue to take advantage of our water supply and abuse it then humankind will soon become extinct. The movie reminds us of how important water is to the world, especially for children. The beginning of the movie had beautiful pictures of water and helped remind us that we never really think of water as a gift because we are so used to it being in our every day life. People do not think of water ever going away, but in reality we are the ones that are slowly creating a global crisis. Salinas gives examples of disasters that have happened due to humans abusing their water supply. The movie made me realize that we are destroying our world without even noticing it.

"Avatar."

The movie “Avatar” is about a paraplegic guy in a wheel chair named Jake Sully. He was previously in the military and became injured. The beginning of the movie is a little confusing because it consists of flashbacks of Jake’s life and how he woke up on a space ship traveling to Pandora, which is a planet of all blue people. In the beginning you find out that Jake has a twin brother that died who was a scientist. Since Jake and his brother Tom have an exact genetic match, the people on the ship presented him with an opportunity, which was to take over his brother’s contract on the ship. Jake would travel to Pandora and become one of the blue people. The reason for Jake to be placed on Pandora was to send a message to the people, but act like he was one of them so that they welcomed him. In order to get to Pandora, Jake had to jump into a machine with some kind of mask over his face. After going there Jake becomes very comfortable with the people and they accept him as their own. While Jake is there he realizes that the Colonel that he is working for on the ship is trying to take over the land of Pandora. Jake and every one on the ship refer to the people as “avatar” and while Jake is there he quickly and unexpectedly falls in love with one of the aliens, Neytiri. The rest of the movie is Jake trying to convince the people on the ship to not ruin their land and he ends up choosing the avatars side.

Personally, I did not like this movie at all. I knew from the beginning that I wouldn’t like it because blue aliens are not my thing. The plot of the story was decent, but the movie was dragged out for three hours. There was many times where I was asking myself when the hell they were going to die. I also thought it was stupid because Jake was not one of them. If anyone shut off his machine or intentionally pulled him out of the machine, which they did, he would go right back to being human. The thing that I did enjoy about the movie was the special effects, but that’s about it. I do not think I would ever willingly watch this movie again. I felt like it was a waste of time.

Hiking Scavenger Hunt

Last week in class we went hiking together at Tanglewood Nature Center. My group was not too excited to go hiking because we are all from the city. Nature was never my thing and I had never gone hiking before. We were told to meet at 9AM sharp and to bring water and cameras. We were also told to wear sneakers that we don’t care about, which was a problem for me because I care about all my sneakers. Soon enough the time came and we had to jump in our cars and drive to Tanglewood. In my group were Shannon, Megan, Kelsie, and I. We basically just wondered off and followed the boy’s path. At first it wasn’t too bad besides the signs that read “caution: rattlesnakes,” which we did not like. It was a nice day but it had been raining for a couple days prior to the hike, so of course there was mud. Me and mud DO NOT get along. At this point I was pissed and so were the girls. We had to go uphill and it was covered in mud. My sneakers were now ruined. It seemed to only get worse with the whole mud situation, so we all wanted to cry because we were being dramatic. At this point we found the boys snapping pictures of us because one of the things on the list for the scavenger hunt was something funny, which apparently was us. After surviving the mud hill we proceeded to walk the trail and take pictures for the scavenger hunt until a thorn bush jumped out and attacked me. Again, I was not happy. As the hike started to get better we came to a shed that was surrounded by water and a beautiful view. After taking pictures and passing the shed we came out to a road. It was the end of the trail, but we were expected to walk back the same way that we came, which was NOT happening. So we decided to walk back on the road, which was also an adventure. I honestly would not have minded hiking if there was not any mud. The thing that I did like was the view because it was absolutely beautiful. The hike was also wicked funny.

Hiking at Tanglewood

One of the first trail markers.

The view.

We somehow got ourselves lost.

Carrying Shannon.

Kelsie and I at the exhibit.

Opinion of "No Impact Man."

While I watched the movie “No Impact Man” I found myself becoming frustrated. The movie aggravated me because I felt like he was doing too much for the environment. His family’s goal was to create as little or no environmental impact as possible. I did not think that they would end up accomplishing their goal because it was such a drastic change in their lifestyle. I believe that Colin’s wife, Michelle, definitely cheated during this project because it was very hard for her and she was very comfortable with her daily routines. I think that one of the easiest adjustments for the family was to stop using the car and trains because they lived in New York City, which was a convenient place to use a bike. I also think that the food was not too hard for the family, but they definitely missed their take-out food. The change that really annoyed me was using no toilet paper. That is disgusting that they used a cloth to wipe themselves all the time. They did not really talk about not using toilet paper and how they felt about it, but it was said that they were no longer using toilet paper in their apartment.

Another thing that frustrated me in this movie was the electricity. They only did it for six months, but they also had a two-year-old daughter who was probably afraid of the dark. It is also unsafe to surround their apartment with candles when there is a child running around. They also used their cellphones throughout the movie, which meant that at some point they were using electricity. Today, there is no way that a parent can go without a phone to be reached at when they have a child. Anything could happen or an emergency where the parent needs to be contacted. At the end of the movie I was impressed by how much the family did accomplish and how much they helped the environment, but some of the changes they made were ridiculous.

"No Impact Man."

This week in class we watched a documentary called “No Impact Man.” The documentary was about a man Colin Beaven that wanted to practice what he preached, so he formed a project for him and his family that would last a year. Beaven, his wife Michelle Conlin, and his two-year old daughter Isabella participated in this project and their goal was to create as little environmental impact as possible while living in New York City.

Michelle had no idea what she was getting herself into when she agreed in participating in this No Impact Project. Beaven created a list of things that they would reduce, recycle, and reuse along with phases that the family would go through. Michelle thought it seemed easy until the things were actually taken away. The family immediately stopped using their vehicle and cut all ties to any other form of transportation, such as the subway. Michelle used a scooter to get to work and Beaven used a bike. When the family would go out together they used a tricycle, so Isabella could ride along too. They got rid of their television and worked on creating less trash. The family stopped using toilet paper and diapers and also stopped ordering take-out food, shopping for any new clothing, and only buying food that was within 250 miles of New York. Beaven threw away any cleaning products and made his own in reusable bottles, this method always worked for shampoo and soap. They also stopped using elevators, which resulted in the family walking up and down nine flights of stairs to get to their apartment. After six months they lived without electricity, which meant they could only use candles and they had no refrigerator.

Throughout this whole project Michelle tried to follow the rules because she knew it was what her husband wanted, but sometimes it was too hard for her. At times she became frustrated because she changed her life so drastically to make him happy, but when she brought up the subject of having another baby he would shut down her idea. Michelle thought that because she participated in his dream then he should help her with her dream. This documentary is a perfect example of who has control in a household. Beaven obviously made most of the decisions in the house and became self-centered on his project. He did not understand how frustrating and inconvenient the whole project really was. Together they were fantastic parents and equally took care of their child, but Beaven seemed to always be in control because he was the man of the house.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

The slogan that is drilled into the heads of every American citizen who supports an environmentally friendly lifestyle is made up of three simple words. These three words are best known as the three R’s of the environment. I had the ability to recite the three R’s with ease from a very young age, “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” is what my Junior Kindergarten teach would stress after snack time everyday. Throughout my life I have heard these three words many times, however despite the familiarity of their sound, I know little about their meaning.

            My family did use a recycling bin, I know this because every Thursday morning my mother would ask me to grab the blue bin from outside and bring it back into the house. After researching about the recycling process for the purpose of writing this blog, I now wonder how many recyclable items I threw in the garbage, rather then the recycling bin. Well, I figured is will be beneficial to put my neglectful habit into numbers. On average I drink three bottles of water a day, therefore I consume 1095 bottles of water a year. Potentially, these bottles could be used for all sorts of new products such as new bottles and containers, lumber, pipe, park benches and railroad ties.

            Recycling is an influential part of the cycle, however it lays a lot of responsibility on the individual consumer. Similarly, reusing and reducing allow consumers to make a substantial contribution to the environment. Reusing is as simple as being creative with the things you own. Instead of referencing my past actions, I am making it a priority to find three things that I can reuse, rather then throw away. Although it is a small contribution to the environment alone, if all 311,591,917 Americans did the same, there would be 934,775,751 less objects in our landfills.

            Lastly, “reducing” is said to be the best way to help the environment. There are several ways that I can reduce that amount of garage that I produce each day. The first being as simple as buying products with the least amount of packaging. Everyday for lunch I get a salad that is packaged in a plastic container. For the next week I am going to use the class bowls that are provided for the students by the campus center. By doing so, I will eliminate this unnecessary container that eventually ends up in the garbage, rather then the recycling bin. Another way that I can contribute to “reusing”, is by carpooling with my friends, rather then driving alone to desired locations around Elmira.

            There are many simple ways that American citizens can improve their environmental footprint. By keeping in mind the meaning of the Three R’s during my daily tasks, I will be able to contribute to the environment regularly, and effectively.

"An Inconvenient Truth."

 

Today in class we watched the movie “Inconvenient Truth,” which is about a former Vice President, Al Gore’s, thoughts and ideas on the environment. Gore focused mainly on global warming. He talked about the effects that global warming had on the generations to come and how we could work together to prevent it. He stressed the fact that global warming is important and how we are in danger of being left with nothing if no one does anything about it. In order to prove his statements about the consequences of global warming, Gore presented scientific facts. Some of the facts that he used were that the glaciers around the world were melting and the lakes and ponds were being dried out.

One of the things that struck me during the movie was when Gore talked about his son. When his son was six years old he got hit by a car and he almost died. The Gore family had to spend an entire month in the hospital while his son was hooked up to different machines to help him breathe. Fortunately, his son started to breathe on his own, but the whole experience changed Gore’s life forever. At first, I did not know why Gore was telling his audience about this experience, but then he tied global warming and his son’s future all together. He wanted to put in even more effort into making a change in the environment because he wanted his son to be able to experience a good life.

This was the first time I watched this film and everything made sense to me, but I would have never thought about this crisis if I had not seen it. People do not seem to recognize that global warming is a big deal. To be honest, even after watching the video I probably won’t do much to make a change in the environment. That sounds selfish and not responsible of me, but it is not something that I am used to in my daily routine. I believe that this is true for many other American’s too. People are not going to make significant changes in their life that are inconvenient for them. For example, most families have multiple cars that they use and they are not going to just use one. Families have different places to go each day, such as jobs in different cities and different schools for their children. I think everyone understands the consequences that could happen but they do not think that it will happen to them. I also believe that if more advocates like Al Gore stepped up and enforced changes in our environments then people would cooperate.

About Me

Hi, my name is Sarah Buckley and I am from South Boston, Massachusetts. I am nineteen years old and I enjoy living in the city. I come from a small town with friends and family all over. I grew up in “Southie” my whole life, including going to catholic schools within my community up until high school. I attended Archbishop Williams High School, which was also a catholic school, for grades 9-12. Everyone in South Boston looks out for each other and we try to keep the environment as safe as possible. I live with my parents and older siblings, Taylor and Dennis. Taylor is twenty-five years old and Dennis is twenty-two years old. Taylor’s three-year old son, Brayden, also lives with us. I am currently enrolled as a freshman student at Elmira College in Elmira, New York. Living here in Elmira is a lot different than what I am used to at home. People call Elmira a “city,” but it is nothing like the city that I live in. In Boston, there are constantly people out roaming the streets no matter what time it is. Going in downtown Boston is very fun to do because it is full of excitement with restaurants, bars, shopping malls, and hotels. Downtown Boston is approximately five minutes from my house if you are traveling in a car. Here at Elmira there is no “night life,” except on campus, so it was a drastic change for me when I came here.

Changing the environments that I lived in was very different for me. There is a lot more organization on campus with recycling and other things, but I still don’t participate in it. I wish I could get myself to do it and I probably could if someone enforced it, but I just throw things out in the regular trash out of habit. I never really cared about the environment because of where I grew up and nothing was ever mandated. These problems in the environment recently showed up due to advocators trying to make a difference. I feel like Americans are very content with the way that they live and they become too lazy to help the environment. Even with a simple change such as recycling, most Americans cannot seem to keep up with it as an every day routine. I think that if it these changes were mandatory in each community then people would participate in things such as recycling. Recycling is a good habit to get into because it allows us to use the same materials over again.